Discworld daredevils

I started to write about my literary heroes but when I saw how many were from Discworld, I decided that they totally deserve their own post so...ta-da!

Take the Patrician. Yes, he is a self-proclaimed tyrant, but the city works, doesn't it? He never destroys anything he doesn't have to, whether garden or criminal. He'll read any book on hand without boredom just like I do and he is always the very dictionary definition of that cliche "calm, collected, and poised". He loves mind games and messing with people's heads just like I do as he does with his irregularly ticking clock that he keeps in his waiting room.
His idea of enjoying music is to read it from sheets in silence. How beautiful is that? I wish I could do that.

Granny Weatherwax, of course. Feistiest woman you'll ever have the privilege of being very respectful to. She turns her face to the light and then steps backward to subdue the darkness.
You can't fool her and you can't beat her. You'd better try your hardest to do what's right, and not just stay away from what's wrong, or she'll find you and once she's given you a piece of her mind it stays in your mind...forever.
Tough as she is, she also has a tender side, which may not be reflected in her jam or her demeanor toward noisy children, but which tornadoes into any situation where the innocent are being shoved around by those who know better.





Vimes. Ah His Grace the Duke of Ankh, Commander Sir Samuel, Blackboard Monitor Vimes...am I leaving anything out? I never can decide whether I like wizards, watchmen, or witch novels best. If I HAD to choose, I might edge the wizards out and if you threatened to kill someone I loved, perhaps I'd finally go with watchmen, but wave a witch or a wizard book in my face and I'd probably change my mind right back. 
But we were talking about Vimes.
When we meet him, he's a down and out drunkard. Then all of a sudden: duty drives, Carrot comes, bad is beaten, and avarice averted. 
I love how he keeps a bottle of Jim Bearhugger's Whiskey in his bottom drawer to remind himself that he CAN go back if he wants to, but he won't.

Moist von Lipwig is the same. Transformed from faceless conman to front-page figure he pockets his keys and spends nights picking locks and sneaking into his own apartment, just because he wants to believe that being an upstanding citizen is his free choice, not something he has to do if he wants to live (which, thanks to a deal involving angels that the Patrician cut him, it technically is).
I should have mentioned this first, but I thought it would break the flow: you have to love his flare!



See the pattern? These guys are all on my favorites list because they are each the most powerful people in their spheres and they all choose to use their influence for good even though it would be easier to use it for evil.
Everybody needs a hero, even if they are fantastical. If you are a Discworldian, who is your hero?
P.S. The above are my heroes, the person I'd WISH to be if I could be anyone in Discworld is Agnes Nitt. Any guesses why?
P.P.S. I already have great hair. ;-)

Where I've been...PART 2

Of Italy I shall say little. They have wonderful ice cream. There are at least two weeks during which I don't remember eating anything other than Panettone and I could quite happily have continued that indefinitely. I learned to roller blade there.
England is special in so many ways. Some good ways like the abundance of good manners, books, information, street signs so that people like me don't have to get lost, resources, "blue" milk, charity shops where you can get amazing stuff so cheaply, riding on the front seat upstairs in a red double decker bus, Poundland (Pringles for one pound!) and the lovely, perfectly efficient Tube. And some bad ways like all the blarsted little things that keep them different which they clutch closely about them and at the same time display with pride, "green" milk, and worse; "red milk", driving on the wrong side, their weather, their food...Ox tail soup? Enough said. 
I distinctly remember feeling an atmosphere of very real, very strong, and very tangible fear as soon as I arrived. I wasn't afraid, what I felt was that the people were very very afraid of terrorism, vandalism, violence, GBH, and what-have-you!
Alright, I was a little afraid when I was driven on the wrong side of the road for the first time, lol.
Riding the ferry to Ireland was fun. I love the sea and I love anything that floats on water more. Ireland, dearest Ireland, you will always be cherished very very much by me so you will forgive me for the following:

Torturous tidbit:
THE REAL MEANING OF THE COLORS ON THE IRISH FLAG (by me)
Green: For the land and pretty much everything on it
White: For the sky. White, not blue. You get it right?
Orange: For the hair of most of the Irish people

