A meme

I've seen this on various blogs and thought I'd give it a whirl...

1. Flip to page 18, paragraph 4 in the book closest to you right now, what does it say?
"A third feature of Grey's personality ws his collegiality. In an interview late in life he was asked by F. Edmund Garrett: 'Looking back now over your long career, Sir George... what is the thing that most strikes you about it - you yourself?' After some hesitation, Grey replied: 'I think what strikes me most is- how I have been helped.' 'Helped?' replied Garrett, 'How helped?'. Grey responded: 'Oh, by everybody [...] Everybody has been so kind to me, and helped me on so. Things have come to me.' And 'things' did, in the form of books and manuscripts from 'persons in every rank of life'... D.J. Kerr Amassing treasures for all times Oak Knoll Press 2006.

2. If you stretch out your left arm - as far as possible, what are you touching?
Another dining chair.

3. What’s the last program you watched on tv?
BBC news.

4. Without looking, guess what time it is.
Around 4ish - It's actually 16.07.

5. Except the computer, what can you hear right now?
The Last Word on Radio 4 and the washing machine.

6. When was the last time you were outside and what did you do?
Walked to the post office (or does going down the garden to the compost bin count?)

7. What are you wearing?
Jeans and a pink stripy jumper from Next. And my yummy scrummy thick warm walking socks from Crookabeck Angoras.

8. Did you dream last night? If you did, what about?
No, I slept like a log. Hardly surprising as it's been a long week and I was finally back in my own bed!

9. When was the last time you laughed?
Erm, probably when I knitting away on Noa, and thinking what a total prat I'm going to look at work wearing a balaclava, along with a dust mask and a woolly hat.

10. What’s on the walls, in the room you’re in right now?
In front of me there's a framed exhibition poster from this summer's Van Gogh and Britain exhibition at the National Galleries of Scotland. To the right a framed Ordnance Survey map centred on my postcode. Above the piano is a clock and on the left some family photos in a couple of clip frames.

11. Have you seen anything strange lately?.
Well it depends what you mean by strange...

12. What do you think about this meme?
I liked the questions. A lot of memes are very "samey" and I often don't bother reading them and wouldn't bother doing them myself. Oh, and I am putting off doing the washing up! ;-)

13. What’s the last film you saw?
Fahrenheit 9/11

14. If you became a multimillionaire, what would you do with the money?
I'd make sure me and my family were all happily housed and could afford to do whatever courses/job etc they wanted to do. .
I'd want to give a chunk to charity but I'd want to do a lot of research first.
I'd also invest some so that, in the future, I'd be able to have some life choices - like whether to stay at home with children or go back to work etc.
I'd really like to live in an environmentally friendly self-sufficient house too.
I'd get a cleaning person (!)

15. Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know.
Erm, I'm not sure. I already talk about a lot of things on here, and the rest I'm not going to share! ;-)

16. If you could change ONE THING in this world, without regarding politics or bad guilt - what would it be?
I'd like it if the West could stop thinking it was always right, and take into account other cultures/countries.

17. Do you like dancing?
Not really, and I'm not very good. I do enjoy barn dancing though, as doesn't matter if you're bad or good or how old you are etc. Weddings with barn dances are usually good fun.

18. George Bush?
Why? How? I still can't believe that he managed to get to be President. And look at the hash he's making of it.

19. What do you want your children’s names to be, girl/boy?
I'm not sure as it's still a long way off. I prefer traditional names though, and not the strange alternative spellings you get of some of them nowadays (yes, I know I'm an old fart!).

20. Would you ever consider living abroad?
Yes, I'd like to, although I'd prefer to be somewhere not obvious (ie not somewhere like the US or most of Western Europe). I worked briefly in Switzerland and enjoyed the surroundings (although not the place I was working in!). I'd love to go to Scandinavia and Africa, although I think my language skills would limit where I'd be able to work.

21. What do you want God to tell you, when you come to heaven?
That cats definitely do go to heaven, not just humans.

22. Who should do this meme?
Anyone who wants to or anyone who's bored!