Category Archives: memes

Five Questions, Series 4 #5

So, at last, we get to the final question of series 4 of Five Questions.

Question 5: What is the biggest obstacle that stands in your way right now?
There is only one possible answer to that … ME!
You think I’m joking? Then you’ve not seen the size of me!
What?! You want a more serious answer?! You mean that isn’t good enough?!
Well if you push me then the answer has to be (a) depression and (b) not enough hours in the day to get done what I want to do.
But isn’t that essentially the same for everyone? … There isn’t enough time and we just can’t push ourselves to do more.
– oo OO oo –

OK, that concludes Five Questions, Series 4. I’ll do another series in a few months.
Meantime, I would like questions to answer — ask anything and I will see if I can answer it. No promises though ‘cos you really don’t want to know about my … TMIA!

Silly Meme

This meme is doing the rounds on Facebook. Just because I’m feeling like wasting time I thought I’d share it here too.

Age I was given: 30
I lived in: Chiswick
I was married to Noreen (by about 2 years)
I drove: myself into depression
I worked at: IBM in Sudbury Hill
I wanted to be: out of the scrofulous flat we lived in (and achieved it while still 30)
I feared: failure

I am now: 62
I live in: Sudbury Hill
I am still married to Noreen
I drive: a PC all day
I work at: retirement (and a little community giveback)
I want to be: financially secure
I fear: losing my marbles

Add a comment to this post and I’ll give you an age so you can continue this silliness.

I've Never Seen Star Wars

Tim over at Bringing up Charlie has started something new. It may even turn into a meme.

As a result of some new-fangled programme on the wireless, which seems to be called I’ve Never Seen Star Wars, Tim has come to realise that there are a collection of things he’s never done or which have somehow passed him by, but which everyone assumes everyone else actually has done. And guess what? The summit of his list is never having seen Star Wars.

Tim then goes on to challenge the rest of us to document the things we’ve never done but which might surprise our friends. Being as I like memes, and I’m insatiably curious about other people, it would be churlish of me not to join in. So here’s my list of a dozen (apparently common) things I’ve never done.

  1. Seen Star Wars or 2001: A Space Odyssey or Clockwork Orange or any of those other iconic films. (See, Tim, you aren’t the only one!)
  2. Eaten oysters or tripe
  3. Worn a dinner jacket or a cocktail dress
  4. Been skinny dipping
  5. Played strip poker or strip pool
  6. Taken recreational drugs
  7. Driven a car or ridden motorbike
  8. Watched Eastenders or (again like Tim) Friends or Downton Abbey
  9. Lusted after Jennifer Aniston or Pamela Anderson
  10. Been to the races (horses or dogs)
  11. Been on a package holiday
  12. Broken a bone

Interestingly only one thing on that list bothers me not to have done. Anyone care to guess which one?

So now I dare everyone else to tell, their darkest, secret, “I’ve never dones” — either in the comments here or on your own blog (with a link in the comments), so we can all have a good snigger. 🙂

Listography : My Week

This week Kate’s Listography asks us to document, in five photos, what we get up to in a typical week.

So here goes with some of the things I might get up to.
Click the photos for bigger images and/or more details.

1. Food Shopping
Sprats
This lovely display of sprats was on the fish counter of our local Waitrose.

2. Cooking
Thing-a-Day #5 : Cheese & Onion Muffins
Noreen and I share cooking duties and I try to do my fair share.
Mostly we’re cooking just main meals; we don’t tend to do fancy stuff
although we do each have our specialities.
These are cheese and onion muffins, which were a special I did some time back.

3. Watching Birds in the Garden
Starling Drinking
I was brought up to take an interest in Natural History, and I still do.
This starling is drinking from our bird bath; snapped from my study window.

4. Researching My Family History
Wedding ca 1905?
This is a scan of a ca. 1905 wedding photo;
my maternal grandmother was a bridesmaid to one of her friends.
Her mother is also in the photo.

5. People Watching
Sandwich
This Hyacinth Bucket lady really let the side down by slumping
on a station bench and devouring a sandwich in public.
Taken at Harrow on the Hill station.

Questionable Meme

OK so I got a covert tag from Katy over at Katyboo1 to do this meme. I can’t resist a good meme.

What I have to do is …

  • Post 11 random facts about myself.
  • Answer 10 questions set by the person who sent me the meme.
  • Pick 10 people to tag myself.
  • Set 10 new questions for the people I tag to answer.

