draliman on life

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World. Boy, this is a cheerful set of questions this week!

Does life have a reason (meaning)?
It does to me! So that’s good. In the wider sense, who knows? This question is above my pay grade!

Will the world come to an end by human hands (man’s actions)?
Man’s presence on the world, maybe. I imagine that the world itself will recover from whatever we manage to do to it, in time.

The world itself will end when the sun runs out of fuel. Or when the M’Gak’Nar turn up from Tau Cygnus Alpha IV with their planet-killing missile and blow it to bits.

Will stricter laws make a better world? Would less strict law make it better?
Until people learn right from wrong, stricter laws unfortunately. Too many people ignore their conscience in favour of what they want.

If death is inevitable, why bother doing anything?
Because doing nothing would be really boring.

Are thoughts and prayers useful or a sop for people who wish to pay respect but interact through a virtual venue? Yea or nay – please explain your viewpoint (without rancour) if you would.
Prayers are useful if they help the person praying.

I find thoughts useful. Otherwise I’d just be sitting around in a mindless daze until I died of dehydration and malnutrition.

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

Is it wrong to sell store-bought pastries at a bake sale?
Yes! Surely the whole point is that you bake something and then sell it? I know the proceeds usually go to charity, or the village hall or whatever, but if you’re going to buy a cake for £3 and sell it for £4, why not just cut out the middle man and donate the £1?

There’s a different name for places which sell mass-produced shop cakes. They’re called “shops”.

Have you ever interacted with the police?
Yes.

What will you remember most about this past year?
I can’t think of anything that really stands out. There was the awful couple of days of snow and the drive home.

Is it better to have fungus on your toes, your tongue, or your pizza?
The only place fungus belongs out of those choices in on a pizza, though I don’t generally have mushrooms on pizza myself.

What is one slang word that makes your skin crawl?
Not “skin crawl” as such, but I can’t get on with the word “sick”. It used to mean something pretty nasty but it’s now used for something amazingly good as well. So sometimes it’s hard to tell whether someone really loves or hates something.

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

What happens if you stare at the mirror for too long in the dark?
All unseen, the dark side of your soul is given free rein, its dreadful eyes burning into you, eating away at your very being, leeching, corrupting, until your brains dribble from your ears and you go massively, irreparably INSANE.

Or nothing at all.

One of those.

Do you think you’re judgemental? What tends to bring it out in you?
Yes. Everybody is to some extent. Of course, some people pretty much make a career out of it.

Do you work better with actual lists or with mental lists?
I use mental lists until things get out of control and then I start writing stuff down.

When I go shopping I always make an actual list or I’m guaranteed to forget something and since I only go shopping once a week, that’s a major pain.

Would you go streaking across a football field during a game for a million quid, knowing there’s a 50/50 chance you’ll get arrested for indecent exposure?
Hmm, it’s not so much the (pretty much 100% chance of getting arrested), it’s having the guts to actually do it. Though, on the criminal charges front these days it’s likely to be a lot worse than “indecent exposure”. Since there’s a reasonable expectation there will be children present you’ll likely be placed on the sex offenders register.

A million squidly-dids is a lot of money but I don’t think it’s worth the risk.

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

Why do we seem to respect the dead more than the living?
I don’t know. Maybe we’re worried they’re going to haunt us if we say something nasty…

Why is beauty associated with morality? Or not? (a few weeks back I asked a similar question, but the key word was MORTALITY, not MORALITY). 
I didn’t know it was – personally I don’t see any correlation between the two.

Have gadgets and apps taken away emotions?
For sure – I don’t bother smiling anymore, I just send a group smiley emoji 🙂

Is there a perfect life? What’s your version of a perfect life if you care to share?
I’m sure there is but I bet no-one’s ever had one. And tons of money isn’t it, that just brings more problems. Though “just enough and a bit more on top” sounds good. And maybe a pool, private helicopter and whatnot 🙂

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

Would (or do) you stop to help (presumably) stranded folks by the side of the road?
I’d slow down, have good laugh, say something rude then roar off heh heh 🙂

No, I wouldn’t do that. I wouldn’t even slow down. In every film I’ve ever seen the “broken down car” is an ambush.

Do you think the world is less mannerly today than in past times OR are we just more touchy and manners are as they’ve always been?
See previous answer!

What happens if you’re scared half to death, TWICE?
As mathematical genius Mr Squirrel has pointed out, If you keep halving something you never actually reach zero, so I’d be just fine!

If ALL the world’s a stage, where does the audience sit?
The audience is in your head and it never lets up jeering. Never, dammit!

Gratitude-y type question here
I just finished my two week annual leave and I got loads done! Two new tyres for the car (£310, dammit), new washer dryer (£400, dammit), mended the back fence, painted the front garden wall…

… baked a cake…

… made a stir fry…

… had a BBQ with home made burgers with my parents…

… and much much more 🙂

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World. Time to choose a logo!

