I’m a finalist in the 2007 Weblog Awards!

Vote for me in the 2007 Weblog Awards

So, it turns out that I’m a finalist in the 2007 Weblog Awards. Apparently I’m one of the ten best UK blogs. I’m not sure how stiff the competition is because, at the time I write, there aren’t links to anyone in my category (grrr), but I’m sure they are all glitteringly wonderful and that I stand no chance of winning. It sure is nice to be nominated however.

This news, as you might expect, has pretty much knocked me for a loop. I first saw that I’d been nominated this morning when Lifecruiser and Abi told me in the comments. Now, I was drinking my morning cup of tea at the time I read the comment. I jumped up from the table to do a little Woot! of joy, tripped over the table leg, knocked the table, split my tea (narrowly missing my computer), and then I stubbed my toe.

The pain is worth it though. It’s the first time I’ve been nominated for anything!

Clearly I got this nomination because the armies of 9rules went out and did their “nominate THIS person or you’ll regret it” thing I totally rock and rule the world 😉

Seriously, however I got it, I am ready to be bowled over by something that is very good at bowling people over. And yes, I will be bragging about it down the pub tonight! (I am that sad)

So, what can you do now? Well, the best thing you can all do, dear readers, is hike your cute little behinds over to the voting page and vote for me. You can vote once a day till the closing date, which is the 8th November.

There are oodles of other awards which I’m not up for, but other spankingly great blogs are, so whilst you’re there I would recommend seeing if any of your other favourite blogs are included in the list.

I refuse to pick favourites, but you could do worse than voting for my One True Blog Love, Roro in the Best Individual Blogger category. (I did a genuine punch-the-air, YES! when I saw her on the list).

Come on people, I need you. Bright Meadow is only as fantastic as it is because I know y’all are out there, reading, waiting and commenting, constantly forcing me to up my game. So I need you a bit more now – vote for me.

Please? If nothing else I want to be able to go “ner-nerny-ner-ner” and stick my tongue out at my brother this Christmas for daring to say my blog is “silly”. Who said sibling rivalry can’t spur you to greatness?

Sorry Mum

It occurred to me today as I put on my New Rocks that I probably owe my mum and dad an apology for turning out as I’ve turned out. I’m not a parent, but everything I’ve read seems to point to parents being pleased if their offspring follow in their footsteps, or are at least happy.

For the longest time I wasn’t even anything remotely approaching happy. It was no one’s fault but that of my own glitchy neurochemical make-up, but it did mean that I felt a total failure to those nearest and dearest to me. I mean, how hard can it really be to just be “happy”?

Very hard as it turns out.

Now, I’ve beaten that particular demon upside the head a few times with a frying pan, so I am happy to say that it’s taken a while, but I think I’ve got there – or at least have my feet firmly on the right path.

And as for following in their footsteps? Well, pah! to that. There’s a hackneyed phrase that would be appropriate right about now. Something to do with hell getting very, very cold…

So yes, I will admit I’m probably something of a disappointment to my parents. Or if not exactly a disappointment, I’m fairly convinced that my mother at least finds it hard to get a handle on me. She’s not quite as in touch with her kooky side as you’d expect from someone who’s lived in Glastonbury for nigh on 30 years.

I can still remember her face the first time I walked through the door in my New Rocks. And the time I cut off all my hair and dyed the remainder purple. Or the time I came home with my first tattoo. And then the second tattoo. Her resigned patience during my long fought campaign to wear nothing but black stays in my mind. Followed by her bemused acceptance of my seemingly abrupt about turn to embrace all colours, including pink. And let’s not forget her confusion when I started wearing skirts and heels after two decades of refusing point-blank to do anything remotely “girly girl”.

For now she seems to have come to terms with the prospect of no grandchildren from either my brother (for whom the phrase “not a sodding cat in hells chance!” was probably invented) or me (a 50/50 split between no inclination and no medical ability) and is dealing remarkably well with my determination to continue the student/single/rental/no-responsbiliies life style as long as feasibly possible.

But I know deep down I know she’d rather I was at least making a move in the direction of settling down with a significant other in tow and the 2.4 on the horizon. Sorry Mum.

