Interests: 100 things about me 1. I don’t like brussel sprouts. I know, you want to convince me stir fried with bacon will change my deeply held prejudice but I prefer to hold on to it, 2. I was born in England but spent my teenage years in Scotland. People ask why I don’t have a Glaswegian accent but they haven’t spent time with me in Sauchiehall St, 3. I am the youngest of 5 children, 4. My parents are both dead. My dad died more recently and the grief is still raw. 5. I am the fastest reader I know. 6. I secretly wish I were left handed. My daughter is left handed and it’s cool. My dad was a leftie, too. 7. I like cats but have recently become a dog lover. I’m a dog lover bore, actually. 8. I was never actually introduced to Colonel Gadaffi but I did nearly get run over by his motorcade. 9. I worked in Libya in the olden days. 10. In restaurants, I would always prefer a starter to a dessert. 11. But I do like cake, mostly home made. 12. I am pretty good at making cake. 13. And bread. 14. I have two grown daughters. 15. I used to be obsessive about anonymity on the internet but now I am like, ah fuck it. 16. I started my first blog in 2004. In 2005 a journalist wanted to interview me about it but I declined due to concerns about my anonymity. No-one had any idea what monetizing the blog meant them, we were all too scared of being dooced. 17. I still can’t get used to Christmas being in summer or my birthday in winter 18. I was the third wife of the father of my children. Thankfully, I didn’t change my name (there’s a 4th…) 19. I iron my sheets. 20. My kids think I am obsessive about cleaning but I think my house is a pig sty compared to my mother’s. 21. I have barely any vision in my left eye 22. This used to be ok as my right eye was perfect but these days I can’t even read the labels in the supermarket without my glasses 23. I have all the letters my father wrote me from when I left home to the beginning of email. After he died, I got the ones I sent him which he had kept all the years, as well. 24. I regret the demise of newsy letters arriving by post 25. I like writing with a fountain pen. I have a great one my ex-husband gave me and I love the ritual of filling it with ink. 26. After I split up with the father of my kids, I met a dreadful man through internet dating. The story would fill several bad novels but the fear of being in a relationship with an abusive manipulator has left a shadow. 27. I am getting close to getting packing to a fine art as I travel a lot for work. 28. I adore Gilmore Girls. 29. I funded the Veronica Mars movie kickstarter as I love Keith Mars so much. (I got a kick ass signed movie poster out of it) 30. I went to grad school in small town Ohio. I had never been to the US before and took a bus from NYC cross country. I have no urge to ever travel again long distance by bus. Grad school was awesome, though. 31. I met the love of my life at grad school. Unfortunately, it was not reciprocated (not to mention him having a girlfriend who was my boss) and I suffered the pangs of unrequited love for a couple of years. 32. We met again nearly 20 years later and had a brief fling that was just as disastrous. 33. He’s still one of the coolest people I know though we are only intermittently friends. I stopped pining for him a long time ago. 34. I live in the nation’s capital. I used to think it was really boring but these days I am appreciative of its quiet and European trees. 35. I love crime fiction. I love George Pelecanos and Dorothy L Sayers equally. 36. I have all my crime books in alphabetical order. 37. I have another bookcase where the books are arranged by colour of spine. I shamelessly stole this idea from chotda who is super cool, creative, kind and talented. 38. One of my favourite things to do is watching boxed set tv series with my daughters. We started with Charmed, graduated to Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars, through many more. Currently Castle is probably our favourite but we still have a soft spot for Alyssa Milano. 39. I get irritated when people misuse the apostrophe. 40. Reading is my favourite hobby. 41. I used to be able to run in high heels but I am now a martyr to my feet (stupid bunion). This is very irritating as I have a ton of great heels but these days I am birkenstocks all the way. 42. I am good at decluttering. I don’t tend to be sentimental about things and I am not thrifty so I am good at letting go. 43. My brother and sisters all live in Europe. I don’t see nearly enough of them. 44. My niece and her family live in the Pilbara which is still in Australia but a long way away. 45. I have two step-sons who are cool and I am very fond of. Families matter even when they get extended with new variations. 46. I have a stalker. See 25 above. 47. My friends and family have been amazingly supportive to me in all this. 48. I was once refused entry to Canada from the US as they were worried my visa would not allow me re-entry into the US. The US people sent me back over again and then after I threw up in stress on the Canada side they let me in. 49. Irritatingly, my ex-husband is still one of the smartest people I know. 50. I am very bad with money. I don’t consider this charming. It is the one thing I would like to improve. 51. I have become the person who puts cushions on her bed. Instead of thinking this is stupid, I think this is amazingly good for tarting up the bedroom and supporting my back while I am reading in bed. 52. I could not leave a bed unmade. See also, 18. 