91. Publish a Cult Website

Alright people - I have decided that whilst I am boring - Oomfufu the Travelling Barbie is not, so as my assessment piece for school I have decided to defer to and write about 'fufs adventures rather than my own.

Tonight I have created an Oomfufu the Travelling Barbie blog in the vain hope that it will one day achieve the 'cult' status that I require to accomplish number 91 on my list.

And why wouldn't it, I ask you? 'fufs has friends in high places, has attended the Olympics, met distinguished Australian people (David Koch, Kevin Rudd, Hilltop Hoods) and travelled to quite a lot of places that I haven't. She is something of a living (if plastic) legend.

Please visit her (our) blog and join in her adventure as she transverses the globe, makes new friends, seeks new adventures and looks for Mr Right (Ken need not apply)...

58. Live in the Place you Love

I love my apartment.. Okay, so it's old and now that winter is only a week away, and it's been raining all week, it smells musty... but it's my apartment. I pay the rent - it's set up how I want it - it's my apartment and I LOVE IT!

At least I did until I got an unwanted visitor.

My Dad has been staying in my spare room for almost 4 weeks. What started as a 1 night visit as he was between houses has turned into 4 weeks of shared bathrooms, diet coke in my fridge (he is the only man I know who still drinks diet coke when coke zero is far more black and masculine), and the lid being up on the toilet. It's killing me!

I mean I love my Dad but we lived together for a long time and it soured faster than an iced coffee on a 40 degree day.. So now, when our relationship is back on track, it's kind of difficult to be back in the same boat again. My question to him is - when are you moving out? My question to all of you is how do I delicately and diplomatically ask him to leave? It's a tough one... And I'm not sure it's one I can answer in a blog post!

So, I'm 50/50 on whether I am living in a place I love - ask me again in a couple of weeks and I'll let you know.

62. Join the Mile High Club

So, I fly a lot... And I mean a lot.

Today is May 18 and so far this year, I have flown from Sydney to Melbourne 4 times, I have flown from Sydney to Brisbane and back, from Sydney to Cairns and back, from Sydney to the Gold Coast and then back out of Brisbane and then there was a private charter from Sydney to Albury (do not get me started on how much I hated that particular flight)...

So, I fly a lot... And I hate it. But that's not the point of this post.

I'm curious - how does one go about joining the Mile High Club? Do you have to fly with someone you're involved with for it to happen? Is it a surreptitious wink to some random stranger in Business Class as you board the flight (please - economy is so passe!)? Is it something only flight attendants on those bawdy British sitcoms do?

I've had a fling with a Pilot - he flew for British Airways, we met in Singapore when I was there working and he was about 10 years older than me (silver fox is the most often used phrase for that hook up). It all took place on the ground though... But it was the uniform, the power and his thrusting jet engines (sorry Mum - I promised someone I'd write that)...

I met another pilot in Melbourne a couple of months ago (also what one could dub a silver fox) and not once did he say "fly my friendly skies...a mile high"...

So I'm curious as to how it happens. There was a hot guy that I sat next to on the flight to the GC on Saturday night - no ring, nobody flying with him, we smiled politely and took our seats, careful not to touch. How do you go from that politeness to a quicky in a room that is a quarter of the size of my wardrobe?

I'm throwing the question out to the world (or to my readership at least).. Have you ever joined the Mile High Club? Do you know anyone who has? I want a story - it just may not necessarily be mine....

My Tattoo

75. Get a Tattoo or a Piercing

Today is Mother's Day (is that apostrophe in the right place Mama?)...And as always on Mother's Day (or Father's Day) we reflect on our relationship with our parents.

Last night when I was out with my new friends from school, we talked about our parents. I was saying that I didn't really start to rebel until I was an adult. Sure, I did the usual things that teenagers do - underage drinking with my older work friends, the occasional sneaky cigarette but for the most part I think I was a pretty good kid. My rebellion was always such that I never wanted to get caught - I think I was terrified of my Mum being disappointed in me. So I never did anything that was too out there (or at least if I did do it I will never admit to it and I never did get caught).

I remember that Mum had this real issue with ear piercing and so while all my friends had theirs done, I wasn't allowed to until the Christmas I was 14 (it may have even been 15). It was such a big deal! I was so excited! Mum bought me proper earrings, we made a day of going to the Plaza to get it done. Then just after my 16th birthday, I was at the Plaza with a friend and I called Mum and asked her if she'd mind if I had my ears pierced a 2nd time - she wasn't happy but she told me it was up to me.. I was so riddled with guilt but I did it anyway - rebellious I know!! (Just as an aside - by the time my younger sister was 16 she had massive fleshies in her ears, an eyebrow ring and a tongue piercing and Mum never batted an eyelid - I guess you could say I paved the way).

I didn't get my belly pierced until I was 25 (it could have even been 26) and I was such a wuss that I made my friend's daughter (15 or 16 at the time) go first. If it hurt Bec then I was going to back out - seriously? What is with that? (And thanks again Bec for being the crash test dummy). My tragus piercing was the first one that I went into on my own with no fear of retribution (from Mum) and nobody to hold my hand - I was 29 at the time. So today - I have three holes in each ear (I rarely ever wear earrings) and my tragus is pierced too. So does that mean I have ticked off Number 75 on my list? If this doesn't - maybe the rest of this post will...

