1. Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
2. 1984 – George Orwell
3. The Lord Of The Rings trilogy – JRR Tolkien  (half-read)
4. War & Peace – Leo Tolstoy (currently reading – 35% done)
5. Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
6. The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes – Arthur Conan Doyle (I have read several books, but not the complete series)
7. To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee
8. David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
9. Crime And Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
10. Pride And Prejudice – Jane Austen
11. Bleak House – Charles Dickens
12. Harry Potter (series) – JK Rowling
13. Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
14. The Diary Of Anne Frank – Anne Frank
15. Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
16. Fifty Shades trilogy – EL James
17. And Then There Were None – Agatha Christie
18. The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald
19. Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
20. The Catcher In The Rye – JD Salinger

100 days later I completed this challenge, but I immediately set about setting myself a new one; that of continuing the challenge for one whole happy year.

Looking back on my year to date it seems that most of the pictures are about books, reading, writing, food (cheese), nature, and Emma… there’s a definite themes as to what makes me happy.

1. I love books and reading, probably more than is healthy. But I love writing more. Consequently there are so many books out there I haven’t read and wish I had. This year I’ve read 30 books to date, and that’s like, double my typical average yearly count. I’m not as well-read as I would like to.

2. I talk to myself. All the time. And not just talking, but full-blown conversations, arguments, or debates. And I don’t always agree with myself.

3. I remember the weirdest things; the kind of things that most people tend to forget or not even notice. At the same time I can be dreadfully unobservant of things that everyone else notices straightaway.

4. My first bit of writing was a theatre script for a Star Trek story which features an exploding washing machine. I had my toy theatre with its actors of Play People and I made a set which had real soap suds oosing out across the stage.

5. When I was young I couldn’t pronounce the word ‘vegetable’. Even now, I can remember being taught it: veg-e-table…

6. Most people say rant, r-aunt, but I have always favour r-ant. Makes sense to me.

7. I cry when I see trees fall down or get cut down.

8. I believe passionately in the importance of libraries. I remember Saturday mornings in Lowestoft Central Library and coming away from there with an armful of books every so fondly. I feel a bit hypocritical though that I don’t use them enough now and worry that I am partly responsible for their decline.

9. When I’m writing a new story, I often imagine listening to Front Row on the radio (or similar) and hearing critics review the finished book. It’s not all praise though, I hear the detracting comments too…

10. There are words that, as many times as I have to spell them, I can never spell them right. Effect and affect. Nope I still can’t get them the right way in my head. I can do its and it’s now, but boy did it take ages…

11. I worked for a decade in academic publishing and all that time I had a Post-It not stuck to my computer monitor reminding me the difference between Harvard and Vancouver references. I know one’s Author/Date and one’s Numbered. I still can’t remember for certainty which is which…

Wow, that’s some list of ephemera of things you probably didn’t want to know, and would have been too scared to ask… When I was given this challenge I really didn’t think I would get to eleven! Want a go yourself, comment here, and I’ll give your number of random things. 

Age now: 39
Where I live: Bicester
What I do: Web and Digital Media Officer for Oxford Brookes University and author of The End Of All Worlds
What I drive: 12 year old Peugeot 206
Who has my heart: Emma
Fears: Nothing major. Hey, it seems things do change!

Comment and I will give you an age.

2. Apart from writing, is there any other career you would really like to have had a stab at?
I’m not sure if I would still want to have a go at this job, but if I looking back (and I’m loved my A-Levels and my degree), if I had the opportunity to go back and choose my education again, I think I would have liked to have pursued geography. I would have continued my writing and photography anyway and I think I would have liked to try something more environmental – a National Trust (or similar) warden. I think I would like to have a go at archaeology – in that I would like to help out at a Dig – but I think its probably too late for me turn that into a career.

3. What are your top 5 priorities in life?
Umm, to be happy and to help in my own small way to make those who are nearest and dearest to me happy. Beyond that, I really don’t know… I want to share my stories with the world in the hope that someone, unknown to myself, might, possibly enjoy reading them. I said that last one second, but these are not really in any particular order. I really do think the world can be a better place and so I want to do my bit. I want to strive to eat more regionally and seasonally, and make less of an impact on our precious and fragile planet. I’m not the kind of person who could make some big statement and have people listen but if I could play my part. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t travel far and see things away from our own doorstep, but we should make those decisions carefully. I don’t think that’s five things, but I think you get the general idea.

4. Do you think you’ve changed at all as you’ve got older or do you think you’re essentially the same person now as when you were, say, 20?
Definitely. I was thought when I was younger that one day I would meet someone to marry and share my life with, but I couldn’t have done any of that back then. I really do think that in this the internet has saved me. In a weird way, I guess I have to thank the pathetic little shit who bullied me at work 10 years ago. Without that I might not have investigated the possibility that I had aspergers and without that then Helen B. wouldn’t have worked out what the elephant in the corner of the room was and arranged for Human Resources to sort out my coaching with Bill, and my decision to put more of my personality out there within the confines of LiveJournal – a place where I have been able to write publicly, privately (I never have), to friends, or an ever more tightly locked selection of friends. I don’t think I had an ‘in person’ friend who, at the time, I could talk to about entering the world of online dating, but within LiveJournal, marbledwhite, rachel2205, mosskat55, nicotje and snugglebunnyjm amongst others really helped to hone my profile, and thus I met emej on match.com. Social Media too, have played their part. With Facebook I have rekindled friendships that in retrospect I should have had at school but due to who I was then and what I didn’t know, I didn’t. With Twitter I have manage to network with complete strangers in a way that, even now, if you placed me in a crowded room or at a cocktail party I would just slink into the corner and drink my orange juice too quickly… And I have got little bits of work that way, too. When people go on about the dangers of social media, and lack of privacy, I want to shout back at them about the good that social media does (and that you only lose privacy if you aren’t savvy enough to keep stuff back, or lock stuff down).

