30 Days of Me – Day One!

And here we go!  The first topic for the 30 Days of Me meme is:

Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

So let’s start with the recent picture:

This is me, taken by the lovely Bri of Fat Lot of Good, last Friday night as we were just about to go to the “Bodies Abound” event in Newtown in Sydney.  I was in Sydney for the Australian Fat Studies conference (which was AMAZING).  Bri takes amazing photos, I’d like to employ her to take more for me.

Now, 15 interesting facts about me… hmmm…

1.  My earliest memory is of shoes.  Some of you will not be surprised by this.  They were red, patent leather, Mary-Janes and I had white lacy ankle socks on with them.  I was laying on the back seat of my Grandparents car with my feet up on the window.  I think I was about 2 years old.

2.  When I was 21, I started a community radio station.  It’s still running today, over 15 years later.  They used commercials I recorded for about a decade!

3.  I have to swallow peas whole or it makes me retch.

4.  I am allergic to sheep.  Yes, the whole sheep.  I can’t eat the meat, wear the wool, or come in contact with lanolin.

5.  I used to own a  music shop.

6.  I have never lived anywhere outside of South East Queensland.  One day I hope to change that.

7.  I am a complete texture junkie.  I have to touch everything, and if something has a pleasant texture, I find it hard to leave it alone.  I have embarrassed myself on more than one occasion by fondling the clothing of someone I shouldn’t.  An old boss had a corduroy jacket that I could not leave alone.

8.  If I could, I would cover my entire body in tattoos.

9.  For some reason, people sometimes think I have a British accent.

10.  Some of my best friends in the world were met via the internet.

11.  This blog was started as a travel blog.

12.  I have lived here at this address for 13 years, renting.  I know!

13.  For many years, I was almost agoraphobic.  Other than to go to work, I never went anywhere.  Straight to work, straight home, I couldn’t socialise and didn’t spend a night anywhere but in my own home for about 5 years.

14.  Two years later I travelled to the US and Canada on my own for three months.  It was a huge achievement for me.

15.  I have had a penpal for 22 years.  She came to visit me in 2004 and I went to visit her in Perth (Australia) in 2006.