Right...only took me about three hours to do this...
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
1. Europe, Asia, and Africa. What? I'm sure that's all you wanted to know about it.
2. Somewhere there is BBC documentary footage of me showering at Bastion. I assume they thought the showers would be empty, but I think they could've turned off the camera a little faster. I'm quite grateful it was never used.
3. In medical school, a friend and I once covered every single cadaver with shaving foam.
4. When I see the poppies for Remembrance Day now, all I can think of is the poppy fields in Afghanistan.
5. I thought I'd die over there. I wasn't hoping to, or especially afraid of it. It just seemed likely, if I kept going back, and I knew I'd keep going back.
6. When I was young, four or five, Harry used to lock me in the basement because I was scared of the dark. She went off and forgot about me once, and Mum thought I was in my room. I was down there for about six hours.
7. I climbed about three quarters of Mt Kilimanjaro and then had to go back with another climber who was suffering from altitude sickness - high altitude pulmonary oedema, pretty bad. He was all right in the end though. He gave me the cigar he was going to smoke at the summit. I think I still have it somewhere.
8. There are so many things I don't feel I can tell anyone, because it's not fair to put those images in their heads. Bad enough they're in mine.
9. I saw a UFO once. I mean, literally a flying object that I couldn't identify. Not saying it was aliens. Just that it was odd.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn-offs.
Day Eight: Three turn-ons.
Day Nine: Two images that describe your life right now, and why.
Day Ten: One confession.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
1. Europe, Asia, and Africa. What? I'm sure that's all you wanted to know about it.
2. Somewhere there is BBC documentary footage of me showering at Bastion. I assume they thought the showers would be empty, but I think they could've turned off the camera a little faster. I'm quite grateful it was never used.
3. In medical school, a friend and I once covered every single cadaver with shaving foam.
4. When I see the poppies for Remembrance Day now, all I can think of is the poppy fields in Afghanistan.
5. I thought I'd die over there. I wasn't hoping to, or especially afraid of it. It just seemed likely, if I kept going back, and I knew I'd keep going back.
6. When I was young, four or five, Harry used to lock me in the basement because I was scared of the dark. She went off and forgot about me once, and Mum thought I was in my room. I was down there for about six hours.
7. I climbed about three quarters of Mt Kilimanjaro and then had to go back with another climber who was suffering from altitude sickness - high altitude pulmonary oedema, pretty bad. He was all right in the end though. He gave me the cigar he was going to smoke at the summit. I think I still have it somewhere.
8. There are so many things I don't feel I can tell anyone, because it's not fair to put those images in their heads. Bad enough they're in mine.
9. I saw a UFO once. I mean, literally a flying object that I couldn't identify. Not saying it was aliens. Just that it was odd.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn-offs.
Day Eight: Three turn-ons.
Day Nine: Two images that describe your life right now, and why.
Day Ten: One confession.
29 comments:
well done John :-)
One of the hardest of days I think! Very interesting to read. Thankyou for sharing with us :-)
Anonybob
Re No 8.
But are you sure it wouldn't help you to get them out? If you are sure it wouldn't help then that's all one thing, but if it would help and you're just being stoic that's a whole 'nother ball of wax.
I feel like I ought to put number eight into my list too, and I haven't got even a quarter as good a reason. I feel like my life has been pretty boring, all in all.
Hm. Nine things.
1. I don't have a thyroid anymore. Technically, I'm a cancer survivor, but compared to what most people go through when they hear the big C, I got off easy. Two surgeries, a radioactive pill, some scans, and meds for the rest of my life.
2. If it weren't for my mother, I would have skipped the second surgery, the radiation, and the lifelong meds because I'm lousy at remembering to take my pills and radiation scares me. My father was in Nagasaki three days after they dropped the bomb, and he died with a spleen the size of a basketball. I still believe they got all the cancer with the first surgery. Heck, they didn't even find the cancer till after the first surgery.
3. I learned how to sail last year, but for some reason this year I haven't been able to make myself go practice, even though I spent money to stay in the sailing club.
4. I usually can't get to sleep unless I've got my fingers tangled up in my hair.
5. I think of myself as a writer, but I haven't written anything in ages. I miss it.
6. My party piece is "The Three Little Pigs", but I'm proudest of being able to tell "The Elephant's Child" by heart with only a little refresher now and then.
