Things Come in Elevens … Part 1

 

Please feel free to thank (blame!) Theresa Allen for dropping me into the “11 Questions” meme that’s been doing the rounds of late.

I’m going to publish my response in two parts, and I hope you enjoy learning a little bit more about who I am, and what I stand for. Be warned, I have a list of 11 people who I’m going to challenge to do the same 🙂 Stay tuned!

Part 1

  1. Acknowledge the nominating blogger.

  2. Share 11 random facts about yourself.

Part 2 (Coming)

  1. Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.

  2. List 11 bloggers.

  3. Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer, and let all the bloggers know they have been nominated. Don’t nominate a blogger who has nominated you.

 

11 Random Facts about Me

1) I like listening to music that was popular before I was born … I do like some modern music, including some local Western Australian bands like Birds of Tokyo and Eskimo Joe,  but I can sing along to most of the major hits of the 1980s.

2) Curiously, I also love classical music (anything but opera), and regularly attend classical concerts. Some past highlights include Mozart’s Requiem, Elgar’s Enigma Variations, and Mozart’s Piano Concertos.

3) I’m a keen photographer, and am currently the proud owner of a Nikon D7000 SLR. I enjoy taking photos of architecture, landscapes, and large scale panoramas, although I am sometimes 6 months behind in editing my images.

4) For some years I’ve documented the workings of Fremantle Ports. Recently, I was leafing through a maritime history book, and realised I was present for some of the significant cruise ship arrivals depicted (e.g. the Queen Mary II). In one case I believe I was standing next to the photographer whose work appeared in the book 🙂

5) My trip to Doha, Qatar in June 2013 was my first international trip, and first plane flight, in over 20 years. I travelled the world when I was three years old, and can’t remember any of it 🙁

6) I have never travelled to the Eastern States of Australia. I will make my first trip ‘East’ in June 2014, when I will attend the Flat Connections Conference in Sydney.

7) I am lucky enough to live with my family; Mum, Dad, and two sisters. We don’t have any pets, although for the past few weeks we’ve had a stray chicken roaming our backyard. Nicknamed “Free Range”, the little sod recently decided to sit at our back door ‘screeching’ in the early hours of the morning – wearing out her welcome.

Miss "Free Range" aka "Miss Squawkalot" aka "THAT BIRD"

Miss “Free Range” aka “Miss Squawkalot” aka “THAT BIRD”

8) I like playing computer and IPad games. I’m currently playing the strategic online multiplayer “Galaxy on Fire Alliances”,, and have earned a degree of notoriety amongst my students for being the teacher who (occasionally) plays Minecraft. I haven’t played for a while, as GoFA takes up most of my spare time.

9) As a stamp collector, I love tracing the history of countries through the changes to their postage stamps. While I started collecting at age 8, I haven’t delved into the collection for a while. It’s probably time to go back to it.

10) I have diverse reading interests, but my bookcase is full of science fiction and fantasy novels. I have 26 Terry Pratchett ‘Discworld’ novels, and an almost complete collection of L.E Modesitt’s ‘Saga of Recluce’. I’ve read them all about 2-3 times on average.

11) Not having a television, I spend a lot of time listening to the radio and surfing the web. I’m writing this post while listening to the cricket, the final Ashes Test (Australia vs English). Suffice to say the English are not particularly performing well 😛

 

Anyway, stay tuned for Part 2, where I’ll answer Theresa’s questions, and come up with a few of my own. It will be published in a few days.

One response

  1. Great to learn a little more about you, Michael. In some ways you’re a bit mysterious. Thanks for coming out of your “shell” for a bit. I know you’re not too fond of these type of things, but it’s nice to go back in time… 🙂

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