draliman on life

Week 40 already! I wonder how many sleeps there are until Christmas…?

Here’s my answers to Cee’s questions for this week on Share Your World. Thanks for posing the questions, Cee!

You’re given $500,000 dollars tax free (any currency), what do you spend it on?
“Money money money, It’s a rich man’s world” as Abba famously sang in 1976. $500,000 was probably a huge amount of money in 1976 too.

Copyright some music company probably

Tax free? Awesome! First, I need to convert it to pounds so I know how much I’m actually getting – £311,000. It doesn’t sound so much now, but still enough to have fun with! That’s enough to buy a house at the current average house price, with some left over for a car and holiday of a lifetime!

I’d pay off my mortgage, credit cards and so on. That would leave me with some money in the bank and lots of monthly disposable income. I’d maybe have a nice holiday in New Zealand to visit the Hobbits.

What’s the finest education?
Oxbridge? The University of Life? The School of Hard Knocks?

Whatever works for you and lets you get what you want out of life, I suppose.

What kind of art is your favourite? Why?
I don’t really have a favourite. I like different kinds of paintings, different kinds of music, sculptures, literature (if you can call the stuff I read “literature”). I know what I like when I see/hear/read it. That’s my favourite. What I like.

Is there something that you memorized long ago and still remember?
Nope.

You want more? Okay then. “Seasons of mist and mellow fruitfulness, close bosom friend of the maturing sun.” That’s all I got.

I’m hopeless at remembering stuff from long ago. I have friends who seem to remember all sorts of quotes and so on. Not me. I can’t even remember stuff from very recently.

Umm, banana? Pencil sharpener, there’s always a pencil sharpener. Stuffed Aardvark? I’m sure there was a stuffed aardvark…

On the other hand, I can quote most of “Black Adder” and “Red Dwarf” off the top of my head. Very useful.

See you again next week!

Wow, Week 39. It’s almost Christmas 🙂 At least it is at the office. They’ve already started one day a month where you’re supposed to wear a Christmas jumper and they put on Christmas music and have mince pies.

Bah humbug.

It’s still British Summer Time (Daylight Saving Time). It’s not even Halloween yet for weeks. Heck, it’s not even my birthday until next Friday (shameless plug) and I’m hardly a Christmas baby.

Rant over, time to start Sharing My World, hosted by Cee. Thanks, Cee!

Did you ever get lost?
Did I ever get lost? That’s like asking if monkeys like bananas. Actually, do monkeys really like bananas? Surely bananas can’t be the natural food for all monkeys around the world.

I have zero sense of direction. When I’m sitting at work I don’t even know which way home is. I once got lost on a forest walk in Germany and only found my way out by working out direction from the setting sun. A couple of years ago I spent over an hour travelling just a few miles because I got lost twice – read all about it here.

Photo from whyquantumphysicists.com.

Who was your best friend in elementary school?
One sec while I Google “elementary school”… meep… meep… meep… and I’m back! It looks like it’s what we would call “primary school”, which incorporates “infants” and the first couple of years of “junior” school.

My best friend was a chap who started when I was around 6. He came down from up-country somewhere and we became friends. In fact, we were so close that when a group of us were playing in the woods and he fell off a rope swing and lay on the ground moaning and jerking, I was the one who stopped laughing first and went to get help! (He’d broken his arm, if anyone’s interested).

We lost touch after school and I’ve not seen him since. Funny how that happens 😦 .

Since the new television season has started in the US, list three favourite TV shows.
I don’t know anything about the new television season in the US as the nearest US transmitter is 3000 miles away, so I’ll try to identify three fairly current American programmes that I enjoy.

First up is “Grimm”. I’ve watched the first two series on Amazon Prime streaming and really like it! Basically, a cop finds out that he’s a descendent of the “Grimm” family, and can see nasty creatures from the fairy tales. There’s action, fantasy stuff and the characters are likeable. One thing which really sets it apart for me is that in a nasty situation, he actually calls for backup. I’m fed up of shouting “call for backup!” at the TV in other series – it’s a weak plot which depends on the star “forgetting” to call for help.

Next is “Bones”, of course. Humour, great characters, a few shocks, science and action. What’s not to enjoy?

Finally. “Lost Girl”. Which I believe is Canadian, and is why I specified “American” earlier. As in “the American continent”. This has fantasy, action, great stories and… cute babes! It’s features “Bo”, who discovers that she’s a powerful Succubus and gets drawn into a dangerous fairy tale world she never even knew existed. My favourite character is “Kenzi”, Bo’s human friend, who’s a bit out of her depth sometimes but is clever, brave and sassy (and cute). Apparently, series 5 (2014/2015) will be the last – it’s great news that this is planned as they should be able to finish it properly. I hate shows which go on and on and then when ratings fall they get unexpectedly cancelled, with no proper ending.

Picture from tv-facts.net

If you were a mouse in your house in the evening, what would you see your family doing?
That’s easy. Nothing. I live alone!

