Sunday 1 January 2012

Happy January! And some answers...

As much as I'd like to, I find wishing people a whole year of happiness rather unrealistic. By the end of December 2012, you'd be taking happiness for granted, maybe even needing more, like an addict, to actually feel happy.

For the sake of convention, though - Happy New Year one and all!

Lots to answer  - thank you everyone. Some questions are difficult, but most were easy to answer.

Kylie - great comment, thank-you. I have been known to lose so many phones, keys, purses. Always during the rare times I have cash in my purse too!

Wendzif you had a choice would you want to leave the UK and live in another country? And if so, where would you want to go to?


Yes, I would leave the UK. I'd like to live somewhere with proper, defined seasons. Maybe New York.

 Grey Area - a very polite way to say that you're not in the least bit interested in finding out anything! You're not properly nosey,  just an observer.

Vix - you're as nosey as me!

1. If you were only allowed to re-read one book for the rest of your life which one would you choose?

The Oxford English Dictionary

2. Someone gives you £5000 on the condition that you had to spend it all in one day and only on yourself, what would you do?

I'd have every beauty treatment going - teeth whitening, lazer blasting on all the blotches on my face, that fat-removing thing they can do in an hour, facial, massage, manicure, full make-over, hair cut by a top stylist (I like the attention as much as the vanity aspect). I'd buy an heirloom type piece of jewellery, a brooch probably, I'm less likely to  lose that, yellow gold with diamonds. I'd buy a Mont Blanc pen, and then I'd have a very long lunch, eat 5 courses I've never tried, wash it down with a different expensive wine for each course.

3. If you could be anyone, living or dead, for a day who would you be and why?



All I can think about with this question is the line "I think I'll come back as Dannii Minogue". If you forward the video to 9:23 minutes and listen to that scene, I'm sure you'll agree it HAS to be Dannii! Or a bra. Hilarious clip.

4. Your five desert island discs?




Boy Robot - Bass and Booze (cannot find this online, I love it though)


This list would change if I were to compile it even in another hour. This is music which sort of fits in with my brain, I will never tire of these tracks.

5. What would your autobiography be called?

Lucewoman

Curtise will you be making a new year's resolution; if so, what?

I really want to get fit, ditch the asthma pump and feel full of energy all the time. I only realised I enjoy exercise last year.
Boring - sorry! 
I'd also like to meet some bloggers, it'd be a good way to see more of the country too. Open to offers - I'm impeccably behaved sober, a nightmare pissed.

Krista - another curious sort!

1) Have you ever been around someone as they took their last breath before dying? If so who was it and what was that like?

No, luckily. I've been around some very sick children who have needed to be resuscitated, a calmness washes over me in a crisis though, so I become sort of detached from the horror. Not sure I'd be calm if it were a loved one.

2) What is your happiest teen memory? Saddest?

Happiest - a sort of religious euphoria swept over me onn my paper round one morning as the sun rose,  I must have been 13. I felt my life was going to be extraordinary.
Saddest - when my boyfriend went away to university, it was pure heartbreak knowing the end had come 

3) If you had a super power what would it be?

Invisibility - nobody would be safe!

Loren -What is the most memorable item of clothing you've ever bought? 

I bought a dress from Dorothy Perkins in my early 20's EVERY time I wore it I had the worst night out. I think I wore it 5 times before getting shot of it. It looked like a painting of the sea, all smudged blues, greens and browns. I loved it, then hated it pretty soon after!

Max  - I would like to know whats your favorite paragraph or line of writing Luce, of yours and in lit. in general and why?

I like this line from my Teenage Kicks post

The malnourished one spoke, her voice was how I'd imagine a full ashtray to sound were it to be animated in a cartoon. 

In lit, I love this:


"People who live on hills sleep so close to the stars they forget those of us who live too much on earth. They don't look down at all except to be content to live on hills. They have nothing to do with last weeks garbage or fear of rats. Night comes. Nothing wakes them but the wind"


Bums in the Attic from The House on Mango Street


Sandra Cisneros



Sian -
um... are you still job hunting? do you like to bake cakes? do you like to read? and if yes what was your favourite book you read in 2011... and what was the best film you saw? what do you think your children will do when they grow up

I'm ALWAYS job hunting! I will find a job (and heaven knows I won't be miserable) this year, and volunteer at the CAB or a charity shop too. Charity shops make me sneeze though.

