Have spent my Xmas eve watching the horror film 1408, for what could be more festive than John Cusack? It started off OK, a couple of creepy moments, but then lost me completely about a third of the way through. Ridiculous rather than scary.

Anyway, have merry day tomorrow everyone. Remember to lock your doors from the inside and don't take candy from strangers.

Australian poet Dorothy Porter died in Melbourne this morning from complications due to cancer. She was 54.

The writer is best known for The Monkey's Mask, a crime thriller in verse about a lesbian detective that was published in 1994 and won the Age Poetry Book of the Year in the same year.

My thoughts go out to her family and friends.

Danny put this list together to make sure none of his friends were UnAustralian.*

1. Heard a kookaburra in person
2. Slept under the stars
3. Seen a koala.
4. Visited Melbourne. I live here!
5. Watched a summer thunderstorm
6. Worn a pair of thongs
7. Been to Uluru (Ayer's Rock) I climbed it years and years ago, before it was discouraged, but I wouldn't again. Love to walk around it though.
8. Visited Cape York
9. Held a snake. I'm sure I did this in primary school. Certainly patted one at least.
10. Sang along with Khe San. Only after a fair bit of #11
11. Drank VB. And I wouldn't do that again either.
12. Visited Sydney. It's overrated.
13. Have seen a shark. In an aquarium.
14. Have used Aussie slang naturally in a conversation. Bloody oath.
15. Had an actual conversation with an indigenous Australian (aboriginal)
16. Eaten hot chips from the bag at the beach. And deep fried pizza. Another thing not to try again.
17. Walked/climbed over the Sydney Harbour Bridge
18. Used an outside dunny, and checked under the seat before sitting down
19. Seen Chloe in Young & Jackson's.
20. Slept on an overnight train or bus. In Year 11 there was a school bus trip to Central Australia. We drove Melbourne to Mt Isa without stopping. And pretty much without sleeping.
21. Been to Sydney's Mardi Gras
22. Have gone bush-bashing. I've only ever walked and hiked on trails, I think.
23. Taken a sickie
24. Been to see a game of Aussie Rules football - the Community Cup; RRR vs PBS
25. Have seen wild camels
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Done a Tim Tam Slam
28. Ridden in a tram in Melbourne
29. Been at an ANZAC day Dawn Service
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Held a wombat
32. Been on a roadtrip of 800km or more. That bus trip accounts for a lot of this list.
33. Seen the Great Australian Bight in person. Well if I've been to Adelaide and looked at the water, that counts, right?
34. Had a really bad sunburn
35. Visited an aboriginal community
36. Seen a redback spider
37. Have watched Paul Hogan. Just Croc Dundee. Never again.
38. Seen Blue Poles in person
39. Wandered barefoot in the bush/outback
40. Eaten Vegemite
41. Thrown a boomerang. Badly.
42. Seen the Kimberleys
43. Given a hitch-hiker a lift
44. Been to Perth
45. Have tried Lemon, Lime and Bitters
46. Tried playing a didgeridoo
47. Seen dinosaur footprints. There are some in the Melbourne Museum. Is that cheating?
48. Eaten Tim Tams And Iced VoVos.
49. Been to Darwin
50. Touched a kangaroo. The ones at Healesville Sanctuary are friendly.
51. Visted the Great Barrier Reef
52. Listened to Kevin Bloody Wilson. Saw him interviewed on Enough Rope.
53. Killed a Cane Toad
54. Gone to a drive-in theatre. The very first movie I ever saw in my life was Grease at a drive-in with my parents. I was two or three and I hung out the window and banged on the car roof. I remember this quite clearly.
55. Have read and own books by Australian authors
56. Visited Adelaide
57. Know the story behind "Eternity"
58. Been camping
59. Visited Brisbane
60. Been in an outback pub
61. Know what the term "Waltzing Matilda" actually means
62. Gone whale watching
63. Listened to Slim Dusty. I'm sure I've heard Slim Dusty, but not on purpose.
64. Own five or more Australian movies or TV series. I had to go and check, and no! Only one! I'm very ashamed of this and will rectify it. Can you get The Cars that Ate Paris on DVD?
65. Sang along to Down Under
66. Have stopped specifically to look at an historic marker by the side of the road.
67. Eaten a 4'n'20 pie. From the school canteen.
68. Surfed at Bondi. Walked along the beach, but too cold to even paddle.
69. Watched the cricket on Boxing Day. Nor on any other day.
70. Visited Hobart. This is where the "My brother threw up in the back of the rental car" story begins...
71. Eaten kangaroo. I'm not a fan though.
72. Seen a quokka. But not in the wild.
73. Visited Canberra
74. Visited rainforests
75. Used a Victa lawnmower. Nor any other lawnmower. I'm perversely proud of this.
76. Travelled on a tram in Adelaide
77. Used a Hills hoist
78. Visited Kata Tjuta (the Olgas)
79. Used native Australian plants in cooking. Macadamias!
80. Visited the snow
81. Chosen a side in Holden VS Ford. Yeah, they're both crap.
82. Visited the desert
83. Been water skiing
84. Read The Phantom. And I listen to him every Friday night.
85. Visited Parliament House
86. Gone spotlighting or pig-shooting
87. Crossed the Nullarbor
88. Avoided swimming in areas because of crocodiles
89. Listened to AC/DC
90. Called someone a dag
91. Voted in a Federal Election
92. Have been swimming and stayed between the flags
93. Had a possum in your roof. And on my back.
94. Visited the outback
95. Travelled over corrugated roads. Lived on one growing up.
96. Hit a kangaroo while driving. Well, I was on a bus. We hit several.
97. Been well outside any mobile phone coverage. I remember when inside shopping centres was "outside" coverage.
98. Seen an emu.
99. Have woken to the smell of bushfires. Ash Wednesday.
    
    Additional:
    
100. Subscribed to RRR
101. Patted a pure-bred dingo
102. Seen the Oils live
103. Been rock climbing at Mt Arapiles. But I didn't go very high!

     *Not really.

I was tagged a couple of weeks ago. Yes, it has taken me this long to think of seven things. Actually I've only thought of two, but maybe by the time I get there something will happen.

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. [I do not like this rule. I delete it.]
4. [this also is a dumb rule.]

One.
I like noodles. A lot. I eat some kind of pasta nearly every day. Noodlr speaks to me.

Two.
I will never be able to have another office job that requires sitting in front of a computer. This is because I am now an avid office chair dancer. I'm dancing right now. When Office Chair Dancing becomes an Olympic sport I am absolutely ready to represent.

Three.
I do not jaywalk. Ever. Even if there is no traffic at the lights. Even even on Swanston Street. This is because about nine years ago I crossed a road near some lights right into a car that had just turned the corner. I got a ride in an ambulance, a lovely scar on my left shoulder and a $1200 bill. I was fine. The bill was to fix the car. In my drug addled haze I did briefly consider a career as stunt performer.

Four.
...

Five.
...yeah I'm stuck...

Six.
Well, why should I be the one to do all the work?

Seven.
What do you want to know?