Category Archives: memes

beliefs, memes, personal

Christmas Meme

Today is the Feast of St Nicholas (supposed prototype for Santa Claus). In some traditions this day is actually more important than Christmas Day, and for others it signals the start of the Christmas season. So today seems an appropriate time for a Christmas meme. Sing along Join in with your version as you choose.

  1. Favourite Christmas music: Bach, Christmas Oratorio
  2. Christmas smell I like: spices
  3. TV programme I want to watch: Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
  4. TV programme I hate: every film and soap
  5. Christmas tradition: our first winter lights go up on the Feast of Christ the King (Sunday before Advent) and don’t come down until Candlemas (2 February); it’s a festival of light combined with a pagan belief in providing light to see us through the darkest months
  6. Living person (not family) I’d like to have a Christmas drink with: Prof. Alice Roberts
  7. Favourite Christmas drink: just lots of Champagne
  8. Christmas food I like: Brussels Sprouts (yes, really!)
  9. Christmas present I’d like: restored libido
  10. Christmas thing I enjoy: Christmas dinner
  11. Christmas thing I hate: “Away in a Manger”
  12. Something I want to do at Christmas: relax & read (but I never do!)

  13. Tree: real or artificial: artificial, why kill a tree (and we don’t have garden space for yet another live tree)
  14. Holly or mistletoe: both
  15. Do you send cards: yes, it keeps people in touch
  16. When does Christmas start: First Sunday in Advent
  17. And when does Christmas end: Twelfth Night
  18. Best present ever: Noreen
  19. Gold, frankincense or myrrh: Frankincense
  20. Christmas pudding with brandy butter or with custard: either
  21. Turkey or something else for Christmas dinner: sometimes turkey, sometimes pork or beef
  22. Do you buy presents for your pets?: of course, doesn’t everyone?
  23. Favourite carol: The Boar’s Head
  24. Christmas cake or mince pies: mince pies
  25. Is your Christmas sacred or secular?: secular, but with a few Christian bits and some pagan bits thrown in

arts, memes

Advent Calendar 6

An Advent Calendar : Artistic Eroticism


Anthony Gadd; Andrea

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please click on the image for further information and a larger view

arts, memes

Advent Calendar 5

An Advent Calendar : Artistic Eroticism


Terracotta plaque from Mesopotamia (early 2nd millennium BC)

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please click on the image for further information and a larger view

arts, memes

Advent Calendar 4

An Advent Calendar : Artistic Eroticism


Daniel Bauer

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arts, memes

Advent Calendar 3

An Advent Calendar : Artistic Eroticism


Klimt; Reclining Nude (c.1913)

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arts, memes

Advent Calendar 2

An Advent Calendar : Artistic Eroticism

Note: this image is not mine and may be copyright the original photographer/artist;
please click on the image for further information and a larger view

arts, memes

Advent Calendar 1

An Advent Calendar : Artistic Eroticism

Note: this image is not mine and may be copyright the original photographer/artist;
please click on the image for further information and a larger view

amusements, memes, personal

Birthday Meme

Just for a bit of fun, I thought I’d make up my own birthday meme. Hopefully it doesn’t give too much away!

  1. Do you share your birthday with anyone well known? Yes, former miners’ leader Arthur Scargill (b.1938), golfer Ben Crenshaw (b.1952) and England footballer Bryan Robson (b.1957).
  2. Do you share your birthday with anyone you know? Yes, JP.
  3. Do you share your birthday with an historical figure? Yes, most notable Harry Gordon Selfridge (b.1858), founder of the eponymous London department store; also James Paget (b.1814, English surgeon and pathologist) and Ezra Cornell (b.1807, founder of Western Union and Cornell University).
  4. Do you share your birthday with an important historical event? Again yes, the first recorded lottery in England in 1569.
  5. Where were you born? University College Hospital, London.
  6. What time of day were you born? Just in time for lunch! [No change there then!]
  7. How much did you weigh? Something over 8lb.
  8. Who are you named after? No-one to my knowledge, although I do have my mother’s family name embedded.
  9. Zodiac sign? Capricorn.
  10. Chinese zodiac sign? Metal Tiger.
  11. Innie or Outie? Innie.
  12. Do you wear glasses or contact lenses? Glasses since I was about 14.
  13. What have you had pierced or tattooed? No tattoos, and you really do not want to know where my piercing is.
  14. Do you still have your tonsils? Yes, I still have my tonsils, but I’ve been robbed of my appendix, a deformed fingernail and my right knee joint.
  15. At what age did you become aware of pornography? I think probably at about 13.
  16. What is your best attribute? An analytical brain.
  17. What is the thing you least like about yourself? An ability to be tactlessly outspoken.
  18. With who do you feel most comfortable talking to about anything? Noreen, Katy.
  19. The last time you felt broken? Today — it’s a knee thing.
  20. Do you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert? Introvert.
  21. Have you ever taken drugs; if so what? Only the West’s drugs of choice: alcohol and tobacco.
  22. Who amongst your current friends (not family) have you known the longest? Ken King; we were at primary school together 50+ years ago and have recently make contact again.
  23. Is there anyone on your friends list you would ever consider having sex with? Yes; but no I’m not going to tell you who!
  24. Are you cool with talking about sex? Yes.
  25. Who did you lose your virginity to? Faith.
  26. Has reading a book ever changed your life? Yes, see this from my Zen Mischief weblog.
  27. What were you doing when you last lost track of the time? Being wheeled into the operating theatre.
  28. What can you do today that you couldn’t do a year ago? Use crutches properly.
  29. Do you think you’ll change in the next 3 months? Yes, of course; we all change all the time.
  30. What will you be able to do at this time next year that you can’t now? With luck I’ll be able to walk properly.
  31. If you had to be executed but could choose the method, what method would you choose? Instantaneous poison.
  32. What will people say at your funeral? “Phew! There goes that PITA at last.”