5. If you were given £5,000 to spend on yourself (i.e. not to be used to pay bills or for everyday things), what would you buy?
I talked in Rachel’s interview the other day of my honeymoon in 2009 to Eilean Shona. I loved it, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way, but it wasn’t the honeymoon that we had planned originally. Our original plan, and one that did get all the way through to the booking stage, was a safari through Namibia, staying in some fantastic places and seeing things that neither Emma nor I have ever seen before. But then I became unemployed for three months, and the recession really started to bite, and we couldn’t afford to go and do it justice. So if I was given £5000 then I would take us both on that trip – the same one with bespoke travel company, Audley Travel. If there was any left over after that? Maybe a new lens for my camera to take with us on the trip, and a new laptop for Emma (as she is currently without a properly functioning one of her own).

If you want to be interviewed, comment below, and I’ll ask you 5 questions, which you then post in your journal, whilst also asking people if they want to be interviewed.

1. If you could save just ONE object (i.e. not a living thing, assume they are safe!) from a fire in your house, what would it be?

This is a painful question for me considering what happened to my parent’s house eleven years ago. It’s horrible. Completely earth-destroyingly horrible and I don’t want to think about it. I think I am going to have to treat this like they do on Desert Island Discs when it comes to the luxury question and treat all my photographs (digital and physical) with negatives as one object and say that. Even when you lose everything else, photographs can help bring back the memories. But its still a horrible, impossible, question that I don’t like to think about. Think of your most prized belonging, then turn around and see another. Go upstairs and see another. A lot of stuff is replaceable, but so much is irreplaceable and to ask someone to choose just one. And so to the follow up…

2. Would you like to acquire any pets that aren’t cats?

I think, at the right time, in the right circumstances, we would both quite like a dog. But its impossible at the moment. It wouldn’t be fair on the seven cats, and whilst you can go out and leave cats, you need to be able to come home at lunchtime to walk a dog.

3. What’s your favourite part of Oxford?

It would be too obvious to say Jericho, but it is lovely and has a good feel to it. I love Little Clarendon Street, first thing in the morning, on a cold, clear, autumn morning. Or Brasenose Lane – don’t ask me why? Then there’s the university parks on a warm, sunny, Spring day, or the way you turn off the London Road in Headington and are suddenly in Old Headington with a distinctly rural, country feel.

4. What was your favourite holiday?

All these favourites. I find it very hard to pick favourites in anything. Maybe this is is because I find it hard to make decisions. The National Trust holiday to Bransdale Mill in the North York Moors is a perrenial favourite, as is my holiday to Estonia in 2003. I think that might have been part of a turning point in me. I made the most friends, I had the confidence to buy and wear my amber necklace. But my favourite? I think it has to be my honeymoon in 2006. Okay, so it wasn’t the Nambian safari we had planned, but it was perfect. Perfect weather, no rain to speak of, and our little red cottage on the private island of Eilean Shona.

5. What are you most excited about for 2012?

I’m looking forward to having a year when I don’t have to reapply for my own job. I’m also looking forward to the year that I self-ePublish my novel, The End Of All Worlds. I’m also very much looking forward to our holiday this summer to Iceland. My fourth trip to the country, but the first time that I will go full circle around the country, and I’m looking forward to sharing that all with Emma.

If you want to be interviewed, comment below, and I’ll ask you 5 questions, which you then post in your journal, whilst also asking people if they want to be interviewed. Do you see?

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I write like
J. K. Rowling

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Even if it is a bit of fun, its nice to have yourself likened to a successful writer. I just wish I had her wage packet now…

Green				34
Liberal Democrat				18
Labour	-8
Conservative	-10
UK Independence	-12

You expected: LIB

Your recommendation: Green

( more details about these results )

Thomas needs:
1. proof
2. a jew
3. to be put out to pasture
4. a home
5. stem cell therapy
6. to worry more
7. your support
8. a new lawyer
9. a decent haircut
10. a new president

Hrmm…

A play for my toy theatre. Simply entitled Rome, it was of quite simply epic proportions and included the infamous first line: ‘Sir! Sir! The Goth’s are invading!’

2. What’s your most recent work?

My current work is the wip Blood & Fire although I am currently considering alternative titles for it. My current favourite is The End of All Worlds.

3. What do you think you’re best at (genre, style, theme)?

I don’t know if its an official genre, but I think I am best at what I call real-world fantasy – that is to say stories that are based in the here and now but where fantastical things happen to some characters. I like to try and make these things explainable by other characters with a scientific (or non-fantastical) reason.

