draliman on life

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World. And here’s the new logo. I have saved it as “share-psychedelic”.

What’s your remedy for the Holiday blues?
I don’t really get them. I get January blues. Because January is rubbish.

Your favourite beverage (if it differs) during the holiday season? If it doesn’t differ, just answer the ‘what’s your favourite beverage” part.
I just keep drinking my cloudy fizzy lemonade and diet Coke.

This one has been asked before, but what’s your take on pumpkin spice?
What’s pumpkin spice? Spice with crushed dried pumpkins? Sounds a bit dodgy to me.

Is there is a person or god connected with your holiday?
No. It’s about going round visiting my family and having a big Christmas dinner 🙂

Who are they and do you believe in them?
If you do not believe in these people or gods, does the celebration/honouring of that being, bother you in any way (e.g., ignored, dismissed, angry, etc.)?
Yep, I believe in my family. They’re not made up or anything. People can believe in/honour whatever they like as long as they don’t try to shove it down my throat.

Share a song that you enjoy during this Winter season (whether it’s Christmas, Hanukkah, The Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa and so forth).
It’s the classics for me. “Fairytale of New York (Pogues/Kirsty MacColl), “Merry Christmas Everybody” (Slade), “Stop the Cavalry” (Jona Lewie)… though having one Christmas line in a song about the second world war – “I wish I was at home for Christmas” – doesn’t really make it a Christmas song any more than setting a slaughter-fest at a Christmas party makes “Die Hard” a Christmas movie…

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World.

What did you have for dinner last night?
It was Saturday evening so I had sausages, baked beans and fried egg with a couple of slices of bread and butter. I usually have something like that on a Saturday while I watch a film. Yesterday I watched “White House Down” again.

Would you rather go out on a Saturday night or stay in?
I would rather stay in. If I really had to go out, Friday and Saturday would be the days I’d least like to do it as they’re more likely to be busy out.

How are you, truthfully?
One day I’d love to answer that question properly when asked in the morning at work. It’s standard in the morning – “how are you?”, “how was your weekend?” etc etc. Imagine their surprise if you actually launched into an actual full and truthful answer rather than saying the standard “fine thanks, you?” Heh heh.

What’s the best topping/ice cream combination? If you don’t eat ice cream, what’s your favourite combination dessert?
I quite like vanilla ice cream by itself. It’s nice with strawberry topping too. I also like chocolate ice cream, fruity ice cream, mint choc chip ice cream… I’ll just say “I like ice cream”, I think.

Share Your Gratitude with a thought (quote), a picture or a short paragraph.
I’m grateful I forgot it was Black Friday pretty much all day so I didn’t feel tempted to spend any money on “cheap” crap I don’t need.

Amazon had Black “Friday” all week. It’s a bit like Christmas. The longer the build-up, the less special and exciting the actual day is, to the point where I just forget about it.

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World.

Can we ever experience anything objectively? Why or why not?
Definitely. I object to a bunch of stuff.

Only kidding. I would say no. Even when we try, subconsciously our preconceived ideas will always unintentionally add bias. As we recently learned, even AIs can be biased.

Do humans have a soul? Do animals have a soul?
That depends on your idea of a “soul”. Is it a sense of self, an ability for empathy, a life force? If so, “yes” to both. Though there have been some humans throughout history who didn’t seem to have one.

Why are people told to respect the dead?
Because they can’t respond to any insults, I suppose. Though there are some people I don’t respect regardless of whether they’re dead or not.

Without using the names of specific people, discuss “the ideal” President or other world leader.
Can there be an “ideal” world leader? In order to make things work, more and more compromises need to be made. I’m sure most politicians would admit to themselves that many of their lofty ideals fell by the wayside as they proceeded through their careers.

I guess the main thing is to make sure they’re in it for the people, and they leave their ego at the door. Because their entire reason for existing is now to serve.

Here’s my post for Melanie’s Share Your World.

Is copying and pasting images or information off the Internet plagiarism? Do you credit those whose work you ‘borrow freely’ or do you think the idea is repugnant?
If you credit the work you’ve taken, it’s just theft rather than plagiarism (which involves passing the work off as your own). I only grab stuff off the internet when I’m pretty sure it’s very general. There are exceptions in (UK) copyright law (teaching, parody, review, quotation etc) which would cover a good deal of stuff.

I think it’s pretty low if you actually pretend something’s your own work, but I think the word “repugnant” is going a bit far!

Do you let sleeping dogs lie?
I certainly don’t. Lying is wrong, even if you’re asleep. And a dog. Tell the truth, people 🙂

What’s the strangest pet name (for adults) that you’ve ever heard someone called?
Nope, I’ve only ever heard the standards.

Do you like to dance? If yes, what’s your favourite and if no, why not?
Not at all, in any way or at any time whatsoever. And I’m sure the people around me would also rather I didn’t dance.