Seriously, you and Bosnia are my favoritest countries in the world, I'm allowed to poke a little fun at you.
I toured numerous castles including Trim Castle which you've probably seen in that movie where Mel Gibson runs around, shouts, and causes much much blood to be shed. Oh sorry, is that too general? You know, that movie where his guts get scooped out and his head gets chopped off at the end. 
Yes, yes, the one where he's clearly very bad at calculating how much blue paint he's going to need to cover his entire face.
I saw pretty much all of Ireland, most of the castles, and most of the museums. My Lord of the Rings puzzle was purchased there as well as more souvenirs than from any other country I've been to.
Irish guys are hot, everyone is friendly, and they basically have all that is good about England without all the annoying stuff.
Italy again for a while, and then Holland for a few months, not a lot to say except that I was introduced to Discworld and immediately became a lifelong fan even though I hardly knew what I was a fan of. Oh, I also met The Internet in Holland and I'm a more devoted fan than ever today.
In Part 3 I shall reminisce about Kenya. :)

Where I've been...PART 1

I spent my first year in Brussels, some time after that in the south of France (with over 40 cherry trees on the property), then Belgium again, this time Antwerpen. I've spent more years in Antwerpen than anywhere else, though soon Sarajevo will break that record. Here's what I remember best about Antwerpen:
the huge, domed train station and a certain tunnel both of which spent most of my childhood being renovated
Reuben's Square with the shady gazebo, a million pigeons, and the race across it down to PO box 343
The Stadt Park which at six years of age I re-christened "The Jewish Park" because Antwerpen is full of Orthodox Jews dressed in long black coats, and top hats with long ringlets on either side of their heads and they apparently loved bringing their children to that park.
Climbing the jungle gym and the rocky "cliffs" (which were a lot smaller when I visited them again years later)
Last but not least, "God's Hand". My sister and I HAD to stop and climb it every time we passed it. The biggest challenge was climbing or sitting on the big slippery palm.
In 1997, the first "big" move - Ukraine. I liked Dniepopetrovsk. The wild, climbable fruit trees all over the place, our neighbor's nine puppies, the beautiful Dnieper River, the exciting overnight trains, but best of all I (still do) liked saying the name really fast. Dniepopetrovsk, Dniepopetrovsk. Okay, it's a lot less fun to type. 
Odessa was next. I enjoyed the Black Sea immensely - especially the slimy see-through little jelly thingamabobs in it. I liked outdoor markets, but passionately HATED the meat section because of the horrible smell.
Back to Belgium, but not for long. Down, down, down via Air France to La Reunion. Oh for the island of lychees galore!
Geckos swarmed on our walls and ceiling, were brought down by our vicious cat Missy and left wriggling on the floor. Finding their legs and tails lying around wherever Missy had left them always amused us children since we knew the gecko would grow them back anyway. 
Our living room balcony was a mini-garden with a small guava tree. I thought the sour little fruits were alright one or two at a time. My sister nearly devoured the tree!
A cyclone passed nearby while I was there. After all the windows were covered and precautions taken, I settled down and played Lego by candlelight until it blew over.
Christmas and New Year's were celebrated in summer clothes outside in the garden. I collected different colored sea urchins while at the beach and spent most of December in bed with bronchitis.
Three children younger than I and myself got locked in our bedroom when my mom's bathrobe hanging on the door jammed it against the frame. I got us out by making my fellow prisoners help me pull the bathrobe (and eventually rip it in half) until the door burst open.
Wow, there's a random selection of memories for you!

This shall be continued...eventually.

Foam partyyyyyyyyyyyy!

Serbia rocks (and bubbles) 
Well, I and anyone who's been there knows THAT, but now Sabac in particular REALLY rocks. 
Have you ever had a foam party? Then I don't need to dwell on how clean your innards are afterward due to the vast quantities of soap you ingested via your mouth, eyeballs, nostrils, ear holes and skin.
I'm sure we'd much rather concentrate on the memory of DANCING thigh deep in BUBBLES (knee deep in your case, perhaps).
Wow, I composed a sentence with both "dancing" and "bubbles" in it. This is how Pinning Obsessive Disorder starts. Oh well, Pinners do live in happy worlds. If said happy worlds are imaginary, how is that YOUR business?
Back to the foam party. Everyone should have a bubble cannon in their house. It's the final word in clean floors. And clean furniture. And clean children. And clean grown ups. And clean everything. Wet and slippery, yes, but it does hide the mess.
Ok, so if unlike me, you wish to own pets or plants, I guess this isn't for you. You can just trudge around watering your plants and kiss your pets on the mouth (you gross-o) while you watch the rest of us less-encumbered people have fun!

Tip: Stay as close to the mouth of the cannon when it is firing (well, bubbling really) for maximum funness.