Heh heh.
Belated, of course, but I still wanted to do my traditional birthday round-up post. This is where I log all the things I did for the first time in the previous year, just to make sure I'm not sitting in a daze on my midde-aged arse.
So, when I was 44, for the first time...
- I went to the Alps, and climbed about in the snow on really really high mountaintops, and walked inside a glacier.
- I found out what snowblindness is like.
- I bought a laundry basket. (My lack of a laundry basket was regarded by my mother as a sign of my wild bohemian eccentricity.)
- One of my books featured in a porn clip and I got a mention on the Maxim website, lol! ... thank you Jenny!
- I smoked a clay pipe, and chewed coca leaves.
- I rode in a red sports car with the top down (BMW Z4, I believe). (I'm no car-slut, but it's a pretty cool car. Sadly I disgraced myself by screaming "OH FUCK NO!!" as we overtook into oncoming traffic...)
- I pogoed! It was at my first Big Country gig. I also saw Simple Minds and Hayseed Dixie, live, for the first time.
- I met a whole slew of wonderful smutwriters at a public reading at Sh!
- I went canyoning. Okay, so it was a small, English, canyon, but we did have to leap into icy rockpools.
- I harvested chequers. Yum.
- I went to Maelstrom, the LARP fest.
- I played Call of Cthulhu via Skype. Go technology!
- I had my official photo taken as part of a professional portfolio.
- I went on a romance writing course, and it was excellent.
- I got caught short on the motorway, and had to pull in on the hard shoulder and dive over the barrier and down a bank to pee. (This is not such a good sign.)
- I got over my kissing phobia. With help ;-D
- I went to Bologna in Italy - where I was also subject to my first attempted pickpocketing.
- My first Ellora's Cave romantic novel, The King's Viper, came out.
- I sold my romantic Arabian Nights adventure, Heart of Flame, to Samhain.
- I tried a Hollywood wax. (It was the shock of my life when it grew back black, instead of ginger.)
- I wrote an e-signature. (I'm left-handed. Weirdly, I have to fake my own signature with my right hand, when using a mouse to write.)
- I filed an American tax form.
- I had champagne (and only champagne) for lunch. (Result: terrible sunburn.)
- I went to Peru! Where I went sand-boarding, walked in the Amazon jungle, and fed piranha. I saw wild condors and sea lions :-)
And I sold 5 short stories - down on last year, because I've been writing and editing novels instead. But not bad.
All other Firsts this year are filed under "Classified - restricted personnel only."
;-)
Looking forward to being 45!
8 comments:
Ignores all the other amazing stuff:
You're over your kissing phobia???
Kegels and pilates for the peeing issue. They're good for us all!
I love these annual roundups—and I always show them to Helia, who's also a pursuer of new experiences. Rock on!
Jo, I'm glad to say it was the two bottles of diet coke that were the root cause of the unplanned roadstop!
Jeremy - high five to Helia!
Jeez, Janine you're so incredibly lazy. Do try to make more of an effort next year ;)
You're so right Kat!
;-D
Awesome list. I feel like such a slacker.
Here's to great experiences at 45!
I have to agree with Craig. My first in 2011: I suffered from the longest period of depression IN MY LIFE and I struggled back to the surface so that now, pretty much a year to the day when the depression AMBUSHED me, I am happy and looking forward to Xmas more than I have in years.
Not a very exciting first but I know you'll know - an important one.
Oh yeah and the Erotic Awards voted me "Best Story Teller of the Year" and I have the flying peen to prove it.
As for 2012 . . . sssssh. It's a secret.
All my sympathy re the depression, Madeline. I know what that's like. But Yay! for the rest :-)
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