11 Random Facts
Those who read here regularly will know quite a bit about me so some of this may be duplication; can’t find 11 totally new ones if only because don’t remember what I’ve used already! So …

  1. I’ve worn glasses since I was 14 (that’s nearly 50 years! Eeeek!) ‘cos I’m short-sighted.
  2. I have a residual third nipple.
  3. I have never broken a bone — and have no wish to! — although I’ve had a couple of close calls.
  4. I have known as many heart transplant patients as kidney transplant patients (precisely two of each). Odd considering the high number of kidney transplants compared with heart transplants.
  5. I hate formality and dressing up so I’ve never worn a DJ/tuxedo in my life and I don’t intend to start now.
  6. I read very slowly; I always have done, and I’ve never managed to master speed-reading.
  7. I have never learnt to drive.
  8. I was born in University College Hospital (in London’s Gower Street) so on a very good day I’m a Cockney.
  9. I terms of doing anything practical I have 10 left thumbs. I can put paint on walls and doors and that’s my limit.
  10. My parents were somewhat bohemian so I had a very liberal upbringing which included nudism, being allowed to read whatever I wanted and being allowed to make up my own mind on most things.
  11. Consequently, although I have investigated several religions, I’m now an atheist libertarian myself and believe freedom of speech, sexuality, religion, body freedom and lifestyle are all fundamental rights.

Here are my 10 questions from Katy:

  1. Cute pictures of animals on the internet, nice or insanely annoying? Cute pictures of anything are insanely annoying.
  2. What is your favourite meal of the day, and why? All of them; I just like food. But anything with chips or full English breakfast or curry. That’s why I’m obese!
  3. What is your stance on swearing in front of children? They have to learn the words, and they’ll learn them soon enough at school, so better they learn them from me and can then understand when to use them, what they mean and when they shouldn’t use them. And for what it’s worth I feel the same about sex and nudity — they’ll (half) learn soon enough from their mates so better they learn the truth from their parents/friendly adults.
  4. Beatles or The Stones? Late Beatles (ie. Sgt Peppers et.seq.) every time.
  5. Are you a morning person? If not, what time of day sort of person are you? Neither. I’m good in the morning if I wake up early and I’m wide awake; then I can get going and get lots done. Otherwise forget it. Evenings? Not for anything brainful.
  6. Croutons in soup, right or wrong? Yes, but they have to be proper fried croutons; bits of dry toasted bread are just pointless.
  7. Favourite moustache. The one I don’t now have. I once had a moustache for about 5 years; it even got on our wedding photos. I grew it for no good reason and shaved it off because I got fed up with it.
  8. What do you wear in bed, and why? Occasionally my wife, otherwise nothing. I stopped wearing nightclothes when I was a student. Skin is so much more comfortable than clothes that just tie your dangly bits in knots.
  9. Lace curtains or let ‘em look? Lace curtains are the work of the Devil. I need daylight. Al fresco lifestyles are us. If anyone looks too much they get a wave or a finger.
  10. Will rockeries ever make a resurgence in these modern times? Probably when some poncy “garden chef” decides they’re fashionable.

Tag 10 people
Like Katy I don’t generally tag people by name. So anyone who wants to do this can post their answers on their blog and post a link in the comments. I promise I’ll come and read yours if you do.  But to encourage you all, if ten people contribute (and do it properly) I’ll give £10 to a UK charity nominated by the 10th contributor posting a link to their contribution in the comments.

10 New Questions for Anyone Accepting a Tag

  1. When did you last go to the dentist?
  2. Your favourite poem?
  3. Something that made you happy this week?
  4. Soup or sandwich?
  5. What’s the furthest you’ve ever travelled from your home?
  6. What’s your favourite sex toy?
  7. Science or God?
  8. Are you vegetarian? Why or why not?
  9. One thing you consider to be a work of the Devil?
  10. What would be your one desert island luxury?

Good Badness

Both Katy (Katyboo) and Emma (Belgian Waffle) have invited us all to document what we are good and bad at. So who am I not to comply with such royal command.

So here goes …

BAD GOOD
Drawing and painting
DIY — actually anything dexterous
Spontaneity
Anything athletic
Reading quickly
Complaining about service
Being active & getting out
Respecting management
Suffering fools & the pretentious
Saving money
Vanity
Phoning people
Foreign languages
Latin
Patience
Erections
Logic Puzzles
Exercise
Self-publicity
Nagging
Navigation & map reading
Organising
Project management
Maths and science
Logic
Analysing situations, quickly
Being idle
Eating and drinking
Thinking
Bending the rules
Telling it like it is
Sleeping in late
Research
Arguing & disputing
Computery things
Making decisions
Finance
Being stressed
Being overawed by the great & good

So how about you all tell me what you’re good at — either in the comments or on your blog and leave a link in the comments?

Now I’m off to the supermarket.

Listography : Top 5 Photos of 2011

I’m glad that Kate’s Listography this week has eschewed the temptation to ask about our New Year Resolutions — if only because I don’t believe NYRs!

No, this week Kate has asked us to choose our five favourite photos of 2011 from amongst those we’ve taken. This I like! I could easily do a lot more than five. So I decided that I’d give you my five favourite 2011 flower photographs from my Flickr photostream.

1. Crocuses (taken in our garden in February)

[7/52] Crocuses

2. Jonquil (taken in our garden in March)

Jonquil

3. Peony (taken at Kew Gardens in May)

Peony

4. Hebe (taken in our garden in July)

[29/52] Hebe

5. Hollyhock (taken in Chipping Norton in September)

Hollyhock
The Peony and the Crocuses appeared in my photobook (see on the right).