Phew, I went on a bit this week, sorry about that and see you next week!

It’s time once again to join Cee in her Share Your World challenge. Thanks for posing the questions every week, Cee!

If you could be a tree or plant, what would you be?
I wouldn’t really like to be stuck in one place, so I think I’d like to be an Ent. I haven’t ever seen one personally, but they featured in a three-part documentary I saw once about a “ring of power”. Ents are cool, they can move around and they’re friendly to Hobbits. And if they get attacked by evil sorcerers they can give as good as they get!

Me as an Ent attacking an evil sorcerer

If you could have a servant come to your house every day for one hour, what would you have them do?
They’d do everything I tell them to do without complaining. If they didn’t, they’d be out the door and they’d never work in this town again, buddy!

If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would you get?
Hmm, that pretty much depends on the consequences. If it’s consequence-free I’ll go for an endless supply of curries. They’re expensive, bad for my ageing stomach and massively calorific, but if there’s no consequences, bring them on!

If this is not consequence-free, I guess an endless supply of celery sticks 😦 They’re particularly slimming for me as I absolutely hate the things. Though I suppose if I dipped them in an extremely hot, very expensive and calorific curry I could force a couple down.

What was one of your first moneymaking jobs (other than babysitting or newspaper delivery)?
Very boring – I had a summer job (before I left for university) working in the county council’s computer department. Since this was the “olden days”, they were huge things and actually had tapes spinning round, like you see in old films. Part of my job involved waiting for the computer to tell me it needed a tape, then I had to go off and find it and load it up.

Not a job which makes this post any more interesting, but it did earn me a nice bit of money to start university with.

See you all again next week!

It’s Share Your World time here at draliman’s blog. The questions are posed every week by Cee – give her a visit and check out her wonderful photos!

Do you prefer reading coffee table books (picture), biographies, fiction, non-fiction, educational?
I have a small number of each of these type of book, but I prefer fiction. That’s what I read for fun.

I had enough of educational books back when I was getting myself educated, thanks. I prefer fantasy/sci-fi type fiction. Nothing heavy. After all, I’m trying to relax, unwind, not stress myself out trying to plough through a so-called “classic”.

Besides, I’m sure many of the books I read today will be “classics” in a hundred years 🙂

Most of my recent books are on Mr Kindle, because I ran out of space where I used to live, but here is a couple of exciting action shots of one of my bookcases to give you an idea.

One day I’ll see about getting them into some sort of order. Maybe.

What is your biggest fear or phobia? (no photos please)
I don’t have any phobias that I’m aware of.

I’m quite afraid of fear. Sometimes I dread something I’ll have to do because I know that although it will be fine I’ll be afraid of doing it during the days leading up to it, and that annoys me.

And then there’s spiders, of course. The bigger, hairier ones. Obviously none of them here are poisonous – we have only one poisonous animal and that’s the adder snake, and that’s not even particularly poisonous. Well, “venomous” I should say, strictly speaking, but let’s not split hairs.

If a spider gets on me or comes rushing towards me, you wouldn’t believe how fast I can move. Then I’ll spend the next however long it takes trying to catch it, because I can’t be having no icky spiders wandering around somewhere.

What is your favourite cheese?
Mmm, cheese. Bring on the cheese. Any cheese, I don’t care. As long as it’s cheese.

Yellow, orange, blue, hard, soft, holes, no holes – I’ll eat it all!

What is your favourite month of the year?
I like sunny summer months and cold and crisp winter months. September is quite nice – it reminds me of primary school, collecting leaves, playing conkers and harvest festival.

January is rubbish – the excitement of Christmas is over and it’s back to work with a vengeance. February is a bit iffy. October is a bit blowy and November is neither one thing nor the other. A bit like March. I’m indifferent about several other months.

On balance, my favourite is therefore Septaugdecember.

It’s Week 35 at Cee’s Share Your World – thanks for posing the questions, Cee! Go over to her blog and check out her great photos, people!

Have your blogging goals changed?
I wouldn’t say that my blogging goals have changed. I wanted to write “stuff” and put it out there, because what I have to say is important, right? 😉

However, the content has changed. I started out musing on life, and life’s experiences. However, I soon ran out of “wisdom”. I finally discovered that people write fiction on their blogs too, so I started in on that. I used to love writing at school, and now that the interweb is here people can read what I write. Much better than it all languishing in a notebook in a drawer somewhere (probably).

If you were to perform in the circus, what would you do?
Me, the circus? Surely you jest! That pretty much makes me the centre of attention.

I couldn’t be a clown, they’re sad and creepy. And not in the least funny.

I couldn’t do any athletic stuff because I’d end up in a broken heap.

I couldn’t do anything animal-related because I don’t like the idea of animals shut in cages being driven around the country.

I think I’d have to be the ring master. Although he’s there by himself and may seem the centre of attention, no-one is actually interested in what he’s doing, as he’s only there to link between acts.

