I got tagged on Facebook to  do this '25 things about me' and, like  the person who tagged me, i originally thought it was a bit of a pain, but actually found doing it was great fun. i also loved reading hers and it was interesting to see how people reacted to mine. Now i'm looking forward to seeing what all my friends write. Ezra Pound said that many people do their best writing in letters because they are just writing  from the heart and from their real experience, not trying to create great or perfect art. i was surprised how this flowed and was so enjoyable, maybe because i just saw it as a bit of fun, and so didn't fret over it. This is the beginning of me writing more i think. i've included the rules here so you can see what was sent to me. And if you feel inspired, consider yourself tagged! Don't forget to send me a link to your 25 things - i'd love to read them!

Rules:

Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.



1. I'm a Saggitarius, apparently freedom loving, optimistic and honest, and intellectually and spiritually advanced (ha ha) but also overly expressive, subject to frequent burn out and known for a lack of tact (yes!). As a free spirit i demand not to be fenced in in a relationship but am also big hearted and passionate. And my symbol is that man/goat thingy. So i'm half human/ half beast. Hmm. Not sure i believe in star signs.

2. I fluctuate between being extremely hard working and incredibly lazy, and enjoy both these states immensely. 

3. In 1977 when someone stole the silver jubilee celebration banner from the hall in Fairlight Middle School, i confess, it was me. It was meant to be an anti-royalist statement. I've never forgiven myself for not standing up in assembly and admitting it but i got scared. Sorry everyone. I loved that school...

4. Until the age of about 5 i was almost completely happy in my own skin apart from being plagued by nightmares. I really believed the world was an abundant joyous place. Then i turned 5. Since then things have been harder.

5. I've been a journalist, playwright and a social worker. Now i'm a photographer. Wonder if i should've been a doctor?

6. My dream job: i'd like to be the woman who is the voice of Bart Simpson.

7. Sometimes i love my friends soooo much i have to rein it in a bit - you know, play it cool in case they guess how much i LURVE them. Still don't know if anyone else feels this way?

8. If i had to choose between Frank, Johnny Depp, and David Bowie i wouldn't. i'd just have them all. i'm greedy i guess. (Frank, if you're reading this i turned the other two down flat - that's why i'm with you Babe)

9. I read too much. If i read less i might DO something, maybe even write myself. Reading is my drug. When i was a kid books more real to me than life and infinitely more pleasurable.

10. i meditate most days. 

11. Sometimes i think i'd like to have been a man. Especially Picasso. He just drew and shagged all the time, never had to wash up, make the packed lunches or remember people's birthdays. He was totally selfish and everyone adored him. oh, and he was a genius of course. How cool is that? My kind of life. 

12. At college i used to write letters to Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Pretentious? Moi? Never.

13. When i was pregnant i ate tuna and banana sandwiches. 

14. I was far too good when i was younger and now it's too late to be naughty. I missed my chance and i do regret it. Someone please remind me of this when my girls start being teenagers...

15. i often feel a wave of pure joy when i hang out the washing and see it against the blue sky and think how lucky i am to have people who go in those clothes, and a home to wash them in, and a sky to hang them up against. Bliss. 

16. I'm an agnostic but i wish i wasn't. I'd like to have the confidence and conviction of atheism, or the comfort and security of belief. I have neither, and if i accept God may or may not exist, i must live my life as if either possibility may be true. It does my head in sometimes. How much easier to be born something - jewish, muslim, quaker, buddhist; i'd like to be any of those!

17. i often feel a complete failure. i struggle with this almost daily. 

18. i didn't used to be vain and now i look in the mirror and realise it's too late! 

19. i hide chocolate from my family and eat it at 2pm when i listen to the Archers.

20. i can't understand why anyone watches brain rottingly awful soaps or reality tv. (The Archers isn't a soap - they're real people ok.)

21. i can't bear the 'C' word. i think C***ts are lovely so it shouldn't be used as such a vicious word. Gay friends say they can't comment on the loveliness or otherwise of C***ts so they're allowed to use it. I say one may not worship at the altar of the Sacred Yoni, but one can show a little RESPECT. 

22. I love drawing even though i'm not great at it. i want to push myself as far as i possibly can by drawing daily, so when i die even if i'm still not great at it i'll be the best i can possibly be, and i'll have had all the joy of those hours of drawing... 

23. i think about things too much 

24. i want my children to be happier and more secure than i was (am?) i don't want to hand my insecurities on to them. i want them to see themselves for the talented, clever, beautiful creatures they are. I know the only way to teach is by example. i'm trying really hard.

25. i've searched my heart and i genuinely don't care about money and fame, but i would like to do something worthwhile. So this year i'm trying something new - no goals, no pressure, just a bit of creativity and play, and relishing everyday, minute by minute.