100 things about me

1. I’m Swedish, but I’m not blonde
2. and my favourite music is not Abba
3. My most depressing memory is when I was about 10 years old and the boy I had a crush on (and we’re talking major crush here, in fact I’m quite convinced that if I saw him now I’d still be tongue-tied) asked why I had mushroom hair. I did have mushroom hair (think exceptionally big and fluffy), but I was gutted nevertheless, and part of me still has not recovered
4. I’m determined to one day be able to do the splits
5. and so I practise pilates
6. and yoga
7. But I can still only just touch my toes with straight legs
8. I would like to change careers and become a shiatsu practitioner
9. and a pilates instructor
10. One of my greatest disappointments is that I didn’t realise that I wanted to be a dancer until I was in my late 20s
11. Italian ice cream is the best
12. No, that’s not true – Turkish ice cream is far superior
13. I want to write Mills & Boon novels and get paid to dream up unbelievable story lines set in exotic destination, where the men are tall, dark and handsome, and the women’s bosoms heavy as they struggle with their feelings
14. I have two cats, one Abyssinian called Heinz and one Tonkinese called Nar
15. I love typewriters
16. My favourite flower is the lilac, closely followed by lily of the valley. I also love cowslips and coltsfoot
17. I used to have a big crush on Anthony Andrews in Ivanhoe (swoon)
18. I love train journeys and once travelled across Canada on a train
19. One of my favourite foods is split belly aubergine
20. but I also love good old-fashioned Swedish food, pickled herring, new potatoes, chives and soured cream… yum
21. I still think I look 21, until I see myself in the mirror and realise I’m actually getting old
22. that’s depressing…
23. Katharine Hepburn is my all-time heroine, she had it all, independence, style, attitude, plus of course she was beautiful
24. One of my other heroines is Vanda Scaravelli. In my opinion she proved that it’s never too late
25. My favourite drink is water with lots of freshly squeezed lemon
26. but I also like champagne…
27. I once saw Cate Blanchett in my local super market. I nearly died. I’m still swooning in fact
28. I love Cate Blanchett
29. Montezuma’s chocolates are the best
30. My parents had me 14 years after my “youngest” sister
31. My oldest sister had a daughter when I was only nine months old
32. One of my favourite films is How to Steal a Million with Audrey Hepburn and Peter O’Toole
33. The greatest experience of my life was to be present when my best friend gave birth to my godson
34. I love surprises
35. I don’t like heights
36. I have a phobia of snakes and even worms; anything that wriggles brings me out in a cold sweat and paralyses me
37. I’m very afraid of big dams – can’t bear to even look at them on TV
38. I think customs and traditions are really important, especially in our detached society. I love the rituals surrounding different holidays, and enjoy preparing festive foods, bringing people together. I’m particularly interested in customs that tie in with different seasons, and those we no longer pay attention to
39. My ex boyfriend gave me light bulbs for Christmas one year (and nothing else, no wait, he also gave me a pack of three empty video cassettes)
40. I ended the relationship because of the light bulbs, and I’ve been celebrating every day since
41. We’re still friends though, and call and wish each other happy light bulb every Christmas
42. When my mother was diagnosed with kidney cancer last spring I spent three weeks looking after her following her operation. It was the most amazing thing to help her through such a difficult time, not only were the roles reversed, but it was like we finally got to know each other. My relationship with my father also became much closer during this time
43. My mother made a complete recovery
44. My dream holiday is to take the train all the way from London to Istanbul and stop in Paris, Vienna and Budapest on the way (I would also love to go on the Transsiberian railway all the way to China)
45. I have met Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and spoke to him in Turkish. It made him smile
46. My partner has had dinner with another Nobel prize winner (John Nash)
47. When I was a waitress in Toronto I once served Huey Lewis
48. he didn’t leave a tip
49. I also served Annie Lennox, I don’t remember if she left a tip, but her beauty and grace more than made up for it anyway
50. I love the soundtrack from Monsoon Wedding
51. I was once married to a vegan chef; I had dreadlocks and was barefoot at our wedding. An ex boyfriend was my man of honour. He slept on the sofa on the wedding night. I think the marriage was doomed to fail
