draliman on life

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

Pancakes, waffles or French Toast as your breakfast favourite? 
None of those is really eaten for breakfast over here as far as I know. How about a full English breakfast instead?

And no, this is not my usual breakfast. I’d be dead by now.

Do you think a person’s name influences the person they become?
No. If my surname was “Butcher” would I have become a butcher (or a serial killer)? No! For many names it was originally the other way round, I imagine. Jed the village carpenter became Jed Carpenter for short.

Would things get better or worse if humans focused on what was going well rather than what’s going wrong?
Yes.

By which I mean, it’s good to look on the bright side, but if you ignore all the negatives, you’ll go bankrupt. Or potentially catch something nasty and die, especially at the moment.

Is maths something that humans created or something we discovered? Is looking at reality mathematically an accurate representation of how things work?
We invented maths to formalise and understand the world.

Take “zero”. That’s a recent “invention” (around the turn of BCE to CE, then developed in the early centuries of CE). Though the concept of “nothing” was always understood of course, we INVENTED zero in order to express it.

As for the second question, yes, of course. That’s how computers create such realistic images, how they recognise images and so on.

GRATITUDE – What are you grateful for right now?
My cheese arrived! Often at the moment the shops only have processed squares unless you hit it lucky and I’m not eating that shit so I ordered some online. It arrived on Thursday, here it is!

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

On A Scale Of 1-10, How Strict Were Your Parents?
I’ll assume the average is “5”, and go for “5”. I was punished when I was naughty so I learned right from wrong, but not when it was a complete accident. Like the time I was swinging a golf club in the front garden, let go and it smashed through the neighbour’s bedroom window.

I’d probably have got a reward if I’d managed to hit the neighbour too. Nasty person.

What Wastes The Most Time In Your Day To Day Life?
Hmm. One man’s waste of time is another’s hobby. Some would say playing PS4 was a waste of time. I wouldn’t.

Do They Bury People With Their Braces On? (“braces” as in the teeth ones, not the ones to keep your trousers up).
I expect they pull them out and rework them for the next person on the dentist list. Waste not, want not!

Why Does A Round Pizza Come In A Square Box?
Have you ever tried to stack and store hundreds of round boxes? Actually, have you ever seen a round box (outside of hats)? That’s why, then. There aren’t any round boxes.

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World. I’m not actually sharing my world this week as there’s a big bunch of questions on St Patrick. That’s the Irish one.

Saint Patrick’s actual colour was not green. Was it red, orange or blue?
He was only green when he was ill. Generally he was orange, as he loved the fake tan.

Was Saint Patrick born in Ireland, Britain or France? 
Britain, wasn’t it? Or France. Or maybe Ireland. One of those.

How old was Saint Patrick when he was taken as a slave? 10, 13, or 16?
A slave? Who knew. That’s horrible 😦

Why is Saint Patrick’s Day celebrated on the 17th? Was it the day he was born, the day he died, or the day he got the title “Saint”?
Well, not the last one. Everyone knows “The Saint” was Roger Moore.

I have to say, when I was little I never noticed the cartoon Saint’s pose…

Is Saint Patrick’s Day always, usually or never held on the same date?
Yes.

What did Saint Patrick use to symbolise something for Christianity? Was it a stick, a shamrock, or a bird?
None of those sound very “Christian symbol”. I reckon he used his “bird”, Mrs St Patrick.

What city turns a river green every year to celebrate? Is it Detroit, Chicago, or Green Bay, U.S.A.?
Why would anyone do that?

Which year was the first St. Patrick’s Day parade (in America) held?
The year America was invented. Which was, um, okay, I don’t even know what century that was. Sixteen hundred and something?

Which US president was of Irish descent and forgot it was Saint Patrick’s Day?
I can only name five or six US presidents, it being a foreign country and all. I’ll go for Ronald Reagan, he always seemed to be forgetting things.

Is corned beef and cabbage is a traditional Saint Patrick’s Day dish?
I don’t know, but it shouldn’t be. Sounds awful.

True or False: The shamrock is the national flower of Ireland.
Sounds like a trick question to me. False. Or it could be a double-bluff. True.
False.

Where was Saint Patrick buried after he died? Britain, Ireland, or France?
In the ground.

Two of the three colours on the Irish flag are green and white. What is the third one?
Rainbow.

True or False: Saint Patrick was not actually a Saint.
False. I already said, it was Roger Moore. Or Ian Ogilvy, if you want to include the remake (“Return of the Saint”).

What do leprechauns use their sticks, called “shillelagh” for? Accessing their rainbow, turning invisible, or making their magic pot of gold appear? 
“Accessing” their “rainbow”.

Which is not true?
-Lent restrictions are dropped on Saint Patrick’s Day.
-Irish soap was invented in Ireland.
-Saint Patrick’s real name was Maewyn Succat.
The last one. It sounds Welsh. The first name anyway.

What’s the traditional occupation of a leprechaun? Thief, shoemaker, or banker?
Thief. Little buggers.

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

Are you a sweet, sour, tangy or other type of person? Take that as you will!
That depends on my mood. I like to think that I’m generally sweet 🙂

Does the whole coronavirus phenomenon worry you? Or are you more a “meh – it’s just another severe flu scare” type of person?
Initially I thought it was going to be another swine flu/bird flu virtual non-event. Evidently it’s a bit more than that so it’s hard not to be a little worried. For me, it’s business as usual, with a few sensible precautions. I’m more worried about my parents who are in their 80s, so I’m watching myself for signs of infection so I know not to go round there if I might be infected.

When was the last time you were snooping, and found something you wish you hadn’t?
I don’t really snoop. I bet nobody who ever snooped ever discovered anything positive.

What’s the most pleasant sounding accent in your personal opinion? Everyone has a pleasing accent to someone!
I quite like soft Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Australian accents. Also soft North of England 🙂

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

Can you bake a cake?
Pretty much anyone can bake a simple cake if they have a decent enough oven and a bowl. The one I make basically involves bunging equal amounts of everything in all at once and mixing them together. Very simple! Here’s a photo of one I baked last year.

What’s one thing that can instantly make your day better?
An unexpected and massive injection of cash suddenly turning up in my bank account. That’s never happened though, so I’ll have to settle for the laugh of a small child, the blooming of the flowers, the trilling of the birdies and so on and so forth.

When you were a kid, did you eat the crusts on your sandwich or not?
I can’t remember back that far 😦 I expect I would have been told to eat them whether I wanted to or not.

What’s something your family would be surprised to learn about you?
That I’m actually a highly sophisticated android, though I prefer the term “synthetic person”. My positronic brain is currently operating at 0.01% capacity – any higher and I might accidentally solve the mysteries of the universe thus giving myself away.

None of that is true. Just in case you were wondering.