Following in Helen’s footsteps, I’m answering (to the best of my ability) Jedda’s AMA question:

“What are you thankful for?”

Well, in truth, quite a lot really. But again, like Helen, I think I’ll stick to a handful of things that I’m thankful for.

• First of all, I’m thankful for being alive. For having made it in one piece through the worst of covid to arrive here and now. Especially when the OH lost an aunt and an elder cousin to covid. I’m tankful every day that my health holds out and that I get another day on this blue and green marble floating in space. To look up at the stars and wonder, and to look at so much living beauty before it’s gone for good.
• I’m truly thankful to my partner for sponsoring me over the three year period necessary for me to first obtain my landed immigrant status here, in the province. And then, the gruelling 3 year paper-chase we had to go through in order to obtain my citizenship (which I finally got in August, 2021.) You wouldn’t believe the amount of paperwork involved.
• I’m also very thankful that even while covid raged around us, I actually lost weight from walking (Nervous energy? Fear? Who knows.) And not only that, because we were, like everyone else on the planet, in lockdown, I saved money. In fact, I’ve managed to save a small nest egg. A tiny miracle in and of itself.
• I’m truly thankful for my found family. My mother and sister in laws have gone out of their way to make me feel welcome, and one of the family. And in a way my own family never did. Acceptance is the one thing we all look for amongst our family and friends, but the truth is, it isn’t always a given. That support has been invaluable.
• And finally, of course, I am beyond grateful to my partner who has, for what seems like the last millennia, been there for me, by my side, through every up and down, good and bad, as we grow old together.

Whatever life throws at me and to whatever comes next, I know I’ve found my place in life. And for that, I’m thankful, as that’s half the battle right there. And you, what are you grateful for?

Today I thought to answer a few questions asked for the WeblogPoMo AMA challenge:

What’s your comfort movie/show/piece of media, and – if you feel like sharing – why?

This one is easy. My go to comfort movie is The Fifth Element. I have lost count the number of times I have watched this movie, as I watch it at least 5-6 times a year. If I need a pick-me-up for any reason whatsoever, and sometimes, for no reason at all, I slot the DVD in, press play and escape.

If you were going to be stranded on an island by yourself for 30 days, what are the top three things you would take with you and why? No need to take food, clothes or basic supplies, as those will be provided.

I would have to say:

• A wind-up radio so I’d have the news and music whenever I want.
• My bed, of course, so I’d get a decent night’s sleep every night under the stars.
• And, of course, finally, the OH as I’d never hear the end of it otherwise.

Guilty pleasure?

Ha! As anyone who knows me and knows me well will tell you, it’s Marmite. Yes, I am one of those people.

If you could have any one superpower, what would it be and why?

When I was a kid and read way too many comics (DC and Marvel, I wasn’t picky) I loved Wonder Woman and wanted to be her when I grew up, but also wanted to be Superman (Supergirl) because he could fly. The idea of being able to just leap up and fly off somewhere, anywhere (and not freeze to death or suffocate at altitude) appealed to me big time.

If you happen to win the lottery, what would be the first transaction you would do with the new wealth?

Easy. Buy a house big enough for me and mine, that would have enough room to house the MiL as well.

Today I thought to answer another of the great #WeblogPoMo AMA questions floating around. This question was originally asked by Hiro and answered by Gabz and also, Helen.

“What’s the best music-related experience of your life so far?”

Narrowing my answer down to just one person or act is impossible given the sheer number of concerts I’ve been to over the course of a long life (so far). I could say the best was meeting, inadvertantly, the Rolling Stones when I was about 7-8 years old, and getting my photo taken with them. Though it’s true I didn’t, at that age, get to go to their concert or see them live on stage, way back then. Though decades later, I did get to see them from afar on the Plains of Abraham here, in Quebec City.

Fast forward to my teenage years at high school, and as a bunch of pimply teens, my coconspirators and I where just at the right age, at the right time, to be around just as a number of emerging and rising stars where still doing small venues in cities across the north of England. And so, I was lucky enough to go see, Elton John (1976), David Bowie (1973), and Kate Bush (1978) all doing concerts at the Liverpool Empire theatre back in the day.

