Sunday 22 February 2009

The Wanderer Returns



Graham unlocks the door, leans on the handle and gives it a nudge to see if it still works. The door slowly creeks open to reveal an old and dishevelled blog. Dust and cobwebs strewn across the walls and ceiling, the occasional rat and cockroach scurrying along the floor.

He walks into the room, his hand reaches out and precariously pulls open the shutters to allow the sunlight to burst through. "My goodness, it has been a long time!"......




Over the past few days I have been trying to think of how rediscover my inspiration and creativity for maintaining this important piece of my life. There are so many moments that I want to write about. There are so many photographs that I want to capture and share.

There is no better place than to kick off with a couple of memes that have been floating around the bloggesphere:

A) "Your Life To Music" Meme

RULES:

1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.

2. For each question, press the “next” button to get your answer.

3. WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.

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IF SOMEONE SAYS “ARE YOU OKAY?” YOU SAY?
"Make me smile" - Steve Harley

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
"Delayed Devotion" - Duffy

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
"Never Say Goodbye" - Bon Jovi

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
"Baloney Again" - Mark Knopfler

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
"Patience" - Take That

WHAT’S YOUR MOTTO?
"Make You Feel My Love" - Adele

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
"Pie Jesu" - Angelia

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
"Great Escape" - Moby

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
"This Old Heart" - James Brown

WHAT IS 2 + 2?
"Who's Been Talking" - Howlin' Wolf

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
"J'en connais" - Carla Bruni

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
" Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" - Vanessa May

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
"Feel like making love" - Bad News

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
" Superwoman" - Karyn White

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
"Con Te Partiro (I'll go with you)" - Andrea Bocelli

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"When a man loves a woman" - Percy Sledge

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
"Subterranean Homesick Alien" - Radiohead

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
"After the war" - Gary Moore

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
"Something" - Lasgo

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
"About a girl" - Nirvana

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
"Nightingale" - Nora Jones


B) "That Darned ABC" Meme

A - Allergies: Work.

B - Bed size: Double

C - Chore you hate: Washing & Ironing

D - Dad's Name: David

E - Essential start-your-day item: A cup of tea and a bowl of Greek Yoghurt & Honey

F - Favorite actor(s): too many to mention

G - Gold or silver: Gold

H - Height: 5'10"

I - Instruments you play(ed): Guitar (badly!)

J - Job title: Strategic Workforce Planning Manager ~ Honda

K - Kid(s): No.... not yet! But like practising ;)

L - Living arrangements: Live on my own in my own house

M - Mom's name: Jackie

N - Nicknames: Cracker (thanks to Chica!...lol!)

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: So many times it doesn't even bare thinking about. Last time was to have my shoulder removed and replaced after an accident 2 yrs ago.

P - Pet peeve(s): Noisy eaters, lateness and dishonesty (oh, and people who have a differing opinion to mine...lol! 'cause I am never wrong...lol!)

Q - Quotes you like: "We think too small. Like the frog at the bottom of the well. He thinks the sky is only as big as the top of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view." - Mao Tse Tung

R - Right- or left-handed: Right

S - Sports you played: Football (soccer) & Rugby at school, Golf, Badminton

T - Time you wake up: Usually about 6 or 6:30a.m.

V - Vegetable you dislike: Parsnips... eeewwwww YUK!

W - Ways you run late: Never late (except once a couple of years ago when I completely over slept).

X - X-rays you've had: Way too many to list here, mainly on my head and my arms.

Y - Yummy food you make: Where do I start with this one? Hung Shao Pork, Chili, Spaghetti Bolognese, Roasted Pumpkin Seeds, Carrot cake, Lancashire Hotpot, Sunday Roast, Oven Roasted Trout/Sea bass, Sponge Cake, Tiramisu, Homemade Rice Pudding, Chocolate Mousse, Haggis Neaps & Tatties.

Z - Zodiac: Gemini


Version 2 of ABC Meme:

A. Attached or single?
Single (*sigh*)

B. Best friend?
I have a few.

C. Cake or pie?
Pie (as long as it home made)

D. Day of choice?
Saturday

E. Essential item?
My camera of course

F. Favorite color?
No specific colour, but I do like autumnal colours (browns, golds and oranges ettc)

G. Gummy bears or worms?
Neither

H. Hometown?
Swindon Wiltshire (however was born in Stratford Upon Avon)

I. Favorite indulgence?
A glass of port, cabernet Sauvignon or champagne

J. January or July?
January, because I love the cold weather!

K. Kids?
Someday.

L. Life isn’t complete without?
Happiness.

M. Marriage date?
Kinda given up on that one at the moment.

N. Number of magazine subscriptions?
One

O. Orange or apple?
Apple

P. Phobias?
None. I have a bit of a problem with heights but it doesn't stop me falling off the edge of mountains...lol!

Q. Quotes?
"We think too small. Like the frog at the bottom of the well. He thinks the sky is only as big as the top of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view." - Mao Tse Tung

R. Reasons to smile?
Just because...

S. Season of choice?
Autumn

T. Tag 5 people -
Most people I know have already completed this Meme, so I tag anybody who wants to give it a whirl!

U. Unknown fact about me?
I can curl my tongue.

V. Vegetable?
Spring Greens

W. Worst habit?
Being too shy

X. X-ray or ultrasound?
X-ray

Y. Your favorite food(s)?
Any Asian food.

Z. Zodiac sign
Gemini

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It's good to be back!!