Really, I think my parents have only themselves to blame. They raised us to be confident in who we are and to be individuals. I’ve taken the Kemp/Buchanan pig-headed stubbornness and refusal to conform a little bit further than my brother, I will admit, but I like to think I’m being true to my upbringing. As I’ve said before, I grew up in Glastonbury which is arguably the New Age capital of the world. I hadn’t realised quite the influence the place had had on me till the day I walked out of the doctors and had to fight the urge to go buy the appropriate crystal to heal my particular ailment. Even now the smell of incense mixed with a hint of weed, and the sound of a West Country burr cut with Home Counties vowels can instantly transport me home. I think I’m relaxed then I walk down the high street and… something in me unwinds and I really am at peace.

Re-read that last section for me will you?

Really, you need no other clue as to the influence growing up in Somerset had on me. For the child of a “suit” and a bank clerk, I am more than a little… bohemian. Which, as the bohemian in this equation, I find totally cool and more than a little amusing.

We are all the products of our upbringing and I expect my upbringing was no stranger than many – in fact in many ways, it is was as “normal” as they could make it. But I grew up in a town where it’s normal for people to rush across the street and hug total strangers, crying “Happy Solstice!”. My dad lives on a narrow boat. Really, what chance did I have?

So sorry Mum. I know the chances of you ever actually understanding me are somewhere between slim to none, and I know the fact I am blogging this instead of telling you to your face will just add to the confusion, but know I love you. I wish I could be the daughter I think you secretly want but I’m what you’ve got. I am wonderful and I am that way because you gave me the space to be who I wanted to be.

Oh, and I’ve cut all my hair off again.

Sunday Roast: responsible people don’t go around getting their nipples twisted

I am writing this roast slowly and gingerly because the sound of the keyboard keys clicking is sending winces of pain through my eyeballs. It’s been a while since I’ve properly been out to play, so when Neko’s not-spouse-creature decided to celebrate his birthday in fine style down the Hobbit followed by the Dungeon, who was I to turn down an invitation? On went the nice new black jeans which were even nicer considering they were technically free and the requisite low-cut top. Out came the much beloved New Rock biker boots, and on went the ‘love me’ makeup. And Cas went out to play.

Any evening that involves drinking mysterious green and blue drinks, incestuous vampires, dancing bananas and vampire cheerleaders has got to be good.

Just, it’s been a while since I had such an evening and now I’m feeling… fragile. So I’m roasting slowly and finding it hard to access my usual vein of wit and sarcasm when describing the links. You want someone to blame for a sub-standard Roast? Blame the people who were plying me with green drinks all night. There were going to be more items from today, but Safari took an exception to one of the sites I was opening and kept crashing out, closing a gazillion tabs with it. I have no earthly desire to go back through my history and open each one individually so 😛 to todays articles. They weren’t that good anyway. This week it seems that the roast is comprised almost entirely of articles from the Guardian and movie news. You’d think that from a daily reading of around 150 sites (not including news), I’d have more to share. Apparently not today. Go figure.

I do love that bloggers added over 50 terms for drunk to standard euphemisms used today. If I wasn’t feeling so worse-for-wear myself, I’d be being creative myself.

Think as blog-owner you’re not responsible for the comments left on your blog? Think again.

The sheer delight of Eddie Izzard enacted in Lego.

The time of the microfiche is truly nearing it’s end.

Continuing my renewed love affair with Stephen Fry, he’s now writing for the Guardian. Knew there was a reason I plugged their RSS feed into my reader…

The Lone Ranger is to be a movie? Nothing else to say really other than Hi ho Silver, away!.

With the movies this week there were loads of great trailers – indy movies, documentaries, thrillers… I tried to link to them but somehow, in my hungover state, I can only appreciate the fluffy:
Wristcutters
Bella
27 Dresses

And with that I am going to go back to the sofa, eat some more toast (for some reason toast is the only thing making me feel better), and watch Smallville whilst waiting for the pumpkin and honey loaf that Moose is baking to come out of the oven. Mmmmmmmm, pumpkin loaf…

Wiki Thoughts

The following I throw open to everybody to contribute to and talk around. I lack the coding skills to create this myself and I lack the experience in the field to 1) know if it already exists or 2) if I am alone in even thinking this might be a good idea. It is what it is – a moment of possible inspiration that struck (very) late at night after a (very) odd week.