52. I’m definitely a cup half full person
53. I used to work as a freelance journalist
54. Sometimes I feel stuck without a language. I have lost a lot of Swedish, but I don’t feel I will ever be able to fully grasp or master English in the way I would like to. It’s one of my biggest frustrations
55. I visit an elderly lady every Saturday as part of the local neighbourhood care scheme
56. I think it’s really important that we don’t just spend time with our own generation. The elderly have so much to teach us, and they have the most wonderful stories to tell if only we are willing to listen
57. I don’t like metal. Wet metal is even worse (don’t ask)
58. I love beautiful notebooks, but I have a slight fear of writing in them (I’m working on it)
59. I meditate every morning
60. I love walking, fast
61. I detest diet products and would never knowingly touch anything containing artificial sweetener
62. I’m trying to love my body and my face as it approaches 40. It’s not easy
63. I’m not too keen on flying
64. Part of me wants to lead a very simple life; live in the countryside, grow most of my own food; but the other part of me wants decadence. I’m struggling to find the right balance
65. I used to hate my nose, but now I actually REALLY like it
66. I used to hate my hair, I still do, mostly
67. I dress mainly in black
68. I like really big sunglasses (and please note that I always have, not just since they became fashionable again)
69. The most expensive piece of clothing I own is a gorgeous full-length asymmetrical dress by Diane von Furstenberg. It’s black with huge white polka dots and wild splashes of red and blue. Totally not me and ridiculously expensive, but I feel beautiful in it
70. I love playing Settlers of Catan
71. The most delicious thing I know is wild strawberries
72. closely followed by warm cloudberries with vanilla ice cream
73. I am agnostic
74. I love snow
75. I left Sweden when I was 19. I lived in Toronto for four years. Then I moved back to Sweden for one year. Then I lived in the Netherlands for one year. Then I moved to Vancouver Island for four years. Now I’ve lived in the UK for eight years
76. I love the smell of freshly mowed grass
77. I love cherries, mangoes, blueberries, raspberries, plums and of course wild strawberries… I just love fruit and berries I guess
78. My favourite cocktail is the Bellini
79. I love to read, mainly novels
80. I live with my partner, we have been together for three years
81. He is my best friend
82. I used to suffer from panic attacks. I don’t any longer, and it is wonderful to be able to say that it’s in the past
83. I love Italy and have recently started learning Italian
84. I was always told I was useless at maths, and I believed that to be the truth, until I did an access course in maths and came top of my class. It felt like one of my life’s greatest achievements
85. I did a degree in herbal medicine, only to realise at the end, after 500 clinic hours, that I didn’t want to be a herbalist
86. I love seahorses
87. I don’t know much about art, not yet. But I love spending time in museums, looking at the paintings, feeling them
88. I think I may be slightly synestetic
89. I try to be mindful, to live in the moment as much as possible. I try to pay attention to the fact that this moment will never come back. I don’t believe in heaven or an afterlife, and I want to make this life count as much as possible. It's not always very easy
90. My mother grew up in Germany during the war, and once saw Hitler as he passed through the town in a car. All the children were lined up on the streets, standing to attention
91. My mother wanted to move to Sweden because there hadn’t been a war there for many years. She met my father through a dating service
92. Our cat Heinz is named after cybernetician and radical constructivist Heinz von Foerster
93. Our cat Nar is named after author Karen Armstrong (kare NAR mstrong), but her name also means pomegranate in Turkish
94. Although I try to eat healthy I love to PIG OUT occasionally. My aim is to eat well 80% of the time, and allow some indulgences the remaining 20% (sometimes these numbers are inverted)
95. I've started reading poetry in recent years. One of my favourite poets is Gerard Manley Hopkins
96. I speak Swedish, English and a fair bit of Dutch. I'm working on the Italian, and Turkish to some extent
97. I guess my strongest feature are my legs
98. I love baking and cooking
99. I'm a little bit afraid of dogs (except whippets) even though we had a dog when I was growing up (a collie, she looked just like Lassie)
    
100. My man just told me that I have a laugh that makes him feel happy all over that we're together. It doesn't get much better than that