A Canadian gal in Stuttgart, Germany, who loves nothing better than crafting by the seat of her pants. See her snip, sew, knit, knot, glue, sculpt, splatter, spin, and of course, talk about herself.
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing...
Don't you just hate it when you're really looking forward to something and then for whatever reason you just can't do whatever that was? I woke up feeling all awful and flu-y yesterday - after only managing to stay semi-healthy for only a month! I was really hoping it would maybe get better over the course of the day, that it was only a weak, fleeting little thing, and that I would still be able to go swing dancing like a planned, but no dice. Since it happened over my little hiatus, I don't think I mentioned before that since our plans to visit a friend of mine in Vienna for New Year's Eve fell through, so instead I dragged Mr. Keep-me-at-leat-100m-from-the-dancefloor to a dance party which was split into two rooms: one Tango and one Swing. It was so awesome! I actually did manage to get the boy on the dance floor for a couple songs (during one of which I think I almost dislocated his shoulder) and also got a couple of the swing dudes to dance with me. I learned to swing dance a bit when there was a big craze in Toronto while I was in high school, but haven't really found anywhere along my travels where I could swing since. I would really like to start again. So I was planning on going to a swing night that was planned for last night, and included an intro class beforehand. Alas, it was not meant to be. But I'm not giving up! The same group that organizes the swing nights also does classes, with another round starting in February. Woohoo! I hope I don't make too much of a jackass of myself, since I haven't really done any swing dancing, apart from my drunken, New Year's fiasco, in almost 10 years (Sweet Jeebus!). If I'm lucky, I may be able to convince a friend of mine to come with me, as she used to take ballroom and jazz and was saying how much she missed dancing. After all, why embarass only myself in front of complete strangers when I can have people I know there too ;)
Oh! and before I forget, I got tagged by the lovely Tricia. I have to list five things about me, not mentioned on this blog, and using the same two words to start each one as Tricia did on her blog. So here goes :)
1. I enjoy movies. All kinds of movies. I find something magical about sitting in the dark with the outside world a million miles away, while you empathise with the broken hearted girl, the suave southern gentleman, or the man in black :)
2. I like to make odd noises when I'm excited. Not that kind of excited, pervert! When I'm really happy about something I tend to squeal or chirp, and I'm always talking to the cats, in cat. I guess I just find normal speech a too limiting to express certain kinds of joy properly lol.
3. I love horses. I only ever got to ride one on a couple pony rides as a child, but I dream that when we someday have our house somewhere in rural Canada, we'll have a barn and at least one horse. I think growing up with an animal that beautiful is one of the greatest gifts you can give a child.
4. I have a tendency to get easily distracted. It's a miracle if I can keep my mind on a single idea for 2 minutes at a time. I keep meaning to write more things down, because it always feels like there's so little of me and my ideas that ever come to fruition. I keep a Moleskine in my bag, but it's still an uphill battle.
5. I had a hamster when I was seven. It was the only pet I was allowed because I didn't want fish, my mother thinks birds smell bad, and everything else was too big, because we lived in an apartment at the time. His name was Fluffy, and Fluffy liked to run off and crawl into the walls through the heating ducts. I was always able to lure him back with pieces of apple though. I was kinda proud of him for being so adventurous.
And for those of you who don't know why swing dancing is just the cat's pajamas, take a look at this couple here:
I'm meme-ing today! I'm at work and don't have any pictures here (the ones I want to post haven't been posted to Flickr yet), so I get to meme it up til I get home :) Can you tell we don't get a whole lot done around here on Fridays? ;D
Thank you so much for your comments on yesterday's post. It's such a relief to know that I'm not the only one who compares themselves to the 'greats' in blogland lol. Especially since you all make such great things yourselves, and I would never dream of considering any of you to be anything less than awesome. Oh well, I guess there are worse things than to see the awesome in others more easily than the awesome in yourself :)
And now on to the Memes!!
First, a really cute one Arleta posted a couple days ago...
The Page 123 Meme 1. Grab the book closest to you. 2. Open to page 123, look down to the 5th sentence. 3. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog. 4. Include the title and the author's name. 5. Tag 3 People.