7. I was never afraid of bees when I was a child, and then I got nervous of them as an adult, even though I'd never been stung. Then I got stung, and now I'm not afraid of them anymore.
8. I was in the Air National Guard for years, and had to leave when the asthma got too bad, but I still dream about having to show up for drills. I actually had orders cut to go to Saudi during the first Gulf War, but TPTB decided that we'd won and I never had to go. I often wonder how different my life would be if I had gone.
9. I can curl my tongue.
John, how far up Kilimanjaro were you? And do you ever want to go back and finish the climb? I lived for a while in Leadville, Colorado, which is two miles above sea level, and we heard a lot about altitude sickness, but "pulmonary edema" was never mentioned and it sounds scary.
And I'm wildly curious about your UFO. Atmospheric phenomenon or something manmade, I wonder.
Who makes up these things, anyway, and can I have a word with them?
Meanwhile:
1. I'm quite clumsy--I trip over my own shadow--except when I'm doing t'ai chi.
2. I'm very, very shy. I hide it reasonably well, but I am.
3. I can't stand not being able to fix things. I keep trying past the point of sanity, and it worries me beyond belief when I can't make it all better.
4. I'm competent, organized, efficient, hardworking, honest--the unlovable virtues.
5. Quite often, I don't know what I've done to upset people. I see that I have, I'm truly sorry that I have, I would do anything not to have done, but I don't understand what I've done wrong in the first place.
6. I've never been the center of anyone's world. I've pretty much accepted that it's not going to happen--but I do wonder what it would be like.
7. I am a total whiz at assembling ready-to-assemble furniture. Even things with drawers. :)
8. I used to play guitar. My fingers won't hold the strings firmly enough anymore--the ligaments aren't holding the bones in proper position, they've got too long--and I miss it.
9. On the way to work one lovely fall morning, I suddenly got sick on the way to work--a slam of nausea, dizziness, blinding headache. Stopped at the cafeteria on the way in to get a ginger ale--the only time I ever did that--and found out that a plane had slammed into the World Trade Center at just about the moment I fell ill.
Re: #1, John--not precisely... :D
Anon - I don't know if it would help. How can I? I do know it would hurt anyone I told.
RSF - re: no. 8, I don't know, maybe everyone feels like that about some things.
John, how far up Kilimanjaro were you? And do you ever want to go back and finish the climb?
About 15,000 feet, at Camp Barafu. I wouldn't mind finishing, but I don't feel like I missed much by not reaching the summit - not that it wouldn't have been nice, but I think I got what I was looking for out of it without that.
The UFO...I have no idea. I'd say manmade because of the regularity, but they moved awfully fast. Maybe some sort of reflection from somewhere.
RR - Re: #1, John--not precisely...
Ha. No? Well...anyone who wants to know more will have to ask, I'm afraid. I can't think what else might be interesting to you all...
Hee! Well, if I have to ask more specifically...then I guess I'll never know. ;)
(Unless someone else can come up with a question or two... :D)
Everything okay?
I don't sleep well when L's on nights. Got to try though. Long drive tomorrow.
I believe the question you're looking for, RR, is:
"Oh, really? Do tell."
I'm dying to know more details about #3!
Hope you find sleep soon, Doc.
I can certainly understand that, John. Hope you manage some good shuteye anyway.
Heh heh, DW--I already tried that one!
Not being able to sleep when you really need to sleep isn't much fun, but even resting your eyes can make a difference the next day. (Yes, I do have too much experience with this.)
I know this sounds odd, but sometimes you can get to sleep more readily if your ears are warm. Put on a winter hat that pulls down over them, or make sure the blanket is tucked up high. Visualizing sunlight on water, or counting, or running through some list that I've memorized (bones might do for you) can sidetrack my tendency to fret while I'm resting too.
And hopefully you won't even see this comment till morning. Good night. Sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite. (And if they do, take your shoe, and beat them till they're black and blue!)
Hope you're sleep by now John, and well done getting another day done.