And now time for something a little bit different. My “research” in the field of Archaeology/computing/mulitmedia has taken something of a back seat to life lately. If I’m being one hundred percent honest with y’all, I haven’t so much as looked at a proper academic text or a field report in about a year. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t stopped thinking about things. Bit and pieces have been ticking away in my back-brain and, every now and again, I have to jot something down before I forget it. That’s what follows here. It’s not a concise piece, or very coherent. In fact, it’s more a collection of notes: but I hope you enjoy and it makes you think as well –

Take as our start a complex hypertext document – Holtorf’s infamous piece will do very well here. Hyperlinks are used extensively throughout the thesis to present information in a new way and to forge links between pieces of information and ideas. You, the reader, follow these links through the material, and create your own ‘reading’ of the document. My ‘reading’ will not be the same as your ‘reading’, as we will have chosen to follow different links at different times, taking different paths through the document. Holtorf’s argument is that the sum is greater than its constituent parts. By working your way through the document in your own time and way you make something new and better. He also mentions, though does not really utilise, the fact that hyperlinks can go outside the original material to other extant sources.

All well and good.

However, you the reader can only travel down paths that Holtorf the author has already mapped out for you. You are only able to make a connection between two points, pieces of information, or ideas if he has previously forged that link by hardcoding the link into the document structure.

What if I, Cas, feel that a particular occurrence of the word “neolithic” should link to a different definition of the term than the one Holtorf has used? My own reading, and hence my own version of the document, are severely limited.

With a wiki you are given the choice to make your own edits to the basic source text and to forge your own links between things. I don’t like the definition of neolithic that has been chosen, I can change the link to a different source. Among other things. I can add pages, delete content, change things. The document truly becomes MY document.

However, the original Holtorf vision is lost. What the new user sees is the Cas-Holtorf vision. Previous versions can be looked at, by using the underlying wiki database which saves ‘histories’ of pages, but in looking at them, you loose the Cas aspect.

And what if a third user comes along after Cas and edits yet again? You have spent time editing the wiki and made it your personal reading, yet when you come back, destinations have been changed, links have been added or removed that mean nothing to you, and suddenly it is a completely different document AGAIN.

This is what happens in a wiki – the ideal is the ‘community’ or consensus view. In reality, you tend to get what is the view of the most vocal authors and the most persistent members of the community. These may, or may not, be representative but there comes a point when any but the most ardent editor will give up rolling back edits or making new edits. They will just give in and say “ok, let this person have the final say”. And the reading of the document becomes fixed yet again into that final editors version.

Now I do not say that this is wrong. A community view could be argued to give them broadest view, the view that is least radical and, as such, maybe most correct?

But is there anyway that a wiki can be all things to everyone?

Would it be possible to have a system where the links YOU make are related to you personally – already it is possible to see who has edited what. But is it possible to make your view of the document can be separated from everyone elses. When I sign into the wiki-version of Holtorf’s work, I view the base-work with MY edits and MY links. MY reading.

I can then, if I will, turn to the ‘community’ view of the document. The amalgam of all the edits and links (though I imagine that this would/could become insanity if strict version controlling was not kept in place). It would theoretically also be possible to view the individual collections of edits/links relating to individual people. As overlays? that can turn on/off?
You want to see Johns path through a document, click on Johns view…

Want to see your own, click on your own…

Want to see what the community has decided on, click on the community view…

As I said at the start I am not sure if there is a use for this sort of methodology. I am not sure if there are tools out there which allow you to do this already. But the idea of what it could be excites me. Does it excite you?

I am NOT Bridget Jones

I got accused of sounding very Bridget Jones in my writing the other day. I can’t quote the exact line (something about battered slugs having low self-esteem), but it prompted my father to snort with laughter and then comment “How very Bridget Jones, is that what you’re aiming for?”

My response – no, I’m not trying for anything. I’m just me”. With a small huff of dignity because, popular or not, Bridget Jones is hardly what you could call classy literature. I also do have to take my father’s comment with a pinch of salt because he has a tendency to pick one pop-culture reference when he means quite another. But true or not, the analogy stung a little bit close to the bone.

I do write fluffy, inconsequential waffle. With an edge of self-deprecating humour. I do spend far too much time in my content pondering men (and my lack thereof). I obsess about my weight. I… But that’s just how I am and how I naturally write.

Oh god. I’m not Bridget Jones am I?!