Well, I just started reading The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls and on pg 123 it says "It was some kind of Gypsy hex. Mom decided, as she put it, to fight magic with magic. She took a ham bone out of the beans and went down to the Gypsies' house, waving it in the air." OMG! Now I can't wait to get to that part! I have a fair bit of time on the train on the way home, but something tells me I'll be up reading tonight ;) I know I'm supposed to tag people now, but Arleta said something about this that I totally feel as well. I'm happy when I get tagged, but feel kinda like I'm bothering people when I tag them. Except Arleta, because I know she likes memes :D Besides, usually by the time I see a meme, half the blog world has already done it and I just don't know who's taggable anymore. So if you haven't done it, and want to, feel free!
And just another short one I've seen on quite a few blogs that's a more traditional meme, as it's actually about me....
5 things about me others might not know
1. I hate Addi turbos like nobody's business. Gasp and swoon all you like, that click clack of uncoated metal drives me absolutely bonkers.
2. I sniff a lot. I inherited a rather exaggerated sense of smell from my mother, and I can often get distracted by random smells floating past me.
3. A have narrow feet and am a fast walker. On the rare occasions when I felt I absolutely had to have a particularly gorgeous pair of slip on sandals, I was promptly faced which flying footwear. I kid you not. Although entertaining, it also kinda sucks.
4. Long before knitting, I did cross stitch. Somewhere in a drawer there is beautiful pattern of a geisha I started working on somewhere circa 1999.
5. I am currently in desperate need of a haircut. I'm starting to look a bit like the Shaggy Dog.
Ok, I'll be back later with a couple pictures, hopefully one of me drinking tea, as I am expected at a tea party! Ta ta for now....
Wow, I haven't been tagged in forever! Maybe I should leave more comments for people. Bad Fox!
Anyway, I was tagged for this jim-dandy meme by the lovelyArleta. She's much better at leaving comments than I am ;)
1. One book that changed your life: Oh I'm gonna be a big fat geek here and say the textbook (No! I can't even remeber the name!) for my Morphology of Plants course in university. Or any of the many journals I read. Once I started reading about plant research I was hooked.
2. One book that you've read more than once: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, I'm a big Austen fan.
3. One book you'd want on a desert island: Mmmm, a Plant guide? Then I can find food and learn about my new environment :)
4. One book that made you laugh: There was one, a few months ago...I laughed on the train, people looked at me like I was crazy. I really need to make a book list, I can never remember what the hell I read :(
5. One book that made you cry: Tandia by Bryce Courtenay, about a girl of mixed race in South Africa...beautiful and tragic.
6. One book that you wish had been written: Simple breeding techniques for money growing trees ;)
7. One book you wish had never been written: Arelta said "Any book that's full of hate. Like some bad nasty nazibooks or something. Our world doesn't need any more hate in it!" I sorta agree with this, but I wonder about religious texts, or any other books for that matter. Using the Quran or the bible, some Muslims hate Americans, some Christians hate gays, and there are examples of horrifyingly sexist practices in both those religions, as well as in Hinduism and others. I think people who want to do horrible things to their fellow man will find a reason to anywhere.
8. One book you're currently reading: Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee-- The writing is utterly beautiful
9. One book you've been meaning to read: Just one? I really have to find and read this book
10. Tag 6 people: How bout I just leave it up to you? :)
Let me know if you do it though, I love reading about people's book loves, and finding new stuff to read!
12. I sing when I'm happy, sometimes even in tune. Mostly old jazz songs and showtunes.
13. I bake a mean double chocolate chip cookie.
14. I learned to knit from my boyfriend's mother a few months after I came to Germany. I'd wanted to learn for a long time.
15. I taught myself to sew things by hand when I was about 10 or so, but I didn't get a machine til I was 15.
16. My last year of high school I studied fashion design.
17. I couldn't deal with how competitive the fashion business is so I left my creative pursuits to study plant biology at the University of Guelph.
18. Although I spent all that time studying plants, I tended to focus on the microscopic aspects, things that plants do that we can't see. That's why I'm really lousy at identifying plants, but I can tell you all about the different chemical compounds they produce to fight bugs and diseases.
19. I actually miss spending lots of time in a lab.
20. I decided to do a masters degree in agriculture because my fascination with all the untapped potential in plants gave me the conviction that there were better ways to manage the plants we eat, for us and for the environment.