4. What would you like to be better at?

Showing characters emotions to the reader rather than telling readers them.

5. Which of your works do you think best represents you as a writer?

An amalgam of different characters in all my stories. An autobiography of my life would probably best be done as collection of excerpts of my stories and fictional narrative, spliced together.

6. What’s your favourite story you’ve ever written?

I think it might be the next story I’m going to write: (The Curious Tale of) Mr Tumnal

7. What’s your favourite scene/chapter you’ve ever written?

The opening scenes of Blood & Fire – the images portrayed are just so vivid.

8. What’s your favourite passage or line you’ve ever written?

The scene, early on in Blood & Fire where Ben comes works through and comes to terms with the grief at having lost his sister.

9. Have you ever written something that you found really upsetting, that you almost couldn’t bring yourself to write?

Please see the scene described under question 8 above.

10. Which (if any) of your works represents a departure from your usual style, you taking a risk and trying something new? Do you think it worked?

My next story. It’s going to be written in the past-tense – something, somewhat of a departure for me, as I seem to have developed a style for writing in the present-tense.

11. Who’s your favourite character to write? Who do you think you write best?

The unknowing hero/heroin.

12. Name five things that typically characterize your work.

Fantastical things happening in ordinary situations.

13. List the projects you’re working on right now or have coming up in the near future.

Blood & Fire or The End of All Worlds
Mr Tumnal
European Stories

14. How do you think your writing has changed since you first started?

It’s matured so much. It’s a cliché, but it’s true. One’s own writing improves so much after reading more of absolutely everything, and that’s something, however fast you write, that can only come with time and age.

15. Describe yourself as a writer in five words or less.

Determined, imaginative, assiduous, and compulsive.

16. Links to any archives or websites where you have your work.

Critique Circle, my own website … my book-lined study…

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.

Complete Poems by Elizabeth Bishop
The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton
A Perfect Spy by John le Carré
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Kolymsky Heights by Lionel Davidson
The Ancestor’s Tale by Richard Dawkins
The Complete Brigadier Gerard Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh
Art and Illusion by EH Gombrich
The Complete Fairy Tales by The Brothers Grimm (I’ve read some of them)
The Castafiore Emerald by Hergé
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg
Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories by MR James
The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James
Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson
Kim by Rudyard Kipling
The Marquise of O by Heinrich Von Kleist
A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay
The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay (the title sounds so intriguing…!)
Lavender’s Blue edited by Kathleen Lines
Venice For Pleasure by JG Links
The Call of Cthulhu by HP Lovecraft
Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann
The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil
The Best of Myles by Flann O’Brien
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels
The Emperor’s New Mind by Roger Penrose
The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa
Wolf Solent by John Cowper Powys
Exercises in Style by Raymond Queneau
We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea by Arthur Ransome
Duino Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke
Selected Writings by John Ruskin
The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
Wallace Stevens (Poet to Poet) edited by John Burnside
The New Biographical Dictionary of Film by David Thomson
The Country of the Blind and Other Selected Stories by H.G. Wells
Molesworth by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle
Summer Lightning by P.G. Wodehouse
The Art of Memory by Frances A Yates

Mine, from :

1. Which writer do you most admire, and why?

That’s a tough one. I like lots of writers for different reasons, but if you were to look at the sheer number of their books on my shelves and the consistent enjoyment/re-readability (and enduring understanding) of them, then I think that it would have to be Diana Wynne Jones. I remember the day I was first introduced to her work – my friend Simon just before a GCSE Geography lesson – and it was Fire & Hemlock. It’s still one of my favourite books ever and one that I would forever recommend to people. That said, I have found that her last few books have gone off the boil somewhat, but then they have been Chrestomanci novels and (with the exception of the first couple, these are not her strong ones). However her most recent, House of Many Ways is utterly brilliant and charming and a return to form.

2. What does marriage mean to you?

Being with the person you love and making that commitment to one another. I don’t have a problem with people who choose to live together ‘as married’ without actually being that legally, but for myself I think it’s important, particularly if you are going to consider bringing children into the world. I think it’s a nice symbol to you, your partner, and to those around you who love you that you’ve found someone special.

3. Where would you live if you could live anywhere in the world/money no object?

Hrmm, tough question. I’m really not sure. I like being reasonably close to my family as that’s important to me. I think somewhere near the coast (within walking distance of the sea), in a small town or village, in a location that is out-of-the-reach of London. Somewhere the pace of life is a bit slower, and friendlier and you can break out on foot and into the countryside.

