I’m actually a chronic re-reader of my favourite novels (hello, Harry Potter, read about 20 times), as I find that I discover new interesting tidbits in each novel. The more I re-read, the more I discover, and the more complete the world of the novel becomes. It’s like catching up with an old friend who you haven’t encountered in a few years, but with whom you always feel comfortable sharing the most intimate secrets of your heart – secrets you don’t even share with a lover or partner.

Anyway. I digress. My question was going to be: Who’s your favourite musketeer?

Everyone I know who’s read these novels tends towards a preference for d’Artagnan – young, passionate, a born leader. My personal preference is for Athos, the Comte de la Fere. Noble, handsome, intelligent, cultured (although with a penchance for Spanish wine), he’s attractive to me in a way that the others couldn’t hope to be. Aramis? Porthos? Not a shade on Athos.

Yes, I do tend to have crushes on fictional characters. That’s just what I do.

More importantly than the housewarming itself though, is the fact that I am a matchmaker. One couple that I put together a few years ago is now engaged, a second couple is dating after a long period of only being close friends, and a third potential couple emerged at my housewarming when a friend from my study break in China in 2006/2007 ended up going home with a friend of a friend. I have it on good authority that they were having lunch together the next day, suggesting that the “going home together that night” didn’t result in a “sneaking out the door before the other person wakes up”. It’ll be interesting to see if it morphs into “we need to name our first born after Amanda for bringing us together”. I think those successes far outweigh my previous attempt to bring two people together, only for him to be unable to perform at the last hurdle. Or my attempt to set my current boyfriend up with someone else two or three years ago.

Question of the Week: Have you ever been as meddlesome as me in attempting to matchmake, and how did it turn out?

We can all do with improvement in at least one area of our lives. I’m interested to see what people are doing to become better people. I have some ideas of what I’m currently doing, and what I want to do more. I’ll share these in the next entry.

A shopper who paid a few dollars for a second-hand bag at an opportunity shop on the Mornington Peninsula was stunned to find a stash of valuable jewellery inside. Police are now appealing for the owner of the pink zip-up bag — which was donated to the Rosebud Opportunity Shop early this year — to come forward and claim it.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said a woman bought the bag from the Point Nepean Road shop on March 19, and later discovered the jewellery stash inside. The collection includes many gold rings, a gold chain bracelet, watches, earrings and necklaces, and several of the items are believed to be valuable antiques. The woman handed the bag in at Rosebud Police Station, and police are now appealing for the owner to come forward. They will have to provide a description of the contents of the bag.

Source

…I don’t know if I could be that honest. I’m a regular op-shopper, and if I unexpectedly found a little additional bounty in my purchase, I don’t think I would go to the police and hand it in. There are other instances where I would be more honest. If the person in front of me at an ATM forgot to take their money, I would run after them with it. If I found a wallet on the street with identification in it, I would take it to the police. Heck, a few months ago when someone left a book on the train, I went out of my way to return it to their workplace because they left their business card in the book. I also found a mobile phone at Ikea not long ago, and called up the owner’s husband (going through the phone book) to get him to pick it up.

But a case of valuable antique jewellery with no identification attached worth quite a bit of money? I’m pretty sure I’d be keeping it. I’d potentially keep a few of the nicer items for myself, but I’d be selling everything else, and keeping the money. So maybe there’s a price limit to my honesty? Maybe if I found a bag on the street with $10KAUD inside (with a contact name and number), I would hesitate before I called them? Or a wallet empty of identification but stuffed full of cash? What would I do? Do I have the integrity to hand it in?

Question of the Week: How Honest Are You?

Edit: This is not a bag that has been lost. This is a bag that has been donated to a second-hand shop, e.g. not discarded by the rightful owner. Presumably (hypothetically) they’ve passed away and someone has gone in and gotten rid of all their effects. I wouldn’t hesitate in keeping a bag that I have legitimately purchased at the listed price at a store. If the bag contains unnamed and unmarked extras that have been donated, it’s not ‘lost’ or ‘stolen’. It’s been abandoned and given away.

The curious thing about these questions is that you can see how the herd mentality works when people reply to these questions. If the first response is somewhat superficial (e.g. If I couldn’t fail, I would go on a diet), the following responses will follow a similar vein – e.g. I would learn to cook, buy a lottery ticket, ask out the man of my dreams, etc. Similarly, if the first response is more serious (e.g. If I couldn’t fail, I would work for world peace), the following responses will be similarly serious – e.g. I would solve world hunger, give a home to all orphaned children, campaign for equal rights, etc. There are three cubicles in the common toilets and I try to go into each one to see the variety of different responses – and they do differ from cubicle to cubicle!

The entertainment changes every week, and I have to say that I tend to look forward to Mondays now so I can see what the next piece is. I’m still thinking about my response for the life-changing book, movie, or song…I want to go with the predictable response of I Will Survive, or I Am Woman, or Can’t Hold Us Down, but feel almost as though I shouldn’t choose the popular option! Help me make up my mind?

