As I start winding down on the blog for Christmas I thought it would be fun to complete the Anything But Books Tag – thanks to blogging buddy Terry Tyler for tagging me. This was actually quite difficult to fill in, but here goes…
1. Name a cartoon you love
It’s been a loooong time since I watched a cartoon. A cartoon that sticks in my mind as one that I wouldn’t mind watching again is Count Duckula. It’s for kids but the sardonic and sarcastic sense of humour ensures that adults can enjoy it too.
2. What is your favourite song right now?
Aargh this is quite tough as it depends what mood I’m in and what I’m doing at the time. I am a rocker although I’m not averse to some other genres of music. The album I have been listening to a lot recently is ‘For All Kings’ by Anthrax and it’s tough to choose a favourite as every tune is outstanding. If I have to go with one it would have to be Monster at the End.
3. What could you do for hours that isn’t reading?
Cross stitch. I have one of those personalities that means when I start something I HAVE to finish it and I get quite impatient, so I can spend hours working on something just to make progress. Cross stitch becomes oddly compelling and addictive.
4. What is something that you love to do that your followers would be surprised by?
Ooh this is a tough one to answer! I’m interested in genealogy but have to admit to not having done any for ages. I tend to drop it and then pick it up again and when I do get stuck in I become hooked on it. It’s so fascinating and I have found out some amazing things about my ancestors. It can become incredibly frustrating too when you hit a brick wall.
5. What is your favourite, unnecessarily specific thing to learn about?
At the moment it has to be learning how to proofread.
6. What is something unusual you know how to do?
Not sure if it’s unusual but I can write a cracking court statement! Statements that, in my previous life, regularly got me out of having to give evidence.
7. Name something that you have made in the last year.
A mess!
8. What is your most recent personal project?
This blog and learning how to proofread.
9. Tell us something that you think of often.
Social injustice. I’m quite politically minded (but try not to go on about it) and I do spend time worrying about the state of the country and the way the most vulnerable members of society are treated. I wish I could concern myself with something less depressing!
10. Tell us something that’s your favourite, but make it oddly specific.
I have a bit of a ‘thing’ for communism and I’m fascinated by communist countries. It stems from my interest in Russian history especially under Stalin. While I’m fascinated by it I would not, however, want to live under a totalitarian communist regime!
So that’s it! It was quite nice to spend a bit of time thinking through the questions. I’m not going to tag anyone in particular and will instead just say if you want to take part then do, it’s great fun!
I agree it is a very good tag for adding a bit of human detail to us book bloggers. The court statement writing is very intriguing, what sort of things would you include?
It is and I have enjoyed finding out a bit more about other bloggers through this tag. I was a social worker for 12 years and in all those years I never once had to give evidence in care proceedings. I like to think this is due to my court statements but in all honesty it was probably just sheer luck, hahaha.
Most interesting and illuminating, Abbie! Love that you are a rocker, too…. although I am less and less of one these days, it is the music closest to my heart. Great to see an Anthrax track!
Also interested in the court writing and the Russia thing, the latter of which I totally get – I am interested in this, too. Good post; I feel I know you more!
Thanks for tagging me, Terry. I really enjoyed answering the questions and it was fun to talk about something other than books. I would love to go to Russia one day and I would love to visit North Korea (which is probably a bit odd!) just to see what it is like. I guess I’m fascinated by the psychology of those in charge of such regimes and how they manage to exert absolute control, although obviously most of it is through fear!
Oh, me too! North Korea fascinates me! I google it to read articles about it.
This honestly isn’t a book plug, but I’m currently writing the 3rd book in my post apocalyptic series, and it’s much about the rebuilding of the new UK after ‘the fall’; I’ve written much about how the population are manipulated. That’s a bit of what the first book is about too; how we’re manipulated by all media. I am totally fascinated by this sort of thing, and it’s actually getting a bit annoying because I can’t help spotting it all the time!
This was indeed an interesting tag. Russian history, proofreading, court statements, etc. Very interesting indeed!
Did you cross-stitch that picture, then? It looks fantastic!
And I hear you on the thinking of justice thing. It’s concerning to think about. On the one hand, we’ve made remarkable progress. On the other, why haven’t we made a ton more?!
Thanks Chauncey, it was fun to complete! Yes, that is my current cross stitch project. It’s nearly finished and my next project is to cross stitch The Lady of Shallot by John William Waterhouse which will probably take me a 100 years to complete! We have made progress but we certainly do need to make a whole load more. Sadly, I fear that we are going to start going backwards rather than forwards.
We’re going sideways ~ there are huge improvements and huge steps back, all the time, I think. We zig-zag. Did you know this dawning of the Age of Aquarius is supposed to be one of the massively unsettled times for this planet?!!
If you’re interested in this stuff (I don’t mean new age spiritual guff, I mean, the trends in anthropology since we first grew from apes), I highly recommend Sapiens and Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari. Marvellous!