draliman on life

Hello, it’s that time of the week when it’s all about me in Cee’s Share Your World challenge. Pop over to her photography blog and check out her cool pictures!

What is your most vivid memory of the kitchen in your childhood?
Hmm, kitchen, kitchen… Is that the one with the “cooker” in? Where the “food magic” happens?

Just kidding. I cook! Well, microwave. I remember standing on something and helping mum wash the dishes (at least I thought I was helping). I was 5 years old and we’d just moved to a new house. I was too old to go to nursery and I had to wait a couple of months for the new school year to start, so I had time on my tiny hands!

As a child, who was your favourite relative?
That would be my granny up in Scotland, who sadly passed away about 15 years ago.

Every summer, we went up to Scotland to spend a couple of weeks with her, and every Christmas she came down to spend a couple of weeks with us. Granny’s arrival was when Christmas really started. She was a very kind-hearted person and she’s sorely missed.

Here she is in the middle, with my Mum and Uncle, taken at Cape Wrath (Northern Scotland) in 1954.

What did you or did not like about the first apartment you ever rented?
We’ll pass over the room in student residences I had in my first year at university (it was a boring, standard student-issue room – bed, desk, chair) and go straight to the house I rented in Guildford with three other students in the second year. That was way more fun!

Our landlord was Iranian and as dodgy as they come. He didn’t even pay tax. He was the “agent” for the landlord, who was supposedly in Iran. Yeah, right. He used to go round to buy houses for “the landlord’s” portfolio with suitcases full of cash.

He’d come round to check the house, complain about the kitchen floor, then race around with a dustpan and brush demonstrating how to clean while we all stood and watched, trying desperately not to laugh. It was hilarious to watch!

Another time one of the lads had dropped tomato ketchup on the carpet and this guy came round. I had to stand on the stain and as the guy walked around the room, I just rotated on the spot to keep my foot on the ketchup.

We didn’t half have some fun that year. Ah, halcyon days!

What kind of TV commercial would you like to make? Describe it.
I’d prefer to make a comedy spoof TV advert. It would have loads of that “but wait, there’s more, order in the next 10 minutes and…” in it. I don’t really have any interest in adverts. I record most stuff that I watch on commercial TV and fast forward through the ads. I refuse to spend an hour of my life watching something that’s only 40 minutes long.

It’s time to Share my World again. This is a weekly challenge hosted by Cee over at her photography blog – go check out her wonderful photos. Thanks for posing the questions, Cee!

What is your favourite time of day?
This is a tricky one. I’m a morning person in terms of getting things done, so I start work quite early. I really enjoy the evenings though, especially in the winter when I can snuggle up in the living room with the fake fire on.

Action shot of my fake fire.

The middle of the day is rubbish. I’ve started to get tired from my early start, but it’s ages until the evening.

What’s your favourite charitable cause and why?
Probably Macmillan Cancer Support. They help cancer sufferers, send round nurses, give advice and so on.

How do you like to spend a rainy day?
Watching TV, playing on my PS4. Colour me boring :-(.

When writing by hand do you prefer to use a pencil or pen?
I don’t prefer writing by hand at all. My handwriting has gone seriously downhill over the years, whether a result of age, laziness or lack of use I don’t know. I prefer pens to pencils because they “slip” across the page more easily, if you see what I mean. Pencil would probably improve my handwriting though, as “easily slipping” across the page is part of the problem, I fear.

Here’s an example I’ve scanned in. It appears to be a rapid “brain-to-page” poem-type thing I must have had some ideas about a while ago. If you can make any of it out, it appears to be about some cute little birds, then some lines I haven’t worked out yet (the dotted lines), then they all die! Presumably because they didn’t get up early, didn’t catch any worms and starved to death.

Does anyone know what this says?

That’s all for this week!

It’s Sunday morning and therefore time for me to Share My World again. Thanks as always for hosting and posing the questions, Cee!

What would be your preference, awake before dawn or awake before noon?
If I’m awake before dawn, I’m automatically awake before noon as well!

Seriously, though, I’m very much a morning person so I prefer to get up early, whenever I wake up (within reason). Not on a school morning, though. I have trouble getting up when I have to go to work!

On a weekend or a day off, I often have an afternoon nap to make up for any lost morning sleep. My bedtime at the moment is around 10pm.

If you could choose between Wisdom and Luck, which one would you pick?
Luck is all very well, but I think I’ll go for wisdom. Hopefully one day I will be wise enough to make my own luck!

Anyway, the question doesn’t actually specify “good” luck. Let’s not take any chances.

If you were given the opportunity for free skydiving lessons would you take them? Why or why not?
No way. Maybe once, but not any more. I’ve never had any broken bones and I don’t intend to start now. I’m not very adventurous and I always see the worst case scenario. Just thinking about skydiving, I can feel myself splattering against the ground in a tragic accident.

Since I’m so short-sighted I’ve been told I’m at risk of detached retinas and to avoid hard knocks to the head, so splattering against the ground would not be good for my eyesight. I would imagine skydiving might also invalidate my life insurance, as they need to know if you do anything “dangerous”, lifestyle-wise.

With all this over-thinking and worry, it’s a wonder I summon up the courage to get out of bed. I think I worry about dying of terminal bed sores.

Is the glass half empty or half full? What is in the glass?
After my last answer, can you guess?

That’s right, it’s half-empty. Probably a little less than half. It contains contaminated water. Or maybe lemonade that’s got all warm and lost its fizz.