Are you more a thinker or a doer?
Definitely a thinker. I do a lot of thinking about all the chores I need to do, but there’s not been so much actual doing going on.

I did get a new storage unit for my bathroom though. I assembled it a couple of days ago. Here it is!

Why is beauty associated with mortality?
I don’t know! I don’t understand the question 😦 Unless it’s something about rotting corpses not being beautiful. So instead here’s a picture of some ice cream I made last week with strawberry syrup squirted on top. I used the no-churn no-heating method so it was very quick and easy.

Drali Ice

If everyone spoke their mind (told the literal truth), would this world be a better place?
Nope. Imagine if everyone came up to you and told you what they actually thought of you? I don’t wanna know…

Can religious beliefs affect scientific thinking?
I’m sure they do for some. They shouldn’t though. Science is all about formulating a theory and then devising a way to prove it. “Belief”, religious or otherwise, doesn’t really come into it.

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

If you were suddenly injured or died, are your bedside table drawers ready for someone else to go through them? If you care to share, what’s the most unusual item someone might find, that might be potentially embarrassing?
Injured? Die? This is a bit of a downer. I’m worried now. I think what I’ll do is link a sensor to my heartbeat so if it stops a tiny incendiary device will destroy the contents of my bedside table.

What keeps you going?
Life. Life doesn’t let you stop going.

Share a photo or a sentence about ‘your favourite thing(s)’

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At the end of the song “Everybody Hurts” by R.E.M., where did they all go?
I expect they were Raptured. Or kidnapped by space aliens. Or Raptured by space aliens.

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World. Which logo to use this week? Decisions, decisions…

Yes, the one with the UK front and centre, I think!

What do fish do all day? What thoughts do you think they have?
Well, they certainly seem to do a lot of swimming around the place. As for their thoughts, much the same as ours I reckon. What to do today, where to go, which algae bar has free wifi, that sort of thing.

What celebrity would you have as a SPOUSE, if you HAD to choose?
Ooh, so many choices. It seems a bit rough on my chosen celebrity, though. Taylor Momsen is a great singer so she’s on the list. Despite the decades of age difference. Alicia Vikander, though Michael Fassbender might not be too happy. Jenna Fischer, though her husband might want words as well. I think I’m going to get beaten up a lot.

What’s the most expensive thing you’ve ever broken?
Hearts. Hearts are priceless. As an international playboy and man of mystery there have been a lot of those. Sometimes I receive instructions from Intelligence Service HQ the import/export company and I just have to move on at short notice.

No, wait, that’s James Bond.

When was the last time you slept more than 9 hours in a stretch? Why?
I don’t know. I was probably ill if I slept that long. Or maybe at the end of a long period of annual leave when my routine has got all messed up.

Here’s a couple of pictures of my new flowers to brighten up this post.

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

Do you think there is such a thing as a ‘gendered’ brain?
Oh Lordy. Well, I didn’t know anything about this so I read some stuff. The answer seems to be both “yes” and “no”. In short, various groups seem to suggest that while girls and boys have certain differences at birth – responding differently to faces, for example – most of what happens afterwards (pink for girls, blue for boys etc) is down to societal conditioning.

Blimey.

What is the silliest fear you have?
I don’t have any silly fears. They’re all real, I tell you. Real and justifiable. Anyone who isn’t mortally afraid of spiders is clearly nuts.

Out of your family members, who are you closest to?
Ha. Some of them read this so I’m not answering.

All of them.

What is something you’ll NEVER do again?
In 1983 James Bond taught us to “Never Say Never Again”. Saying you’ll never do something again is a bit presumptuous. So there.

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World. Which logo shall I use today?

Do you consider yourself a pessimist or an optimist?
I’m a bit of a pessimist. Everything that can go wrong is definitely going to go wrong. And that glass is way more than half empty. But that means I’m always prepared for the worst, and there’s plenty of room to be pleasantly surprised! I call it “disappointment management”.

Can War ever be just?
Just what? Just a bit of a tiff?

Oh, I see. Well, I don’t know about “just”. But certainly “necessary”. Imagine what would have happened if we’d not stood up to Mr Hitler. He would have conquered most of the world, unopposed. And, more recently, most of the Middle East would be a Caliphate. And it wouldn’t have stopped there, considering we’re not doing “war” any more.

Think about the people you love most in your life, what do you do for them?
I bring them joy just be being there with all my awesomeness and whatnot.

Are you health conscious?
Absolutely. But unfortunately I then ignore myself and eat loads of pizza and burgers anyway. Here is a picture of some burgers I made just last week! See the salad stuff there? That’s the healthy bit.

Draliburgers