On Answering 41 Questions - A Meme.
Jul. 5th, 2013 01:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
danieldwilliamHere follow 41 questions about me with answers that range from the factually correct to the satirically pointless.
If there is any merit in this![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
widgetfox should be thanked. All the errors are my own and I accept the blame for them entirely upon my own head.
1. Do you like having your picture taken?
I’m okay with it. I don’t photograph particularly well. I think I’m more handsome when I’m moving.
2. If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go and why?
If by “in the world” we mean the within the atmosphere of the Earth I would say Australia. I’d like to go and spend a few years out there reconnecting with my brothers and their families.
3. Have you ever done crossword puzzles?
Not with any degree of seriousness. My mum is an avid cross word puzzler and often phones me up to tell me about a particularly exciting clue. This is more than sufficient cross word action for me. She does not get the irony of her complaining about rugby when I mention, in passing that I have recently been or am going.
4. Pick up the closest book and write a sentence at random from it.
“Combined with the failure of our institutions to be representative or “look like us” this makes people feel that they cannot influence political decision making.”
This is part of a report by the Electoral Reform Society Scotland on their Democracy to the Max programme which looks at what we mean by a good democracy in Scotland.
5. Do the same with a lyric from either a cd or the radio.
Barbara Streisand
6. Have you ever tried to analyse your own dreams?
Not with any seriousness. I think most dreams are the just memories of the previous day floating around your mind. I have serial dreams on occasion. These usually involve travelling along some water way. I quite enjoy them.
7. Can you sing?
Define “can”. Do I have the ability? Yes. Is it pleasing to other people? Less so.
8. Do you ever sing to yourself while doing everyday tasks?
Occasionally.
9. What's your favourite colour of post-it note?
This question rather assumes I have time in my life to take a view on the colours of post-it note in a context free environment.
10. Have you ever lied to get off the phone or out of talking to someone on line?
Yes.
11. What does your bedroom look like?
My bedroom is approximately square. In fact approximately cuboid. It has one large window in the middle of the west wall which means lots of lovely evening sunlight. It is decorated with cream paint on two walls (the one facing the bed and the one with window in). The window opposite the wall is largely taken up with a full height oak wardrobe. The wall behind the headstead of the bed is decorated with silvery wallpaper with a motif of birds and flowers. The carpet is dark brown. The bed is king sized and iron framed. The curtains are light tan with a turquoise pattern of flowers. Facing the bed is a large print of the May Queen in gold by Margaret MacDonald.
12. Do you read your horoscope?
No. Nor do I place any reliance in casting the bones, the reading of entrails, divination by examining my own belly button fluff or the complex system of numberology using base 32 and the first letters of lines from Smith’s songs.
I did once create a system of prediction based on the state of underwear of my sexual partners. After exhaustive statistical analysis I concluded that whether I could tell if my girlfriend was currently wearing any knickers was an above average predictor of whether I was going to have sex in the next 24 hours. Fortunes have been made on less.
13. Would you rather chew gum or use mouthwash?
For mending a bucket – gum. For blinding an attacker whilst on the run from an evil criminal mastermind – mouthwash.
14. How many times a year about are you sick?
I am rarely sick enough to be off work although in January this year I was properly ill and had to spend about two weeks in bed. Since then I notice I’ve been a bit more prone than usual to falling ill but my usual robust constitution seems to be returning.
15. Ever been in an aeroplane?
I am in aeroplanes more often than I care to be. I travel down south to see my daughter every month, usually involving a plane. I find them uncomfortable to travel in. For short journeys I can’t settle because the stewardess are constantly back and forth. On longer journeys they are tedious to sit in. I prefer the train and I think it a strategic failure of the worst kind that the railway industry hasn’t targeted four hour journeys more aggressively.
16. What colour are your eyes?
Hazel
17. Have you ever been arrested?
Yes
18. What is your favourite t-shirt?
My favourite t-shirt that I own is my Belle and Sebastian t-shirt that I bought at their gig in Princes Street Garden. Nothing says hardcore rock and roll like a fair-trade pure cotton t-shirt from an indie post-pop folk rock band.
19. What food disgusts you the most?
The only food that falls into this category is tomato sauce.
20. What is your favourite soda?
I like lime and soda best of all but I could be persuaded to an Elston most days.
21. Name one person your life is made better by.
At my most introverted and misanthropic I’m tempted to say no one, that basically my life is a series of onerous obligations brought about by the existence of other people in the universe.
Most days I would say my lovely wife.
22. Can you do maths with ease?
Not as well as I used to be able to do. It’s something I want to pick again when the Captain is a little older.
23. Are you a vegetarian?
No. I think we have a duty to eat cows, sheep, pigs, chickens and so on. They are co-evolved to be domestic food animals for us. If we stopped eating them they would die out.
24. Name one of your passions in life.
Improvisational drama.
25. What's your least favourite time of day?
I don’t like mid-afternoon. I get a little sleepy after lunch and I’d rather just have a little snooze.