If you could go back and talk to yourself at age 18 what advice would you give yourself?  Or if you are younger than 25 what words of wisdom would you like to tell yourself at age 45?
There are so many things I could tell myself, but I wouldn’t listen. Who, at age 18, would listen to words of wisdom, cautioning restraint, a slower pace?

At the end of the day, I’m the sum total of the experiences I’ve had, good and bad. No matter how it’s turned out, I wouldn’t want to mess with that.

Ooh, that was a bit deep for me. I’ve gotta cut back on the double Espresso shots.

What is your favourite comfort snack food?
That’s tricky. I don’t really snack. I need to keep my body in tip-top athletic condition! (It’s not.)

If I did snack, I like that old favourite, chocolate. It’s a classic for a reason. I save it for special occasions, though. Last time I went on a chocolate kick, I was putting away several hundred grammes of Galaxy milk chocolate a night. I had to wean myself off it slowly via chunky Kit-Kats.

Ice cream’s good too. Mmm, ice cream.

Well, it all turned a bit serious this week. See you next week for more questions from Cee!

It’s time to Share My World again. Didn’t it come round quickly? This challenge comes courtesy of Cee at her photography blog – pop over and check out her beautiful photos!

What is your favourite smell? What memory does it remind you of?
Well, there’s the sweet smell of bacon. That reminds me of eating bacon.

Mmm, bacon.

There’s also cut grass. That reminds me of hot summer days as a child.

Then there’s that certain undefinable cold, freshness you get early in the morning around Autumn/Winter time, when there’s maybe a light frost and the air is still, which reminds me of all the winter days leading up to Christmas, and a warm cosy house.

Name a song or two which are included on the soundtrack to your life?
Well, this is a tricky one. I’ll go with “Honestly OK” by Dido and “Land of Confusion” by Genesis.

Do you play video/computer game?  Which one(s) or most recent?
Do I play video games? Why yes, yes I do. “Which ones” would be quite the list, the most recent is “Wolfenstein – The New Order”. There’s nothing quite like running around shooting people, robots and robotic people to de-stress you. It’s a good storyline as well.

Which of Snow White’s 7 dwarfs describes you best?  Plus what would the 8th dwarf’s name be? (Doc, Happy, Bashful, Sleepy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey)
Since I’m “Dr” maybe I should be “Doc”. I can be “Grumpy”, I’m usually “Sleepy” most of the time and when I’m out and about I’m “Bashful”.

The 8th dwarf would be called “Lucky”, I’d sure like having him around!

Every Sunday I participate in Share Your World, hosted by Cee over at her wonderful photography blog.

But wait a minute, I hear you ask, this isn’t Sunday! Why are you doing your Share Your World post on a Thursday?

BECAUSE I CAN bwahahahaha.

Do you prefer ketchup or mustard?
I have to choose? How about ketchup and mustard simultaneously? Both have their place.

Ketchup (or “tomato sauce” as it’s more commonly called round these parts) is good with chips (that’s “fries” if you’re in the US). Of course, so is mustard. If you get those rubbish chips from fast food joints you almost have to have ketchup. If you have proper chips from a good old British fish and chip shop (or van) such condiment is not required! Just a bit of salt and vinegar.

Currently though, I have no tomato sauce in my cupboard/fridge. Just mayonnaise, Branston pickle, chilli pickle, Dijon mustard, hot dog mustard, barbecue sauce, HP brown sauce, Worcester sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, Tabasco sauce and extra hot Tabasco sauce.

Anyone would think I don’t like the taste of food.

“Food is but a delivery mechanism for the condiment.” (draliman, 2014)

This is all I have in. I hope it will do.

I’m not sure I actually answered the question.

If someone made a movie of your life would it be a drama, a comedy, a romantic-comedy, action film, or science fiction?
It would be a story of betrayal, betrayal by the people I trusted above all else. Of a love lost, of danger, espionage and car chases. Oh sorry. My life? Not Jason Bourne’s life?

Okay then, it would be a massive box office flop. Floppity floppity flop. There’d be a normal childhood, then an unfortunate amount of booze, a dodgy bit in the middle which I don’t remember very well (thankfully) and then me now.

Yaaawn.

Let’s stick with Jason Bourne.

If you could be given any gift what would it be?
Wow, anything? The gift of happiness? The gift of health and long life? Dare I dream, the gift of love? Tell you what, just give me a shed load of cash.

‘Cos I’m shallow like that.

For potlucks or parties do you cook it yourself, buy from a grocery store, or pay for catering?
Me, cook? Are you mad?

Actually, I’ve been wondering about trying to make some little savoury appetisers. That’s still at the dream stage, though.

I would pop down the shops and buy something like sausage rolls, and if it’s pot luck I’d buy a little dessert thing as well because I’d be worried that everyone would bring sausage rolls. I worry about things like that.

See you all again next week, probably on a Sunday!