breaking the fast

Hello there! First off, thanks for all your comments - wow, looks like people are still reading this blog after all! Meanwhile, I'm still officially "on hold" with the blogging, but I also happened to ask enidd to interview me before I left, and seeing as Her Enidness might well be offended should I scorn her kindness, here's a quick something to answer those questions...

1. you're guaranteed a decent income for life. what do you spend your days doing? Oooh, tricky one. There's several things I'm tempted to say. First off is "I finally go ahead and get this rockstar thing off the ground and flying. Now that I'm financially uninhibited and can invest everything I make into my music, fame and riches here I come!" Then again, I'm not sure that really is what I'd do. Okay, so I've been mulling this over a bit and here's what I'd WANT myself to be doing if that ever happened: I'd want to be out there on the street, talking to people (and maybe singing to them, too) and trying to spread the hope I find in my faith by sharing love. Now, how hippie bum does that sound? Anyway, it's what I hope I'd have the guts to do, given the chance...
2. what's your philosophy of life in a single sentence? Love God and love people. That was easy...
3. you can spend a year abroad. which country would you choose? We-eell, that's way harder now. See, I've hardly been anywhere outside of Europe, and would LURVE to travel. I guess Oz or NZ spring to mind. I'm a summer person, so places like Hawaii or SoCal (or even the lovely Languedoc in the south of France) all hold an irresistible lure, too. I'd quite like to spend a year in "Hillerman Country", i.e. Arizona as I'm a massive fan of his detective novels (Tony Hillerman, that is). Heck, there's about a thousand places I could think of that sound appealing. Ideally, it'd be somewhere by the sea and with a warm climate. Perfection would be a house on the beach with a boat or two to play with in my free time. Will that do?
4. which do you prefer to read - fact or fiction? Hmm. Scanning my bookshelves, I'm actually surprised at how much scientific/fact-oriented/non-fictional literature I seem to have gotten through over the last couple of years. My first instinct was to go for fiction as my clear favourite. However, I also like things like biographies and topical works. For something to curl up with by the fireside in the evening, fiction wins hands down, though.
5. you've invited enidd round for dinner. what do you cook? Oh gosh, that's a tough one. See, my cooking is limited mostly to traditional German/Swabian dishes, which tend to be fairly substantial and not terribly elegant affairs. Provided Enidd was up for the German equivalent of country fayre, I would serve up the following:

• As an aperitif, something we call "Eiswein" - wine made from grapes picked very, very late in the year when the first frost has come. Eiswein is quite sweet and fruity, with touches of honey and various spices in its bouquet.
• For starters, a soup with Maultaschen (a kind of noodle filled with cabbage, ground meat and herbs), Flädle (strips of pancake) and Knödel (dumplings). This is known as a "Festtagssuppe" in Swabia and would traditionally be served at weddings and other special occasions.
• A green salad made up of lettuce, field salad and roquette, dressed with a touch of balsamico vinegar, pistachios and roasted sunflower seed. Okay, this isn't necessarily Swabian, but it sure tastes good...
• Main course would be a "Rostbraten" (a lean rumpsteak fried up in a rich sauce and garnished with onion rings) with home-made "Spätzle" noodles, "Brägele" (fried potatoes) and Sauerkraut (a type of cabbage marinated in wine with spices). Speaking of wine, I believe a fruity, semi-dry Trollinger-Lemberger or dry Schwarzriesling (Pinot Noir) could work here. Alternatively, a lighter Schillerweinmight be served depending on Enidd's preference. All wines would, of course, come from my home valley and I would be happy to show off by telling her about of the joys of grape harvesting, October sun on multi-coloured vineyard foliage, childhood memories, etc.
• Finally, before the wine and cheese, we would have something called "Pfitzauf" - a kind of soufflé served with vanilla ice cream and cranberry sauce.
• I'm no expert on cheese, but I'm pretty sure we could find a selection of wines to be sampled that might please even Enidd and The Man's distinguished tastes...

Howzat? Thanks for the interview, Enidd, and thank you-all for reading. Cheerio then...