My Mum's bigger pet hate though was tattoos.... "If you ever get a tattoo, I'll take you back to the parlour and get your whole body done" she always threatened. And at 14, 15, 22, 25 - I believed her - she was that adamant about it. I never rationally thought about the cost of getting my whole body tattooed or how she'd managed to drag an adult down to a tattoo parlour and force them to get inked (although I may have had visions of being strapped down to a table like in those movies set in psychiatric hospitals) but the threat lingered and I think I feared my Mum enough that I never did it.

Anyway, my 8 years younger sister got inked and managed to hide it from Mum for a year (including a holiday in Kakadu in the height of summer where we spent the whole time in our bikinis) but when Mum finally saw it on Christmas Day, she cried...and cried...and cried some more. (Fortunately I missed it having passed out early on as I am wont to do on Christmas Day after drinking from 7am). When Jacq got her second one, she sold it to Mum in a completely different way (Mum, is there anything I could ever do that could make you love me less? Yes, get another tattoo....Oh Jacqueline - where did you get it?) The only thing that got Mum through the second bit of ink was the realisation that Jacq had had it done in Brisbane and not Thailand (which I had had to talk Jacq out of while we were there on holidays the month before).

Jacq's 3rd tattoo is a tribute to our Grandma who passed away at the age of 89 last March. Grandma's favourite saying in the last few years was "Such is Life" - she would say it at weird times and mostly not within any context of what we were talking about but they saying resonated with her. Jacq had "Such is Life" tattooed on her ribs around the middle of last year. I was so touched by not only the sentiment, but the relevance of that saying that in September last year I went and had "C'est la vie" tattooed on my right hip. It's a tribute to life, to some of the things that I have been through (and that is why the placement on my right hip is significant) but more importantly it's a tribute to the women who have come before me and those who will come after me. It's for my Grandmarie, for my Mum and her sisters, for my sister but most importantly for me..

I told Mum about it on the anniversary of Grandma's death (over a bottle of wine seems to be the way to break bad news in my family) and she saw it a couple of weeks later. She did cry but she cried because of the sentiment and not so much the tattoo (at least I hope that's what it was)...

So, on this Mother's Day - I raise a glass to my Mum, and my Grandma - both beautifully strong women who taught me the value of love, life, respecting your elders, individuality and of paying tribute to the people that you love.

And Mum - I can't promise that I won't get another tattoo but I can promise that if I do it will be because I want to remember something or someone who has been incredibly important to me. I love you! Happy Mother's Day xxx

1. Write a Bestseller

So, here I am... I admit that it's been 8 days (maybe 9 or 10) since I first posted my blog entry and I admit that I've been unmotivated. It's a struggle - this working full time, studying 12 hours a week (in class only, not to mention that stuff you do externally) and trying to maintain the busy social life that a single twenty something (how old did I tell you I was again?) has.

Anyway, so it's Saturday and despite a few drinks last night, I was up at 7.30am this morning and was at Paddington by 9.10am for another day in school. Today's class was a continuation of last week's class on Screenplays and it was everything I was hoping for and more - discussions about sex, television, film, characterisation.. We watched and wrote BIG PRINT for scenes from the Dark Knight and Pulp Fiction. And then discussed a story from Sin City as it pertained to dramatic need (are you sensing a theme on the part of the Tutor?) For someone who hasn't written anything of substance since Uni (Facebook statuses and emails to family members don't count), any time I am asked to write and be criticised for it makes me uncomfortable.

Even more uncomfortable was the redness in my face and the hilarity that ensued when I unintentionally rhymed the logline that I was asked to write for a TV show or film (but my TV show was GLEE so it doesn't seem to out of the ordinary for it to be in rhyme). Still - it got a positive response and it did very succinctly describe the show (succinct is important particularly as economy with words has never been my strong suit)..

I walked out of class feeling quite inspired and full of energy (totally weird for me) and so a few of us went for a drink afterwards. 5 1/2 hours later we are dragging our asses out of what has essentially transformed from a pub to a nightclub in the time we have been there. We discussed everything - religion, sex, politics, gender equality, our families, marriage. It was one of those conversations that you have when you are getting to know people - full of passion and enthusiasm and a desire to get your point across!

Now, I'm home - wide awake and bursting with energy. I want to write something - a screenplay? a novel? a facebook status? an email to my brother who is in the Navy and currently in the middle east? I don't know! I just want to put something out there! And so my blog it is - it may not be a bestseller in the traditional sense but perhaps the more I put out there, the more inspired I will be. And maybe a bestseller will come out of it?

So, here I am...maybe a little drunk and rambling but excited and inspired at the same time. And on that note, I shall bid you adieu! Stick with me - Number 1 is generally the best place to start when working through any list but I don't expect a bestseller to happen overnight! I just hope that this new found enthusiasm ultimately translates....