Would I sound quite so Bridget Jones if the books/films had never been written. Probably? I am hardly a fan, having read it once and trashed it in disgust, but I am a fan of certain chick lit authors. I’ve got this mild addiction to the popcorn spectrum of the literary market and I read more of it than I probably should.

Though I’m also a fan of Gibson, Austin, Stephenson, Banks, Reichs…. None authors known for their “fluffyness”. What I’m trying to say is that the accent of my writing is the same as the accent of my speaking. A blend of influences with a slight chameleon tendency to colour the edges depending on what I’ve heard (or read) lately. Force-feed me Buffy and you get Valley-slang. West Wing gets you DC-politico, with a side order of biting sarcasm. Battlestar gets you frack. SG:1 gets you military wit. And so on.

You copy?

I couldn’t pick apart my genre influences if you paid me, but I’m pretty sure that Bridget Jones isn’t one of them. It would be like saying Dan Brown influenced me. Unthinkable. So there Crazy Canalman 😛

Sunday Roast: Mark Webber’s got a fat arse

So. Yes. I haven’t Roasted in a few weeks. I could spew out excuses, but I won’t. Quite simply I couldn’t be arsed last week. But this week I am back blogging with the best of them, if only because Moose is making snickerdoodles and I think she would withhold them if I didn’t post. Yes, she is my blogging coach. You would be surprised what you can get me to do by promising/withholding baking/sweet/chocolate-goodness.

How has this week gone? I’m not rightly sure. It’s been a struggle because I’ve been feeling a bit pants again (damn winter and cold season!) and work has lost it’s hectic edge because we’ve just finished quarter end. This is good because it’s nice to have a breather. This is bad because when my body knows it can take it a bit easier, it just breaks down, like it’s been storing up all the bugs and stress for when it’s a convenient time to have them. How are things on the EDLO front? Frustrating as ever. The Boss Lady is putting all sorts of ideas in my head – bad Boss Lady, bad! I’ve a graphic enough imagination already, without you egging me on to disaster thank you very much! Other than that, things have been pootling on as usual.

So I shall pootle away and bring you the Roast for this week. Some things might be a little out of date because this collection spans the past couple of weeks of my laziness…

I never could get into listening to podcasts or watching videoblogs regularly. They just took up too much time and forced me to focus my (admittedly scatty) attention on just that one thing for the length of time the media lasted. Not great. So I could listen/watch on the daily commute on my iPod, but that would require regular/daily synching of my aged iPod, something I don’t like to do as my aging PowerBook is starting to get grumpy at running iTunes. Anyway, my point is, I’m not alone (he’s even got an interesting segue into online advertising at the end of the piece).

I don’t care about reading the book, I just love how the NYT turns a book about how what would happen if humans didn’t exist turns it into a book about what would happen if New Yorkers didn’t exist. Bless their egocentric little cotton socks.

God I’m such a geek – I even find network theory fascinating.

You’ve got to love the Catholics – when they want to make themselves look silly, they really go for it.

The geeks are working on universal avatars. That’s quite a thought, just one online version of “Cas” in any environment…

OK, I know I said at the top of the post I couldn’t get into podcasts – the launch of The Archers podcast might just persuade me. I love The Archers and used to listen religiously to the omnibus on Sundays at uni, lying in bed with my morning cup of tea, recovering from the wild debauchery of the night before. I stopped listening in a few years back because I just can’t get a good radio signal here at Meadow Towers… I might have to start up again. Bring on the wild debauchery as well 😉

Jeremy Kyle is hosting a radio show at the same time as Jonathan Ross. I’m sorry, but if you listen to Jonathan Ross already you’re NOT going to switch to Jeremy Kyle. The two audiences are about as diametrically opposed as the Sharks and the Jets!

Rarely do op-ed pieces make me laugh out loud. This one on gender tyranny in M&S did. No sex in corduroy indeed.

It’s been a few years since I’ve been down the Chesterfield Canal and I certainly don’t remember it looking this pretty.

Joe has found his cure for blogging ennuie – turn off the stats. I’m feeling a bit smug right now, because I stopped looking at my stats eons ago 😉 I keep a vague eye on my rss subscribers, but that’s only a general guide. I know if the number drops TOO drastically I’ve been prevaricating far too long and need to actually write something. But Joe’s got the right end of the stick I think – you need to enjoy what you’re doing or there’s no point. And I actually got to say that a few times this week, for different reasons. People kept looking at me like I had the cure for cancer or something…

OK people, I’m going to let you in on a little DIY secret I’ve learnt from a lifetime of observing the Crazy Canalman build things – you don’t need fancy gadgets to help you hammer in a nail. Just use a scrap of paper. Push the nail through the paper, line up the nail, hold the paper, hammer nail. Easy.

