My darling mate Nina from Le Fancy Geek tagged me in her Four Things post, and I just couldn’t wait to join in.  It’s been a long time since I’ve done a tag post, and this one seemed like it would be a lot of fun.

I’m not going to tag anyone in this post, but if you want to do your own Four Things post, please leave a link in the comments, I’d love to read your answers to the questions.

Four places I’ve lived.

–My parents house.  Until I was nineteen I lived with my parents in a brick house in Benalla.  It was a really great home and my parents still live there now.

– College in Melbourne.  I lived in a dorm with eleven other people for three years.  It was crowded, noisy and smelly and I loved it (most of the time).  I did crazy things like riding a mechanical bull and taking off all my clothes to add them to a chain of my dorm-mates clothes to see how far we could make it reach.  It was amazing.

– A share house in Heidelberg.  The house I lived in was dingy and literally falling to pieces.  No joke.  We once awoke at five in the morning when a chunk of our loungeroom ceiling collapsed.  It was in a terrible area and a year into my time there a man was murdered on the corner of my street.  But despite all that I loved living there.

– A flat on my own.  I currently live by myself in a flat in my hometown.  It’s actually pretty great.  I have lots of space and a lovely garden out the back and a beautiful corner window in my bedroom.

Four jobs I’ve had.

–Sales assistant at Target.  I worked at Target all through high school and then again after college ended.  Although it was pretty trying at times it was actually a pretty good job.  I worked with some awesome people and I particularly loved working in the lead-up to Christmas.

– Waitress at a pub.  This was probably the worst job I ever had.  At the time I was working two jobs to save for university and I was utterly exhausted.  I would work until ten most nights and come home smelling of beer spills and chip grease.  I got burned with hot plates and grabbed by creepy customers.  The night I quit was one of the happiest of my life.

–  Avon Lady. I briefly sold Avon cosmetics in the year between high school and university.  It was a lot of fun, but I had to put in a huge amount of work for very little payoff.  The best part was visiting old ladies and doing their nails while chatting over tea. In fact, I kept doing that after I quit.

– Receptionist for a legal centre.  I’ve had a few reception jobs, but the best one was when I worked at a legal centre in Melbourne.  The centre provided free legal advice for people who couldn’t afford to pay for legal council.  It was a very difficult job and I saw a lot of very upsetting things.  But I loved working there because I felt like I was doing something that really mattered.

Four things I don’t eat.

– Tomato sauce.  I can’t stand it, which sucks because in Australia people seem to put it on everything, and I always feel like a total weirdo that I’m the only one eating a pie not slathered in disgusting goopy redness.

– Pavlova.  Yet another traditional Aussie dish that turns my stomach.  Every woman in my family hates pav, from my Nana to my Mum.  None of us can stomach it, and I wonder if our aversion is genetic.

– Oysters.  Although I love seafood, I’ve never enjoyed oysters.  I’ve tried them a few times but I just can’t stand the texture of them.

– Chai.  Although I adore the scent of chai, the taste triggers my gag reflex like nothing else.

Four of my favourite foods.

– Pizza.  Pizza is my go-to food for any occasion.  If I want to celebrate or treat myself, I’ll order a pizza.  Long day at work and can’t be arsed cooking?  Order a pizza!  My turn to pick the takeout?  You know it’s gonna be pizza!  I can’t get enough of it.  And a cold slice of leftover pizza for breakfast is my idea of heaven.

– Jelly beans.  Specifically, the special glucose jelly beans that you buy at the chemist.  I love those chubby little bastards.

– Hokey Pokey ice cream.  Caramel ice-cream with shards of butterscotch swirled through it, amazing.

– Earl Grey tea.  I’m a big-time tea drinker, and Earl Grey is my favourite.  It’s sweet and comforting with a beautiful aroma.

Four films I’ve watched more than once.

– The Wizard of Oz

– Beetlejuice

– Heavyweights

– Ghost World

Four TV shows I watch.

– Bojack Horseman

-Orange is the New Black

– Game of Thrones

-Parks and Recreation

Four things I’m looking forward to this year.

– Christmas!  I seriously love Christmas.  I’m always looking forward to Christmas, no matter how far away it is.

– My girlfriend’s birthday.  I get mega excited for birthdays, and this will be the first time since we started dating that I’ll be able to celebrate my girlfriend’s birthday with her.  I want it to be very special for her, because she’s an incredible person.

– Getting an article published in one of my favourite magazines.  It’s happening in September, and I couldn’t be more pumped.

– Spring.  I’m so over Winter, and I can’t wait for the weather to begin to warm up again.

Four things I can’t live without.

– Pets.  I am so much happier when I have a pet. At the moment Miss Jelly and Mr Ringo are my constant companions and they bring so much joy into my world.

– Lip balm.  I hate having dry lips, and I feel so much more comfortable when my lips are slathered with balm.  My favourite brand is Lip Smackers and I usually have a few of these on the go.

– An internet connection.  So much of my life is online.  I connect with my friends over the internet, I keep up with my writing online and I don’t know what I’d do without Netflix.

– Pretty lingerie.  Boring undies are for boring people, and I like having a wardrobe of gorgeous underthings to slip on under my clothes.

Four celebrity crushes.

-Kit Harrington

– Dawn French

– Chris Pratt

– John Goodman

Four pet peeves.

– When people say “pacifically” when they mean to say “specifically”.

– When people walk in large groups in a line across the footpath so you can’t get past.

– People who are rude to waitstaff or shop assistants.

– Minions.  I just don’t get why they’re so popular.  It infuriates me that minion-based memes keep popping up on my Facebook feed.

Four things I wish I could do.

– Sing.  I’m not a bad singer, but I’m not really a good singer either.  I wish I had the ability to really belt out a tune.

– Play a musical instrument.  I’ve tried learning a number of instruments, including piano and guitar.  I just don’t have an ear for music.

– Draw.  My drawing skills are woeful and I sometimes wish that I were able to express myself on paper with images.  But I suppose that I’m good at expressing myself with words, which is nothing to be sniffed at.

– Be more assertive.  As a very introverted and anxious woman, I find it so hard to stand up for myself and speak up to get what I need.  I tend to let myself get passed over and I don’t like that.  I’m working to be more assertive, but I’ve got a long way to go.

Four subjects I studied at school.

– Drama.  I loved drama in high school and I was particularly good at comedy.  I used to have a blast recreating classic sketches from Rowan Atkinson and French and Saunders to crack up my classmates.

– Literature. I’m a reader at heart and my awesome literature teacher taught me how to really delve into a book and appreciate it on a deeper level.  She introduced me to Oscar Wilde, Harper Lee and Charles Dickens and also showed me the creepiest book I’ve ever read: The Collector by John Fowles.

– Neuroscience. I have a degree in psychology and I spent a good part of my time at uni studying pictures of brains and dissecting actual brains.  It was fascinating and something that I’m still very interested in.

– Human rights law.  For a long time I dreamed about working in a community legal centre and helping disadvantaged people find justice.  Sadly, I nearly had a nervous breakdown pursing that dream and decided it wasn’t feasible for me to do that kind of work for the rest of my life.  I hope that I’ll be able to go back to it one day, in some form.

Four things near me right now.

– My knitting

-An empty water bottle (I drained it while I was writing this post)

– The remote control for the television

-Darkness be my Friend by John Marsden.

 

Don’t forget to leave me a link if you do your own version of the Four Things tag. I’d love to read your answers.