#4 is beautiful and made me a touch melancholy. My family has lost men (and a few women) in every British war since WWI and I can't ever look at a poppy anywhere, even alongside a highway, without thinking of the ones who died and the ones who served and survived.
Will do my own nine things a little later tonight...
5: Well, it seems you got closer than anyone ever hoped you would. Though yes, the more you go back, the higher the chances.
3: Was it a dare, or one of those "why not?" sorts of things?
And on that happy note, I hope you can get some sleep for the drive tomorrow.
Here's mine for the day:
1. I have a half-brother and a step-sister and we're each only children from our parents marriages. Our parents have 13 marriages and 10 divorces between them, and right now only one of them is to each other. It makes the family tree a bit awkward. L can relate to this, I think.
2. I am 5'10" tall, which is tall for a woman of my generation. And I got this tall by the time I was 13.
3. I once put my cat in the freezer. In my defense, I was 4, and as I told my mom, "she was really hot." Fortunately mom found her after about 5 minutes or so.
4. I've played golf since I was 9. I love it, but it's too expensive for me to play often, and I miss it terribly.
5. I am an awful gossip, and never know when to keep my mouth shut. But if you tell me something is a secret, I'll take it to the grave.
6. I now know how to inject small animals with fluid.
7. I loathe eggs. I hate the smell, the taste, the texture. They seem so easy to cook and look nice, but I just can't eat them.
8. I worry every day that we're doing the right thing by not having another baby. My son seems so alone in the world. But I don't know if I could mentally cope with all that again.
9. I'm starting to forget words again - simple things, like camouflage the other day, issue today - and while that happens when I'm stressed or depressed, I worry it's permanent this time. And will just get worse.
5 and 8.
Don't know what to say.
1. I was the last baby born in the base hospital before it closed. They waited for me because I was six weeks overdue.
2. I am extraordinarily lazy. It's nearly impossible to get myself to do something I don't want to do. Possibly extending to being born.
3. I like strawberry-flavored things.
4. I don't believe in goodbyes. Everyone always leaves everyone else eventually. Why make it official?
5. I am good at knowing other people's emotions. I am terrible at identifying my own.
6. I joke that I have a 42-step plan to the Presidency, and that I'm on step 4. I'm not sure if I'm joking.
7. I am not particularly proud of anything I've done. All of it seems to be the result of luck and other people and not the product of any particular effort of mine.
8. I think some people aren't meant to receive love, no matter how much is given towards them.
9. I am frequently not as kind as I should be.
DW Six weeks overdue? Seriously? Wow...
1. 90% of the time I can’t tell my left from my right without thinking about it for three or four seconds first.
2. The most frightening moment of my life was being diagnosed with breast cancer when my child was 11 months old.
3. Failing two of my three A-levels was the best thing that ever happened to me (although not at the time, obviously).
4. I’m old enough to remember Z-Cars and Patrick Troughton as Doctor Who.
5. I start most mornings with a mug of sweet black tea and two slices of toast with butter and marmite.
6. I’m sarcastic, very sarcastic, and sometimes that makes me unkind…I need to work on that.
7. I play the bassoon because when I was 11 my music teacher thought I’d “grow into it”. I didn’t grow another inch, but still have (and play) the bassoon.
8. The best lessons I ever learned are a) not to take things personally, and b) to always accept my share of the blame when things go wrong. It makes interaction with others go so much more smoothly.
9. I play a mean game of darts.
OK a bit late to this as I'd just gone to bed when you posted John and I couldn't do it on my phone.
1. My children are my world, it was hard work having them and I thank god for them every day (even during tantrums)
2. I often feel unsettled and restless and my mind wonders to different things, I don’t mean to me rude. (part of it seems to be down to the lump it my brain so I try not feel guilty about it)
3. I don’t do reasonable levels of sadness or worry, I can cope with anything and everything until suddenly I crash and burn
4. I would love a job, I am good at teaching maths, but the public sector is not the place to be right now so I enjoy my unemployment the best I can :-)
5. Those kids I love bore me some days so I write stories about people and things that I enjoy
6. I’ve recently discovered a relationship with a relative I hardly knew that has made my life so much better, I worry about making sure my children don’t miss out like I did.
