TAG: Target Acquisition and Guidance

Ok so I've been tagged ! Now let me explain to you how this works...

Nina, blablabla blablabla bla "TAG", blabla bla blablabla blabla "BLOG". Bla blablabla blabla ? Bla bla bla Nina !


Now that everyone understand this very profound concept let me tell you about 6 random, weird and wonderful things about me.

1/ I roll my shirt sleeves up at work, I'm the only one that does it. I don't like the feel of having long sleeves and I don't like short sleeves shirts either.

2/ I love computer and video games. I used to have "fragging" matches online. I have a PS2 and I just recently purchased the latest Tomb Raider game, Lara Croft is stunning as usual.

3/ I once shot a bird with a rifle....and I missed.

4/ I lived in this tiny flat in Versailles France, walls were so thin that my neighbour complained about my alarm clock waking her up in the mornings !

5/ When I was fifteen, my father managed to get me in the famous Paris show of "les folies bergeres"...I was really excited at the thought of seeing some sexy chicks but came out really disappointed when I realised that the dancers were mostly middle aged woman wearing a ton of make up.

6/ I don't know anyone else who would be willing to be tagged so I've decided to tag some unknown people taken at random via their blogs...

so the chosen ones are :

Dave
jillian
muriel
suze
shally
shrija

For those who don't get it you've got to write 6 things about yourself in your blog and ask another 6 blogs of your choice to do the same kind of stuff...kind of like a chain blog letter...anyway if you want to know who is responsible for this stoopid idea go here ! :P

Flick art

I've just posted a new set on my flicker. It's a collection of art works I have done in the past. There is a bit of everything from surrealists paintings, to crazy cartoons. These were the days before computers, I haven't held a pen with the intent of seriously drawing something for many years.
One of these days I might give it another go...who knows.

DI-DADS TTC

This post is not about trying to conceive but about men trying to cook. It's something I meant to post ages ago but somehow never got down to doing it.

A while back, I'd ask a couple of DI Dads or Dads to be to join me in sharing their cooking experience and to give me one of their favourite receipes so that I could post it on my blog. The only conditions I'd ask of them was that, first it had to be something they had made themselves previously and secondly it had to be related to their traditional origins.

Richard was the first to reply and well the second person admitted of not being the best at cooking but that he would nevertheless send me something he's made....I am still waiting, but being the person that I am, I will not name any names so that this person doesn't feel as if they are under pressure of any kind to provide me with a receipe.....let's just say they've been busy moving ... :P

Richard's choice :

My grandmothers recipe for cheesecake. Consider yourself privileged :-) Hope it's not too complex

1/2 block of lemon jelly
1/2 pt max of boiling water (you'll need a little bit less)
1 small tin of evaporated milk (chilled in the fridge)
small tub of philidelphia cream cheese
juice and rind of 1 lemon
8oz Digestive biscuits (crushed to crumbs)
2oz Caster Sugar
3oz Butter
Loose based or shallow cake tin

1) Melt butter and mix in biscuit crumbs. Pack tightly into bottom of cake tin and place in fridge.
2) cut up jelly block, mix in lemon juice and rind and add boiling water so that jug measures up to 1/2 pint. Leave to cool but not set.
3) Whisk evaporated milk until very thick. An electric mixer is the only way to really get this right.
4) Mix cream cheese with sugar and beat, then add to evap milk and gently mix in. Fold in cooled jelly mix
5) Place mix over chilled base and place in fridge until set

This was, and still is my all time favorite dessert. My parents gave it to me the first time when I was three and after my first helping I wanted more. My mum said I couldn't have any more until the morning and put me to bed. My parents were awoken the next morning at 3am by me sticking my head over the end of the bed and shouting "Cheeeeeeeeeeeesecake". To be fair, they gave me a slice and put me back to bed.


My own choice :

Biscuit au Yaourt . (receipe passed on by my mum before I left for the penal colonies of Australia ) :P

1 tub plain yoghurt 175 g approx. (keep empty tub to measure rest of ingredients )
1 tub and a half of caster sugar 160g approx
3 tubs of self raising flour 200g approx
half a tub of oil ( peanut or sunflower is probably best )
2 eggs
1 pinch of salt.

1/ In a large bowl combine and mix each ingredient one at a time until forming a smooth paste.
2/ pour into a buttered cake tin and add whatever ingredient turns you on... I've done it with sliced canned pears, chocolate, and orange rind so far, but anything goes.
3/ place tin in oven on 200 degrees celsius for approx 35 mns, to find out if it's cooked plant a knife in the middle ( remove from oven first if you haven't done this before ) , if when you pull the blade out you've got gooey stuff stuck on it , it's not cooked enough, on the contrary if you need to drill the cake first before inserting the knife, the cake is probably overcooked.


I've picked this receipe because it's really easy to make , tastes always good and is really versatile. It allows anyone to be creative and personalise its flavours the way they want to. This cake is also very nice plain.

Afrobeat

While waiting for a shuttle to take us home after having the whole day at our music festival, I noticed this young woman who seemed upset, talking to her partner.
She must have been in her late 20's and spoke so fast that I could not understand one single word. Then I finally realised that she wasn't speaking english at all but german ! I could tell by looking at her body language that something had really pissed her off and she had decided to share it with her partner whether he wanted to hear it or not.

I felt sorry for this guy, he wasn't saying much which when put in this situation is probably a good strategy. She just kept on going on and on and on etc.....

I turned to my wife and said: She must be on Suprecur...


Apart from that I really enjoyed Femi Kuti's live concert, we were on the very front row so we had a great view. He had 3 fabulous african dancers that could move in some really incredible ways, think bellydancers on speed.
I've always liked percussions and exotic tunes and Afrobeats has it all.

