Friday, May 16, 2014

Five Questions For You On A Friday

We're having a heatwave ("a tropical heatwave!" my chorus trills). Temps of 80 to 90 degrees every day. Which leads me to my first question for you...

Only Marilyn could look stunning in a safety pin and old straw hat. Wardrobe mistress must have been on the gin.


1. What's the hottest place you've ever been?
Mine is Egypt, when I was 26. Or Matataa in the Bay Of Plenty, NZ - on the pavement outside the fish and chip shop - boiling!

In Siwa Oasis, Egypt


2. Have you ever personally helped a homeless person?
Great story this week in the SFChron about a couple of taxi drivers in San Francisco who noticed a vacant patch of dirt under the bridge and decided to rent it and create a "Food Truck Lounge." A homeless guy who used to sleep on the site has been hired to sweep up. His job benefits include a gym membership so he has a place to clean up every day.

3. Who the heck are Clover Canyon?
I'd never heard of them and now magazines are chockaful of their stuff!

Sherri  just got this Clover Canyon frock in, reckon one of you would look amazeballs in it

4. Edward Snowdon, hero or traitor?
I've just read about him in Vanity Fair (I know, the low cal option) and I'm leaning towards brave...apparently the most damning revelations about the govt. are yet to come. One of the most bizarre things was how his girlfriend would Instagram herself in the nude holding theatrical props.

5. Have you ever taken a chance on love (or wished you had?)
Last winter, a bloggy friend, Optimistic Existentialist (aka Keith) started back and forth emails with another blogger, Beate, who lived in Bavaria. Then they started spending hours (5-6 hours!) on the phone every day. Then they took a big step - she came over to visit him. They fell completely in love. Then he visited her. They decided they couldn't be apart for any longer. Guess what? They just got engaged and he is moving to be with her in Bavaria!

A modern bloggy love story: the Optimistic Existentialist and Beate






81 comments:

  1. Number 5 - yes - twice, both foreigners, whom I met briefly at first in interesting circumstances, both lovely.

    Snowdon - would take too much time to answer.

    Homeless person yes, many times, it hurts me to see homeless people.

    Clover Canyon make very cool clothes for young ins!

    Hmm, Egypt, Jordan, Africa, Las Vegas - so so hot.

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    1. Jordan, yes, blimin hot too. Tabitha, I keep wondering if we ever crossed paths backpacking around the Arab states but I mostly banged into scruffy kiwis who cut their own hair like myself (a couple who bizarrely were good friends back in NZ)

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    2. I was young, I tootled off their on my own for my 21 st birthday and travelled a while and dossed on beaches!

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    3. Tabs, I just eagerly pored through my OED Kinky-Slang edition (dog-eared btw) to have a school boy giggle over 'dossed'....do you torment me out of spite?

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    4. ...yup and I don't need more words for that

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  2. Hmmm hottest place is here, don't go many places I fear. Yep. Beats me. Hero. Yep

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  3. Death Valley in June where the park rangers told us not to turn on the air conditioning in the cars! I still get thirsty just thinking about it!!

    Don't know enough about snow den fella but I don't want to demonise him as it seems to sign of our times to do that...

    Don't know this canyon things

    I have tried to help but helping isn't as easy as it sounds...in fact last year I got into a bit of a tiff with a big issue seller bc I told him I already had an issue so wanted to just give him money but he wouldn't take it....

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  4. Hcek, that is tricky as you don't need two Big Issues. Naomi, sounds like you do truckloads of good in your day job anyway.

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    1. Oh but it's not a proper day job at all just project to project!

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    2. Still! It's more practical stuff than I do!

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  5. Love Love Love Clover Canyon..just went to an event last night and wore a super fun clover canyon dress which zips up front and is almost a scuba suit fabric,,,plus I have lots of their summer fun tops...my fav!!!

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  6. 1. Chicago one summer 101F, no wind, awful.
    2. Have purchased a few meals. Lived in Miami and a lot were scammers. Rather give to homeless shelter, etc.
    3. Clover Canyon? Got nothing.
    4. Mixed bag on Snowdon. A bit difficult to define.
    5. Yes...but kind of new what I was getting into.

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    1. 5. Deets needed for nosyme...how so?