4. Could you live happily without a television?

Yes, and no. If that’s not a cheats answer that is. When I am away from home and my normal routines and sometimes in places where there isn’t even a television I don’t miss it at all, not one thing. But I couldn’t not have one in my permanent residence. Oddly, I remember when I was younger renting a video recorder (from the Granada shop) because it meant that I watched less television not more: the theory being that you record the things you really want to see and watch them at the times you want to see them rather than watch the things you want to see when they are on and then watch more because its on. Of course in the digital age I record far too much that I never watch on my digibox because its just so damn easy… :-

5. How many musical instruments can you play and which would you like to be able to play?

Two. Flute and piccolo. Well kind of, I can play them, and I do play in Abingdon Concert Band, but I don’t play them as well as I would like. I used to play the trumpet at school, so I guess, given a Tune A Day book and an instrument, I could probably get something out of it again. I’d like to play the guitar, mainly so that I could do a bit of singer-songwriting. Guitar seems to be a bit of a struggle though…

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who’ve read only six and force books upon them

1 Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë
4 Harry Potter series – JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch – George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy (okay, I read half of it, but it’s a long book and I intend to read the rest!)
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis
34 Emma – Jane Austen
35 Persuasion – Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis (isn’t this counted in ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’?)
37 The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne
41 Animal Farm – George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown (I did, try to read it, but I just couldn’t. I really couldn’t!)
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving
45 The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding
50 Atonement – Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi – Yann Martel (tried to, didn’t get on with it…)
52 Dune – Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
62 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History – Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road – Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick – Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
72 Dracula – Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses – James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal – Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession – AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple – Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web – EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
94 Watership Down – Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet – William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

Biological Age: 34
Virtual Age: 17:8

Average Life Expectancy: 74
Your Life Expectancy: 90.2

You can expect to live approximately another 20500 more days.

What’s your death date?

1. Name:
2. Birthday (age is optional-I understand if you don’t want to share):
3. Where do you live:
4: What are you studying/What are you working as:
5. What makes you happy:
6. What are you listening to now/have listened to last:
7. What is particularly good/bad about my LJ:
8. An interesting fact about you:
9. Your ambition in life:
10. Favourite place to be:
11. All the languages you speak:
12. Best time of the year:
13. Weirdest food you like:

RECOMMEND
1. The last movie you loved:
2. A book you could read over and over again:
3. A song that makes you want to dance:

PLUS
1. One thing you like about me:
2. Two things you like about yourself:
3. Put this in your lj so I can tell you what I think of you:

Said Ravenclaw, “We’ll teach those whose intelligence is surest.”

Ravenclaw students tend to be clever, witty, intelligent, and knowledgeable. Notable residents include Cho Chang and Padma Patil (objects of Harry and Ron’s affections), and Luna Lovegood (daughter of The Quibbler magazine’s editor).

Take the most scientific Harry Potter Quiz ever created.
Get Sorted Now!

Edit: Although it has to be said that Hufflepuff was a very close second. Needless to say that Slytherin was never in the contest…

Which character of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are you???
created with QuizFarm.com ]]> https://shepline.com/2007/06/19/the-june-meme-3/feed/ 0 https://shepline.com/2007/05/21/meme-magic-2/ https://shepline.com/2007/05/21/meme-magic-2/#respond Mon, 21 May 2007 22:54:00 +0000 http://journal.shepline.com/meme-magic-2/ If I were in Harry Potter, I would be Hermione
http://www.brainfall.com/test1…

You are Hermione. You’re a bookworm always in search of answers. When pressed, however, you can always be counted on to put away the books and help your friends. Find YOUR character @ BrainFall.com

So here’s mine:

Hanna shakes her head, stepping up quickly from the table, she clears her plate. She apologises, ‘I’m going to leave you to argue this one out. I’m tired, an I need to – just be. When you’re sorted, come and find me,’ she smiles, before adding, ‘I’’ll be enjoying the night air in the hot pool.’

1. Grab the nearest book. (N.B. Don’t you dare dig for that “cool” or “intellectual” book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.)
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag 5 people

[Is there guessing involved? I’m not sure. ( To see… Gatty’s Tale by Kevin Crossley-Holland )

Beef stew on brown beer mush with corn.’
‘I could eat a horse,’ said Austin.
‘You will,’ said Nakin, with a grim smile.

Consider yourself tagged.

Top Commenters on ‘s LiveJournal
(Self and anonymous comments excluded from rankings)

1		222
2		153
3		128
4		103
5		90
6		75
7		60
8		54
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10		47
11		38
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38		9
39		6
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46		5
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Total Commenters: 94 (2 not shown)
Total Comments: 2450
Report generated 03/09/2006 16:55:44 by ‘s LJ Comment Stats Wizard 1.7

Edit: Re-adjusted for the various and numerous personas of Helen, everyone from Mrs Moss down has to go down a place, and really, quite honestly as one of my longest-serving friends, Miss Rachel really ought to try harder!

“I want everyone who reads this to ask me 3 questions: no more, no fewer. Ask me anything you want (though I reserve the right not to answer, or to answer evasively). Then I want you to go to your journal, copy and paste this, allowing your friends (including me) to ask you anything.”

Post this in your journal, and see how many postcards you get…

Now where was I…?

Seven things to do before I die

1. Get published (several times)
2. Travel, travel, and travel again
3. Get married
4. Have children
5. To live somewhere nice…
6. …with all my friends about me
7. To be a nice person (I hope I already am?)