53. I consider mixing a martini a life skill. My youngest kid is pretty good at this. 54. I also think everyone should know how to reverse into a parking space. When my sister told me recently she was no good at this, I was open mouthed with shock and briefly wondered if we were really related. 55. It still makes me angry that my mother’s smoking meant she died sooner than she should have. 56. My kids have taken on the travel gene. This makes me happy though I still like it best when we travel together. 57. My oldest and bestest friend lives in London and I wish I saw more of her but she has an awesome blog and is the smartest, funniest writer I know. 58. As I age, I am more and more thankful for having spent my teenage years in damp drizzle rather than on the beach and the consequential benefit to my skin. 59. I had botox a few years ago but when I see photos of my weird eyebrows from that time I wonder why I thought it was a good idea. 60. I love the experience of watching movies in the cinema but sadly watch more of them on a 6” screen in economy these days. 61. I am a lark. Nothing is more pleasurable than going to bed early. 62. Singing karaoke in a bar in Sao Paolo is one of the rare occasions when I’ll stay up to 3am. 63. I love Caipirinhas (see 54 above) 64. I love the beach and high places. However, these days I day dream about walking there with my dog rather than a romantic other. 65. It irritates me when people refuse to learn about technology. Thankfully, no-one asks me what kind of pc to buy anymore. 66. I used to drive a flashy car but it is looking a bit worse for wear since my kids started driving it. 67. I have an excellent sense of direction. 68. My mother taught me how to time all parts of a meal to come together at the right time. I make mistakes but I rarely get flustered cooking. 69. I’ve lived in Australia for nearly 20 years but I still wish I lived in London. 70. I think the NHS is amazing and that affordable health care is the most critical human right. 71. I love my job. Of course, it sucks sometimes but most days I am very happy with my lot. 72. I am shy. My youngest daughter has taught me a lot of making small talk with strangers. 73. I used to drive a taxi for a lady driver taxi firm in London. 74. I always chat to taxi drivers but if they have right wing talk radio on I ask them to turn it off. 75. I delivered Charles Saatchi’s Aston Martin to his house once. It wasn’t the best car I ever drove. 76. I had my wedding reception in a beautiful house that was formerly Thomas Hardy’s home. Given the lack of happy endings in most of his novels, this may have been a mistake. 77. I think Wells Cathedral is the most beautiful cathedral in England for its human scale. 78. The last day I spent with my father, while he was still capable of conversation, we went to the service at Wells Cathedral. 79. My mother was a good friend of Michael Eavis’s mother and we used to get free tickets to Glastonbury. I never camped but went home to my mum and dad’s house. 80. When my father was dying, I could hear Beyonce’s Glastonbury set from 5 miles away out in his back garden. 81. I have an adorable brown merle border collie with blue eyes called Charlie. Did I mention, I am a dog bore these days? 82. My sister knows JK Rowling. Way back when, she told me “my friend has written a book I think the kids will like”. 83. My sister lives in Edinburgh. I’d like to live there as long as I could go somewhere warm every year. 84. I went to university in Glasgow. 85. I used to work 4 nights a week at the ABC cinema in Sauchiehall St. As consequence, I’ve seen Apocalypse Now at least 50 times. 86. The worst summer job I ever had was at a childcare centre in the Gorbals. The staff was awful and judgemental and we had to call the centre manager “matron”. She was a witch. 87. I went to the Queen’s Garden Party once at Holyrood Palace with my parents. There were adorable tiny coffee eclairs and the royal family were in a roped off enclosure. 88. I still have the Don’t Do It Di badge from the royal wedding. 89. My mother made the best raspberry jam I have ever tasted. Another of my life’s quests is to replicate that taste. 90. When I watch LOTR 2 and 3, I fast forward the boring Frodo bits. 91. I like having a garden but wish I had a staff to attend to it. 92. I used to live in Hong Kong. It was not a happy time in my life and I was not cut out to be an ex-pat wife but it was an amazing city. 93. I always have a cup of tea in bed in the morning. I like to mix earl grey and English breakfast tea together. 94. I lived in Sydney for two years but wasn’t a fan. The harbour is great and I like the city beaches but overall, meh. 95. The internet has had a drastic impact on the amount of books I read. I plan to remedy this. 96. I love having long hair. I cut it short 22 years ago and it was a disaster. Long hair is so much easier to look after. 97. Live theatre frequently bores me though I make an exception for Shakespeare. 98. My sister had breast cancer. She has been in recovery for almost a decade and I am constantly grateful for this and the wonderful care of the NHS. 99. I adore PG Wodehouse and his light touch with the English language. 100. The internet has had a hugely wonderful impact on introducing me to lots of cool people I would never have otherwise met in a zillion years.