I'm in the mood for a little introspection. I always liked Maria's idea of listing her favourite things so here, without overture or even a Tyrolean hat, is my list of things which are important to me. Feel free to respond with one or five or ten of your own.
1. The erotic whisper
This is the sound a champagne cork makes if it is removed from the bottle in just the right way. It needs to be done slowly and gently, so slowly and so gently ... and eventually the cork oozes out of the neck with a tiny, sensuous gasp of surprise. A pornographic hiss of bliss.
2. Beer
I've had chilled beer in London in 1970 (when the only chilled beer was in a pub opposite Australia House where they put cans on ice for the whinging Aussies who couldn't bear it warm). I've drunk Theakston's Old Peculiar pulled from a barrel and I'd never drink that chilled. I've fallen in love over multiple steins at the Stuttgart Volksfest. I've argued the merits of Tsingtao with a thousand Hong Kong expats who revere the stuff. I've drunk it here, there and everywhere, and I drink it still. If wine is nature's daughter, beer is her son.
3. Greyhounds
If you don't know greyhounds, you will be surprised when you meet one. The first thing is their size - people think whippets but greys are much bigger. The second thing is their gentleness, making them ideal to have around children or the elderly. And the third thing is that they are lazy bastards. They'll get off the sofa for food, but not much else. They need rather less exercise than your prone-to-obesity labrador. They are, as a breed, loyal and loving and adorable. They make hopeless guard dogs because they like people too much, but they are in all other ways simply greyt. [If interested, read more at www.greyhoundzoom.com.]
4. Cooking
I grew up eating chops and overcooked vegetables. I decided, when I bade farewell to my childhood home, that I would never eat vegetables again. Then I discovered Asian food and the way vegetables should be cooked. Then I started trying it myself and now I get enormous satisfaction out of feeding family and friends and seeing them enjoy it. Even the vegetables.
5. Chess
Is it sport, art or science? There are more books written about chess than all other board games combined. It is rich in artistry, legend and lore. Its history is crowded with genius, and these geniuses are great characters ... I see your eyes glazing so we'll move right along, shall we?
6. The 7.30 Report
There is little good journalism left on television in Australia. The commercial stations' evening news reports are mush for the masses. Channel 9 last week axed its Sunday program, a long-standing news and current affairs review program which stood out as the only reasonable news show on the network, which is presumably why they canned it. The 7.30 Report is the Australian Broadcasting Commission's nightly current affairs program. This is news as it should be. This is journalism as it should be. This is intelligent and objective and informative and interesting.
7. Books
My book collection passed 3,000 recently, an eclectic assortment accumulated over so many decades that, given my tendency to move a lot during that time, the books tended to go into storage at regular intervals. Last year I got all my books together in one place for the first time in 16 years. That's when I realised that they numbered more than 3,000, that they would fill at least 70 book boxes, and that they were about to cost me a fortune in yet another forthcoming move. So I spent a wretched two days cutting the number to about 900. As the book dealer who bought the discards walked past my bookshelves on the way out of my home, he had the grace to say, "I dare not look at the ones I can't have." Too right. Very little in this world is as precious to me.
8. Stationery
Pens, paper, manila folders, bulldog clips, em rules, set squares, Quink ink - it's a fetish really. My father had it, and I'm proud to say that my eight-year-old daughter shows all the signs of being afflicted with it too. Ever picked up a brand new artist's pad? Thick, pristine, high-quality paper. It's so .... Do anything for you? Oh well.
9. Tennis balls
A sunny day, an isolated country tennis court, a good friend and an unopened can of quality tennis balls. Pull the ring pull on the can of balls and I feel something between the erotic whisper and the stationery fetish above. It's okay if you don't understand this one.
10. Endurance sports
I once watched a man move slowly towards the finish line of a marathon. He was hours behind the winner; he was running for himself alone. With about 200 metres to go, a toddler slipped under the ropes keeping the crowd back and ran directly into the path of the man. The crowd gasped. The man stopped. Then he slowly, stiffly, bent down and lifted his daughter. He sat her on his hip and they finished his marathon together. Performance-enhancing drugs aren't much use in distance events. The epic battles between mind and body of the elite performers are equally gripping at the other end of the field.
So that's my personal happy list. What's yours?
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