On and on (Day 201 since Lockdown)
I nearly wrote 2001 there as that's what it feels like. Having said our numbers round here were low they now seem to be doubling with frightening speed. Hey ho!
We got a photo from our friends D & K this morning who finally bit the bullet and headed for their apartment in Mallorca. They have cancelled several flights they had booked already but if they hadn't gone this time they would not have been able to go again while the weather was still OK and they needed to go before December when (oh joy - not) our EHIC cards run out. Apparently the flight was fine and they felt perfectly safe but the photo showed K on a nearly deserted beach wearing a mask. I have to say I did not feel particularly envious.
I think we rather overdid the deliveries today as a box from Betty's has turned up full of delicious goodies, obviously necessary to keep our spirits up. Then there was a case of wine from Majestic, which as wine started out as grapes I think could be counted as one of our five a day, and if not, is also necessary to keep our spirits up. After that the post brought a couple of tops I ordered from Seasalt and one of them is orange, which is not a colour I usually wear, but that is also intended to brighten things up. Lastly it was a delivery of frozen meals from Cook for when we really can't face cooking and most of those were healthy apart from the Chocolate and Orange Bread and Butter Pudding, which probably doesn't contain enough orange to count as one of our five a day but I couldn't resist.
We watched our first webinar run by the British Library about Cookery book collections on Tuesday which was very interesting. Curators from three different libraries with nationally important cookery book collections picked their three favourite items. One of the curators was Polly Russell from the British Library who has appeared on tv in the Back In Time for Dinner series and the other two were Rhiannon from the University of Leeds library and Rhian from the Leeds Libraries, which was a tiny bit confusing. There were some technical hiccups familiar to anyone who uses Zoom ("We seem to have lost Polly" "Can anyone see me?") but that gave it a far more relaxed feel than a more formal talk. The University of Leeds cookery book collection was particularly interesting as it was formed by a very determined lady in the early 20th century and even included a Babylonian clay tablet. One of the curator's choices from that collection was Len Deighton's The Action Cook Book and I could almost see a light bulb going off in J's head saying "Want!". Unfortunately they were throwing up a lot of links into the chat section of Zoom throughout the talk which seemed to lead to some very interesting places but we couldn't retrieve them from J's account. I have emailed the organiser to ask for them and obviously we weren't the only people who couldn't access them as he said a number of people had asked for them. I hope they turn up at some point.
Back to the meme.
6. What was your favorite thing to make-believe when you were a child?
I spent a lot of time in Sherwood Forest, Camelot and Ancient Greece and Rome. I also used the stair bannisters as a pretend pony when I was immersed in Ruby Ferguson's Jill books but knights and sword fighting were really my thing. We made shields at school once and I had a plastic sword, bow and arrows and a garden cane made an excellent spear, so I was fully equipped.
7. Have you ever survived a natural disaster?
Luckily for me I don't live in a place where they are very common. The closest I've probably got is the Great Storm of 1987, which was technically not a hurricane but seemed very like one. I've also experienced a minor earthquake in Deal of all places, but it was very minor.
8 What’s the most unusual or random item in your purse, bag, or wallet?
I suppose the most random thing in my bag is my camera battery. The camera isn't in there at the moment and hasn't been used since last year but the batteries seem to have taken up residence. They must be completely flat by now.
9. Are you musically inclined? Do you sing or play an instrument?
I enjoy listening to music but my singing involves opening and shutting my mouth and hoping no noise comes out. I played the violin briefly at school until it gave me up. I am married to someone who is very musical and we have a rather splendid piano sitting in our dining room but J has never been keen on me playing it as he was rather underwhelmed by my version of Chopsticks. In fairness he does say I can sing better than I think I can and should have been encouraged more but I'm too used to not doing it now.
The rest of the October questions are behind the cut.
10 Have you ever called someone the wrong name during sex or been called the wrong name by your partner?
11 What’s a form of entertainment that everyone seems to enjoy, but that you do not?
12 What three things are you most thankful for?
13 What is something you've never done but would like to try to do? Why don't you?
14 What is something you've tried but would never do again?
15 If, without being detected, you could spy electronically for the next month and watch anyone, anywhere, anytime like a fly on a wall, would you? If so, who would you watch and how closely? If not, why not?
16 If it were the only way you could remain with the love of your life, would you be willing for both of you to wake up tomorrow as native speakers of an unfamiliar language, knowing that within a week, you'd permanently forget the language(s) you now speak and largely be cut off from your friends and culture? If so, what new language would you want to speak and why?
17 If a movie were being made of your life, which actor would play the starring role?
18 Write the words that you need to hear today.
19 If you had to be obsessed with money, sex, sports, religion or food, which one would you choose?
20 What do you love most about yourself?
21 Ignoring all financial considerations, would you rather spend the next 5 years confined to an urban mecca (e.g. New York City, London, etc) or a beautiful, isolated coastal town somewhere?
22 How would you react if you learned that a sad and beautiful poem that touched you deeply had been written by a computer?
23 What is a character trait you despise in others, but you know you also have that same trait?
24 What is the most serious law you've broken doing something you thought was morally right, wouldn't hurt anyone, or was no one's business but yours? How bad would the punishment have been if you'd been caught and given the maximum sentence?
25 If you were on a jury, would you be willing to convict a person for something you didn't think should be considered a crime?
26 If your heart were damaged beyond repair, but you could regain your health for a few more years by getting a heart transplant from a genetically engineered pig, would you?
27 What is your favorite question to ask people?
28 What stage play is your favorite?
29 For $100,000 (or equivalent in your currency) would you put on 40 pounds/18 kg and keep it on for 3 years? How much money, if any, would induce you to put on 100 pounds/45 kg for at least a year?