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    2. Sometimes I have no idea what you are saying :). Thought I'd be going to med school but wasn't sure. Hunter was in Miami and asked me to come live with him until I figured it all out...we had been dating off and on since 15. No regrets...no med school.

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    3. Re no idea what I am saying: I feel that all the time, and I'm me. "Details for nosy me" was what I was saying. My husband says also I always start in the middle of a sentence or a story...
      Re: no Med School and yes to Hunter, Happily ever after

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  7. Death Valley
    Lots of support via agencies
    Cute
    Brave and foolish (how often those go hand in hand)
    Yes, was a disaster. See Snowden answer above.

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  8. Hello:

    Gosh! This requires some thinking about late on a Friday night!!

    1. Either here in Budapest at the height of summer or, possibly, last December in Montevideo.

    2. Yes. Usually we go out, if we are at home, late on Christmas Day night or Boxing Day with little parcels we have made up of food to give to those sleeping on the streets. But we only touch the tip of a very big iceberg. And that is so sad.

    3.'Clover Canyon'??????????

    4. No comment!! We cannot afford to be refused entry to the United States when, finally, we get around to visiting. Which really we should do NOW!!

    5.We both adore too many of our Bright Young Things to single anyone of them out. And we loved Keith's story.

    Jó hétvégét!

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    1. BYT - that would be a kind name for some of the lemons I "dated"

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  9. 1. Alabama in the summer
    2. Yes - just this week :)
    3. No earthly clue lol
    4. More hero than traitor...
    5. YES - as you know from what you wrote. Best decision of my life :)

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    1. have not been to Alabama, sounds like its exacerbated by the stickiness

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  10. Hometown can turn on the heat, so for us more about where's the coldest place you ever been.
    Does buying the Big Issue count? Also, the usual lot of couch surfers and friends leaving the marital home.
    Clover Canyon is gorgeous and not just for young things, know an 80 year old who rocks their tops.
    Snowdon? I think the answer to that is in the future.
    Love is always a game of chance and absolutely adore that story.

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    1. Hometown?
      Big Issue counts for sure.
      Nice to know about the 80 year old!

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  11. 1. desert in Egypt, Jordan.
    2. yes, offered the take-out I'd just bought to a guy who was asking for some change to buy food. He said no, thanks, he'd prefer a hot meal. I was crushed.
    3. ?
    4. still turning it over and over in my mind, thinking of the Pentagon Papers and other scandals that became acts of patriotism after a few years.
    5. yes.

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    1. Did you do the Wadi Rum, I had no extra clothes for that famous night sleeping in the desert. It was the most miserably cold night of my life!

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  12. 1. Thailand
    2. Not on this level. That's wonderful! When I worked in the ED I always let the homeless chaps sleep on the benches in the middle of the night when no-one else was around. I'd hide them from the Sisters who would (probably rightly) throw them out, so they could have a bit of kip, and pretend I was still 'investigating' even though I'd discharged them long ago, and I've spent hours on the 'phone to hostels and social services trying to get people into shelters when the dragons were screaming that it wasn't my responsibility and I had to see the next person to MEET THE TARGETS, but I kind of feel like those were part of my job. We asked for donations to St Mungo's (a homeless shelter in London) as wedding presents. When I've recovered a bit more from medicine I'd like to volunteer a bit (but would like best of all to work for ChildLine, if they'll have me). I feel very conflicted about giving money in the street.
    3. Who?
    4. Neither, both.
    5. Yes! We've been together 8 years, and married for 1.

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    1. Yay for 5! I had a very odd experience which is kind of embarrassing in that maybe I should have done something differently. On a very cold day walking along Kensington Church St, Kensington (London) I saw the old Irish homeless guy who was always there next to the church. He was normally very stoic, almost crying from the cold. I got him into a taxi and took him to a shelter somewhere in Shepherds Bush. After an hour of checking him in to get dinner and giving him some cash, making sure he knew where to shower etc and he had some clothes. I got back into the cab. as we were speeding away I could see my guy walking the back way out of the shelter. We greeted each other the same every day after that and I kept on just giving him cash. I wasn't sure what to do.

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  13. When I find myself caught in hot, very hot, weather I use the phrase, "It is Africa hot!"

