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7 random facts about me

Feb4
Via KLo, whose stories were lovely.

1. I’m a Raqs Sharqi dancer.
I’ve always thought belly dance was beautiful and wanted to try it. Five or six years ago I went to a raqs sharqi class because it was the nearest thing to belly dance in my area. And I fell in love with it. I haven’t been dancing much for the last couple of years as I’ve been ill and not physically up to it but I do still dance around the house occasionally. Last Saturday night I went to concert of tribal fusion belly dance and raqs sharqi concert and had so much fun. There was an hour of free dancing afterwards and a bazaar of pretty, shiny things.

2. I like sprouts.
They’re an acquired taste, but I love the brassica family of vegetables in general and sprouts are yummy. However, I don’t like the whole roast dinner thing as it has too many other things I don’t like such as stuffing, yorkshire puddings and roast potatoes. I’m not keen on beef or pork either.

3. My first crush was on Basil Brush.
I was four and I’ve had appalling taste in men ever since!
4. I want to live in a castle.

I want stone floors (with underfloor heating, obvs), tapestries, ramparts and vast oak tables. I want red velvet curtains from floor to ceiling and iron chanderliers and a four poster bed to sleep in. It would be even better if it were one of those with wooden panels between the posts, so I could essentially sleep in a box.

5. I’m currently addicted to reality TV.
It started with Strictly Come Dancing and The Apprentice. It’s getting out of control and I’m not sure what it is that’s so compelling (although partly I think it’s because there’s little else to watch). So, while I’m writing this I’m watching Tool Academy. I can’t get enough of America’s Next Top Model. And Dancing on Ice, or Got to Dance. I have ordered a book from Amazon that will explain to me what is going on.

6. I have a teddy bear that is 35 years old.
I was given a bear when I was six months old that went with me everywhere. It has been through the washing machine loads and is still in good condition. It’s called Smokey and I still take it to bed when I’m feeling sorry for myself.

7. This is my idea of male physical beauty.

🙂 Which of course says nothing about personality or connection. It’s just what I like to look at. 🙂

You know the drill…

Blogging Q&A

Jan31
Via From Sand to Glass.

1. If you blog anonymously, are you happy doing this? If you aren’t anonymous, do you wish you started out anonymously so that you could be anonymous now?
I started off blogging anonymously and I had two reasons. Firstly, I was a little nervous of what reaction I might get. I wanted to get settled into my blogging voice before I went public about it. The second reason was that I have a presence on the web related to my paid employment and I wanted to keep the two separate. I still use BoudicaM as a pen name for some things but it is less anonymous than it was.
 
2. Describe an incident that shows your inner stubborn side.

Inner stubborn side? My stubborn side is quite outer, thank you. And it most often shows itself when people tell me what or who I’ll like. As in “you must see this film, you’ll love it”. Oh rly? I think not. I think you love it and want me to validate your opinion.
 
3. What do you really see when you look at yourself in the mirror?

Umm, I see me. Which is too much to explain in a couple of sentences. And I’m over the self-hate that makes you see a monster in the mirror (and it took a lot of work).
 
4. What is your favorite summer cold drink?

Diet coke. With ice and lemon. All year round.
 
5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do?

I write. I play computer games, watch movies, read, meditate. Look at LOLcats on the interweb. I take a lot of time for myself. And I want MOAR.
 
6. Is there something you still want to accomplish in your life?

Oh gods yes. I want to publish a novel. And then another one. And then some more. I want to read all of the books in the world. I want to perform Raqs Sharqi. I want to learn how to use a broadsword. I want… to do so much. And I’m sure there’s stuff I don’t even know about that I will want to do when I find out about it.  
 
7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever, the shy person, or always ditching?

School. Loved the learning, hated the socialising. I was the unpopular academic overachiever who never quite did as well as everyone thought she would and was rubbish at sport. I’ve never wanted children, but in the alternate universe where I did have them I am homeschooling.
 
8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment in your life, what would you see?



Poignant: a keen sense of sadness or regret. Yeah, there are few things. I don’t want to share them here.
 
9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog, or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people or events?

It’s not easy. This is a writing blog, not a personal blog, and while I like to do the occasional personal piece because, well, writing is pretty personal, that’s not what this space is for. Having said that, I think I have become more personal in my writing style (I guess that’s what voice is) over the time I’ve been blogging.
 
10. If you had the choice to sit down and read a book or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?

Read a book! Because it’s more better than most things. And I have phone fear. But actually, it depends who the phone call is with, and when I last spoke to them, and what mood I’m in.
 
Your turn! Leave me the link in the comments if you do your own.

