Nom nom nom...

When I was a lot younger, a fortune teller told me that the greatest event in my life will happen when I am 31. Of course, I am not a rational person, and I have believed the fortune teller for over a decade. While 31 still seems ages away now, it’s actually only four years. So, I need to get busy.

I must learn how to cook.

And more importantly, I must cook delicious food. Because I will be pissed off if at the age of 31 I construct an amazing feast and then realise that I’ve wasted my event.

I used to be quite good in the kitchen. I had a stable of regular dishes that worked beautifully. Then I met someone who spoiled me rotten and because he made great meals that were far more varied, I took up the mantle of food critic and abandoned the kitchen.

I think it’s time I learned about food and took more of an interest in what I eat. Ideally, I’d like to avoid fat-person food. Today is Boxing Day, and I’ve gorged to the point that I feel sick. No cheers for unhealthy food.

If I make one reasonably impressive meal a week, that should cut it. I was thinking of starting with chilli lemon octopus, but then I read the word ‘beaks’ in the recipe and freaked out. I love octopus (ohhhh pulpo), but I think it might be best to start off with something gentle. In fact, better to start off with something that will work, so that I get my confidence up.

There is a recipe in our new Woman’s Weekly cookbook for a very simple chunky vegetable soup. I used to be quite amazing with soup (brag brag brag), although there is a beautiful ‘Jamie’ garlic soup that a friend made that depressed me about my soup making skills. This is slightly more difficult than the ones I usually make, mainly due to the fact that I am home alone, and could therefore just go buy a wheel of brie and eat that for dinner instead. Darn it, it’s not just about the difficulty of the dish, it’s about overcoming my natural inclination toward (toward or towards? I'm mildly festive right now so I suppose in the face of a good mood it doesn't really matter) laziness and ensuring that I have thighs of steel in time for my first portrait sitting. Being able to feed the lovely boys I live with would be nice as well.

New face.

Things have changed because this is not 2009 and I'm clearly no longer doing the Camino. In fact, 2010 is almost over as well. But my adventuring is not quite over yet. Yes, I'm in Melbourne and not having grand trips all over the world. But I'm in Melbourne! The second best city in the world!

Also, I'm a librarian now, which means I can do what I want. Being a librarian is the best job ever. I go to work, do a bunch of cool things (touch Megladon teeth, catalogue books about sea snails that are in Russian, sass people in power) and then feel sad when it's home time.

Unfortunately, my everyday non-work life has become a little bit dull, so I'm going to jazz it up with some new adventures. Here are some things I think I should do.

1. Fly a plane. Even if it's one of those stupid introductory flights.
2. Go caving in Victoria. I'm claustrophobic and afraid of the dark so this seems like a great idea. I mean real caving, with head torches and climbing gear.
3. Eat the coat of arms. I eat roo a lot, but I've never eaten emu.
4. Go zorbing. I am sure I will hate every second of it, but for some reason I have to try it. It's like brussel sprouts. Last Christmas I was in London and we had Christmas lunch with friends. There were brussel sprouts. Even though I knew I didn't like them, I thought 'I have to try these and see if I've changed'. They were repulsive, but I didn't stop at one. I ate about five, in the hope that the sprouts would win. Hmm. This isn't like zorbing at all.
5. This isn't an adventure, but I'm going to start going to movies on my own. I miss a lot of movies that I'd like to see on the big screen because other people don't want to see them, or people say 'yeah, I'd love to see that, but I can only go after this date so wait for me' and then it never happens. So screw them, I'm not even going to ask anymore. I'm going alone and that just means more popcorn for me.

Oh! And I'm getting a very interesting portrait done. My housemate is a talented artist, and I've now commissioned him. It's a very vain thing to do, getting a portrait. I have this strange idea that once I have the portrait, my 17th/18th century fantasies will start coming true and I'll have an estate and a grand house with a huge library and private chapel and I'll learn to play the piano and ride horses.

6. Learn to play the piano.

7. Learn to ride a horse.