30 If you were president/prime minister/supreme leader etc. of your country, what is the first thing you would do?
31 What’s the scariest movie you’ve ever seen?
We got a photo from our friends D & K this morning who finally bit the bullet and headed for their apartment in Mallorca. They have cancelled several flights they had booked already but if they hadn't gone this time they would not have been able to go again while the weather was still OK and they needed to go before December when (oh joy - not) our EHIC cards run out. Apparently the flight was fine and they felt perfectly safe but the photo showed K on a nearly deserted beach wearing a mask. I have to say I did not feel particularly envious.
I think we rather overdid the deliveries today as a box from Betty's has turned up full of delicious goodies, obviously necessary to keep our spirits up. Then there was a case of wine from Majestic, which as wine started out as grapes I think could be counted as one of our five a day, and if not, is also necessary to keep our spirits up. After that the post brought a couple of tops I ordered from Seasalt and one of them is orange, which is not a colour I usually wear, but that is also intended to brighten things up. Lastly it was a delivery of frozen meals from Cook for when we really can't face cooking and most of those were healthy apart from the Chocolate and Orange Bread and Butter Pudding, which probably doesn't contain enough orange to count as one of our five a day but I couldn't resist.
We watched our first webinar run by the British Library about Cookery book collections on Tuesday which was very interesting. Curators from three different libraries with nationally important cookery book collections picked their three favourite items. One of the curators was Polly Russell from the British Library who has appeared on tv in the Back In Time for Dinner series and the other two were Rhiannon from the University of Leeds library and Rhian from the Leeds Libraries, which was a tiny bit confusing. There were some technical hiccups familiar to anyone who uses Zoom ("We seem to have lost Polly" "Can anyone see me?") but that gave it a far more relaxed feel than a more formal talk. The University of Leeds cookery book collection was particularly interesting as it was formed by a very determined lady in the early 20th century and even included a Babylonian clay tablet. One of the curator's choices from that collection was Len Deighton's The Action Cook Book and I could almost see a light bulb going off in J's head saying "Want!". Unfortunately they were throwing up a lot of links into the chat section of Zoom throughout the talk which seemed to lead to some very interesting places but we couldn't retrieve them from J's account. I have emailed the organiser to ask for them and obviously we weren't the only people who couldn't access them as he said a number of people had asked for them. I hope they turn up at some point.
Back to the meme.
6. What was your favorite thing to make-believe when you were a child?
I spent a lot of time in Sherwood Forest, Camelot and Ancient Greece and Rome. I also used the stair bannisters as a pretend pony when I was immersed in Ruby Ferguson's Jill books but knights and sword fighting were really my thing. We made shields at school once and I had a plastic sword, bow and arrows and a garden cane made an excellent spear, so I was fully equipped.
7. Have you ever survived a natural disaster?
Luckily for me I don't live in a place where they are very common. The closest I've probably got is the Great Storm of 1987, which was technically not a hurricane but seemed very like one. I've also experienced a minor earthquake in Deal of all places, but it was very minor.
8 What’s the most unusual or random item in your purse, bag, or wallet?
I suppose the most random thing in my bag is my camera battery. The camera isn't in there at the moment and hasn't been used since last year but the batteries seem to have taken up residence. They must be completely flat by now.
9. Are you musically inclined? Do you sing or play an instrument?
I enjoy listening to music but my singing involves opening and shutting my mouth and hoping no noise comes out. I played the violin briefly at school until it gave me up. I am married to someone who is very musical and we have a rather splendid piano sitting in our dining room but J has never been keen on me playing it as he was rather underwhelmed by my version of Chopsticks. In fairness he does say I can sing better than I think I can and should have been encouraged more but I'm too used to not doing it now.
The rest of the October questions are behind the cut.
10 Have you ever called someone the wrong name during sex or been called the wrong name by your partner?
11 What’s a form of entertainment that everyone seems to enjoy, but that you do not?
12 What three things are you most thankful for?
13 What is something you've never done but would like to try to do? Why don't you?
14 What is something you've tried but would never do again?
15 If, without being detected, you could spy electronically for the next month and watch anyone, anywhere, anytime like a fly on a wall, would you? If so, who would you watch and how closely? If not, why not?
16 If it were the only way you could remain with the love of your life, would you be willing for both of you to wake up tomorrow as native speakers of an unfamiliar language, knowing that within a week, you'd permanently forget the language(s) you now speak and largely be cut off from your friends and culture? If so, what new language would you want to speak and why?
17 If a movie were being made of your life, which actor would play the starring role?
18 Write the words that you need to hear today.
19 If you had to be obsessed with money, sex, sports, religion or food, which one would you choose?
20 What do you love most about yourself?
21 Ignoring all financial considerations, would you rather spend the next 5 years confined to an urban mecca (e.g. New York City, London, etc) or a beautiful, isolated coastal town somewhere?
22 How would you react if you learned that a sad and beautiful poem that touched you deeply had been written by a computer?
23 What is a character trait you despise in others, but you know you also have that same trait?
24 What is the most serious law you've broken doing something you thought was morally right, wouldn't hurt anyone, or was no one's business but yours? How bad would the punishment have been if you'd been caught and given the maximum sentence?
25 If you were on a jury, would you be willing to convict a person for something you didn't think should be considered a crime?
26 If your heart were damaged beyond repair, but you could regain your health for a few more years by getting a heart transplant from a genetically engineered pig, would you?
27 What is your favorite question to ask people?
28 What stage play is your favorite?
29 For $100,000 (or equivalent in your currency) would you put on 40 pounds/18 kg and keep it on for 3 years? How much money, if any, would induce you to put on 100 pounds/45 kg for at least a year?
30 If you were president/prime minister/supreme leader etc. of your country, what is the first thing you would do?
31 What’s the scariest movie you’ve ever seen?