draliman on life

It’s Week 8 at Sharing Your World, Cee’s weekly question and answer challenge. So let’s dive straight in!

Your favourite blog post that you have written? (add link)
It’s quite hard to choose just the one post. Here’s one about a lad who joins the army in the 1800s, only to discover that it’s not all excitement and glory after all, written a year ago for the Storybook Corner challenge.

What do you feel is the most enjoyable way to spend $500? Why?
Currently that’s £323.84. I really have no idea how I would spend it. If I just had the money right now, it would go straight towards paying off a credit card, but that’s not very enjoyable!

I think maybe I would use it to fund a little mini-break up-country somewhere, maybe Cumbria. Or even to a different country as I’d quite like to visit Scotland again. I could use the money to stay in a nice little hotel somewhere.

If you could know the answer to any question, besides “What is the meaning of life?”, what would it be?
The first thing which entered my head was “when will I die” so that I know whether or not to keep paying money into my pension. But on second thought, I don’t think I really want to know.

Then I thought, when I die, is that me gone forever or is there something else waiting? But I’m not sure I want to know that either, just in case there isn’t.

It’s beginning to sound like I don’t really want to know the answers to any of the “big” questions. Because “hope” is an important thing to have in life, and I don’t want to accidentally lose any by getting the “wrong answer”.

So I’ll ask, “Which question should I ask?” So even though I won’t get the answer to the question I should have asked, I’m halfway there by knowing what the most important question is.

Where do you eat breakfast?
Nowhere. Sometimes I go through periods when I have a cereal bar, but, “most important meal of the day” or not, I don’t usually feel hungry first thing in the morning.

It’s time to Share My World! Share Your World is hosted by Cee at her photography blog.

Is the paper money in your possession right now organised sequentially according to denomination and with the bills (that’s “notes” for those in the UK) right side up and facing the same way?
Yes, of course. Because that’s the way I roll. Sometimes if I’m feeling really rebellious I might turn one of them upside down. Then I’ll get upset and turn it the right way up again.

What is your favourite type of dog? (can be anything from a specific breed, a stuffed animal or character in a movie)
Take your pick!

Meet The Lads

If money was not an issue, would you go on a cruise?  If so where would you go?
Ooh, can anywhere guess where I’d go on a cruise to? That’s right! New Zealand to see the Hobbits. There’s probably a special “Hobbit Cruise” or something I could sign up to.

Would you dare to sleep in haunted house overnight?
Yes. Yes I would.

Because firstly, it’s not haunted. And secondly, if by some chance it actually is haunted, it might be quite cool to meet a ghost. As long as it’s a friendly ghost. Like Casper. But it might be an unfriendly ghost. Like in “Poltergeist”. DON’T GO INTO THE LIGHT. It might try to kill me. It would be horrific. And terrifying.

I’ve changed my mind. No, no I wouldn’t.

Here is my post for Share Your World Week 4, hosted by Cee over at her photography blog. Pop over and take a look at her wonderful photos!

Where did you live at age five?  Is it the same place or town you live now?
I lived in two (technically three) places at age five. We were living in the little village of Carnon Downs and my parents bought a house in Truro, but it wasn’t quite built yet so we had a rented house in Truro for a few weeks. My brother and I called it “the Little House”.

I’ve lived all over the place since then – South East England, Germany, Ireland, and now I am just a few miles outside of Truro. Back to my roots!

You are invited to a party that will be attended by many fascinating people you never met.  Would you attend this party if you were to go by yourself?
I wonder who has described these people as “fascinating”? If these “fascinating” people are going to regale me with stories of the great artists and composers of the past five centuries I think I’ll pass. If, on the other hand, they wish to compare similarities and inconsistencies between various series of Star Trek, I’m in! Because they’ll likely be as socially hopeless as I am.

An original Klingon

Next Gen mutated Klingon

Judging by these pictures, the new Klingons aren’t as happy as the original ones.

Did you grow up in a small or big town? Did you like it?
My “formative” years were spent in Truro, Cornwall’s only city! I guess the population is somewhere around 20,000. So I guess that counts as a small town?