I love to bake cakes, scones and bread - so therapeutic. I'm no artist when it comes to decorating though. I tend to cut a template from paper  and sift icing sugar over my cakes. I love flour, silky flour like Marks and Spencer's Organic self-raising.

I love to read, not necessarily novels, just words wherever they are. I spend every spare moment reading. I enjoyed In The Forest by Edna O'brien and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro which the gorgeous Comtesse kindly sent me (I noticed the Ishiguro on Wendz's pile too).

Liam (12) I think will seek a very ordered life, a job like his dad (parts manager) a modern and tidy house (he loathes my lax attitude to housework) lots of pets and foreign travel

Ricky (4) he likes one on one friendships, is very logical and likes finding out about how things work.  He is the most like Rob, so I'm sure he'll end up working with computers too! I try to increase Rick's confidence, his fear of failing could be a stumbling block.

Sonny (3) is wild. A true monkey who would set my nerves on edge if he was my first. He loves the outdoors, is very physical, impatient and impulsive, I will have sleepless nights when he is a teenager, no doubt. I don't think he will take kindly to being told what to do, so goodness knows what work he will enjoy!


Ricky is on the left

Tristanhave you done the dishes yet ?

The dishes are never 'done'. I wash up about 6 times per day, my hands are raw. Rob's are like a baby's backside!


Scarlett  - What was your best holiday memory? If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life what would it be? What would be your perfect day?

Best holiday memory - the first time I saw the sky from an aeroplane, I think I was 8. I'd always wanted to see the sky close up.

Food - cheese, I eat way too much cheese. When I left home my mother couldn't believe how much longer the cheese was lasting!

Perfect day - a peaceful train journey through lush green countryside, a picnic on a warm day by the river, falling asleep with the sounds of  nature ringing in my ears, and a really good laugh, there's nothing better than nearly collapsing with laughter.

Steerforth1. If you could choose your nationality (including being born there and speaking the language), what would you choose to be?

After much thought, including living in the Amazon, it comes back to being happy to be British. I will be fluent in Welsh, French, Spanish and British Sign Language one day, I know I will. I suppose I'm too ignorant to other cultures to make an informed decision about being anything other than who I am. That saddens me.

2. What's the closest you've come to death?

I've been in 2 car accidents, one when the headteacher didn't let us go home early in heavy snow,  I skidded and ended up flipping the car onto it's roof. The second was as I was being beaten up by the passenger. My life flashed before me in a clichéd way, just like in films (to quote Rik Mayall from the above YouTube clip "it was like one long relentless collage of grey")

3. If you had a time machine, where would you go?

Nowhere, I have no desire to return to the past, or to see my future. I'd only end up trying to change things and make everything worse! I would like to see how the earth looked at the dawn of time though, if that can be arranged.

4. What's your earliest memory?

Eating 2 plug fuses, I was 2 years old and it's as clear as if it was yesterday. They just looked so tempting.

5. What were your best and worst holidays?

Best holiday  - Ibiza 1998, I felt so free

Worst - West Wales 1996 - 3 males (all super odd and gormless) and my friend Louise. A holiday home owned by one of the oddballs' parents. His parents wanted him to be normal. We'd been there an hour, were watching TV and a drag queen came on. The one whose parents owned the home said (super camp) "she's nice". We all burst out laughing because he genuinely thought it was a lady. We were home by teatime. Major hissy fit and we were all ordered to leave. Trouble was, he had to drive us home. In complete silence.

SarahWhat would you save from your burning house (everyone is already out)?

Just my black handbag. Everything I need is in there

PerlNumquistWhy do the tiny precious crumbs of chocolate left in the wrapper when the rest has been eaten always taste nicer than the huge chunks you gorged only moments before?

I disagree, so will say its something about not knowing what you've got 'til it's gone, and not buying enough chocolate in the first place. Rookie mistake.

Little Nell - sorry!

La Dama

Do you believe in Tarot?

I believe such things can cause equal comfort and distress.

have you ever had a tarot reading?

No, but I do have a pack of cards which I used to gain popularity at school. I used to make up my own meanings.

seen ghosts,felt,heard???

I saw a butler in Victorian dress very clearly in the bedroom of a guest house in Dorset 9 years ago. I am always seeing people/hearing things. Every female on my mother's side of the family does. I think it's our imaginations.

You feeling better?

A lot, thank-you. I feel better than ever!

Phew, that took hours! I need a drink...

Thanks again for all the questions.

