1. I don’t like eating broken Marie biscuits.
2. When I’m upset and say “I’m okay” – I’m not really okay.
3. If I do admit to not being okay, I don’t like talking about it.
4. I can be OCD at times (you should see me butter my toast).
5. I hate doing dishes and laundry.
6. I flip channels and try to follow 2 programs at once.
7. I get distracted easily.
8. I forget to put the milk back into the fridge.
9. I forget to switch off appliances sometimes (I know what you’re thinking).
10. I can get *very* competitive at games and hate losing.
11. When I cook, I don’t like being distracted or want help.
12. When I don’t have food in my stomach, I’m the biggest grouch (you can only imagine what I’m like in Ramadaan).

That’s all I can think of right now.

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don’t do new year’s resolutions, find them totally pointless. Why wait for a particular time in the year to change who you are when you can do it anytime?

3. How will you be spending New Year’s Eve?
Probably indoors.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.

5. What countries did you visit?
None this year, but my list is long with Italy being right on top.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
Patience. I could always do with more patience.

7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
The day my nephew Zayd was born, 7 January. Other than that, the year hasn’t been that eventful.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Being offered a role at work that involves creativity, management and a lot of hard work.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Letting a friendship die.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Does having my wisdoms removed under local anesthetic count?

11. What was the best thing you bought?
MacBook Pro.

12. Where did most of your money go?
MacBook Pro, hahaa. Paying off credit cards and bills.

13. What song will always remind you of 2009?
Muse’s Uprising.

14. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Being social? Nah.

15. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Spend a lot of time indoors. Nah.

16. What was your favourite TV program?
The Big Bang Theory.

17. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I don’t hate people, I just pretend they don’t exist.

18. What was the best book you read?
I can’t say, it’s not yet published.

19. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I wouldn’t say “greatest” but I really like Korpiklaani.

20. What was your favourite film of this year?
Star Trek

21. What did you do on your birthday?
My birthday fell on a Monday so I was spoilt the whole day on the Sunday.

22. What kept you sane?
Music.

23. Who did you miss?
My two sisters who live 570km away.

24. Who was the best new person you met?
I don’t make friends easily; nobody stands out. This excludes people from teh interwebs.

25. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009:
Always double check your flight times.

I took this meme from the Sunday Stealing blog.

It will remain the above until I get bored.

Go on, post a pic of your desktop… I tag anyone and everyone reading this.

1. want: a faster desktop (will this ever end?)
2. need: ghd thermal hair protector
3. thankful for: everything I have
4. thinking: about holidays
5. quote: “Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is” – Sir Francis Bacon
6. watching: currently, just my screen.
7. lacking: energy
8. listening: the soft hum of my CPU
9. responding: to this blog meme
10. planning: what I’m going to do in my 4 day weekend that is fast approaching. So far it’s books, movies and catching up with my two sisters + their husbands + their kids (I’m their favourite aunt, btw)
11. am: relaxed for now.
12. not: on deadline – yay!

Create your debut novel cover:

1 – Go to “Fake Name Generator” or click http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/
The name that appears is your author name

2 – Go to “Random Word Generator” or click http://www.websitestyle.com/parser/randomword.shtml
The word listed under “Random Verb” is your title

3 – Go to “FlickrCC” or click http://flickrcc.bluemountains.net/index.php
Type your title into the search box. The first photo that contains a person is your cover.

4 – Use Photoshop, Picnik or something similar to put it all together. Be sure to crop and or zoom in.

5 – Post it to your blog along with this text.

I tag anyone who is reading this.

Pick Your Artist: Metallica

Are you male or female?
Invisible Kid

Describe yourself:
Don’t Tread On Me

How do you feel?
Carpe Diem Baby

Describe where you currently live:
The House That Jack Built

If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
Through the Never

Your favourite form of transportation:
It’s Electric

Your best friend is:
Ronnie

Your favourite colour is:
The More I See

What is the weather like?
Frantic

Favourite time of day:
Hit the Lights

If your life was a T.V. show, what would it be called?
Disposable Heroes

What is life to you?
Struggle Within

Your relationships:
Nothing Else Matters

Your fear:
Creeping Death

What is the best advice you have to give?
Ride the Lightning

If you could change your name, you would change it to:
Phantom Lord

Thought for the day:
…And Justice For All

How I would like to die:
Hero of the Day

My soul’s present condition:
Purify

My Motto:
Fight Fire with Fire

I tag (yes you guessed it) anyone who is reading this.

This is the advice I have for my kid(s):

• If you lose your cellphone, sorry for you. That’ll teach you to be more responsible.
• If you overspent your allowance, don’t come to me for more.
• If anyone in your class steals your candy, suck it up and stand up to them. Use your fists.
• If you get your butt kicked in an online co-op, spend the next 24 hours practising. Real hard.
• If you even think about sneaking out of the house… well, you don’t want to know what will follow.
• If you find yourself forever on hold at Telkom / Vodacom / MTN call centres, stick it out. We all did.
• Don’t play with knives or fire.
• Don’t trust anyone who uses terms of endearments everytime they speak to you.
• Don’t get mad, get even. Ok kidding. Ok, well, depends on the situation
• If you’re anything like me, you’ll follow your instincts, which is 92.6% accurate.

Yes, I’m aware that my husband will make a better parent

1 – Go to “wikipedia.” Hit “random”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 – Go to “Random quotations”
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 – Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 – Use photoshop or similar to put it all together.

5 – Post it to notes and TAG the friends you want to join in – anyone else can join in too

It’s easier that it sounds. Try it! – I’m not tagging anyone, so if you are reading this, you’re welcome to try it.

Thanks, Cindy.

PS: My image originally was slightly wider – which I cropped to a decent album cover size.