26. What colour is the inside of your head when you close your eyes?
Grey.
27. Ever listen to classical music?
Often. I increasingly like it.
28. Do you work? What is your job?
My paid employment is as a management accountant for a public sector organisation in Scotland. I provide business partnering service to about half the organisation – basically I count things or people and then go and stick my nose into what other people are doing and persuade them to get in to trouble with me. I am pretty good at my job.
I also work as a democracy activist. I’m on the board of a constitutional reform organisation and active locally.
I am on the committee for a large amateur drama group. I used to teach improv but I’m having a break from that. I’m hoping to write and direct my first production next year.
29. What is the best present you've ever given someone else?
Life. Or perhaps the mobile phone I bought my daughter a few years ago.
30. What is the best present someone else has ever given to you?
I remember when I was living alone many years ago my dad gave me a couple of bottle of scotch, a signed Iain M Banks hardcover and a large wodge of book tokens which was exactly what I needed to get me through a solitary but not lonely winter.
31. Do you wear a watch?
Yes.
32. What's on your computer desk?
Lots of stuff. Both my desks need a good tidy. One of them is getting a good tidy this afternoon.
33. Do you think you're pretty / goodlooking?
I have been described as handsome. One of the most embarrassing conversations I have ever been privy to was, whilst at uni, walking along the road with some pals behind a group of female fellow students who were describing their mutual admiration in some detail for one of the guys on our course. We started lugging in – only to discover it was me they were talking about.
34. How many people do you live with?
I live with one person, or with two people or three people depending on who you count as a person. I live with my wife and our 3 year old son. He is just about a proper person now. We also share a home with my older daughter but she is rarely in the house as she mainly lives with her mother.
35. What do you collect?
In the sense of having an organised set of things that are valued beyond the utility of the individual items – nothing. I have lots of books, I keep magazine clippings when I get round to it. I have a few pieces of original art.
36. Have you ever bought anything just because it was a fad?
Yes, the most memorable was a really good Zippo lighter.
37. What do you think about when you first wake up in the morning?
How much better my day would be if I got out of bed immediately or could stay there until about half ten.
38. Do you bite your nails?
Yes.
39. What colour are most of your clothes?
I reject the simplistic plurality view of clothing colours implicit in this question. Rather, I have cast high preferences for warm tones with the occasional vibrant colour. Polling indicates that black has been losing support in my wardrobe over the long term.
40. What's your favourite cereal?
Crunchy Nut Cornflakes.
41. Do you like to look people in the eye?
That depends entirely on the context. Sometimes it is rude to. Sometimes it is rude not to.
If there is any merit in this
widgetfox should be thanked. All the errors are my own and I accept the blame for them entirely upon my own head.1. Do you like having your picture taken?
I’m okay with it. I don’t photograph particularly well. I think I’m more handsome when I’m moving.
2. If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go and why?
If by “in the world” we mean the within the atmosphere of the Earth I would say Australia. I’d like to go and spend a few years out there reconnecting with my brothers and their families.
3. Have you ever done crossword puzzles?
Not with any degree of seriousness. My mum is an avid cross word puzzler and often phones me up to tell me about a particularly exciting clue. This is more than sufficient cross word action for me. She does not get the irony of her complaining about rugby when I mention, in passing that I have recently been or am going.
4. Pick up the closest book and write a sentence at random from it.
“Combined with the failure of our institutions to be representative or “look like us” this makes people feel that they cannot influence political decision making.”
This is part of a report by the Electoral Reform Society Scotland on their Democracy to the Max programme which looks at what we mean by a good democracy in Scotland.
5. Do the same with a lyric from either a cd or the radio.
Barbara Streisand
6. Have you ever tried to analyse your own dreams?
Not with any seriousness. I think most dreams are the just memories of the previous day floating around your mind. I have serial dreams on occasion. These usually involve travelling along some water way. I quite enjoy them.
7. Can you sing?
Define “can”. Do I have the ability? Yes. Is it pleasing to other people? Less so.
8. Do you ever sing to yourself while doing everyday tasks?
Occasionally.
9. What's your favourite colour of post-it note?
This question rather assumes I have time in my life to take a view on the colours of post-it note in a context free environment.
10. Have you ever lied to get off the phone or out of talking to someone on line?
Yes.
11. What does your bedroom look like?
My bedroom is approximately square. In fact approximately cuboid. It has one large window in the middle of the west wall which means lots of lovely evening sunlight. It is decorated with cream paint on two walls (the one facing the bed and the one with window in). The window opposite the wall is largely taken up with a full height oak wardrobe. The wall behind the headstead of the bed is decorated with silvery wallpaper with a motif of birds and flowers. The carpet is dark brown. The bed is king sized and iron framed. The curtains are light tan with a turquoise pattern of flowers. Facing the bed is a large print of the May Queen in gold by Margaret MacDonald.
12. Do you read your horoscope?
No. Nor do I place any reliance in casting the bones, the reading of entrails, divination by examining my own belly button fluff or the complex system of numberology using base 32 and the first letters of lines from Smith’s songs.