    I adopted this phrase after one trip through Africa (June 1979) stopping in 3 countries, one of which was Egypt. It has been, "Africa Hot" here this week. Okay, for very short periods of the day. ;-)

    Cheers!

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  14. 1. Heat: Baghdad
    2. Homeless: countless; especially around Christmas
    3. Never heard of C.C.
    4. Snowdon: Too complicated but I think his intentions may have been honorable.
    5. No, but almost...twice and they would have been disasters.

    But I do like the story of Optimistic Existentialist!

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    Replies
    1. No, a soldier...long story.

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    2. Intriguing! you've got to tell us more!

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    3. it really is a long story or it leaves more questions than it answers...I'm starting my blog in the next week or so and I'll have my A Call To Arms post as an early installment

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    4. I'll be your first follower - can't wait!

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    5. Exciting! Looking forward to finding out more about this man of mystery.

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  15. Near Chico, CA, August 1979 visiting boyfriend at University.
    Driving through rice fields in a 1966 Ford Mustang, no air conditioning, 125 degrees in the shade! I bought an ice block at a run down gas station, chunked off pieces of ice and placed it under my red bandana on my head. Blasted the radio, and drove at fast as I could back home to the cooling breezes of the San Francisco, Bay. Yeah, we later broke up. Thank God!
    Renee

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    1. Renee, so cool, this all has Thelma and Louise roadtrip quality about it! (without the Grand Canyon ending!)

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  16. Snowden is definitely a hero in my book!

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  17. Wish I would have taken a few more chances on love...

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  18. Houston in the dead heat and humidity of summer. Beastly stuff. At least it's dry heat here.

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  19. I didn't know that about Keith, being fairly new to his blog, but that is so very cool. It gives me faith in the world.
    Hottest place -- where I grew up - Oklahoma and 115 F is not unheard of in August. And then you factor in the humidity. You need not wonder why I am now in Portland. :)

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    1. Ha! I watch Portlandia and it seems like a Bay Area oop north, but prettier

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  20. Oh, I forgot and I have to say it. Edward Snowden is a hero! I missed the article however.

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    1. RJ, it's really making me think - would I ever have taken such a risk for something i believe in??

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  21. I heard Egypt was hot. Right now, two places come to mind for me. Rome in August and Nassau in July. :)

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    1. I think we used to sing about Nassau in St Joseph's Primary School in NZ but can't for the life of me remember the song...

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  22. I just realized I am not getting your blog anymore!Saw Linda and Julie and Jennifer tonight!OMG what have a I missed!!!!
    I will play catch up tomorrow am!

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    1. OMG really? I wonder what is up with my blogspot? So great to hear from you my friend, we talked about the SF Chron piece on you the other day!

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    2. I missed it!
      Just re-subscribed........hope that does the trick!

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    3. Great, so sorry about the sssubscribing slippage, that is very odd. Obviously there are poltegeists operating in this blog!!!

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  23. Hottest place I've been was bizarrely, Tenerife (I've been to other far flung places but this was in an exceptional heatwave). It was so hot the parting in my frizzy, long hair burnt and blistered and I was unable to brush it for days - a great look, even for me!
    And the biggest risk in love was deciding I wanted to marry a boy I saw across a room when I was 13 - still married to him, and I'm nearly 50!

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    1. Gosh that's impressive! you know everything about him! Tenerife, I never got there, seems like a moonscape on sea

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    2. I don't think I'd go back, not the prettiest place but we had a boozy week there in our early 20's!

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    3. Funny how you don't notice whether a beach (or a country) is well appointed or not when its all about the sea and sun. I actually didn't really notice that it rained in Wellington, NZ where I went to uni for 7 years!

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  24. 1) Singapore. And I live here. JOY.
    2) Many, many times. When Lukus and I lived in LA we would could up 15 spaghetti dinners and go roam the streets until we found homeless people to give them to... we would then chat for awhile....
    3) Yes-- Clover Canyon has some really fantastic prints. I have shares some of their design in NoH in the past...
    4) INCREDIBLY BRAVE--- I absolutely applaud what he did!
    5) Fortunately falling in love with Lukus didn't require any crazy action on either of our parts-- it was by all accounts easy... the worst part was that we worked together and it could have been awkward had things not worked out.