Seven things I cannot do

1. Tell a lie
2. Touch my toes
3. Fly an aeroplane (epilepsy forbids it)
4. Guess the weight of things in metric
5. Be hurtful to someone (or at least I hope not – if I do – I hope I make amends)
6. Take risks without first weighing up all the pros and cons
7. Do nothing

Seven things that attract me to my mate

1. Her smile
2. Her sense of humour
3. Her honesty
4. Her tolerance
5. The way she looks at me with those eyes
6. Her optimism for a better future
7. The way she makes me feel

Seven books that I have loved

1. Swallows & Amazons – Arthur Ransome
2. Fire & Hemlock – Diana Wynne Jones
3. Sacred Hunger – Barry Unsworth (loved is probably not the best word for it, but it is v. powerful, and everyone should read it)
4. The Church Mice Books – Graham Oakley
5. Northern Lights – Philip Pullman
6. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë
7. The Dark Is Rising – Susan Cooper

Seven things I say

1. Umm…
2. Kind of like
3. Sort of like
4. Hellooo…
5. Tea?
6. Why?
7. Yes, or rather no. I couldn’t rightly say.

Seven movies I’ve loved

1. Three Colours Red (Blue and White too, but Red is my favourite)
2. Before Sunrise
3. Before Sunset
4. Phantom of the Opera
5. Shakespeare In Love
6. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
7. Back to the Future trillogy

Seven people to tag

applecatching
cloud_less
nevers
oxfordslacker
rachel2205
tinyjo
tumulus

Then post this in your LJ and find out what people don’t know about you.

What does your handwriting say about YOU?

The results of my analysis say that:

I plan ahead, and I am interested in beauty, design, outward appearance, and symmetry.
I am a shy, idealistic person who does not find it easy to have relationships, especially intimate ones.
I am diplomatic, objective, and live in the present.
I am a talkative person, maybe even a busybody!
I enjoy life in my own way and do not depend on the opinions of others.

This content is password-protected. To view it, please enter the password below.

Password:

1. Fresh fish
2. Lobster
3. Steak
4. Thai food
5. Chinese food
6. Ice cream
7. Pizza
8. Crab – Cromer Crabs
9. Curry
10. Prawns
11. Moreton Bay Bugs
12. Clam chowder
13. Barbecue
14. Pancakes
15. Pasta
16. Mussels
17. Cheesecake
18. Lamb
19. Cream tea
20. Alligator
21. Oysters
22. Kangaroo
23. Chocolate
24. Sandwiches
25. Greek food
26. Burgers
27. Mexican food
28. Squid
29. American diner breakfast
30. Salmon
31. Venison
32. Guinea pig
33. Shark
34. Sushi
35. Paella
36. Barramundi
37. Reindeer
38. Kebab
39. Scallops
40. Australian meat pie
41. Mango
42. Durian fruit – I’ve tried it, I wouldn’t have it again by choice…
43. Octopus
44. Ribs
45. Roast beef
46. Tapas
47. Jerk chicken/pork
48. Haggis
49. Caviar
50. Cornish Pastry

1. One that reflects me best. Explain why.
2. One that you think I should use more often. And why.
3. One that you don’t get/needs more explanation/you have no idea why the hell I have it.

Also, use your favourite/one of your faves when you reply and say why you like it so much.

Game over.
Congratulations.
Learn anything?
That’s right…
Matrix 2 really sucked.

Well, let me break it down for you:

You have a total of 50 friends
You requested to guess 50 entries.
10 were skipped due to invalid content (surprising?).
You made 40 guesses.
You got 32 correct.
Doing the math for you, that means you got 80% correct

To shanshu in this test means to turn up guided by morals, calm and self-controlled, spiritually guided and powerfully moved by one’s own destiny.

Kind of like I’d expect Angel to score, were he to take this test.

You’re probably sort of heroic in your own life.

The 4-Variable Buffy Personality Test

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

	You scored higher than 9% on morality
	You scored higher than 0% on repose
	You scored higher than 91% on spirituality
	You scored higher than 13% on selflessness

5 years ago I… (2000)
1. was in my first ‘proper’ job
2. was learning to play the flute
3. had never been to Iceland

3 years ago I… (2002)
1. was about to go to Iceland for the second time
2. had been playing in band for two years
3. had joined the social committee at work (me? on the social committee? you’re kidding me!)

2 years ago I… (2003)
1. didn’t know how great Estonia is
2. had started writing again after the great hiatus of 2002
3. started this online journal with no idea where it would take me

1 year ago I… (2004)
1. had been to Iceland for the third time
2. was beginning to think about a change of jobs
3. rediscovered my artistic side

So far this year I… (2005)
1. have learnt more about AS and Me
2. have got my second ‘proper’ job
3. have learnt alot about myself

Yesterday I…
1. spent far too much money on suntan lotion and insect repellent
2. didn’t read as much as I wanted to
3. ate strawberries and cream

Today I…
1. will read more than I did yesterday
2. have learnt some Romanian
3. will eat some strawberries and cream

Tomorrow I will…
1. go to work
2. think about my holiday
3. read some more and eat strawberries

This weekend I will : (upcoming weekend?)
1. be in Romania
2. making a whole new bunch of friends
3. be trying to remember the Romanian I attempted to learn

In the next year (2006) I will…
1. keep chugging along, doing a lot of the same things
2. finish writing my novel and send it ‘out there’…
3. make some new friends, keep smiling, and making jam *grins*

changed by ouwiyaru based on code by ixwin
Find out more

name four bad habits you have:
– staying up too late (on a ‘school night’)
– chewing at my finger nails
– not being as tolerant of others as I would like
– doodling too much?

