Tag Games,the importance of raspberries, and how to annoy other bloggers

I've been tagged...by Meggie, of Life's Free Treats , which is rather embarassing because I have to tag seven other bloggers, and I am a relatively new blogger and don't know many people!
But I'll give it a go.

Seven Random Facts about Me:

1. I will do anything, absolutely anything, yes, really, for a raspberry. They are the true gift of the gods, the perfect sharp taste, not too sweet, the ideal colour, a dark purply pink which is as un-Barbie and Ken as a pink can be...in fact I might change my blog colour scheme. Who needs overblown tasteless strawberries when there is a tart witty raspberry about?Life would not be worth living without chocolate either. Lindt is the only HRT worth considering.

2. I am a spiritual fence sitter. My Irish catholic mother married my Jewish atheist father, and I am married to the atheist son of a family of evangelistic fundamentalist christians. To avoid confusion in my children they have been told not to believe anything they are told unless it can be proved. The practice of reason in the household has sometimes been hard work but I hope it will pay off in the end. Surely one of them will become a lawyer.

3. I am manic depressive. This means that I have periods of joyful creativity where my mind purrs like a rolls royce which then changes gear into a ferrari (or so it seems to me!), and the rest of the world is annoyingly slow. This will then pivot without warning. I get to the top of the ferris wheel and then suddenly Oh no! the smallest event can trigger the change, and there is the terrible drop back into blackness and despair and I need to curl up into the tightest of foetal positions and block out the world and sleep until the next trigger event and slowly the wheel turns and up I creak into the sunlight and the glorious cycle starts again. As I have got older, I have learned to enjoy the ride, and smooth out the gear changes.

4. I am sensitive to music but I can only listen to it in very specific situations. I have a sound track in my head which is constantly playing. If I listen to music it is always for a reason. I am learning it, I am writing it...Other peoples music, unsolicited, not chosen by me, is true hell and conflicts with my own to make noise. I cannot endure music in the background. There is no background. There is only foreground. And I am afraid that I leak. I am one of those annoying people who hum in supermarket queues and everywhere else, without being aware of it. Rather like drummer boy taps all the time. Sorry.

5. I am very shortsighted and constantly juggle with contact lenses, reading glasses, progressive glasses and sunglasses, but never have the right eye equipment at the right moment, and so my photos are never in focus because my eyes never are. I wouldn't wear my glasses as a teenager, and I once tried to stop a fire engine because I thought it was a red London bus.

6. I went to study Carnatic classical Indian music in Cochin, Kerala, and fell in love with Southern India, its people, music, food, theatre, dance, architecture, climate...in a very short time.

7. I am impractical and totally unsuited to a country life of wood chopping but I love the space and the beauty of where we live and the eagles in the valley, the woodpecker in the forest and the long walks with the dog. Since my sweet H has been away travelling, dear darling D, who knows of my pathological hatred of wood stoves, has taken it upon herself to chop wood and wrestle with the beastly iron stove. A few days ago she came storming into the living room, saying "It's gone out again", and kicked the back of the sofa to relieve her feelings. And I thought she took after her father...

At the risk of alienating people that I have just met, I would like to tag

Lucy at Box Elder because I met her today buying pomegranates (her not me) and she was one of the first people to encourage me in my blogging(unwisely as it has turned out for now she must suffer). I bet she is going to take a photo of a pomegranate and it will be in focus as well. Goddammit isn't fair.

Amy at Diary of Amy Rigby because she is another singer who has found herself in France, mm I meant that to read differently, it depends where you put the stress. I mean found herself in France as opposed to turning up in Tinbucktwo (How do you spell that? I had to look up pomegranates but that was enough for one post)- not found herself as in was always looking for herself and only found out who she was when she got to France...But maybe I'm wrong. And she did.

Ruth at Meanwhile here in France because she is a musician and she has the same name as my Granny Phillips who used to sing like Gracie Fields. And she is adopting a baby and I feel for her, and she has informed us that classical musicians also fart, which is a relief. Now I know that trumpeters do, especially when reaching a high note, because I had the misfortune to be singing near the brass section, when dear departed Dave was making an effort beyond the call of duty.

Hexe at Wish I was There because she is a mum with young children and just about to travel across several continents to France, so she obviously has a lot of spare time to do this...

Betty at La France Profonde because she is very interested in photographing buildings that are being demolished, which I think is quite eccentric in an entertaining sort of way, and there is probably a bit of milage in there for a psychiatrist.

Lesley at Peregrinations because her blog is always full of interesting bits and pieces...more like a magpies nest than a peregrines and she understands things like twittering and rss feeds which are beyond me as yet and I find impressive...

Katydidnot because I have just started to read her blog and it is full of lively unsentimental stories of the horrors of raising small children, which I remember only too well and sigh with relief that it is over...sort of...

THE RULES:
1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2.Post THE RULES on your blog.
3.Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.