ET...phone home

Every day as I leave work, I must walk across a few streets in the city to get to my connecting bus stop. As I wait for my bus to arrive, I often look at the passing crowd with interest, they are so many different kind of people about it's never boring.

I notice that these days many people walk while talking to someone on their mobile phone. It's funny really to think that in its early development a mobile phone was about the size of a brick and no one except for the odd tradesman would have wanted to have one. Now that they are tiny, they're is suddenly a need for them. They've almost become a disease !

So this afternoon as I waited for my bus I whipped out my mobile phone and called my other half and it went something like this..

- Hi Hun !

- Hi...where are you ?

- I'm just on my way home waiting for my bus. I'm just calling because I wanted to
experience the "phone glued to ear" city syndrome....

- ..LOL..silly bugger.


- ..Ok well I'll see you tonight but I might stay on the phone a bit, just pretending
I'm talking for a bit longer !


As I stood there on the sidewalk holding my phone to my ear I felt the power surge through me.

I could have been talking to anyone...I could have been talking to my wife, discussing politics with George Bush and Michael Moore, asked Jamie Oliver to cook us dinner tonight, passed on confidential information on how to make a nuclear powered toaster to the Iranians, Asked Mick Jagger if he wouldn't mind bringing the boys around for a jamming session in my garage....

and nobody would have known....

If only ET had had a mobile phone he wouldn't have had to go through all the trouble he went through...( quite remarkable that those aliens knew how to build a space ship to cross the galaxy but hadn't quite come up with mobile phone technology as yet ! )

Easter Kringle

On Thursday K from the admin department came to me asking whether i'd be interested in taking part in their Easter Kringle and I answered "Yes" straight away. Normally I would have said "NO" but since I have started this new chapter in my life and I am trying to be more positive, I am pushing some of my boundaries and even breaking some.
K briefly explained that the idea was to put people's names into a box and then have a draw and then you had to buy ten bucks worth of easter eggs to that person....right.....yep sounds ok. However after thinking about it for a while, a question slowly formulated in my head...Why doesn't everyone of us buy our own bloody Easter eggs ?!

My better half celebrate Kris Kringle at her place of work for Xmas. They all make up some really creative gadgets or toys that matches their colleagues personality for the occasion. Now I can see the fun in that, but I can't see the fun in just buying someone else an Easter egg because it's Easter...

When K came to see me again in order for me to draw a name out of the box, I asked her if the whole Easter Kringle was meant to be kind of humorous....a few seconds of silence lapsed, followed by a stern look from this 20 something young woman, before she replied with a straight face that all I needed was to buy some chocolate easter eggs.

Alrighty then...I just picked a small piece of paper and opened it up and lucky me ! ..I have to find something for the big boss !!!....I figure that depending on what I get him, it could either expend my chances of getting a job in his department or it could see me on my way out in the near future !

I'm still not thrilled about just getting some chocolate eggs, it sounds too boring for me, it's not because that's what everyone else does that I need to follow their lead, I do not want to be part of the flock of boredom, I'd rather be the black sheep and do something different but at the same time I don't know those people well enough as of yet so I may have to be diplomatic....what a dilemma !!






PS: I've updated my flicker gallery, it's a collection of some of my favourite picks i've taken over the years mostly in Australia, so If you need a bit of warmth and exotism to relax your mind , this gallery is for you.

easy riding

There are a few things i'd like to write about but for the moment they are going to wait a bit, since I'm partly half asleep by the time I get back home after work plus I've volunteered to cook for the next two nights.
Nevertheless, I've upgraded the photo gallery and dug out some old pics from my bike riding days...

There is even a pick of "the light of my darkness" when I took her out for a ride and that was before our wedding....aaah gone are the days when I was young and athletic ! :)...the days when I rode freely with my hair in the wind..errr hang on, I shaved my head then...well you get the picture anyway. ;)

No smoking

I've now been giving up smoking for three weeks and smoke free for two, it's been relatively easy since I am wearing a patch, although there are times when I still crave a cigarette.

I had this old pack of tobacco in the house which I finally threw out last night so that the temptation wouldn't be there anymore.
All I need to do now is to loose some weight and start exercising ..I just need to get motivated I guess.

On Thursday I was called into the second in charge's office at work, where he told me that he'd only heard good things about me and that I was doing a great job. He asked me whether I liked it there and so I said yes and told him that I'd like to apply for a permanent position should the opportunity presents itself. He was very encouraging and said that he would have a talk to the "big boss" upon his return next month. I felt pretty good upon coming out of his office, especially since he complimented my work at least three times within the 10 minutes I spent there.

On Friday I got a free head and shoulder massage at work, it's free and part of their work practices once a month. I can definitively see myself working there as a permanent employee !

I'm hoping to become an investigator, but I'd be happy with any job really. Since my accident and my return to work, I have only been given temporary duties at my old place of employement and some of them have been really crap.
It's almost as if the company tries to push you out of the door by giving you all the shit jobs hoping that you will eventually be fed up and resign.

Regardless of all those rehabilitation laws currently in place, once you have a physical disability of any kind, you get treated like a vegetable in most workplaces.

This new job is the same company but because it's the corporate side, physical disabilities are not an issue as long as you can use your brain.

I've put in a photo gallery on the right hand side, just put some pics I currently had on my computer but I'm going to try to change it every now and again and do a theme gallery.
We've got a few weeks in front of us before our next big step and I got inspired by the great pics on stellaand/ben blogspot so I thought I'd take some of my own.

I did take photography as a major while studying fine arts in college and I used to take lots of photos years ago but stopped when computers came in. The same happened with my drawing and painting. Vee and I always say that we ought to get back into it, we've got all that we need, we just need to make a time for it.