name four things that you wish you had:
– my novel published
– someone to be with, unconditionally
– a house in the country
– an intaglio printing press

name four scents you love:
– fresh-baked bread on a clear sunny day
– peppermint
– woodsmoke
– fresh cut grass

name four things you’d never wear:
– anything pink
– speedos (some things just don’t suit anyone)
– body piercings (ouch!)
– a tattoo (double ouch!)

name four things you are thinking about right now:
– it’s almost time for bed
– I should really think about organising this year’s Novemberfest
– (stolen from Jody, but it’s true…) how much I love the people who support and encourage me and give me advice
– this survey!

name four things that you have done today:
– created three usericons for Jo
– marked up a bunch of author corrections
– topped up on my shopping after the weekend
– thought about my novel but not done anything about it

name the last four things you have bought:
– a course of life drawing glasses
– a week’s shopping
– too much petrol
– cat food

name four people you would like to spend more time with: (er, time at all…)
– Megan and Heather
– Jody
– Rachel
– Helen
– Kelly

(…I know, I know that was more than four, but honestly, you expect me to choose?!)

name four bands/groups/singers most people don’t know you like:
– Vanilla Ninja
– The Corrs
– Natasha Bedingfield
– S Club 7 – yeah, I know it’s manufactured pop, but everyone needs a little once in a while…

name four drinks you regularly drink:
– peppermint tea
– milk
– coffee
– water

name four random facts about yourself:
– I was born in Derbyshire
– I like soft, cuddly things
– I love kicking leaves in the autumn/fall
– I have conversations with myself

What is your stand on….. brought to you by BZOINK!

The Slow Dancer
Deliberate Gentle Love Dreamer

Steady, reliable, and cradling her tenderly. Take a deep breath, and let it out real easy…you are The Slow Dancer.

Your focus is love, not sex, and for your age, you have average experience. But you’re a great, thoughtful guy, and your love life improves every year. There’s also a powerful elimination process working in your favor: most Playboy types get stuck raising unwanted kids before you even begin settling down. The women left over will be hot and yours. Your ideal woman is someone intimate, intelligent, and very supportive.

While you’re not exactly the life of the party, you do thrive in small groups of smart people. Your circle of friends is extra tight and it’s HIGHLY likely they’re just like you. You appreciate symmetry in relationships.

ALWAYS AVOID: The Battleaxe

CONSIDER: The Maid of Honor or The Sonnet

…anyone know of any maids of honour or ‘sonnets’ whom I could meet…?

01. I only have a handful of close friends, and i’m happy with that.
02. I am a coffee freak. I love coffee — the smell, the taste, the flavour.
03. I never had the dedication to become more than an average amatur musician.
04. I am a LiveJournal regular.
05. Most of my friends are female.
06. I’m not out there always looking, but I would kind of like a girlfriend.
07. I hate when people type in all caps online.
08. I also hate people who TypE LyKe D1s.
09. I am not fond of using Prince Language (2 B U etc!!)
10. My favourite colour is green.
11. I was raised as a vegetarian, but now I know how to cook a steak.
12. I don’t really have a drink of choice. A good red wine, white wine … a glass of port or Vana Tallinn – I’ve even taken to enjoying whisky (since Edinburgh).
13. I would like to read more, but I’m a writer damn it, and writers’ are notoriously bad readers.
14. I have never stopped reading childrens’ fiction.
15. I’m quite a slow reader. I wish I was faster.
16. I love cats.
17. Religion? I don’t know if I believe or not…?
18. I have a lot to learn.
19. I don’t spend hours worrying about the way I look
20. I have my email open all the time and generally sit down at the computer to check it 5+ times a day.
21. I enjoy cooking
22. I’m certainly not your stereotypical 30 year old male, and its fairly obvious when you first meet me.
23. I would love to travel and have many fantasy itinerarys. Whether I’ll ever bankroll them is another question.
24. I keep my house clean but not obsessively so.
25. I always finish things I start.
26. I’m epileptic, but it’s never stopped me doing anything I’ve wanted.
27. I like to plan what I’m going to do.
28. I have my little quirks.
29. I am way to proud of my website considering there’s not that much on it.
30. I like most animals, and they like me back.
31. I only ever use one or at most two email addresses at a time. I don’t like to keep clutter.
32. I’ve never been outrageously drunk.
33. I’ve never smoked. I never will.
34. I don’t do drugs. Well, not unless you count the one’s for my epilepsy…
35. My imagination is always plotting new stories.
36. I fantasise about being financially unburdened, but am resigned to having to earn a living.
37. I am overly paranoid sometimes yet too of trusting others sometimes.
38. I am childfree.
39. I recently started to take tea black because it looks better when served in a glass mug.
40. I’m starting to realise that it’s really true that you never really feel like a grown-up.
41. I’m a coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon kind of person. Unless we are talking after dinner, in which case it’s coffee again…
42. I like people who are a bit out of the ordinary.
43. I’m not a huge movies person but there are a few I like.
44. Having a favorite movie is, for me, as absurd as having a favorite book or colour. Too many to choose from, and I’d get sick of a favorite quickly.
45. I hate wearing ties.
46. I like wearing soft, comfy clothes.
47. I’m introverted in social situations.
48. Once someone’s betrayed me, I find it hard to trust them again.
49. I like travel. I want to travel more.
50. I love wandering around little non-chain shops, just looking.
51. Silence, music, and bustle all have their advantages.
52. I love the summer, but spring is better.
53. I like autumn, its the grey cold January and February that I hate.
54. I don’t do lie-ins, I have to be busy.
55. I like being alone sometimes.
56. I wish I had more friends with whom I could just go out with on the spur of the moment.
57. I am terrible at making decisions.
58. I wish I was fitter, maybe one day…
59. I don’t get much paper mail.
60. I am naturally optimistic.
61. I love receiving letters and postcards, you know with stamps on that have been delivered through your front door.
62. I don’t like crowds.
63. I overreact about things sometimes.
64. I admire patience, dedication, and realism.
65. I have huge quantities of patience.
66. I love to eat good food!
67. I enjoy baking cakes and puddings and making chocolates.
68. I like entertaining family and friends.
69. I think GWBush is a very bad president, and possibly the worst, but I can always imagine things getting even… um… worser.
70. I generally miss my family and look forward to seeing them.
71. I dislike our government, which is not necessarily a problem and distrust them, which is.
72. I like routine. Variety flusters me.
73. I am online way too much.
74. I find it hard meeting people.
75. I’ve only had one *proper* job. It’s scary to think one day I will have to move on.
76. I try not to judge people for thinking differently than I do, but sometimes I’m not very generous.
77. I love to read.
78. I like cheese a LOT.
79. Interviews make me nervous.
80. I like the outdoors.
81. I would like to live in an old house. I’m an old house person.
82. I can’t imagine ever having satelite TV.
83. I never have time to play video games.
84. Favorite food? Roast lamb followed by rangy (lemon merange) pie.
85. On some issues, I’m very firm in my beliefs.
86. It annoys me when people never reply to my letters/emails.
87. I don’t understand why anyone in their right mind would oppose gay civil marriage.
88. If I were American, I would probably be considered a libertarian.
89. I’d have to literally starving to eat in MacDonalds – eughh!
90. I type with my fingers on the ‘correct’ keys and can touch-type fairly fast.
91. Sometimes I go to far.
92. Honesty and Trustworthyness are two very important qualities in people.
93. I hate being in a rush.
94. I hate to be late for things.
95. I get nervous when waiting for people.
96. One day I will reach my goal.
97. I would like to meet more LJ folks.
98. Nothing makes me happier, than lieing under a tree in summer looking up at the sunlight filtering through the leafy canopy.
99. Trees are the best!
100. I’m a nice person.