7. I accept the way people treat me when I know I shouldn’t but sometimes life is easier that way.
8. I can’t remember the last time I was truly happy with everything in my life but the moment my kids were born comes very close because nothing else mattered.
9. I make things. I build things and I write things but I am still a maths and science geek at heart!
1. I worry about every word I say or type and think of all the worst ways someone could take it even when I mean it in the best way
2. I work hard to look after people and I find my value in the happiness of those around me
3. life is a wonderful thing and I hope to enjoy it for many years to come.
4. I feel lucky to wake up in a morning and find everyone I know still alive with me.
5. I once saved a girl who was drowning and got told off by her mother for touching her!
6. At school I used to hide in the art store cupboard to avoid going to maths and history lessons, I once got locked in and spent all day there. I was found when I didn't turn up for dinner!
7. I've always wanted to do something dangerous but the worries of others people always stop me.
8. School made me the person I am so however much I hated it at the time I'm glad I went.
9. I did this as part of my attempt to deal with number 1.
EBSanon
Alright, I give this a go (sorry I'm late!):
1. I can't wear a pair of heels to save my life. I just can't.
2. I hate canned, frozen and cooked peas. There is nothing more icky on earth.
3. I will try any type of edible product at least twice, to make sure I actually don't like it (sometimes several times, like avocado) even if I have a slight allergic reaction to it (persimmons, sugar-free gum). Just to check.
4. If I own a electric appliance and it dies, due to age or misuse, I will haul out the toolbox my Dad(2) gave me for a previous birthday and take it to pieces, just to see what everything on the inside looks like, and how it all fits together. For this reason, I no longer buy calculators.
5. I keep the ticket stub to every concert I've ever been to in a photo album.
6. I don't like making wedding cakes. I love making sugar flowers of all kinds.
7. I stumble when I speak. Mostly when I'm nervous, or tired. Which I almost always am.
8. I adore being a grown-up. When I've done my work and followed up on my responsibilities, I can be a kid, and explore, learn new things. My downtime is it's own childhood, since I was to busy being an adult to pay attention to it the first time around.
9. I love learning new things about the world around me. I don't want to be an expert, or have a specialty in anything. I just love that there is so much stuff out there and I can ask questions about it. Even if it's a stupid question. I can do this for the rest of my life and still never know more than millionth of a fraction of what's out there. That's f**king awesome.
I'm really glad some of you are doing this too. Makes for very interesting reading.
We've paused briefly to let dogs and boys stretch their legs and/or sniff things.
That's given me quite the mental image, John... :D
And I'm glad you're finding our contributions interesting. Very diplomatic of you! (/joke !)
And so I can take over driving for a bit. And singing. And allowing John to feed me mints. All important duties.
Mints? To keep you awake?
DW - wouldn't it be mints to keep him perfectly kissable?
(Not that you aren't already, L, I'm sure. But sometimes it's fun to gild the lily.)
rsf
1. I was always the shortest in my class at school, and I still think of myself as short, but I'm actually average height.
2. I have quite big feet, and I'm fairly fat with a low centre of gravity. I'm like a weeble, really. In theory, I should never fall over (theory doesn't take into account effects of alcohol, obviously)
3. I started going grey - really noticeable grey - in my late twenties.
4. Turning thirty was like coming home. Turning forty was less interesting.
5. All of my siblings are older brothers. I went to an all-girls school and hated it, went to college where the male:female ration was between 12:1 and 15:1 and really enjoyed it, almost my whole working life has been spent in male dominated environments.
6. I have a major hang-up about gender stereotypes.
7. I've had my stomach pumped (hint: avoid if at all possible).
8. I've held someone's hand while they died.
9. I spent three years between leaving home just before I was 17, and meeting my husband just before I was 20. My... um, body count, is above average depsite the short time available. (Though never actually on a motorbike, Lestrade! And only one continent, Doc :-p)
10. I decided about 15 years ago that I never wanted to have children, and I've never regretted that decision since.
Blimey, everyone's fascinating.
John - some of yours break my heart.
Oh good god, I just realised I did ten, not nine. *headdesk*
Just pretend one of them isn't there.
Heh heh--nothing wrong with a little extra self-revelation, Nameless! :)
Post a Comment