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    1. Love your spaghetti dinner and a chat idea, nice and immediate.

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  25. I would say Egypt while going down the Nile by boat, but I was so sick that it colors my memory, so when we moved from So. California to Georgia and we were near Blythe our air conditioner went out, it was late June and I'm sure part of my brain melted.
    I've given many times, but prefer to give to charities like The Salvation Army, Second Harvest and others.
    Never heard of Clover Canyon
    Well intentioned, should come back and defend himself
    Fell in love at 16 and never looked back

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    1. How funny you should say that, the other photo of me I was going to post was feluca on the nile, I look totally green, but because of the movement (even swimming makes me sea sick sometimes) not the food actually which was excellent. Well he called it a feluca, it was more planks with a sheet, but a great guy.

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    2. PS he should come back and defend himself, just heard an interview on NPR with the main journalist who was not arrested (well not yet so far)

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  26. Central Turkey...a tad on the warm side.
    Traitor and puppet for putin, soon to be cast aside when his value decreases.

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  27. 1.Hottest place for me has been Tulsa (if you are averaging the temp for the whole 24 hours - 116 daily high, but still 90 degrees at 4am - Yikes!)
    2.I don't mind giving to professionals who know what is actually helping, so "no".
    3. Made in the USA. California meet Pucci.
    4. Find a video and watch his eyes.
    5. Met my husband while I was on a date, so sort of took a chance.

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    1. 1. holy heck! we don't even have air conditioning here - you don't need it, well only for two nights a year.
      4. OOh now I have to watch the eyes.
      5.Were you on a date with him - or someone else?

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    2. On a date with someone who I was considering breaking up with - because I finally realized how obscenely wealthy his family was. The kind of money that could more easily make you unhappy than happy.

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  28. Last summer in Austria it hit 110 degrees. Austria, for goodness sake, land of snow, mountains, skiing. A freak heat wave and our apartment, reasonably enough, had no air con.

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    1. Even Julie Andrews (did she sing Hills are Alive in Austria?) would have have kerfuddled with that!

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  29. Sometimes I think I live in the hottest place on earth. We hit 103 in April!!! Of course, we are back into the 80s having weathered that storm.

    I don't have a touching homeless story, but I do give oodles of money to our local homeless shelter. Kinda counts, right?!

    I also read the VF piece on Snowden. I did not even consider it low cal. It tooks me a week to get through the entire piece. It left me thinking more highly of him than I had prior to reading it. Love left-leaning VF for making me even more liberal in the midst of all crazy conservatives living around me.

    Nothing looks amazaballs on me anymore, but I love the frock!!

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  30. No idea the hottest place I've even been really, Florida was quite hot when I was a child. Yes, I've personally helped the homeless, I think it's something everyone should do without thinking about it, if we were in their posistion, I would htink we'd want someone to help us too. Everyone has hard times and difficulties. And yes, I've taken a chance on love, I left America to be with my now husband in the UK :))) I had barely been out of Michigan before moving here, so it was quite a change ;))) xx

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  31. Hottest place - Egypt when I was there as part of my degree.
    Homeless - not really as they have been removed from the centre of town.
    Snowden - don't know, haven't really followed the nitty gritty of it.
    Love - I met my future ex-h at my penfriend's wedding, wrote to him, got together for a few weekends then decided to move to France to be with him. So I suppose I took a chance on love. My family was not impressed. :) (all the more reason to do it...)
    CC - never heard of her. That dress reminds me of Desigual (or something).

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    1. Sarah: how were they removed?
      Penfriend...now that is a lovely
      word you don't hear these days

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  32. The hottest place - Dubai in the summer. Before that Cairo several years ago. I remember we stepped out of the bus and it was like opening an oven door! Love the bloggy love story and what a cute photo.

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  33. Awww, thank you so so much for mentioning us on your blog! That is amazing and I'm a bit speechless :) It's so amazing that we inspire with our story!
    I'm not sure what the hottest place was I was ever in, at least lately it was definitely Boston in summer :)
    I hope you're having a wonderful week!

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    1. Congrats Beate. Boston? I'm wondering where the hottest place was when we were in Germany but I think we were always there in winter. No wait a vague memory of a beer tent somewhere is coming to me!

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