Wherever possible I try to avoid getting caught up in the maelstrom frantic spending sprees of rampant consumerism, and simply make the most of quietly enjoying the nice food and drink and TV scheduling at Christmas 🙂
Your favourite beverage during the holiday season?
It’s an ‘old lady’ drink I know, but I have a penchant for a glass or two of Harvey’s Bristol Cream sherry over the Christmas period… on the rocks! Mmmmm… It’s the only time of year I ever drink it! ❤
What’s your take on pumpkin spice?
No idea – I’ve heard of it but have absolutely no idea what it actually is?
Is there a person or God connected with your holiday?
Nope, Christianity and Christmas clearly parted company a long time ago…
Share a song that you enjoy during the winter season?
I suppose for me it has to be Nat King Cole’s ‘Christmas Song’… 🙂
Watch the movie ‘Frozen’ – sisters Anna and Elsa certainly find the meaning of true love ❤
Do acts of kindness have a motive?
Hmmm… Altruism is rarely ‘just’ altruism – even if someone completes an act of kindness purely to feel good about it, technically there is still a reward inherent in the action. But in my mind any act of kindness, for whatever underlying reason, is always a good thing for the person receiving it – ultimately the ‘what’ matters way more than the ‘why’ 🙂
If we live in a civilized world why do we see so many distinctions between rich and poor?
Because structurally the status quo of our so-called civilized world is based on favouring financial status and personal greed above all else in a hierarchical framework deliberately designed to allow the rich to continue to rule the roost with a self-righteous sense of arrogant entitlement while so many of the rest of us struggle simply to survive…
Do we love ourselves more in the virtual world than in the real world?
Some people do seem to create an alter ego virtual self (and lifestyle) that seems too perfect to be true – and sometimes it seems they do seem to prefer their virtual ideal to their real-world reality. And having written that I suppose perhaps we all do that to a certain extent -we only show the good-mannered, well-behaved public-facing selves to our blogs.
Are you grateful?
Not anywhere near as much as I should be – I have such a lot to be grateful for, but instead of celebrating the positives I tend to focus too heavily on the negatives in life… I’m definitely more of an Eeyore than a Winnie the Pooh…
About an hour ago… Not telling you exactly why, but it may have something to do with the relative frustration of temporarily living in such close proximity to certain older members of my family 24/7!
When is censorship warranted? Ever?
Free speech is one thing, but hate speech is another… Propaganda should always be called out, along with racism and sexism and ageism and every other self-righteous judgemental ‘other-ism’ there is… Opinions are not facts, so should never be allowed to be portrayed as such, because allowing that simply creates and perpetuates the fantasy of ‘alternative facts’ and fake news, fuelling fear and frustration and further divisive fucked-up-ness…
If there were commandments for the modern day world, what should/ could/ would some of them be?
Thou shalt not be allowed to vote for self-serving wanna-be dictators anywhere in the world… because a dictatorship is by definition no longer a democracy…
Thou shalt not desire to be a self-serving dictator, wanna-be or otherwise, in a democratic country… cos hello, democracy… duh!
Thou shalt not be a dick of any kind… Especially if you are voted yellow-haired leader of a democratic country… Oh wait, too late for some… Just sayin’… 😦
What did you Google last?
A potential quote from CS Lewis I heard on the radio this morning – someone quoted him as saying ‘Everything that is not eternal is worthless in eternity’ and I wanted to check its accuracy before deciding to use it. But I found at least three similar versions, so have no idea which of the three, if any, he actually said. Other versions include ‘All that is not eternal is eternally out of date‘ and ‘All that is not eternal is useless in eternity’ Hmmm… Still, I prefer the quote as I first heard it, so I’m sticking with that one 🙂
When you’re 90 years old, what do you suppose will matter most to you?
Breathing, sleeping, mobility.
What’s the best way to spend a rainy afternoon?
Curled up on the sofa warm and dry with a good book and a cup of tea.
What is one thing you don’t understand about yourself?
Why I get so depressed from time to time. I don’t have a reactive depression in the sense that its not necessarily that specific situations depress me, but more that occasionally I feel an internal drop in emotional temperature and feel completely dismal for a while regardless of external circumstances, often for no discernible reason whatsoever. It really sucks… 😦
When was the last time you tried something to look cool (hip), but it ended in utter embarrassment? Details?