Bye for now

Graham x

15 comments:

no more said...

woohoo you're back! Ok song meme:

Baloney Again - i'll have to look that one up i haven't heard of it but lol. The song meme actually took a lot of time and consideration when I did mine, wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.

I played guitar too, way back when. I was determined that I was going to be a rock star. ;-) Why does chica call you cracker?

And you have no phobias? none at all?? I've got a few..lol X-ray or ultrasound, is that asking what you've had or what you prefer? I don't like radiation myself, i watched too many b-movies where it turned bunnies into giants ;-)

So glad to see you back, as we move towards spring and the warm weather, sunshine I think we'll all begin to feel a bit revitalized and normal again. now don't disappear like that again!!!

Graham Ettridge said...

Hey Muse, I had the same dream when I was little, until I realised how much practice I had to put in each night. The "Cracker" nickname from Chica comes from "Graham Crackers"...lol! it has kinda stuck now..lol! I might do another post at some point where I actually choose the tracks that I think are most appropriate for my answers to each of the questions.

I don't have any phobias. I get a bit giddy when walking along the ridges of mountains, but thats about all. Put it this way, nothing scares me (well, at the moment anyway...lol!).

I assume that the x-ray/untrasound question comes from whether I have had either. I have had lots of xrays.

I promise not to disappear, and thanks for caring!

ps. "Baloney Again" comes from Mark Knopfler's "Sailing to Philadelphia" album.

Kelly Ann said...

Yay! now don't you be too long to post again now ya hear? :)

Graham Ettridge said...

I hear ya hun! I will absolutely do my best to stay around this time! I'm feeling a lot better now and want to get back into my old shoes again! Thanks pal!

wanderingbtrfly said...

welcome back Graham!

PerplxinTexan♥ said...

IF SOMEONE SAYS “ARE YOU OKAY?” YOU SAY?
"Make me smile" - Steve Harley

I'm totally gonna start saying this in response.

:)

Anonymous said...

Hi Graham! :D I loooove that picture, and the memes are fun to read too!
You were born where Shakespeare was!!!!!!!!!!! how cool is that? :D

Marjie said...

Glad to have you back dear....I've missed you greatly, and I'm glad that one of the things you did first was to get the memes done and over with. I gotta hand it to you Graham, that's a lot of tagging. People must've missed you as bad as I did.

Anyway....welcome back. You know you've always had your fans =)

linda said...

Welcome back. Sometimes you need to take time out to think. Hope you are doing okay.

Anonymous said...

Welcome back Graham! Good to read new stuff here!

It's my turn to find ways and inspiration to reactivate my long hibernating blog....sigh.

:-)

jojo said...

I'm really glad you are feeling better! I am counting on you to take great trips so I can enjoy them vicariously!

Anonymous said...

Graham who? Oh yeah... Graham! :-)

Just kidding, glad to see you back. Missed your photography, and I don´t have much time to be on Redbubble. So I want some photography hunt, some photo art from you, some picturesque pictures... you know!

Anonymous said...

PS: I´m chaining you to this blog and throwing the key far away. Hope you don´t mind ;-)

Mimi Lenox said...

I started reading this meme the other day and got distracted. Returning to find it VERY entertaining. Now listen....you have to keep entertaining and charming us. We expect no less.

That was a loonnnggg meme. I may actually steal it from you. Would that be OK?

The Music Meme was eerily on target at times, eh? And so funny!

Graham Ettridge said...

Wanderinbbtrfly, Thank you :) It is nice to be back!

Perplxin Texas, lol! That one made me chuckle too! Good to see you here :)

Hey Thrice, Thanks and yup I was born in Shakespeare's birthtown! :)

Thanks Marjie, and it is great to hear from you too :)

Hey Linda! So nice to hear from you! It is good to be back finally :)

Scarlett, like Linda said, it is sometimes good to take some time out. Nice to hear from you :)

Jojo!!!! How are you? I hope you are feeling okay! Thanks for your kind comment. I'll do my best wit the travelling :)

Zhu!!!!!!!! LOLOLOLOL! You chaining me to my blog is the best invitation I have had in ages xxxx lol!!!!

Mimi :) It is an honour to have you here :) You are more than welcome to borrow from the Memes :)

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