The Mission Impossible - Part 2

51. Learn Another Language

52. Read the Greatest Books Ever Written

53. Complete a Coast to Coast Road Trip Across America

54. Make at Least One Huge Purchase You Can't Afford

55. Score the Winning Goal/Try/Basket

56. Gatecrash a Fancy Party

57. See the All Time Greatest Films

58. Live in the Place You Love

59. Leave a Job You Hate

60. Take Part in a Police Lineup

61. Get Away with the Perfect Practical Joke or Hoax

62. Join the Mile High Club

63. Make the Front Page of a National Newspaper

64. Drive a Car at Top Speed

65. Shout "Drinks Are on Me" in a Bar or Pub

66. Be Part of a Flash Mob

67. Visit...

68. Save Someone's Life

69. In Various Languages, Learn to...

70. Invent a Word that Makes it into the Dictionary

71. Have Adventurous Sex

72. Have Enough Money to Do All the Things on This List

73. Stand on the International Date Line

74. Learn to Fly a Plane

75. Get a Tattoo or a Piercing

76. Invent Something

77. Learn Astronomy and Read the Night Sky

78. Drink a Vintage Wine

79. Answer a Personal Ad

80. Spend Christmas on the Beach

81. Get Barred from a Pub or Club

82. Build Your Own House

83. Skinny Dip at Midnight

84. Sell All Your Junk on eBay and Make a Profit

85. Visit the World's Tallest Buildings

86. Run a Marathon

87. Conquer Your Fear

88. Get Married Unusually

89. Throw Away the Instant Noodles

90. Join the 16-Mile High Club

91. Publish a Cult Website

92. Own an Original Work of Art

93. Complete the Monopoly Board Pub Crawl

94. Get Something Named After You

95. Get Revenge

96. Be an Extra in a Film

97. Live Out of a Van

98. Go on a Demonstration

99. Confess

100. Reach 100 Years of Age

101. Continue Your Gene Pool

The Mission Impossible - Part 1

1. Write a Bestseller
2. Swim with....
3. Win an Award, Trophy or Prize
4. Catch a Fish With Your Bare Hands
5. Make a Discovery
6. Throw a House Party When Your Parents Are Out
7. Be Part of a Threesome
8. Realise Your Childhood Dream
9. Learn That Instrument
10. Leave Your Mark in Graffiti
11. Storm Chase a Tornado
12. Get a Piece of Art into an Exhibition
13. Meet Someone with Your Own Name
14. Ride the World's Biggest Rollercoasters
15. Stage Dive or Crowd Surf
16. Get into the Guinness Book of Records
17. Own a Pointless Collection
18. Study the Kama Sutra and Put Theory into Practice
19. Master Poker and Win Big in a Casino
20. Get Backstage and Get Off with a Rock God

21. Be a Human Guinea Pig

22. Go Up in a Hot Air Balloon

23. Get Arrested

24. See a Space Shuttle Launch

25. Capture the Moment in an Award-winning Photograph

26. Bungee Jump

27. See an Erupting Volcano

28. Sky Dive

29. Meet Your Idol

30. Stay in the Best Suite in a Five Star Hotel

31. Experience Weightlessness

32. See the Aurora Borealis

33. Get to Score a Hole in One

34. Design Your Own Cocktail

35. Play a Part in Your Favourite TV Show

36. Visit Every Country

37. Make Fire Without Matches

38. See These Animals in the Wild....

39. Go to the Dogs

40. Get a Free Upgrade on a Plane

41. Be Friends With Your Ex

42. Hit Your Targets

43. Throw a Dart into a Map and Travel to Where it Lands

44. Attend a Film Premiere

45. Do a Runner From a Fancy Restaurant

46. Scuba Dive

47. Milk a COw

48. Be Present When Your Country Wins the World Cup

49. See Both Solar and Lunar Eclipses

50. Write Your Name Over a Star on the Walk of Fame

101 Things

About a month ago I decided to create my own blog. It was a simplistic enough idea but I was fraught with concern - would anyone really care what I have to say? Do I even care what I have to say?

Then a week ago I started my Advance Diploma.. My course is 8 months long, 2 nights a week and all day Saturday and I envisioned 12 hours of lectures each week with a little bit of practical experience thrown in down the track (it is an Advanced Diploma in Screen and Media after all) but imagine my surprise when in the first class and after our 2nd (of 5 rounds ) of awkward introductions (you know the ones I mean - My name is xxxx and I work for xxxx and the reason I am here is because xxxx) when I was told that we could create our own blog!

OMG!! Not only do I have to do it as part of my assessment - people will be forced to read it!!

So here I am - creating my first blog post...

But what to write about?

For my (let's just call it) 25th Birthday last year, my rather cheeky brother and sister in law bought me a book of 101 Things To Do Before You Die. At the time, it made me laugh - there were things in there I have done on more than one occasion, things in there I want to do and things in there I would never ever ever do in a million millenia but I decided to embrace the book wholeheartedly and put it into action.

So why not write about it?

So my mission, now that I have chosen to accept it is to have a two year odyssey to try and do everything on the list.. I may throw in a couple of my own for good measure but I plan to stick true to the idea that there are 101 Things that everyone should do before they die!