Lucy x 


Curtise, Em (Ivy Black Chat) and Keshling - a post featuring your gifts to follow very soon...

27 comments:

  1. Great; you must be exhausted now! I’d ever seen the ‘Bottom’ clip before. Very funny. I can now answer my own question, having just caught up with ‘All in the Mind’ podcast from Radio 4. Apparently it’s an ear worm . Fascinating programme (29/11/2011)here.

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  2. Happy New Year, Lucy! What a great read that was, your Oxford English dictionary reply was inspired.
    I'd definitely be up for meeting in 2012, I've never met a blogger I didn't like. xxx

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  3. Sandra Cisneros is one of my most favourite writers - have you read Caramelo? It's the one book that I have kept with me through all my travels and country changes. It is brilliant.

    I was going to read Never Let Me Go the other day but got sidetracked by one of the other books - it's next to be read though...will start it tonight. Looking for ward to it. They filmed part of the movie here in Bexhill year before last - I used to cycle past very slowly and ogle all the activity and actors. Sad sack that I am.

    My earliest memory is of a girl who lived next door to us when I was very little. It was about 1969 and she was in her room painting her toenails bright green, wearing a psychadelic, swirly -patterned mini -dress and she had a blonde beehive...I was in awe and told her I wanted to be her when I grew up..her name was Sharon. She was about 16 at the time. I was 3. My second memory is also of her - she took me out for a shopping trip to town (Cape Town) on the train and I remember clinging to her hand as we climbed out the train onto the station, and being terrified of the hustle and bustle. I wonder where she is now - she's probably a fat old granny - hell she'll be 60 now.

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  4. I go with the convention of wishing Happy New Year too, and I very much hope people do have a good year, but I'm with you - it does feel a tiny bit unrealistic at the same time.

    Luce - it's so lovely and yet horrendously annoying when people tell you that you are pretty and there is nothing about yourself you need to change but I'll say it anyway, you're gorgeous and I think you need sod all aesthetic intervention! :-) You do need a Mont Blanc pen though should you win a princely sum of money. I'd have one on my list too!

    Jem xXx

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  5. Little Nell - I'm listening to that podcast as I type - it's fascinating, I highly recommend it, so varied. Thanks for sharing that.
    I was aware of the ear-worm phenomenon, but must admit to disliking the term. My music would drive you insane!

    Vix - I'll be coming for a day drip later on in the year - it'll be great.

    Wendz - I haven't read Caramelo, I will try my best to remedy that.
    Your Sharon tales remind me of the awe in which I held Suzanne, who used to babysit for me and my bother. She was just like a missing Bananarama member.She still looks good.

    Jem - If ever I can afford a Mont Blanc pen, if you still haven't got one, I'll buy one for you first! Thank-you for the comment, it means so much.

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  6. Wow, you DO deserve a drink after that grilling!
    I do hope 2012 is happy for you, whether that's realistic hope or not - I think it is!
    A blogger meet-up - now you're talking! I'll stop you drinking before you get into pissed nightmare territory, honest! xxxxxx

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  7. Dani Minogue!! I remember that, what a classic. Have a happy new year

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  8. Lucy dear you are so interesting and I too love that the dictionary would be the book for you, that must be so you can keep writing and keep expanding on how you describe things.
    I love your happiest memory because you actually remembered it! If only we found it so easy to be happy in these moments as a adult. Your saddest involved a lost love, the worst kind of pain. I also love that you have no desire to go back to the past or into the future, you are in this moment and that is magical!
    I love the part about your boys too and the video is precious, Ricky too adorable. My 5 year old nephew was just trying to teach me chess, my mind could not do it, but I was amazed that his could.
    Thanks for sharing these details about yourself, you are pretty precious to me :)
    Loveyou~
    Krista

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  9. I love the REASONS for the answers, and I think you should organise a bloggy meet up in Dublin. I think you'd feel at home here :)

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  10. Ooh FAB questions and BRILLIANT answers - how did I miss the opportunity to grill you? Ripped off! Sarah xxx

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  11. Very good post, stat the year off well.

    In addition - I actually find it almost impossible to ask people questions, and have to rely on observation and memory - when I was at school - they probably assumed autistic spectrum was part of the psycadelic colour palette. Asking people personal questions, even flippantly - is a no-no - I think it's rude and invasive, and when people ask me personal questions - I find it threatening and aggressive - which is odd, as generally I'm consumed with natural curiosity and a pretty good researcher. I also find it impossible to get on busses or relax in a room I've never been in before - but I'm sure I've mentioned that already.

