About me
Hello and welcome to Mundane Ecstasy. I’m Alys and I am so glad you found me!
Mundane Ecstasy is all about finding simple pleasures in beautiful things, the written word and strong performances. I think of this blog as my country garden with fantastic WiFi signal. Please, grab a cuppa and browse around.
Get to know me
How did you meet your husband … Richard and I met at uni. We both have a Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications) from the University of NSW. We both majored in film studies. Friends first we got together in our final year of university in 2005. We got married in 2012 on one of the most amazing days of my life.
You should never ask a lady her age … but that is ok because I admitted it before. On Saturday 25 May 2013 I will be 32 hint hint
If not in Sydney, I would live in … Paris. I fell for Paris in 2003 when I spent a long weekend in the city with my Mum. I love the idea of living in a place where you can get a train to another country for the weekend. That is an impossibility in Australia so it would be an incredibly cool thing to have. Doesn’t hurt that it is a gorgeous city to stroll around.
The next place on my holiday to do list is … Germany and Scandinavia. I would love to see where the Holz’s comes from, to see their history. Then I would want to visit my friend in Norway, check out Sweden and then go see my favourite Australian abroad Crown Princess Mary in Denmark.
I channel my childhood self when I … watch any and every Disney/Pixar film. How can you resist them? As a kid I adored The Sword in the Stone and Sleeping Beauty. As an adult I have to add Tangled and Enchanted into my list of Disney favourites.
The fictional character I most relate to is … Scarlett O’Hara. Not for any great reason but like Scarlett “Never in any crisis of my life do I have a handkerchief”. Oh and I adore the book, it is my very very favourite.
If I had to be outdoors all day I would … take a book and read it under a tree next to a pool so when I got hot I could go for a leisurely swim.
Who is the black and white cat that appears all over the blog … well that is Rorschach (Rory) William Holz our beloved cat. We got him in 2009 from a local vet. Rory is my funny little friend. The name Rorschach comes for the Rorschach test. He was given the middle name William in honour of that other great companion.
“Afterall tomorrow is another day” … is a quote from Gone With the Wind. Scarlett says it at the very end of the film when all hope seems lost but she refuses to just quit. (FYI it is the answer to a trivial pursuit question).
My favourite quality in a man is … a three way tie between patience, humour and initiative. Initiative might be an odd one but I never wanted to be a nagging wife so initiative helps us out there.
My favourite quality in a woman is … compassion. I heard a comedian recently make a joke out of the fact women will see a stranger crying and go support them but I think that it is the best thing we can do for this world.
I’m terrified of … blue tongue lizards. There is a story here I am not just weird – when I was little (say 3 years old) my Mum used to get me to run around the backyard. One day I ran behind a tree and a blue tongue lizard jumped out at me. It scared the bejesus out of me and now, when I am very stressed, I have a dream that a giant blue tongue lizard is chasing me. Now, seeing them freaks me right out.
My dream car is a … Mazda 3 right now. I borrowed my sisters car when she was in Europe and I loved it. Such a nice drive and fantastic sound.
My cocktail of choice is … pina colada (and not just so I can sing the song) they are so yummy!
My celebrity crush is … and always has been the Duke of Cambridge.
What is one beauty product you can’t do without … Elemis Aching Muscle Super Soak. It’s meant to be a bath soak but since we don’t have a bath I just poor it on a wash cloth and then leisurely scrub. If anything aches I just use this in the shower and it all goes away. I also have a matching gel that I rub in which is like a mild deep heat.
I tend to splurge on … books and magazines. Not that I buy expensive ones I just buy a lot. I adore the written word. Magazines are to me essentially picture books for grown ups. I have recently discovered Zinio which helps reduce the number of physical magazines making a mess around here. To save money I have been getting most of my books recently from Book Depository (though I am trying to resist).
To pay the bills each day I …. go to work as the Marketing and Communications Manager NSW/ACT at the Leukaemia Foundation. I started there at the end of November 2012 and I love it. I work hard but there is something so wonderful about getting up and helping people that could use a little help. The work that LF does is really simple stuff but its powerful – we drive people to and from doctors appointments; we give regional people somewhere to stay; we offer support groups for patients and careers; and help patients pay some of their bills. It is a maternity leave contract until January 2014 so looking forward to a great year.
The blog name Mundane Ecstasy came from … a random conversation with Richard. The name itself was just Richard saying things aloud (we do that a lot in our home). I went with it as I think it captures the essence of the blog, that beauty lies in the simplest of places. To be formal though mundane and ecstasy are two great words if you look at their definitions (thanks Dictionary.com)
I started Mundane Ecstasy because … I wanted an avenue to write. I have occasionally dreamed of being a magazine editor so in a way I am doing just that here in my part of the Internet.
I keep writing Mundane Ecstasy because … it keeps me sane. Truly despite how hectic life can be sometimes (and 2012 was hectic) it always made me feel good to come here and write. It is also a good justification to me for the amount of media I consume, with a blog I am call it all research.