01. I only have a handful of close friends, and i’m happy with that.
02. I am a coffee freak. I love coffee — the smell, the taste, the flavour.
03. I never had the dedication to become more than an average amatur musician.
04. I am a LiveJournal regular.
05. Most of my friends are female.
06. I’m not out there always looking, but I would kind of like a girlfriend.
07. I hate when people type in all caps online.
08. I also hate people who TypE LyKe D1s.
09. I am not fond of using Prince Language (2 B U etc!!)
10. My favourite colour is green.
11. I was raised as a vegetarian, but now I know how to cook a steak.
12. I don’t really have a drink of choice. A good red wine, white wine … a glass of port or Vana Tallinn – I’ve even taken to enjoying whisky (since Edinburgh).
13. I would like to read more, but I’m a writer damn it, and writers’ are notoriously bad readers.
14. I have never stopped reading childrens’ fiction.
15. I’m quite a slow reader. I wish I was faster.
16. I love cats.
17. Religion? I don’t know if I believe or not…?
18. I have a lot to learn.
19. I don’t spend hours worrying about the way I look
20. I have my email open all the time and generally sit down at the computer to check it 5+ times a day.
21. I enjoy cooking
22. I’m certainly not your stereotypical 30 year old male, and its fairly obvious when you first meet me.
23. I would love to travel and have many fantasy itinerarys. Whether I’ll ever bankroll them is another question.
24. I keep my house clean but not obsessively so.
25. I always finish things I start.
26. I’m epileptic, but it’s never stopped me doing anything I’ve wanted.
27. I like to plan what I’m going to do.
28. I have my little quirks.
29. I am way to proud of my website considering there’s not that much on it.
30. I like most animals, and they like me back.
31. I only ever use one or at most two email addresses at a time. I don’t like to keep clutter.
32. I’ve never been outrageously drunk.
33. I’ve never smoked. I never will.
34. I don’t do drugs. Well, not unless you count the one’s for my epilepsy…
35. My imagination is always plotting new stories.
36. I fantasise about being financially unburdened, but am resigned to having to earn a living.
37. I am overly paranoid sometimes yet too of trusting others sometimes.
38. I am childfree.
39. I recently started to take tea black because it looks better when served in a glass mug.
40. I’m starting to realise that it’s really true that you never really feel like a grown-up.
41. I’m a coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon kind of person. Unless we are talking after dinner, in which case it’s coffee again…
42. I like people who are a bit out of the ordinary.
43. I’m not a huge movies person but there are a few I like.
44. Having a favorite movie is, for me, as absurd as having a favorite book or colour. Too many to choose from, and I’d get sick of a favorite quickly.
45. I hate wearing ties.
46. I like wearing soft, comfy clothes.
47. I’m introverted in social situations.
48. Once someone’s betrayed me, I find it hard to trust them again.
49. I like travel. I want to travel more.
50. I love wandering around little non-chain shops, just looking.
51. Silence, music, and bustle all have their advantages.
52. I love the summer, but spring is better.
53. I like autumn, its the grey cold January and February that I hate.
54. I don’t do lie-ins, I have to be busy.
55. I like being alone sometimes.
56. I wish I had more friends with whom I could just go out with on the spur of the moment.
57. I am terrible at making decisions.
58. I wish I was fitter, maybe one day…
59. I don’t get much paper mail.
60. I am naturally optimistic.
61. I love receiving letters and postcards, you know with stamps on that have been delivered through your front door.
62. I don’t like crowds.
63. I overreact about things sometimes.
64. I admire patience, dedication, and realism.
65. I have huge quantities of patience.
66. I love to eat good food!
67. I enjoy baking cakes and puddings and making chocolates.
68. I like entertaining family and friends.
69. I think GWBush is a very bad president, and possibly the worst, but I can always imagine things getting even… um… worser.
70. I generally miss my family and look forward to seeing them.
71. I dislike our government, which is not necessarily a problem and distrust them, which is.
72. I like routine. Variety flusters me.
73. I am online way too much.
74. I find it hard meeting people.
75. I’ve only had one *proper* job. It’s scary to think one day I will have to move on.
76. I try not to judge people for thinking differently than I do, but sometimes I’m not very generous.
77. I love to read.
78. I like cheese a LOT.
79. Interviews make me nervous.
80. I like the outdoors.
81. I would like to live in an old house. I’m an old house person.
82. I can’t imagine ever having satelite TV.
83. I never have time to play video games.
84. Favorite food? Roast lamb followed by rangy (lemon merange) pie.
85. On some issues, I’m very firm in my beliefs.
86. It annoys me when people never reply to my letters/emails.
87. I don’t understand why anyone in their right mind would oppose gay civil marriage.
88. If I were American, I would probably be considered a libertarian.
89. I’d have to literally starving to eat in MacDonalds – eughh!
90. I type with my fingers on the ‘correct’ keys and can touch-type fairly fast.
91. Sometimes I go to far.
92. Honesty and Trustworthyness are two very important qualities in people.
93. I hate being in a rush.
94. I hate to be late for things.
95. I get nervous when waiting for people.
96. One day I will reach my goal.
97. I would like to meet more LJ folks.
98. Nothing makes me happier, than lieing under a tree in summer looking up at the sunlight filtering through the leafy canopy.
99. Trees are the best!
100. I’m a nice person.