    Grey Area

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  12. Happy New Year to you and just about everyone else in Ponty. Looking forward to reading a lot more of your posts in the coming year.

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  13. Happy new year. Great answers. Love the Bottom sketch :-)
    Di

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  14. Curtise - thank-you, your comments truly brighten my day. We will have to meet before spring so we can give the faux fur a good outing.

    Gardenhead - do you also remember "chess...how I adore chess"?

    Krista - what a thoroughly lovely comment - thank-you so much. When you describe your nephew he sounds so sweet, I bet Ricky and Sonny would have a great time with him.
    The sun and the sky generally continue to provide me with some of life's most precious moments.

    Blue Sky - when are you free?!

    Sarah - I'll just have to come and see you - the weather looks so bloody inviting at the moment!

    Singing Bear - "just about everyone"
    Who is off your list? Please tell!

    Yonks - glad you enjoyed the sketch, they were such a good comedy combination.
    Happy new year to you, I look forward to learning more about you.

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  15. Interesting, asking people for questions, and very interesting to see your answers. Imagining myself answering them, I don't think I could - I keep changing my mind. Which probably says everything that needs to be said about me :)

    Hope 2012 has been good for you so far !

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  16. Great idea to ask people asking you questions! I wonder whether you'd mind if I nicked that idea to use it on my own blog...?
    Yay! Someone else who likes "Bottom"! I have the whole series on DVD but have not watched it since my husband died, same as a collection of "The Comic Strip".

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  17. Bollocks, I knew there was a reason why exiling myself from the internet for 'the holidays' was a bad idea. Brilliant idea for a post, great questions and of course very readably answered. Your boys are adorable, I play chess to a level somewhere below theirs and I am 35.

    Blwyddyn Newydd Dda Cariad - I hope 2012 brings a lot of interesting things your way. Or failing that, some bum-exposing chaps and a fluffy hat a la Dannii Minogue. We should at least speak this year, I think.

    XX

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  18. Jenny Woolf - Hi! I too would answer every question differently were I to repeat this post. Especially the music!

    Librarian - It was a lazy idea which came to me when I was struggling for inspiration!
    I'd love to ask you some nosey questions, I don't know much about you, so please do invite the inquisitive among us to grill you!
    It must be so difficult for you to return to things which you've previously shared with someone who you can no longer do that with. I'll watch Bottom with you ANY time.

    Lakota - I do think an internet break is a good thing, I must try it now that Sonny will be going to school. I must do more constructive things with my time.
    Thanks for the good wishes, I'd love to meet up with you and La Dama in the Spring.

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  19. Dran it - I missed the chance to ask a question. Never mind - I reckon you've revealed enough.

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  20. Great post and well done for getting through all the questions. The video of Ricky is so cute! Sonny sounds a lot like my little boy, who from the moment he gets up is by the front door wanting to go outdoors, he will not be held for more than 30 minutes and has been mr independent from about 9 months old!
    One last thing is that you are blooming gorgeous so none of that beauty work would need doing i therefore feel your £5000 should have been given to me ;o) Happy new year hun Scarlett x

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  21. Hahaayy!! I loved all your answers, your so funny and cute.
    it's called the sixth sense amor.
    Thanks for answering mi questions.
    besios

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  22. Bottom - a bloke called Keith, too funny!! Happy New Year Lucy, xx

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  23. I loved reading this post! I've been taking a bit of a blogging break and it's doing me the pwoer of good as I've been able to catch up on my blog reading and commenting. I love getting to know more about you in this post, you make me smile. Wishing you a magical 2012, (I was going to just wish you that but then read your comment about a whole year of happiness possibly making us take happiness for granted so I'm going to wish you just enough magic that you don't take it for granted!) Em x

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  24. Happy New Year Luce! Once again u have quite distinguished urslf through ur intelligence and imagination on the very outset of new year. Go no........n on.

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  25. have been visiting your site daily since new year's day but not much is going on ... are you still chained to the kitchen sink ? gone on a mediterranean cruise ? organizing a daring jewel heist with ten other purposeful wimmin ?

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  26. Stopping by to say hi! Hope all well with you chickadee :o) Scarlett x

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  27. I enjoy reading also the comments of other visitors of your blog and I want you to know that we love you. Thanks for inspiring us always.

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Sorry I am having to filter comments at the moment