Coffee and Stuff You Never Wanted to Know

If we were having coffee … I’d share these questions from Debora of Blue Jeans and Black coffee. She has a Low Pro Blog which is meant for low profile “… simple, real people. Those of us who don’t spend more money on clothes than on rent. Those with regular day-jobs and responsibilities. Those who don’t give interviews all the time and find their pictures trending in Instagram.” I like that.

Debora nominated me for a Liebster award. Have you heard of it? It’s a fun award for bloggers to recognize and support new bloggers. There’s a bunch of rules associated with the nomination and I’ll talk about that in another post. But in the meantime, let’s top up our coffee and have a look at these questions.

What’s your name and how old are you ?

You can call me Sandy. How old am I? Well that depends. In my head I’m 35 years old. My mirror says differently. It all depends on who you want to believe.

Where you raised and what were was your home like?

I was born Jamaica but spent most of my adult life in Toronto, Canada. I was raised by indulgent Chinese parents and educated by highly principled Catholic nuns. When I was young, the island was a great place to be – fabulous beaches, idyllic tropical weather and wonderful food. Unfortunately, it was also a victim of the times – politically factious, third world poor & racially divisive. Leaving Jamaica to live in Canada was like going to another planet. Fortunately, I’m a cultural astronaut at heart.

Do you speak any foreign languages? Why did you start learning them?

I was taught Spanish, French and Mandarin but I never learnt any of them. Not well enough to speak anyways. Spanish because it’s a prevalent language in the Caribbean, Central & South America. French because I’m married to one. Mandarin because we lived in Beijing and we needed to order food.

What is your day job? Do you like it?

For thirty years I had an intense, all consuming career in software development. My career path was perfectly timed and purely accidental. I majored in Computer Science because I couldn’t stand the blood & gore of natural science and I wasn’t smart enough for pure mathematics. After graduating I stumbled into a high tech company (HAL’s older brother) and came of age when the internet took off and WWW was wild wild west. It was great … for the first twenty eight years. Nowadays, I take it easy and my day-job is figuring out what I’m going to do next. Be it writing, traveling, photography and cooking. Except for the photography (and even then) I do mostly low-tech stuff now. Yes, I like it.

Do you have children?

I have two adult size kids. One of each kind.

Do you play an instrument? Which one and why?

I am musically stunted. I can’t recognize a beat and cannot carry a tune. When my son was a baby I used to sing him lullabies. One day he covered my mouth with a chubby hand and said Ssshh with another.

Did blogging turn out to be the way you imagined it to be?

I actually have a couple blogs. The Sandy Chronicles which is a travel-culture blog and The Sandy Food Chronicles which is a food related but not-foodie blog. What’s a not-foodie blog? It’s a blog about food but with lousy pictures and imprecise recipes.

The Sandy Chronicles started as a way to keep in touch with family when I lived abroad. It’s evolved to include photos and stories behind the photos.

The Sandy Food Chronicles started as a way to publish recipes for my newly adult kids. There was a vain hope that they’d learn to cook and feed themselves. It hasn’t happened yet, but it could happen.

Blogging has been a learning experience. As prep for my blog posts, I do a lot more research into the history and culture of people, places & food around me. The discovery process has been an unexpected pleasure.

Are you outgoing or rather shy? (Are you a pub person or a disco person?)

It depends on how I feel, the time of day, when I ate last, the position of the moon, the sun and the stars …

In general though, I am an introvert. But I am not shy. I can do the public speaking, group work, people browsing, stranger schmoozing, yada-yada. Before marriage & kids, I even did the disco thing. I am not a pub’er but that’s mostly because I don’t like beer and don’t watch sports.

Is there a place that you definitely want to visit one day?

A place, like only ONE particular place? There are so many, it’s hard to choose.

An easier question would be “Is there a place that you definitely want to live?”

I’d like to live in Europe someday. I’d have a home base in France and then visit the countries around. I haven’t visited Spain, Italy or any of the Nordics yet. And I hear Istanbul is fascinating. And Rhodesia is spectacular. And my friend says Antarctica is fabulous. And and and …

Is there anything that you have never done but would like to try one day?

I would like to open a coffee shop on a beach. I would serve coffee made from fresh roasted coffee beans and home-style baked goods. Hubby would give didgeridoo lessons and we’d host music, photography and writers workshops during the day. At night we’d alternate jam sessions with open mic and poetry slams. Shop hours would be OPEN: When we feel like it and CLOSED: When the coffee runs out. The beach would be always open.

Is there anything you’d like to ask me in return?

Have you found a favorite song or band recently? Share a link and tell me why you like it.

Here’s a recent one of mine. Bishop Briggs is a British artist located in LA. She does ‘dark pop’ which is a new term for me. I like her music. Her videos, not so much.

Toronto, Canada. June 2016