Did I like it? Yeah, it was fine :-). I’ve lived in a few villages, which I prefer. The village I live in now is a couple of thousand I suppose. A new housing estate has just been built so that will swell numbers a bit. We have a pub, a post office and a little shop.

When I first moved in I noticed quiet. I could hear the birds and there was no distant road noise. Also, people passing by wished me “good morning”. I’m happy here :-).

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Lots of things! Sometimes a spy :-). After watching Wimbledon I wanted to be a tennis player. During the FA Cup I wanted to be a football player (that’s soccer, not American football). After our annual summer trip to visit Granny in Scotland, I wanted to be a train driver.

Obviously I never wanted to work in IT as a kid, since the entire world contained about 2 computers so there weren’t many jobs in that area.

It’s (the end of) week 3 on Cee’s Share Your World challenge. So I’ll jump straight in!

Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?
Anyone? Anyone at all? One sec while I type “supermodels” into Google…

No, seriously I reckon I’d like to meet Ade Edmondson. I first knew him as “Vyvyan”, the punk rocker in “The Young Ones“, the programme I consider to be the first in the “alternative comedy” revolution in the early 80’s. He’s done TV, stage (Rocky Horror Show in the West End), music, all sorts. He’s multi-talented and I’ve also seen him on an art program where celebrities are asked about their favourite art or whatever it was. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy and very clever.

Plus he’s married to Jennifer Saunders so I’d get two comedic geniuses for the price of one!

When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?
Probably yesterday in the car, though I sometimes quietly sing bits and bobs during the day without really realising it. I only really sing in the car because the music drowns me out. Otherwise my lack of singing ability annoys me.

I tend to “burst into whistle” a lot more often. My pitch is pretty good, whistle-wise.

I won’t do either within earshot of anyone else.

If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?
I really have no idea.

Flying sounds cool. Or the ability to channel the energy of the universe and bend it to my will I SHALL RULE THE WORLD AND ALL SHALL BOW BEFORE ME bwahahahaha.

Oh dear. Maybe that wouldn’t be such a good idea after all. Maybe I’ll go for more confidence instead. That sounds safer.

What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?
More things than I can list here. Poverty, racism, The Holocaust and similar atrocities, the list goes on.

See you again next week!

Here is my Sharing My World, hosted by Cee over at her photography blog.

Are you a hugger or a non-hugger?
I like hugs but I never initiate them, because I don’t know if the other person would want a hug from me. Of course, they may be thinking the same thing, so everybody goes hugless. It’s a hugastrophe :-(.

What’s your favourite ice-cream flavour?
This question looks familiar and I’m trying to remember what I said last time, for whatever challenge it was. Nobody’s checking, right?

I guess if I’m not sure then it’s hard to pick a favourite anyway. Vanilla always works. Chocolate is good when I’m in a chocolate mood, or mint choc chip. I also like stuff like black cherry.

Do you prefer exercising your mind or your body? How frequently do you do either?
I prefer to exercise neither my mind nor my body. For preference it would be my mind.

I’m stuck exercising my mind when I’m at work. I can’t do my job if I act like a dimwit. As for exercising my body, I go for the occasional walk. I did the vacuuming last week, does that count?

Are you more of a dog person or a cat person? Why?
Cat person all the way! I should mention at this point that I’ve never had a dog.

I know that dogs are loyal and all the rest of it, but I’m quite lazy and dogs are much higher maintenance than cats. Cats pretty much take care of themselves. Just bung them some food and water, change their kitty litter and give them hugs when they want one. That’s the sort of pet I could handle.

It’s 2015 and it (was) the first week, which means it’s time for Share Your World 2015 Week 1, hosted by Cee on her wonderful photography blog.

It’s not Sunday, which is my traditional SYW day, but tomorrow has been designated “Unicorn Appreciation Day”, so I shall be busy appreciating unicorns!

How do you get rid of pesky phone calls from telemarketers?
Fortunately I get very few of these now since I registered with the Telephone Preference Service. I used to get so many I stopped answering the phone.

I wish I could be like my dad, who is quite rude to telemarketers, but I can’t bring myself to be nasty which is actually worse for them as they’re forced to speak for ages, wasting their own time, before I can get a word in to tell them that I’m not interested. Sometimes they’re quite nasty about it.