I did once create a system of prediction based on the state of underwear of my sexual partners. After exhaustive statistical analysis I concluded that whether I could tell if my girlfriend was currently wearing any knickers was an above average predictor of whether I was going to have sex in the next 24 hours. Fortunes have been made on less.
13. Would you rather chew gum or use mouthwash?
For mending a bucket – gum. For blinding an attacker whilst on the run from an evil criminal mastermind – mouthwash.
14. How many times a year about are you sick?
I am rarely sick enough to be off work although in January this year I was properly ill and had to spend about two weeks in bed. Since then I notice I’ve been a bit more prone than usual to falling ill but my usual robust constitution seems to be returning.
15. Ever been in an aeroplane?
I am in aeroplanes more often than I care to be. I travel down south to see my daughter every month, usually involving a plane. I find them uncomfortable to travel in. For short journeys I can’t settle because the stewardess are constantly back and forth. On longer journeys they are tedious to sit in. I prefer the train and I think it a strategic failure of the worst kind that the railway industry hasn’t targeted four hour journeys more aggressively.
16. What colour are your eyes?
Hazel
17. Have you ever been arrested?
Yes
18. What is your favourite t-shirt?
My favourite t-shirt that I own is my Belle and Sebastian t-shirt that I bought at their gig in Princes Street Garden. Nothing says hardcore rock and roll like a fair-trade pure cotton t-shirt from an indie post-pop folk rock band.
19. What food disgusts you the most?
The only food that falls into this category is tomato sauce.
20. What is your favourite soda?
I like lime and soda best of all but I could be persuaded to an Elston most days.
21. Name one person your life is made better by.
At my most introverted and misanthropic I’m tempted to say no one, that basically my life is a series of onerous obligations brought about by the existence of other people in the universe.
Most days I would say my lovely wife.
22. Can you do maths with ease?
Not as well as I used to be able to do. It’s something I want to pick again when the Captain is a little older.
23. Are you a vegetarian?
No. I think we have a duty to eat cows, sheep, pigs, chickens and so on. They are co-evolved to be domestic food animals for us. If we stopped eating them they would die out.
24. Name one of your passions in life.
Improvisational drama.
25. What's your least favourite time of day?
I don’t like mid-afternoon. I get a little sleepy after lunch and I’d rather just have a little snooze.
26. What colour is the inside of your head when you close your eyes?
Grey.
27. Ever listen to classical music?
Often. I increasingly like it.
28. Do you work? What is your job?
My paid employment is as a management accountant for a public sector organisation in Scotland. I provide business partnering service to about half the organisation – basically I count things or people and then go and stick my nose into what other people are doing and persuade them to get in to trouble with me. I am pretty good at my job.
I also work as a democracy activist. I’m on the board of a constitutional reform organisation and active locally.
I am on the committee for a large amateur drama group. I used to teach improv but I’m having a break from that. I’m hoping to write and direct my first production next year.
29. What is the best present you've ever given someone else?
Life. Or perhaps the mobile phone I bought my daughter a few years ago.
30. What is the best present someone else has ever given to you?
I remember when I was living alone many years ago my dad gave me a couple of bottle of scotch, a signed Iain M Banks hardcover and a large wodge of book tokens which was exactly what I needed to get me through a solitary but not lonely winter.
31. Do you wear a watch?
Yes.
32. What's on your computer desk?
Lots of stuff. Both my desks need a good tidy. One of them is getting a good tidy this afternoon.
33. Do you think you're pretty / goodlooking?
I have been described as handsome. One of the most embarrassing conversations I have ever been privy to was, whilst at uni, walking along the road with some pals behind a group of female fellow students who were describing their mutual admiration in some detail for one of the guys on our course. We started lugging in – only to discover it was me they were talking about.
34. How many people do you live with?
I live with one person, or with two people or three people depending on who you count as a person. I live with my wife and our 3 year old son. He is just about a proper person now. We also share a home with my older daughter but she is rarely in the house as she mainly lives with her mother.
35. What do you collect?
In the sense of having an organised set of things that are valued beyond the utility of the individual items – nothing. I have lots of books, I keep magazine clippings when I get round to it. I have a few pieces of original art.
36. Have you ever bought anything just because it was a fad?
Yes, the most memorable was a really good Zippo lighter.
37. What do you think about when you first wake up in the morning?
How much better my day would be if I got out of bed immediately or could stay there until about half ten.
38. Do you bite your nails?
Yes.
39. What colour are most of your clothes?
I reject the simplistic plurality view of clothing colours implicit in this question. Rather, I have cast high preferences for warm tones with the occasional vibrant colour. Polling indicates that black has been losing support in my wardrobe over the long term.
40. What's your favourite cereal?
Crunchy Nut Cornflakes.
41. Do you like to look people in the eye?
That depends entirely on the context. Sometimes it is rude to. Sometimes it is rude not to.