Um, visiting friends of relatives on holiday in Canada forty years ago as a teenager, and being invited to a pool party with a few other teenagers, including boys. I was trying to look cool swimming laps and smoothly turned over from breast stroke to back stroke mid-lap, aware of being looked at as I was lying back looking up at the blue sky. But as I suddenly glanced down I noticed to my horror that one boob had actually come entirely out of my low-cut swim-suit, flashing my buxom flesh to the entire pool – no wonder everyone was grinning at me! Anyway, I nonchalantly turned back over onto my belly, tucked myself back in carried on as if nothing had happened. Not really so cool after all… 🙂
I’m so thankful…
… that my 83 year old dad came for a wee short walk outside with me and my husband the other evening after dinner. Having had four strokes and walking only precariously with two sticks, as well as having dementia to hamper his mobility (sometimes he momentarily forgets how to walk), this was a big deal – it’s the furthest dad’s been in about two years! ❤
If you were suddenly injured or died, are your bedside table drawers ready for someone else to go through them? If you care to share, what’s the most unusual item someone might find, that might be potentially embarrassing?
Ooh, great question! OK, so when I had a look in my bedside drawer I found everything was just crammed in higgledy-piggledly, so I decided to take a full inventory of exactly what was in there… oh dear!
So, top row left to right we have: three sugared almonds in net from my eldest daughter’s first wedding (18 years ago) with a UK/US plug adapter immediately underneath; an old chocolate tin now with assorted ribbons in it; an empty Fat Face enamel tin mug with plastic lid (I think it was what my old Fat Face watch came in); three old leather purses; eye drops, lip balm and Nivea hand cream; and a pair of pinking shears (I wondered where they’d got to!).
Second row comprises a small leather zipped bag with several lip balm sticks inside; an old Fossil tin (another watch came in that) now with assorted keyrings inside; three empty ring boxes kept for sentimental reasons and a boxed leather keyring given as a gift (kept safe so as not to ruin it); a small round tin that once held mint sweets from the Daily Telepgraph newspaper (from when my husband worked there selling advertising space); an old set of tarot cards wrapped in black silk; and a terracotta pot filled with spare copper change.
Third row starts off with a very old cross stitch bookmark I made in primary school; a cotton zipped purse with nail clippers, tweezers, emery boards, and a small mirrored compact inside; yet another tin with a variety of very old passport-style photographs of me inside; three small crystals (sphere, heart, oval); a blue cotton bag containing those jingly silver balls you fiddle with in your hand; a tiny heart-shaped red tin and four random marbles; a heart-shaped tweezers (gift from my youngest daughter) still with hard case and soft pouch intact; and a ceramic pot with a retractable tape measure and the key to my suitcase on a fabric lizard keyring.
And I suppose apart from the general weirdness of my baffling collection the most potentially embarrassing thing for me is probably the messy state of the drawer in the first place – I’m not exactly a neat freak at the best of times, so a small personal space hidden from view is usually the least of my tidying up worries… But at least it’s tidy now!
What keeps you going? (However you might interperet that is correct)
Sheer bloody-mindedness…
Share a photo or sentence about your favourite thing(s)?
Sorry but I can’t get Julie Andrews singing ‘My Favourite Things’ from the Sound of Music out of my head now…
At the end of the song ‘Everybody Hurts’ by REM, where do they all go?
They’ve all just walked away from the rat-race… lucky people…
What are you grateful for right now?
That my dad’s still with us two weeks after his fourth stroke in two years – his vascular dementia has got a lot worse now, and ok, so he gets really REALLY confused over his current location at any given time but thankfully in spite of his injured brain connections he still remembers who we all are ❤
Probably an optimistic pessimist – I always hope for the best but prepare for the worst, just incase…
Can war ever be just?
No, plain and simple.
Think about the people you love most in your life, what do you do for them?
On a practical basis, I try to give them whatever help I can within reason. On an emotional basis, I give them unconditional love no matter what ❤
Are you health conscious?
Lately I am having to become more so, as menopause and other middle-aged health problems have disrupted my previous status quo… but I remind myself daily, do not regret growing older, it is a privilege denied to many 🙂
Do you believe in soul mates? If so, do you think there is only one person meant to share that bond with you, out there in the world?
Yes and no – I mean, I don’t believe soul mates come ready made, they need work to build that bond to a truly deep level. So there may be several potential soul mates across the world and over a lifetime, but only ever one at a time – to my mind soul mates are definitely always a 100% monogamous dynamic ❤
Ice cream cone, shake, or some other ice cream concoction?
Ice cream just as it comes, no cone or sticky sauces or overly-sweet bits-of-stuff additions or frilly fancy fripperies – just ice cream… Mmmm…!
What would be the hat to end all hats? What could you wear on your head that would make people stop what they are doing and stare in awe and amazement?
Um, how about the St Edwards Crown, the centrepiece of the British Crown Jewels used on and off (no pun intended) in coronations of British Monarchs since it was first made in 1661. The incongruity of the seriously blinging headgear and scruffy jeans on me would look pretty awesome, I think 🙂
What would be the worst ‘Buy one get one free’ sale of all time?
Coffins, or some kind of dodgy deal on multiple funeral services…?
