Blogger of the Week : Michele

Michele of Laundromat is the blogger of the week. Read all about her and then go visit her blog and say hi!

What did you have for breakfast this morning?

What is your favorite childhood book?
My favourite childhood book is called The Talking Parcel by Gerald Durrell. It's about three kids who stumble into a world called Mythologia, and help rescue the world from the evil Cockatrices who have overthrown the governing wizard who created Mythologia to help endangered mythological creatures survive. I read it over and over and over again. It's hard to get, but a lovely book. I ended up reading the entire story to my kids over the course of a day because they were so captivated by it. It's a little hard to come by these days, and I protect my tattered copy because I don't think I could replace it.

What is your favorite work of art?
Oh my. I love "Lilacs in a Window" by Mary Cassatt. But Rembrandt's Nightwatch was the first really famous painting I ever saw in real life. Every time I look at it I remember how wonderful it was to see a painting live, glowing with light in a way that I had never imagined possible.

What is your all time favorite quote?
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones that you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover".

Mark Twain.

What's your favorite super secret website?
http://www.jezebel.com/

What is your favorite and least favorite chore?
I like vacuuming and doing the dishes because you see the results immediately. I hate putting away clean laundry because it feels like the chore is already done.

What makes your house uniquely your home?
Hmm... my home is unfinished. So am I.

Will you share a favorite recipe?
http://myfarawayfriends.blogspot.com/2008/08/summer-potato-salad-recipe.html

What first sparked your interest in cooking?
I think it was my parents. I went to the homes of friends and sometimes the food was... bad. Really bad. I didn't understand it. How could you make food taste yucky? I realized that the food my parents made was almost always delicious. It also took a lot of time. They didn't seem to mind.

What homemade project are you most proud of?

My dad made each of his children a grandfather clock. I think he decided to do it when he retired at 65 and he finished them this year (he is almost 80!) I love hearing the gong because it gives me a gentle reminder that he's around and a visionary and that my parents love us every quarter hour.

What got you interested in yoga?
I was 39 and had chronic back pain. I decided that I didn't want to live with pain for the next 40 years, so I started looking around for something that would help. My neighbour taught yoga and I noticed that many of the older women she knew who took yoga looked absolutely amazing for their age. So I thought I would try it and within a few months I was completely pain free for the first time in years.

What are your 3 best/favorite posts on your blog(s)?
I have a little sidebar with some that I feel introduce you to my writing and my philosophy of life in the sidebar, but these are three that I really like outside of that group:

http://myfarawayfriends.blogspot.com/2008/03/joey-changing-world-one-ballot-at-time.html - Because this story still makes me laugh.
http://myfarawayfriends.blogspot.com/2008/08/touring.html - Because I like the pictures.
http://myfarawayfriends.blogspot.com/2008/06/my-neighbourhood.html - Because it introduces you to my neighbourhood.

Now go say hi to Michele at her blog,  Laundromat!