I once had one chap who talked for a full 2 minutes with no break whatsoever before I finally managed to say “actually I rent so I’m not interested in water pipe damage insurance, that’s my landlord’s responsibility”. Poor fellow :-(.

What are you a “natural” at doing?
Hmm, umm, I don’t think I’m really a “natural” at doing anything. Unless “slobbing around” counts. I seem to be able to manage that without too much effort!

How often do you get a haircut?
It used to be every 6 weeks, but now it’s every 5. My hair is quite short so it doesn’t take long to start looking messy, curling round my ears and whatnot.

My hairdresser used to be a “walk-in” type so I kept putting it off until my hair got ridiculously messy, but a year or so ago she started out on her own and only does appointments which forces me to go at a pre-arranged time which is a good thing, hair-wise.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “fun”?
Hmm, umm, ah. Well, nothing came immediately to mind. That’s a bit depressing, isn’t it?

It’s week 51 of Share Your World for 2014. I probably should have made an effort to do this one at the beginning of the week so that it was posted in the correct year, but never mind.

The questions are posed by Cee over at her Photography Blog.

Would you prefer snowy winters, or not, and why?
I love snow. It’s all magical and whatnot. But you can’t easily drive through it and I have an eighteen mile commute so unfortunately I’m going to have to say no to the snow.

If I didn’t have to drive in it, I would definitely like snow in the winter. We had snow a few years ago and that was actually okay, but then it froze and that was awful to drive on.

I should point out that where I live we rarely get snow and when it does snow it’s rarely more than a couple of inches.

So, you’re on your way out and it’s raining. Do you know where your umbrella is or do you frantically search for it all over your apartment/house?
I might have an “emergency” umbrella somewhere, I’m not sure.

Me and umbrellas don’t mix. I can’t control them, they blow inside out, they poke people in the eye. It’s a disaster. I have a little cap to wear in the rain.

Here’s a funny story which happened to my Mum a few days ago. She had one of those telescopic brollies and when she pushed the “open” button the end flew off and nearly hit someone :-). It must have been one of those KGB assassination brollies.

Do you prefer your food separated or mixed together?
Well, I definitely prefer to separate my main course and my dessert :-).

Otherwise, it comes as it comes. Some stuff is supposed to be mixed together, like stir fry, otherwise everything just goes on the plate and I eat it. A bit of meat, a bit of potato and a bit of veg on the fork. Into the mouth.

What is set as the background on your computer?

Here is my contribution for Share Your World, hosted by Cee at her photography blog. This week’s questions come to us courtesy of Dawn over at The Day After.

Do you have a signature dish? If not is there one in your family?
Here is my recipe for “Saturday Pizza”!

1. Pre-heat oven to 190^oC (because that’s the temperature I cook everything at)
2. Remove pizza from freezer and take off plastic wrapping
3. Bung in oven for 8 minutes
4. Whip it out and add extra pepperoni and cheese
5. Bung back in oven until cheese melted
6. Take out of oven and eat

Does that count? No? Boo :-(.

Do you have a favourite board game?
Not really, as board games are a bit boring on your own. I quite like Monopoly, though. And also Trivial Pursuit because I don’t like games where you have to use any brain power, so “knowledge” games are good – you either know it or you don’t. (I don’t, I know virtually nothing about anything.)

Is there a household chore that you enjoy?
Is this a trick question? It is, isn’t it? No?

I actually used to quite like ironing. It was quite relaxing, with some music playing along. Of course, now that I’m alone again I haven’t done any ironing for six years. I don’t enjoy it that much. I have an iron and ironing board, but the ironing board (which I bought in 2008) is still in its plastic wrapping!

Here is my cupboard under the stairs, in which I’ve marked the ironing board, iron and Hoover with blue arrows. In a few months they will probably be buried!

What is one thing you will never care about?
There have been some great answers to this in other people’s posts, and I don’t want to copy them.

I’m sure there are lots of things I will never care about, but since I don’t care about them I don’t think of them and therefore I don’t know quite what they are.

* Disclaimer to all prospective girlfriends who may be reading this – it’s all in jest! Obviously I’m constantly cooking delicious food and cleaning and ironing and whatnot 🙂

I hope everyone had a great Christmas/holiday and Happy New Year to everyone!