8 Things Tag

I've been tagged by Gemma to tell you 8 things about me. Hmm, what to tell?

1. I've been a vegetarian for over 30 years. Actually, I'm not a real veggie, as I do eat fish, and occasionally have been known to take a nibble of meat to taste it (like when I made ham last xmas for the first time. It was too salty for me, but the carnivores loved it!)
Back when I first stopped eating meat, at the age of 11, we were lucky enough to have a Holland and Barrett nearby, so my parents were able to buy meat substitutes such as Sosmix and tvp chunks. It was a bit of a hippy thing though, and getting anything vegetarian elsewhere was tricky. Veggie options in restaurants were generally either an omelette or a cheese salad. It's so much easier to be a veggie now.

2. I love Japanese things. The craft books are gorgeous. Full of inspiration and beautiful photography. Anime. My all time favourite animes are Ghost in The Shell and the series GITS Stand Alone Complex. They look beautiful, the music is lovely, the characters are great and the Tachikomas are so cute! Oh, and of course, the storylines are very good. Some are quite complex, but there is a great episode following one of the Tachikomas when it escapes for the day and befriends a little girl. We've watched the series in both Japanese (with fansubs) and dubbed in English.
I also love another Japanese tv series called 1 Litre of Tears (which can be found on youtube with subtitles) which is a true story about a 15 year old girl who has a terminal disease, and is based on the diaries she wrote. You need a big box of tissues for that one, but it's very heartwarming at the same time as being incredibly sad, and the acting is very good. I wish it was available on dvd with subtitles, or as a download, as it's one I'd like to keep.

3. I went to a grammar school, which meant I had to learn not only French, but Latin as well. I hated learning those languages at the time, so I also went to evening classes at 14 to learn German, which I loved and had some knowledge of, as one of my Godmothers was German and would speak in a mix of English and German. My mum had also gone to German classes when I was little, and took me along sometimes. She got on well with her tutor who was German, so his sons came from Germany to stay with us during the summer holidays. Later, my dad was told by a detective he became friendly with, that he'd been under surveillance by the authorities, because the boys were members of the Bader Meinhoff gang!

4. I met hubby on the interweb!

5. I love living in Wales. I first came to Wales when I was 9 and my dad was organising the Post Office art exhibition which was in Cardiff that year. I remember thinking it was beautiful. I didn't come back until the mid 90's, but when I did, it felt like home and I hated leaving. I was still with J's dad at the time, and we did look into moving here, but fate had other plans (!) and it didn't happen.

6. There are only a few things I miss about London now I'm not living there. My friends and family, Camden Market, alternative nightclubs, good public transport, and the close proximity of Brighton. There are a few alternative clubs in Cardiff and Swansea, but the only transport home is by cab which costs at least £40. Consequently, the last time we went clubbing was on our first anniversary almost 2 years ago.

7. I've been to America and loved it! We went on our honeymoon and spent the first week in Chicago. What a great city. I'd love to go back. We also met up with one of my longest internet friends while we were there which was great. Then we flew to Connecticut and stayed a night with another net friend, before flying on to Boston where we spent the remainder of the fortnight. We were staying just over the river from Cambridge, so we enjoyed walking around there looking at the lovely houses. We also visited an alternative club and had a good night dancing!

8. I love the Pre-Raphaelites and the Arts and Crafts movement. That period in art history is definitely my favourite. I love a lot of other periods and styles too, but I hate a lot of modern *art*. Tracy Emin, Damien Hurst et al. That room that she did. That's not art, that's my sons bedroom (kind of, minus the condoms and stuff like that, but you get what I mean.) The modern art I see on blogs and etsy however, is art. And I wish I could buy everything I loved!

hmm, almost there, this is tricky!

9. I don't drive. In London, there was no need to learn, although J's dad did insist I start learning and started to teach me, (he's a driving instructor) but then passed me onto his partner because I kept arguing with him about things he wanted me to do! Then we split up and I didn't carry on. To be honest, I don't like driving. Didn't want to learn, and still don't.
I did love riding a motorbike though! Again, I was only a learner, but I had a great little bike before I had kids and loved going up to Box Hill with my friends in the evening for a hot chocolate from Rykers, which at that time was a static mobile cafe at the top of the hill. (Now, it's a proper building at the bottom.)
When I got married, (the first time) I'd go pillion with my ex-hubby. I do miss biking. You just don't get the camaraderie driving a car like you do on a bike.

10. Books. I love books and I love looking at peoples bookcases! The first time I visit someones home, I have to have a nosy to see what books they've got! I remember the first time I visited an ex's home, being really disappointed to see that the few books they had, didn't even fill one shelf of the bookcase. And I remember when I first came online about 10 years ago, the net filled me with wonder, because it was like a gigantic library! Which it still is, but you just can't beat having a book in your hand, whether you're reading a story, or perusing lovely pictures.


Phew, this has taken me ages!

I'll have to write another post with everything else I was going to post about, like the fact that I've been given an award, twice! How nice is that?!