Something you want to do again next year? Survive.
What’s a bad habit you picked up this year? Sloth.
What are you excited about for next year? Nothing. I don’t do excitement.
If you could send a message to yourself back on your birthday last year, what would it be? The seat belt sign is on. Hold on tight. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Did you create any characters (in games, art, or writing) this year? If so, describe one. Serge Tyde. Harbourmaster of a small SW England town. French extraction (probably via his maternal grandmother). Very suntanned; always to be seen in shorts, and bare-chested in warm weather. Partial to a glass of red.
Also living in the same town is Sir Chiltern Waternut, retired diplomat.
Do you feel your age? Physically: always. Mentally: seldom (apart from depression).
Did your appearance change in anyway? Yes, hair cut even shorter than before.
What was your favourite article of clothing this year? Post a pic if possible? The Emperor’s new suit. A picture would definitely frighten the horses.
What was one nice thing you did for someone else? Online grocery shopping & delivery for Jean.
What was one nice thing you did for yourself? Good food.
Did anything happen that you were sure would change you as a person but it really didn’t? No.
Did anything happen to you that you were sure wouldn’t change you as a person but it did? No.
Pick three people who share your birthday and share what you know about them.
Harry Gordon Selfridge (1858-1947). American-English businessman who founded Selfridge’s Department Store.
Arthur Scargill (born 1938). English miner’s union leader who led the miners strikes in opposition to Prime Ministers Edward Heath (in 1972, 1974) and Margaret Thatcher (in 1984-85). Communist; activist; politician.
Brian Moore (born 1962). English rugby player who gained 64 caps as hooker.
Is anyone listed as being born on the same day as you (ie. the same year)? If so, what do you know about them?
Willie Maddren. English footballer and manager. Died 2000.
Philip Tartaglia. Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archbishop of Glasgow.
List three people who died on your birthday and tell us what you know about them.
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928). English novelist and poet. Like most of the writers of “classics” I was turned off his work at school.
Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966). Swiss sculptor and painter. Famous for his sculptures of extremely tall and slender figures.
Edmund Hillary (1919-2008). New Zealand mountaineer and explorer. On 29 May 1953 Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest.
List three notable events that took place on your birthday.
1787: William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, two of the moons of Uranus.
1922: First use of insulin to treat diabetes in a human patient.
Tell us about a holiday that falls on your birthday.
Excepting a national day in Albania (which I have been unable to verify) the only holiday I can find on 11 January is the Japanese Kagami biraki which marks the end of the New Year holiday and the return to work. Although not a public holiday, it is widely celebrated.
Three Fears. No money. Being widowed. Dementia.
Three things I love. Sex. Warm sun. Quiet.
If you could live anywhere in the world, under any circumstances whatsoever, where would you go and what would your house be like?
A beach, somewhere warm and sunny all year. An unpretentious, spacious, but not over large, modern house with light décor, and big windows and/or patio doors. It needs to be close to all amenities. There’ll be several cats and a large well stocked koi pond, set in a mature garden which is secluded enough to allow nudity. I’ll need a gardener and a housekeeper.
This year our Ten Things series – which surprisingly appears on the tenth of each month – continues concentrating on the amusing, both real and fictional. So this month we have …
Ten Real Historical Personages
Lyulph Ydwallo Odin Nestor Egbert Lyonel Toedmag Hugh Erchenwyne Saxon Esa Cromwell Orma Nevill Dysart Plantagenet Tollemache-Tollemache (pictured right; born 1876; 4th son of Revd Ralph William Lyonel Tollemache-Tollemache, and brother of Lyonel Felix Carteret Eugene Tollemache-Tollemache, 4th Baronet Tollemache)
Nimrod Standing (Kent; born 1838; found doing family history)
William le Cunte (Norwich; 1260s)
Clarice la Claterballok (London; 1340; a woman of ill-fame)
Robert Paternoster (1561-1596; Gentleman of the Chapel Royal)
This year our Ten Things series, on the tenth of each month, is concentrating on things which are wackier than usual, if not by much. From odd road names to Christmas carols by way of saints and scientists. So here goes with a seasonal December offering …
Ten English Traditional Carols
Boar’s Head Carol
The Cherry-Tree Carol
Coventry Carol
The First Noel
Here We Come A-wassailing (right)
The Holly and the Ivy
Sans Day Carol
The Seven Joys of Mary
Sussex Carol
Unto Us a Boy is Born
Again, if you’re interested to know more, most of these carols have Wikipedia entries.
This year our Ten Things series, on the tenth of each month, is concentrating on things which are wackier than usual, if not by much. From odd road names to Christmas carols by way of saints and scientists. So here goes with November …
Ten Comedy Catchphrases
“You dirty old man”
Harold Steptoe; Steptoe and Son (right)
“Silly Old Moo!”
Alf Garnett; Till Death Us Do Part
“Don’t panic!”
Lance-Corporal Jones; Dad’s Army
“You stupid boy”
Captain George Mainwaring; Dad’s Army
“It’s good night from me…”
“…and it’s good night from him”
Ronnie Corbett & Ronnie Barker; The Two Ronnies
“I’m Free”
Mr Humphries; Are You Being Served?
“Listen Very Carefully, I Shall Say This Only Once”
Michelle Dubois; ‘Allo ‘Allo!
This year our Ten Things series, on the tenth of each month, is concentrating on things which are wackier than usual, if not by much. From odd road names to Christmas carols by way of saints and scientists. So here goes with October …
Ten Pieces of Femto Fiction
[Femto Fiction (or Micro-Micro Fiction) is that which, while looking like a short book title, with almost no imagination tells you the whole story. Genre of work in brackets.]
Gothic Pricks [horror]
Christmas Goose [erotica]
Feel the Mistletoe [romance]
A Strangely Beaked Bird [thriller]
Educated Derelict [autobiography]
Pubic Overtures [erotica] (right)
Duck Shooting in Venice [autobiography]
A Case of Yellow Haddock [detective]
French Knickers [romance]
Admiral Horatio Leftsmith [fiction]
Eccentric looks at life through the thoughts of a retired working thinker
[Femto Fiction (or Micro-Micro Fiction) is that which, while looking like a short book title, with almost no imagination tells you the whole story. Genre of work in brackets.]