Question of the Week: Which life-changing and mind-altering book, movie, or song do you think all women should read, watch, sing or listen to?

So the new artistically inspired body shapes are:

1. Da Vinci: Features classic lines, pretty much straight up and down, giving an elegant form
2. Rubens: Well-proportioned and carry weight around the midsection
3. Botticelli: Bottom heavy, bigger around the hips and bottom than the bust region
4. Raphael: Bigger up top with broad shoulders and/or buxom bust and a comparatively smaller waist and hips
5. Matisse: Narrow shoulders and hips, you may have a wider midriff and carry some weight in your upper legs
6. Rembrandt: A smaller waist with a fuller bust and bottom.

I’m a cross between a Botticelli and Rembrandt right now, and a full Rembrandt when I’m in my best shape. What are you?

The only legitimate reasons to undergo a procedure that could permanently destroy the nerve endings in an organ that is crucial to most healthy relationships is when it becomes a matter of physical health – e.g. when your gynaecologist recommends it because of actual physical discomfort rather than “I want my vagina to look pretty and symmetrical”.

Ladies, learn to love your vaginas! Aesthetically, you can’t be too hairy, hairless, big, small, loose, tight, light, dark, whatever! In the interest of community and vagina love, why not share our thoughts about our vaginas? Feel free to stay anonymous if you wish for some privacy.

Let me start – I love my vagina. I like to keep it hairless and get it waxed regularly, because I can see the shape of my lady bits better in the mirror – and I do like to examine myself. I’m relatively symmetrical (which is possibly why I’m so judgmental because I can’t relate to people having asymmetrical vaginas!), and very tidy, neat, and tucked away, which suits my minimalist and organisation-freak nature!

Question of the Week: What about you? What do you like most about your vagina?

So though it isn’t September the 12th, I’m going to do this year’s entry a few months earlier, to make up for last year’s lack:

So, in the interest of allowing my readers to learn more about me as a person, rather than me as a blogger, and because I fear nothing, and show everything…ask me a question. Any question you want, no matter how crude, rude, personal, irrelevant. I’ll answer them all in the next entry (and all people who ask a question get plugged).

The same rules apply – ask me anything you want, and I’ll answer it to the best of my ability. Just make sure to read over previous answers (1, 2, 3, 4) to ensure that your question hasn’t already been asked and answered. All question askers will be plugged in the next entry. Go nuts!

As any good Australian will know, Arnotts Family Assorted is the biscuit pack of choice when it comes to large gatherings. Arnotts have been around for over a century, and they show no sign of losing popularity any time soon. As with all variety packs however, there’s a crowd favourite, and a runt of the litter. You get the following biscuits in the pack:

1. Milk Arrowroot
2. Butternut Snap
3. Chocolate Ripple
4. Milk Coffee
5. Teddy Bear
6. Scotch Finger

Based on months of observation at various workplaces, I can now tell you what works, and what doesn’t. I run workshops and meetings regularly, and always have a pack of Family Assorted for snacks. The same biscuits always go first, and the same ones are always left behind.

Chocolate Ripple always goes first, followed by Butternut Snap and Scotch Finger. The Milk Arrowroot, Milk Coffee and Teddy Bears are left to linger in the pack, untouched. The problem is of course, that the Milk Arrowroot, Milk Coffee and Teddy Bears are all essentially the same biscuit – simply created in different shapes. They’re great to dunk in a mug of hot chocolate, but otherwise taste bland and boring. Chocolate Ripple, Butternut Snap and Scotch Finger however, work well either by themselves, OR dunked in a hot beverage. How can you expect the boring three varieties to compare?

Question of the Week: If you’re an Arnotts connoisseur, which of the Family Assorted is your favourite? If you’ve not been lucky enough to have Arnotts, what’s your favourite biscuit?

When we were leaving our holiday villa, I made the effort to wash all the dishes, make the bed, wipe down the benches, etc. I didn’t go as far as to vaccuum and mop the floor, but I made the effort to make the villa look a little more presentable and a little less “rampant sex happened here”. Dylan was more inclined to do the basics – hastily make the bed, make sure there wasn’t any trash lying around, and leave it at that. His reasoning was that the owners would be cleaning the whole place any way – so why do the job twice?

I personally think it’s just a matter of courtesy – if you’re staying with a friend as a house guest for example, you don’t leave trash lying everywhere. You do your part to make sure that things stay clean and tidy. I don’t see the difference between that and staying in a hotel or other holiday accommodation. You might be paying a tariff, but you are still technically a guest of that particular establishment. You needn’t go overboard with cleaning, but there should be some bare minimum of effort. As for rock stars who trash hotel rooms…that’s just absolutely disgusting behaviour.

Question of the Week: What kind of guest are you?