So you’re all now challenged to complete this on (or even not on) your birthday each year. The only rule is that you must add or change at least one question each year. Have fun!

memes, personal

Ay to Zee

I’ve decided that we’ll have another irregular series, an A to Z. Unlike 10 things this won’t be a regular monthly feature — I considered it and thought that one such a month was enough and I’d do an A-Z when the whim takes me. I also decided that we’ll start with …
An A-Z of Me
A — Age: 63 on the calendar. Mentally it varies from 21 to 91. Physically it feels more like 163.
B — Blood Type: Not a clue; I’ve never been told.
C — Chore You Hate: All of them, especially housework. 
D — Dogs or Cats: Definitely cats. I don’t dislike dogs but I don’t have the affinity with them I do with cats. 
E — Expletive Deleted: Usually f**k or c**t. 
F — Fun Thing: The London Eye.
G — Greatest Accomplishment: Survival.
H — Haircut: Yes, I finally managed to get to the barber last week; only 6 weeks late!
I — I’d Like To Be: Thinner, fitter and richer.


J — Japan or China: Japan. I’d like to see both although Japan would win, except that I disapprove of their stance on whaling and I don’t much fancy a 12+ hour flight.
K — Kids: No, thank goodness. Two cats is enough, thank you!
L — Luxury: A warm, sunny, sandy beach and an endless supply of cool beer.
M — Married: Yes for half a lifetime.
N — Nude or Clothed: Nude when possible, clothed when necessary. In that order.
O — Operation: Yes, I’ve had several but nothing major: appendix, sinuses, knees.
P — Piercings: Yes one, somewhere you probably don’t want to know about.
Q — Quirky Possession: A Tibetan singing bowl and two Bhutanese Thanka.
R — Random Fact: I’ve never eaten a hamster or a goldfish, either alive or dead.
S — Siblings: No, and I cannot imagine what it must be like to have brothers and sisters.
T — Tattoos: Not yet.
U — Underwear: Only when I have to.
V — Vanilla or Chocolate: Vanilla. While I don’t mind real chocolate I dislike chocolate flavouring. Though I had some mango sorbet the other day which was out of this world!
W — Waiting for: A big lottery win.
X — X-Rays: Had a few of these over the years and always found the images fascinating.
Y — Yummy Food: Curry.
Z — Zoo Animal Favourite: Meercats and the aquarium.
What about you? Either leave your answers in the comments or on your blog with a link in the comments.
And another A-Z when the mood takes me.

memes, personal

Silly Age Meme

OK so Katyboo tagged me on Facebook in one of these silly memes. Well I did sort of invite it really, so it’s all self-inflicted — no change there then!
The meme is about what you were doing at some randomly assigned age …
Age I was given: 44
Where I lived: Greenford, West London
What I drove: Nothing; I don’t drive
What I did: Worked for IBM UK; Project Manager for deployment of laptops to all IBM employees in the UK
Who had my heart: The Norn who must be obeyed
Age now: 62
Where I live: Greenford, West London
What I drive: Nothing; I still don’t drive and may not now be allowed to even if I wanted to (which I don’t)
What I do: Retired; Hon. Secretary of Anthony Powell Society; Chairman of my doctors’ Patient Group; active member of HealthWatch Ealing
Who has my heart: The same Norn who must be obeyed
If you want to play this silly game, leave a comment and I’ll give you an age.