Wahoo, Blogger is BACK! Three '30 Day Challenge' posts coming at ya today :) ooOOOOoooooOOOOOoo

Day 24: A Joke

This, by far, is my favourite joke, you've probably heard me tell it before, but here ya go again:

A lizard was walking through the jungle and passed by a tree, he looked up and saw a monkey sitting on a branch.
He yelled up to him "Hey you! What you doing up there?!"
The monkey yelled back "Smoking a joint man. Why don't you join me?"
So the lizard scurried up the tree to sit next to the monkey. Together they puffed away on the joint until the lizard got thirsty.
"I'm going to go to the pond and get a drink of water" he said as he scurried back down the tree and off in to the jungle.
The lizard gets to the edge of the pond and bends over to start drinking when an alligator leaps out of the water.
"Hey you! What are you doing?!" yells the alligator to the lizard.
"I'm drinking some water man, I'm a little parched after smoking a joint with the monkey in the jungle."
"What?! I don't believe you."
"It's true man."
"I have to see this for myself" says the alligator as he climbs out of the pond and heads off in to the jungle.
He finds the monkey in the tree, looks up and yells "Hey you! What are you doing up there?!"
The monkey looks down and says "Fuuuck maaan! How much did you drink?!?!"

Day 23: My favourite place

This ones a hard one. I don't think I have a place that I consider to be my absolute favourite place above somewhere else.

For a day-to-day, normal life type "favourite place" I'd have to pick my bedroom.
My bedroom has a big window that I have sparkly fairy lights hanging in, plus a stained glass window as well. I have beautiful latte coloured walls that are covered with different artworks - some from other artists, some my own, plus photos from my overseas travels. It's very colourful my room and that's the way I like it. I have a beautiful wooden bookcase that I adore and a Daddy-made necklace holder that is pretty clever and permanently fastened to the wall. I spend a lot of time in my bedroom. In fact it's where I am now. I'm usually blog from here, read from here, watch telly in here. It's my space. The only space I can really and truly call my own.

For a "favourtie place" I've travelled too, again I'm not sure that I could pick.
I loved Vanuatu for the perfect mix of relaxation and things too do.

I loved Santander, Spain for the culture, the life, the different space in the world and that it wasn't a tourist town, it was a 'real' Spanish town.

I loved Muscat, Oman for the culture, the life and for the fact that it's a place that not many Westeners go to and I have. That and it's actually very interesting. Probably didn't hurt that I had a gorgeous man showing me around either.

I've loved lots of different places I've been and places I go, but those would have to have been my favourites. . . so far. . .

Day 22: 10 reasons you wish you were me

Yep that's right, you WISH you were me!! haha. This prompts more about making me think of the extra special things about myself which I find very difficult to do. I've done my best to come up with 10 reasons that will make you wish that you were me!

1. I can easily block out noise.

I can get to sleep quickly by sleeping on my good ear. Seriously, how do you 'normal' hearing people get to sleep?!

2. I don't have a boss.

I have no on-site manager. We have a 'coach', that handles HR stuff and offers guidance for the team, but they are not located in the office and are considered on an equal level to everyone in my team. And as if that wasn't good enough, my coach is a good friend of mine.

3. I live with my best friend.

We hang out, watch movies, play games, cook meals and never have to go home because we already are. What could be better?

4. I can touch type.

I'm not entirely sure why that's on the list, but so many people can't do it and I can so I let it be a feature. If I think of something else that's better I'll bump it.

5. I'm artistic.

I love to paint and pick up a camera all the time (as if you didn't know). I see art and photo opportunities in everything. I like to 'create' 'things and stuff'. Anything that makes my world a better place.

6. Children adore me.

And I adore them. I have a natural affinity with children of all ages, shapes and sizes. I've learnt alot about children through my studies and my work and it's all given me great insights. Can't wait to put it to good use with my nephew (coming soon to a bassinet near you).

7. I don't get embarrased easily.

I'll do anything once and I don't care what others think of me. If I wanna do it I will. I'm not afraid of what some random stranger thinks of me. I feel comfortable enough within myself to make a fool of myself, draw attention to myself or to admit that I might like or do something that's not considered 'normal'.

8. I'm organised. 

And I can organise. I've organised parties and events that have gone really well. I have a good memory for dates and facts, so I am always organised with birthday presents for upcoming birthdays and have my diary all prepared with the weeks tasks ahead. Nothing gets missed. At work I'm even worse, they call me anal, and I don't deny that it's true.

9. I have my own bed. 

No sharing it with others here. I can sleep diaganolly if I want too. Fart if I need too. Have the electric blanket on. Or not. It's all mine and I do with it what I wish.   

10. I have a loving family.

I have a nephew on the way, a sister that's so loving and fun, a brother-in-law that loves with all his heart. I have a brother that would do anything for me, a Dad that is so gentle and kind. I have a Mum that's so inspiring and happy. Beyond my immediate family I have my one Gran, two aunties and three cousins that I see often and that are all special. Plus my Mum's new family that includes for me a future Step-Dad, a Step-Sister, a Step-Brother and wicked nephew, and two gorgeous neices. And if this is not enough, I also have my 'pseudo-family', which consists of one best friend, one good girl friend, and one fantastic (nearly) 10 year old, that keep me company, keep me sane and keep my smiling.