Not only that, we got front row seats thanks to Janet Griffiths’ father who knews someone who worked in the box office. So that our little group of four were there, right up close and personal with our musical heroes of the day!

I mean, come on, how do you choose between those three stars? Each was amazing in their musical performance, and sent shivers down my spine. David Bowie doing his Ziggy Stardust tour, Elton John playing songs from his Captain Fantastic & The Brown Dirt Cowboy album, and Kate Bush ending her concert with Wuthering Heights.

I, of course, went on to see so many more great concerts, I remember an outstanding performance, in Germany, by Emerson, Lake and Palmer during the late 70s. As well as the Moody Blues. So many great bands, so many great singers, so many great performances.

A question I got asked for Annie’s #WeblogPoMo AMA (Ask Me Anything) challenge was from Annie (yes, another Annie), she wanted to know:

“What is a habit that’s either very long-standing or has had a big impact in your life (or both)?”

and

“What’s your favorite time of day, and why?”

First up, let’s start with the easier question, my favourite time of day has got to be mornings, early mornings. Especially as I have a habit of waking up somewhere around 5am for a pee. Which in and of itself you’d think would be annoying but … I’ve learnt to turn around what was once an annoyance to a positive. I now take the time to open the curtains and peak outside, and spend a couple of minutes marvelling at the world beyond. Sometimes I give up any thought of going back to bed and, instead, brew a cup of green tea, sit on the couch with a blanket, and either read or just stare out into the dark pondering life’s mysteries.

It’s funny what pops into your head when you stop thinking about anything specific.

As to Annie’s second question? Hmm … I’m not sure I have any long standing habits these days. I think I’ve broken myself of most of the annoying ones a long time since; like chewing my nails till I was 17, sucking my finger till I was 5 and started school, or carrying a stuffed bush baby plushy everywhere I went till the age of 3, till I threw it overboard on a boat.

There was also my habit of watching the news while eating breakfast. But watching the twin towers fall live on TV, one morning, broke me of that habit. In shock, like half the world, I couldn’t bring myself to watch the morning news for well over a decade.

I do, I suppose, have one new habit that stated in the spring of 2019, the year before covid hit. When my partner and I were planning a month long trip to Paris in the fall of 2020, and I needed to get in shape for the trip. It was walking. But, as we all know, covid locked down us and the entire planet, we didn’t go anywhere for 2 years. I did, however, walk with a vengeance. I started walked for at least 5 minutes of every hour every day, for that entire year. Not only did I gain muscle mass, but lost weight too. The upshot of that one year, which continued into 2021 and then, 2022, became my new habit.

Now I only walk about three and a half minutes every hour. But still, with everything else I do throughout the day. I walk over 7000 steps each and every day. It really has been one of the best habits and decisions I ever made. And you, what’s your favourite time of day, and what long standing habits do you have, if any?

The first question I got asked for Annie’s #WeblogPoMo AMA (Ask Me Anything) challenge was from Lou Plummer in which he asks:

“If you could work as a tour guide in one of the places you’ve traveled to, where would you pick? And why?”

Of course, for me, there is only one place and that’s Singapore. An island that was a huge part of my impressionable childhood years, those years from 8 through to 11. As an adult I’ve dreamed of and yes schemed to get back there for a visit, though it’s true the island I remember has changed, vastly, in the intervening years. And what was once a place of idyll life for me, is now a roaring metropolis of the 21st century, a tech hub, a tourist mecca, but still … As a tour guide? Hmm …

All those flashy hot spot amid the history and splendour of a place I remember maybe gives me a different perspective to be a Tour Guide. One able to recount the history in a way others cannot. I remember the riots during the 60s, I remember the civil unrest, I remember people being shot at, the undeclared war going on in the shadows between super powers like the US and UK, pushing to influence a people who wanted nothing to do with the colonialism of the day.

It’s easy to be a tour guide taking people to the Botanic Gardens, or to the Raffles Hotel, or one of the latest landmarks … but what about the advance of the Japanese on Singapore during WWII, or what happened at Changi prison? Or that, as a child, my parents and I met the Prime Minster of the day, Lee Kuan Yew.

I wonder if I would be an interesting tour guide, or not, given maybe the average tourist probably wouldn’t want to know any of the painful history of this tiny nation island.

Who knows.