listed!

who says bad things come in threes? i always like things based on threes, down to the fact that during the many years that i was a student, i used to draw little doodles of triangles in the margins of my notebooks. so here are a few random "top threes" that i have in my head at the moment...

awesome animals [other than cats]

1. owls :: that's a huge category of animals, actually, since owls of various sorts are native to every continent except antarctica, but i really don't have a particular favourite. snowy owls, perhaps, but they're all pretty majestic, mysterious and enigmatic. i think that one of the things that really appeals to me about these creatures is that they share so many qualities attributed to cats- the impression of wisdom, the independence, the unnerving skill as a predator and at the same time a sort of droll character that makes them as funny as they are alluring.

2. green tree pythons :: ok, that's a ridiculously specific answer, given the last one and the fact is that i think most boids are beautiful, but there is something about this one type in particular [even more so than its close cousin the emerald tree boa] that i find hypnotic. i've long since decided that owning a snake is out of the question for me, because i personally couldn't bring myself to feed it, but if i could, this would be the one i'd get. i've met and held one a couple of times [babies, since these are not "cuddly" even by snake standards], but that's unfortunately as close as i'll likely get. to me, these gorgeous creatures are what i picture when i hear ancient myths involving serpents.

3. pigs :: they're clean. they're cute. they're smarter than most people you know.

MORE THINGS IN THREES...




favourite summer dishes

1. ceviche :: fish "cooked" in citrus juices. this is one dish that appeals to me as a cook and as someone who sometimes wishes she'd pursued her interest in and aptitude for chemistry rather than doing the predictable "liberal arts" thing. when i first heard of it, i had to stop myself from just sitting there and watching the dish to try to observe what was happening. as fascinating as the process is [well, it's a standard reaction when any meat is exposed to acid, but you don't hear about it a lot], the result is about a hundred times more interesting [provided it's done well; bad ceviche is like chewing on rubber].

ceviche!

2. corn and avocado salad with tomatoes and olives :: i got this one out of the first cookbook i ever owned. [125 best meatless main dishes; my mother got it for me when i moved out of home and it's still probably my very favourite cookbook] what i wrote there basically sums it up, except that it has a tangy citrus and olive oil dressing and it gets really, really messy because the dressing starts to break down the avocados pretty quickly. let's you indulge your inner sloppy four year old and be healthy at one time.

3. lemon sorbet :: ok, not really a "dish", but when it's hot enough, i'll eat it as a meal.

things i'm working on at the moment

1. my notes for "a definable moment in time" :: yes, i'm still writing it, but first i have to get my head in order. i do not need another beatriz coca fluttering around my pages and so i've determined to get back on track keeping a very detailed plan of action as to how everything fits together.

who wants to help me clean it up?

2. finding a suitable venue for a first screening of conversion. the ideal venue would be the empress theatre in n.d.g., since it's smack in the middle of the area where we did most of our outside shoots and it's an incredible genuine egyptian-inspired art deco masterpiece. only problem is that it's been abandoned for twenty years. oh, and there was a wee bit of "trial by fire", so it may not be entirely structurally sound.

3. trying out a lot of different creams/ moisturisers to try to find one that keeps my face hydrated without making it feel gross in the summer heat. luckily not something that requires my undivided attention for long periods of time and luckily, nothing so far has given me an allergic reaction.

last colours i've had on my nails

fyi- i'm fairly proud of the fact that i can do my nails now, because believe me, i was hopeless for a long time. i'm still not going to be opening my own salon any time soon, but it's a step. i'm still getting the hang of toes, which i understand is necessary, since one of the photos i did for "everyday fluevogs" last year got slagged off by fans on face book on the basis of my nekkid toenails. 

1. essie "fair game" :: just put it on tonight. it's like a somewhat lighter, bluer version of chanel's "black pearl", so if you missed or passed on that one, this would be a good alternative. [fyi- it looks somewhat darker in the photo than in real life, but it's fairly close.]

essie "fair game" in action

2. chanel "mimosa" :: lovely buttery yellow shade. because it's chanel's limited edition summer colour, you can expect that every other company on the planet will have a version of it in the near future.

3. opi "stranger tides" :: i kind of hate movie or celebrity tie-ins for anything, because of the implied endorsement buying those products gives the movie or celebrity, but this is a really nice, whisper-soft grey-green that i just fell in love with before i noticed that it was part of a "pirates of the caribbean" themed collection. [realises in horror that she is currently wearing a colour from an opi "shrek" themed collection on her toes...]