Your questions answered - Part One

Aha. How much do I regret asking you to ask me questions?! You have responded and you've forced me to think about my self and life far too much. It is uncomfortable.

Also due to my completely inability to write succinctly I have waffled on for far too long and I'm therefore going to have to do a couple of posts so I don't use up the whole internet with my replies.

Ready? Cup of tea to hand? Then we'll begin...

P asked: Okay . . . tell us about the first time you were drunk. Did you do anything stupid? (Please say yes!)

Aaaaah. I was 15 and a boy at school was having a party because his parents were out for the night. What resulted was most of the school year descending on a very lovely house in a very nice part of town for alcohol bingeing at its best. He had a marquee tent set up in the back garden where all the booze could be placed. It was the first night I ever drank cider. It was also the first night I had a whole 2 litre bottle of cider tipped over my head (what can I say, we thought it would be funny). It was also the night that I snogged 5 boys, none of whom did anything to improve my cool-cred.

Unfortunately the first time I got drunk was also the first time I became violently ill from drink. Party boy’s parents returned home to find their house a disaster zone with teenagers either vomiting or fornicating in various rooms. I was being sick in their kitchen sink. I remember Party boy’s Mum pulling my hair back with a rubber band as she went about the kitchen with a black bin liner. I mumbled how sorry I was and her reply was “Don’t worry dear, I used to be a nurse, I’ve seen much worse.”

As if this wasn’t bad enough, I was staying at my friend’s house that night. Yes, my parent’s never had to deal with the disgrace of their youngest child getting drunk for the first time – a fact I remind my Mum of frequently. Instead, my friend’s Dad came to pick us up, stopped several times on the way home for me to be sick, half-carried me in to the house where my friend’s Mum helped me undress and put me to bed. The next morning she said to me, “Now I’m not going to tell your parents about what happened last night but I really feel that you should.” What a nice lady.

(And Party Boy got in SEVERE trouble for that party. But not as much trouble as he did after the Christmas Ball when he got so drunk he threw up on the Headmaster’s shoes and had to have his stomach pumped. I missed all of this because I was being taken to my friend’s house by a teacher at 10pm because I was so drunk. You see. THIS is why Warfarin is a blessing in disguise for me.)

Heather asked: 1. Why are you so awesome?
2. What book should I read next?
3. What is your favourite thing about blogging?
4. Why are my questions so lame?

1. Who knows? Maybe it’s down to genetics. Maybe it’s down to external factors. I can assure you there are plenty who would disagree with your sentiment. I think I probably come out better on screen than in real life.

2. You should read The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory. I haven’t read it yet but really want to after reading The White Queen and if you buy it and read it then maybe you can lend it to me. Also if you haven’t read The White Queen it’s on offer in WH Smith’s this week for £2.99 when you buy a copy of The Times. DO IT.

3. I am a creature desperate for loved. My attempts to try and make people like me know no bounds, to the limit at times of losing all self respect. Blogging has meant that I can attempt to impress a whole new clutch of people – hearing that I’ve made people laugh or smile is a salve to my fragile little ego. I also like that you can find out that you’re not the only person thinking things – take my post recently about feeling guilty about going in churches, I never imagined that other people would feel the same way, but it turns out I’m not alone.

4. Not lame. There are 4 of the freakin’ things. Technically I should be penalising you. You also win the award for asking a deep and meaningful question a la question 3.

Nic asked: Lol... My question is: What is your name??!!

I have spoken about this before in my previous blog. I keep this blog as anonymous as possible, due to a few bad experiences which came hand in hand with having a public blog. In today’s age anyone in the world, including potential employers can check out every aspect of your life and I would hate for some people to have access to this blog that I don’t particularly want to. Plus I find it easier to write anonymously, sometimes I’m not brave enough to put a face to some of my views/posts. Once there’s the chance that people know who you are then what comes with that is self-censorship which is not enjoyable for me when it comes to blogging.

I’m not a complete twat. If people e-mail I don’t respond to their e-mails and sign off as “The Girl” that would make me terribly pretentious. So some of you know my real name I know, that doesn’t bother me at all, I just don’t want my real name being mentioned in the blogosphere.

If you are desperate to know it Nic – e-mail me! It isn’t exciting I’m afraid and is in fact boringly common.

Flitterbee asked: I'd like to know more about your work, but appreciate that's probably sensitive information and you don't fancy being dooced, so. Huh. What's your favourite colour? (This isn't me being facetious, I do actually wanna know...!)

Yeah, same as the question above, I don’t really talk about it. I can tell you that I work in the social science field and I am a researcher. Will that do you?

And my favourite colour is green. Have always loved it, love all shades of it and at one point there was an alarming amount of green in my wardrobe which I have since curtailed but if I go in a clothes shop the green calls to me and reels me in before I spot anything else. I like that it can be a calming, soothing colour but can be incredibly vibrant and intense just going a few shades up the chart.

I don’t think I’ve ever written so much about green, didn’t realise I liked it so much. I might have a problem.

Lucy asked: This is quite hard because although you're somewhat mysterious I feel I know you quite well, but that may have something to do with my marathon-reading of your back-catalogue :s

What is your favourite foreign place to visit?

I do love that you have read all my posts you know. See my answer to part 3 of Heather’s question!

My experience of foreign travel is not massively extensive really, we went on holiday most years but this was to the same place for 4 of those years so the opportunity to explore other countries was sadly missed.

I think I might have to say America though. I know some may sneer and others may have to put their jaws back in their sockets but it’s true.

When I was in France I marvelled at how beautiful it was and the scenery was stunning etc etc but I couldn’t help noticing as I came in on the plane that the landscape below me looked exactly like the landscape I’d left behind in Britain. But when I’ve been to America I’ve been up mountains covered in snow (to Maine on a skiing trip when I was 17 at school) and through the desert (in Arizona 2.5 years ago when I went to visit American Girl and Boy) and everything just feels different. It kind of amazes me at how different we are, I think when you have language as a common element you can be fooled into thinking that everything is the same, but the whole culture of the place is so odd and alien at times that you don’t know what on earth you’re doing.

And it’s so huge that it offers inexhaustible opportunities to see new landscapes and experience new things. As for this nonsense about them not having culture or a history, just because they didn’t have the Battle of Bosworth doesn’t mean they don’t have history – can anyone really say that they wouldn’t, given the opportunity, love to go and stand beneath the Lincoln Memorial?

(Plus you get to see and do all this without panicking that you can’t communicate with anyone.)


More answers tomorrow....