Enjoy!

Have a great 2012!

Ten Things of 2011: The Summary

Back in January I set out to write ten things each month so that at the end of this year you knew 120 more things about me: things I like and things I dislike. Just for the record, and seeing as it's the end of the year, here is the complete list …

Things I Like

  1. Sex
  2. Cats
  3. Steam Trains
  4. Koi
  5. Nudity
  6. Roses
  7. Beer
  8. Sunshine
  9. Photography
  10. Tea
  11. Beaujolais Nouveau
  12. Fresh Snow
Things I Won't Do

  1. Play Golf
  2. Sailing
  3. Ballroom Dancing
  4. Bungee Jumping
  5. Wearing DJ/Tuxedo
  6. Wear Jacket and Tie on Holiday
  7. Parachute
  8. Eat Sheep's Eyes or Tripe
  9. Take any more Exams
  10. Halloween
  11. Plumbing
  12. Go Horse Racing

Something I want to do

  1. Visit Japan
  2. Take a Trip on Orient Express
  3. Expand my Family History
  4. Travel Wick/Thurso to Penzence by Train
  5. Have Acupuncture
  6. Have a Nudist Holiday
  7. Visit Scilly Isles
  8. Win £2M
  9. Get Rid of my Depression
  10. Fly on Flightdeck of an Airliner
  11. Visit Norway & Sweden
  12. Write a Book
Blogs I Like

  1. Katyboo
  2. Emily Nagoski :: Sex Nerd
  3. The Magistrates Blog
  4. Art by Ren Adams
  5. Whoopee
  6. Aetiology
  7. Not Exactly Rocket Science
  8. Norn's Notebook
  9. The Loom
  10. Bad Science
  11. Cocktail Party Physics
  12. Postsecret

Books I Like

  1. Anthony Powell; A Dance to the Music of Time
  2. Brad Warner; Sex, Sin & Zen
  3. Mary Roach; Stiff
  4. Lewis Carroll; Alice in Wonderland
  5. Brown, Fergusson, Lawrence & Lees; Tracks & Signs
    of the Birds of Britain & Europe
  6. John Guillim, A Display of Heraldrie
  7. Diary of Samuel Pepys
  8. AN Wilson, After the Victorians
  9. Florence Greenberg; Jewish Cookery
  10. Nick McCamley; Secret Underground Cities
  11. Douglas Adams, Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy
  12. Charles Nicholls; The Reckoning
Music I Like

  1. Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here
  2. Beatles, Abbey Road
  3. Yes, Close to the Edge
  4. Monteverdi, 1610 Vespers
  5. Caravan, In the Land of Pink & Grey
  6. Carl Orff, Carmina Burana
  7. Amanda Palmer, Map of Tasmania
  8. William Byrd, The Battell
  9. Pink Floyd, Learning to Fly
  10. Moody Blues, Octave
  11. Handel, Messiah
  12. JS Bach, Christmas Oratorio

Food I Like

  1. Curry
  2. Pasta
  3. Sausage
  4. Butter Beans
  5. Whitebait
  6. Avocado
  7. Cheese
  8. Smoked Fish, especially Eel
  9. Chips
  10. Swiss Chard
  11. Pizza
  12. Treacle Tart
Food & Drink I Dislike

  1. Egg Custard
  2. Carrots
  3. Sweetcorn
  4. Pernod
  5. Sheep's Eyes
  6. Green Tea
  7. Tapioca
  8. Absinthe
  9. Marron Glacé
  10. Milk
  11. Sweet Potatoes
  12. Butternut Squash
Words I Like

  1. Cunt
  2. Crenellate
  3. Merkin
  4. Merhari
  5. Amniomancy
  6. Vespiary
  7. Numpty
  8. Halberd
  9. Verisimilitude
  10. Persiflage
  11. Mendicant
  12. Antepenultimate

Quotes I Like

  1. If you don't concern yourself with your wife's cat, you will lose something irretrievable between you. [Haruki Murakami]
  2. When we talk about settling the world's problems, we're barking up the wrong tree. The world is perfect. It's a mess. It has always been a mess. We are not going to change it. Our job is to straighten out our own lives. [Joseph Campbell]
  3. The purpose of our lives is to be happy. [Dalai Lama]
  4. The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it. [Flannery O’Connor]
  5. I like small furry animals — as long as they're tasty. [Lisa Jardine]
  6. The covers of this book are too far apart. [Ambrose Bierce]
  7. It will pass, sir, like other days in the army. [Anthony Powell]
  8. The gap between strategic rhetoric and operational reality remains dangerously wide. [Prof. Gordon Hewitt]
  9. Pro bono publico, nil bloody panico. [Rear-Admiral Sir Morgan Morgan-Giles]
  10. Well, art is art, isn't it? Still, on the other hand, water is water! And East is East and West is West and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste more like prunes than a rhubarb does. Now you tell me what you know? [Groucho Marx]
  11. The universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose. [JBS Haldane]
  12. If we don't change our direction we're liable to end up where we're going. [Chinese Proverb]