The 15 fictional characters that have influenced me the most

Jan21

Yay! Internet meme time! The latest internet meme that I have found is to list the 15 fictional characters that have influenced you the most. Tricky one this. I find it really hard to remember specific characters. You’re supposed to spend 15 minutes thinking about it but I spent an hour. Also, I’m not sure about what is meant by influential, have any of these characters induced me to think or behave differently? I don’t think so. Some of the lists I looked at seemed to just go for their favourites. So, I’ve gone for the 15 fictional characters that resonated most for me, in the order in which I remembered them:

  1. Elric
  2. Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
  3. Sandor Clegane from A Game of Thrones
  4. Han Solo
  5. Roy Batty from Bladerunner
  6. Mendoza from Cities of Gold
  7. Aragorn from Lord of the Rings (the books not the films)
  8. Ivy from Soul Caliber
  9. Lara Croft
  10. Richard Sharpe
  11. Eleanor of Aquitaine (alright, historical rather than fictional, but any biography of a person that lived over 1000 years ago has quite a high amount of fiction in it)
  12. Red Riding Hood from A Company of Wolves
  13. Lisa Rowe from Girl, Interrupted
  14. Attia from Rome
  15. Eric Northman from the Sookie Stackhouse novels

So, stats.
7 women, 7 men, 1 male cartoon character
6 from books, 3 from TV, 2 from games and 4 from films

Who are the fictional characters that stayed with you the longest?

Some questions….

Nov9
Martin said I could steal this, so I did. I needed to ease myself back into blogging regularly, so what could be more lightweight than a getting-to-know-you-questions meme.

1. What do you consider your hometown to be?
Stevenage, I guess. I’m not sure I really feel the concept of hometown though. I wasn’t born here, and I spent my formative years in lots of places, but I’ve lived here for most of my life now and I’m pretty happy here.
2. What’s the hardest part of your average day?
I don’t really think anything about my average day is hard. I have an underactive thyroid and sometimes I get depressed, so when I’m feeling ill it can be hard to get out of bed. Occasionally, I don’t manage it. Sometimes I have things to do at work that I find challenging. I don’t see those things as average though.
3. The easiest? Why?
Lunch? Sitting on the sofa watching TV? Reading? Snuggles with my cats and rabbit? Things that are not overly demanding of my energy and make me feel good, I guess.
4. What beverage do you reach for to quench your thirst?
Sparkling water.
5. What is one not-so-secret goal you have for your life? I’ll let you keep your secret ones to yourself.
To publish novels and drink some very fine wines.
6. What physical pain do you fear most? For example, I’m trying to decide how bad my jaw pain needs to get before I risk a potential needle from my dentist. So, for me, throbbing is preferable to jabbing.
Burns.
7. Where do you find solace?
In books; in music; in the smell of incense; in a warm fire in a dark, cosy room; in solitude.
8. What makes you the saddest when you read/see the news?
The lies and propaganda make me angry. What makes me sad is knowing how much important news isn’t covered because it happens to ‘unpeople’.
9. What do you eat for a favorite snack?
Chocolate!! Ha ha.
10. What movie(s) could you/would you watch more than two or three times and still enjoy just as much as the first time?
Loads. Bladerunner, The Company of Wolves, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pitch Black, The Hitcher, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and so on. I can happily watch things over again.
11. What boy/girl first made you cry?
Aside from my family? I don’t know. I’ve always cried easily.
12. What brand of coffee/tea do you drink most often?
Twinings English Breakfast Tea
13. Dig in the dirt with or without garden gloves?
Without, definitely. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t actually do gardening because it needs doing all the time. If I could garden once a year, that would be fine, but it’s like outside housework and needs redoing continuously. But back to the question; if I’m going to plunge my hands into mud and dig around I want to feel it. I like getting my hands dirty.
14. Strictly Come Dancing or The Apprentice?*
How could I choose? I love them both!!
Blog your answers and put the link in the comments!
*I changed this question because the original didn’t mean anything to me.

The books we should have read…

Sep22

I do like lists. From the Huffington Post, here’s a list of books that apparently people claim to have read but haven’t.

The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer – I read the Knight’s Tale at school, and it’s on book mountain, but I haven’t read any more tales.

Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville – nope. Maybe I should add it to the list.

Ulysses by James Joyce – nope. Probably won’t either.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens – nope. The excessive sentimentality of the films put me off.

The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie – no. It’s on book mountain so I probably will.

Moby Dick by Hermann Melville – why yes. Lots of lists of whales.

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking – yes, I have. And I understood some of it.

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace – um no, never heard of it.

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco – no. Saw the movie.

Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust – no. But I really feel I should.

Don Quixote by Cervantes – no. It’s on book mountain.

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner – no. I might though; I really like the title.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoi – no, but it is on book mountain, so one day I will.

Two for me then. What about you?

I Write Like

Jul15

I Write Like is an hilarious widget which analyzes your writing and gives you a comparison to a famous author. I tried it a few times and my results were:

  • paragraphs from a business email – H.P. Lovecraft. I may have to think about how I’m writing to my colleagues!
  • paragraphs from the brand new opening scene of my work in progress (which I think is pretty good) – Dan Brown. Mixed feelings about this. On the one hand he sells loads, so yay. On the other, lots of people think he’s not that good, but I haven’t read so can’t comment. On balance, I think I’ll take it as a compliment.
  • paragraphs from the first draft of a fantasy short story I wrote a couple of months ago – James Fenimore Cooper. Well, I loved Last of the Mohicans.

Very amusing. What do you get?