1. As a kid, I missed the chance to: have friends who I could call up and meet with at a moments notice
2. As a kid, I lacked: co-ordination, sporting ability
3. As a kid, I could have used: more close contact with people my own age
4. As a kid, I dreamed of being: a writer or a film-maker (or both)
5. As a kid, I wanted a: girlfriend (but it never seemed to happen – I guess it will one day…?)
6. In my house, we never had enough: time. That’s not too say we didn’t not do things, just that we had so many interests, more time would have been good
7. As a kid, I needed more: confidence, support
8. I am sorry that I will never again see: those days (the whole package) again
9. I beat myself up for the loss of: nothing. One skill I *do* have – I never regret anything.
10. I have a loyal friend in: my family, and now I think, a few more…
11. What I like about my town is: I have a nice house, a nice garden, and it’s MINE – I can be me in it, and it’s convenient for the moment.
12. I think I have nice: manners
13. I am taking a greater interest in: music, at least in a more organised sort of a way. I’ve negletted the joys of classical music for way to long.
14. I believe I am getting better at: this whole living biz. But I could be wrong
15. My inner artist has started paying [more] attention to: um…?!!!
16. My self-care is: eager and optimistic.
17. I feel more: (you can change that colon into a full stop.)
18. Possibly, my creativity is: increasing; however I prefer to deal with certainties.

1. As a kid, I missed the chance to: have friends who I could call up and meet with at a moments notice
2. As a kid, I lacked: co-ordination, sporting ability
3. As a kid, I could have used: more close contact with people my own age
4. As a kid, I dreamed of being: a writer or a film-maker (or both)
5. As a kid, I wanted a: girlfriend (but it never seemed to happen – I guess it will one day…?)
6. In my house, we never had enough: time. That’s not too say we didn’t not do things, just that we had so many interests, more time would have been good
7. As a kid, I needed more: confidence, support
8. I am sorry that I will never again see: those days (the whole package) again
9. I beat myself up for the loss of: nothing. One skill I *do* have – I never regret anything.
10. I have a loyal friend in: my family, and now I think, a few more…
11. What I like about my town is: I have a nice house, a nice garden, and it’s MINE – I can be me in it, and it’s convenient for the moment.
12. I think I have nice: manners
13. I am taking a greater interest in: music, at least in a more organised sort of a way. I’ve negletted the joys of classical music for way to long.
14. I believe I am getting better at: this whole living biz. But I could be wrong
15. My inner artist has started paying [more] attention to: um…?!!!
16. My self-care is: eager and optimistic.
17. I feel more: (you can change that colon into a full stop.)
18. Possibly, my creativity is: increasing; however I prefer to deal with certainties.