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'.
5 comments:
I agree with most of what you have written, except I am not interested at all in space/physics and I don't like piano music (except Elton John's plays or Richard Clyderman) and classical music (I had an overdose with my parents when I was a child) I am not crazy about babies either but love my son and I am everything else but a housewife, lol !
So Babs, OMG did you hear that the star of Downton Abby has been sleeping with a bunch of reality TV and soap opera stars? Her hubby got so mad he left her. I know your hubz would never do that! And if he did, it's because your house is a mess and you're a terrible photographer.
LOL - just seeing how much I can get away with and how much protection my ranking as a "thing that makes you laugh" provides me! ;-) I took huge risks here, given that you're probably still suffering the side effects of those awful pills AND I'm taking a stab in the dark that "Downton Abby" is a TV show and not an English department store or something! :-)
Hey, I'm reading a John Connolly novel - my first, I think. "Every Dead Thing" (I was in the mood for something cheerful and life-affirming for spring *snork*), only the detective/narrator is named Bird Parker. Is he related to Charlie?
It was great learning more about you (though sad to hear of all the family members you've lost), but what was even greater was that I learned very little... which just goes to show we've gotten to know each other quite well over the internets in the last several months, and it's been great fun! You've certainly made me laugh a LOT, even when I was in the midst of humorless stress and chaos. Thanks for that - as well as for all the beautiful photos and most especially the Drama in the Garden series.
Well, I'd better let you get back to your housekeeping and soap operas now, and don't want to make you late to your job volunteering at the Tiny Tots Care Center! :-)~
P.S. That's a really beautiful photo of you! Is it a self-portrait or did David take it?
Barbara, I loved learning so much about you. I'm also Barbara, not any shortened form of the name, and I insist on being called Barbara. I also play the piano, very badly, and I was a vegetarian years ago but lapsed. I still don't eat as much meat as anyone else I know. I'm the last of my father's family alive, and on my mom's side I only have two cousins that I hardly know. I am close to Dave's large family though. You already know I love cats; just saw Buster this morning even though all of them live in the barn across the road now. I also married a David, although everyone including me calls him Dave. It just fits him. And I have lots of interests, too many to keep up with actually and still have reading time. I think our major difference is that I love sports, watching, not participating, but I despise so-called "reality TV." Oh, but I have enjoyed Downton Abbey - sorry! :D This was a great post. I really like the photo of you.
Barbara - we were obviously twins separated at birth!
Laloofah - so sorry to refer to you as a 'thing', although given my medicated state at the moment I think I should be credited with spelling your name right, and thank YOU for making me laugh so much :O) But, can I just say you are AN EVIL WOMAN for writing what you did here!!! At least you didn't mention aniseed or liquorice... 'Every Dead Thing' is superb, I read it just after Christmas for some festive entertainment, and we do actually call Charlie 'Bird' now and then. Here's some trivia - Charlie used to be 'owned' (ha!) by the Duke family, which made him Charlie Duke, who was actually an Apollo astronaut and said 'We iz here' when he stepped onto the moon - which is SO the kind of thing our Charlie would say. The photo is a self portrait - I don't trust David to take photos of me, he makes me appear unhinged... make of that what you will. Am now going to read my new Jo Nesbo book that I picked up from Stratford upon Avon earlier today. Doctors 8.15am Monday morning - I promise not to take a big knife with me...
Gattina - 'Everything else but a housewife...' I love that phrase :O)
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