So who is the strange woman behind this blog? These are some of the things you might not know (and could care less about)...
1. It's Barbara, not Barb, and definitely not Babs. My sister calls me Bee. She probably calls me a lot more besides.
2. Things that irritate me/make me yawn: celebrity gossip, Downton Abby, any reality tv show, and soap operas. Also people with bad manners, and people who say something horrible then justify it by saying 'I just tell it like it is, I say what I think', no it's just an excuse to be rude and make someone else feel bad.
3. Things I find extremely interesting: the stars, books/programmes about space/physics (if Brian Cox is introducing them then all the better), cats, photography, philosophy, art history, poetry, trees, literary theory and history.
4. My musical tastes range from classical to Leonard Cohen. My favourite musical instrument to play is the piano.
5. My favourite books that I've read over the last year are The Master by Colm Toibin, and John Connolly's Charlie Parker novels which I read in a splurge!
6. I'm a vegetarian because I think we have no right to inflict pain and suffering on any other sentient creature, because I think factory farming is unjustifiable (we're the only animal that has made an industry out of cruelty and death). I also think it's hypocritical for people to say they love animals and then to say in the next breath 'I don't like to think about where meat comes from'.
7. I had a half brother who died when I was about ten, my Dad died when I was twenty, and my Mum died six years ago. I guess it's always made me very aware of my own mortality, of how short life is. That's why I never like to put things off and am always trying to cram in as many things as possible. I'm with Nike - 'Just do it'! :O)
8. I'm very undomesticated - I'm no good with babies, I don't like decorating, and I cook because I have to, ditto with housework (I think it's boring and pretty pointless in that as soon as it's done you have to start all over again). I like Quentin Crisp's thinking when he said, 'Never sweep. After four years the dirt gets no worse'. No-one has ever died from eating anything from my kitchen so it can't be that bad... You will insult me if you say I am boring, stupid or a talentless photographer. You will never insult me by saying my house isn't tidy enough. I just can't imagine being on my death bed thinking 'Damn, I wish I'd dusted more...'.
9. Things that make me laugh: David (ok it's often unintentional), my friend Cath, Laloofah (from
Mehitabel Days), my cats, Stephen Fry, Black Adder, Monty Python.
10. I love learning new things, challenging myself - I'm not easy to live with if my mind isn't occupied...
11. My philosophy? I'm with the Dalai Lama, 'If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them'. I try to keep things in perspective by thinking, 'The human race hasn't been on this planet that long, and they won't always be here. We're really not that important. Get over yourself'.
People...