Now, tell me you DON'T wish you were me. I dare ya. :)

Day 21: My biggest Fear

1. Spiders

I'm not sure where my fear of spiders comes from. I know it's completely ridiculous too. They are much smaller than I am, they are not going to hurt me and I am much more capable of harming them. However, they are creepy, black, crawly, fast and scary. I hate them being on me. I've had dreams about them causing me to leap out of bed and I've screamed like a little girl when they go racing under my door. I hate them.

2. Drowning or being stuck under water

When I was 8 we went to the swimming pool. I was on one of those foam mats in the kids pool with a whole lot of random children and the mat flipped. I was stuck underneath as all the children climbed back on. Probably not for too long, but I remember being under there and not being able to find my way out and thinking that I wasn't going to get out before I drowned. And I paniced. Ever since then I've had this underlying fear of being stuck under water or drowning. As a result I don't really like boats. I always worry that they might flip and I'll be stuck (I've watched Titanic once - that was enough for me!) and I'll drown. It's not a crippling fear at all, I'll go on boats, but it's not something I'd choose to do. I love to swim, so it's not the water as such, just the fear of being stuck and not being able to get out again.

3. Not having children

Fairly self explanatory I think. I really do think that one of the greatest things I am meant to do is be a mother. It's something I've wanted ever since I was a child myself and more so with every year that passes. To not have children would be terrible for me. I'm sooooooooOOOooooo excited about being an Aunty soon, I can't wait to be able to give him some cousins. Hopefully it won't be a long wait.

Day 20: Food

Ever since I set these prompts I assumed I'd talk about what food I love to eat, or possibly what food I love to cook. But this morning I remembered how much fun I had photographing food when John made blueberry pancakes over the summer.


Photographing food doesn't sound difficult. It's a subject you can mold or pose to your own chosing. It doesn't fidget or move. But, there's so much more that goes on with food. You can totally tell in a photo if the food isn't fresh. It just looks flat and stale. If you want the steam to show the heat you need to work quickly and if you don't want the soufle to fall you must tread lightly. Photographing food while it's cooking is also difficult. You get steam, splutters, the chefs hands, all sorts of things "in the way". It takes alot of manuevering and certain amount of quick thinking because you can't stop for a few minutes and start over.


Timing is important. Also important, don't eat it as you photograph it!


What I love best about food photography above all else is the colour. There is amazing colour in food, especially natural food - fruits and veges are the best of all. I love colour, so it's almost a pefect medium for me. Plus food is familiar and can easily connect with it's viewer (ok better stop all the food photography gushing, I'm starting to sound like a pretenious art critic).


I haven't done much food photography, but I'm keen to see what else I can do with it. Here are a few extracts from the blueberry pancakes:

Blueberries from the Blueberry Farm in Upper Hutt.  

Berry Sauce 

 Blueberry Pancakes

Pancake Ingredients

More of the blueberry pancakes 

Jam

(Jam, Jam, Jamity, Jam, Jam!)

Day 19: Family

My Family

(Christmas Day, 2010)

The only one missing is Sixteen.

Even my nephew is in this picture, you just can't see him.

Rather than tell you all the normal info about my family, You know the stuff that you already know about my family (like, I'm the oldest, Mum lives in Australia now). Boring! Here's some 'other' facts about my family you might find interesing:

* Mum is 'that' lady that cut the cord off the TV one time. She's famous in Tawa because of it.

* We almost moved to Christchurch when I was 8yrs old.

* The first time I saw my Dad's parents in the same room was at my brothers engagement party.

* My parents bred Burmese Cats before I came along.

* My Grandad won a bravery medal during WWII.

* Gran is the only person I know that can flip a pancake in the air and catch it perfectly again.

* I get my cocoa allergy from my Gran.

* On my Aunts first solo babysitting adventure with me, they fed me the dog food for dinner by mistake.

* Every third child in the world is Chinese, that's why my sister is named 'Lee'.

(That's not true, but I like to tell people it is.)

* Lee and I often get asked by strangers if we're twins. Lee always says "No, which one do you thinks older?!"

* We often went on family vacations to Waiheke Island, Masterton, Taupo or Waikanae Beach.

* Every Christmas you have to give someone some sort of bubble appartus. There's a cupboard full of all the wands, mixtures and accessories.

* Lexi and Lee went to a different primary school than I did.

* The family has a field (yes a field) in Norfolk, England. I frolicked in the field when I went there in 2008. I had too, it's a field!

* For about 7 years we had Sunday night family dinner at Mum & Dad's house. It continued on even after Mum and Dad divorced.

* I have just three cousins - all male and all younger than me. Julian, Carl (both 20) and Ben (22).

* The next generation is due 11 July.

* We had a Dalmation named Daisy. She used to crash in to the walls as she chased the cats around the house.