And you wonder why I want to go into space.

Sometimes you just need a good hug.

I was fighting the fact that, at 25, I should consider myself “grown up”. Then I read this post, got 17 out of 25, and realised that I might as well just give in any buy the carpet slippers and pipe now.

I don’t meditate with anything approaching regularity. When I do, it’s usually because my brain is going fifty-thousand revs a minute and I know I need to take a time out, or go totally fruit loops. Reading this list of the benefits however, makes me think it might be an idea to make it part of my routine again.

Alex Lee is going bookless for a year. All credit to him. I just can’t imagine being tied to an e-book reader for a whole year, though considering my current bad habit of raiding charity bookshops for any trashy romance novels I can lay my hands on (I know, I know), the chick-lit shelf of shame is starting to fill up already, so perhaps digital books might be a good idea?

In an attempt to regain some of my geek-credentials after that last revelation of my taste in bad literature, I am really rather excited that the Thundercats movie is getting going.

Looking at my movie collection, I’ve just realised that I am missing some of my favourite films of all times: the Terminator movies. I feel a trip to Amazon coming on… But that does bring me to news of a second Terminator trilogy.

The NYT movie reviews sometimes throw up a gem, such as this review of Elizabeth: the Golden Age (worth it if only for the description of Clive Owen hanging from the rigging with the wind gently stirring his chest hair…)

I got told off by Abi last weekend for not giving her any trailers to watch. So Abi, the following are all for you –
Moondance Alexander. What is it with pre-pubescent girls and horses, I will never know. But, despite my curmudgeonly self, I found myself grinning a little and saying “awww…” at this trailer. Shoot what’s left of my self respect, please!

Juno. Who knew teen pregnancy could be funny?

Fred Claus. I refuse to let Christmas cheer into Meadow Towers just yet, but… damn, Vince Vaughan does make me laugh!

And with that the Roast is done for another week. I am off to hoover the flat because it is in dire need, and then it’s time to watch Alonso and Hamilton try and run each other off the road in the Brazilian Grand Prix. Fun 😀

25 Questions

Well, it’s been a little while since I asked you all to pose me 25 questions in honour of the quarter of a century I’ve been walking this planet. Seemed like it was about time I answered some of them!

1) Ollie asked – So you’ve done the whole archaeological computing thing at uni, but you want a job in publishing. What is it about publishing that makes it take precedent over being the-geek-behind-Harrison-Ford?
Money. Mercenary but true. It’s not easy to make a living wage as the archaeo-geek – it can be done and I have friends who are doing it, but they are all much more intelligent and prettier than me. I just don’t have the burning drive you need to succeed. Plus my back and wrists are shot and getting paid a pittance to wallow around in the mud is great when you’re a student but it looses its appeal after a while… Then you have the fact I’ve been involved with archaeology since I was 16. Time for a change!

It’s hard to give the “so why publishing” answer in a short paragraph. It just fits in with my interests and it’s something I know I will be good at. On top of that, something about the publishing world just excites me. The top of my scalp gets all tingly when I think of working for Penguin (for example), which is a sure sign it’s something I should be doing. Everything I’ve done in my life that has worked out well has been accompanied by the ‘tingly scalp’ feeling and I’ve learnt to trust it.

2) Erin asked – Besides the career, which (if any) of the above questions [in the previous post] (and their implied answers) do you wish had a different answer? As in, which do you wish were a yes instead of a no?
It would be nice to have a ’significant other’ and I’d like to have a home of my own so I could decorate as I wanted, not have to worry about landlords, and have a pet cat. Other than that? I’m more than okay to just let life unfold as it will.

3) Renee asked – But what is your biggest regret since you started university?
Oooh, now they’re getting tricky. I don’t like to do big regrets (little ones I’ve got plenty of, but not biggies) but thinking about it going to Liverpool University itself (whilst it had its good points) could be a ‘regret’. I adored the university and the course, had an absolute blast, made brilliant friends, and have had doors opened up to me that I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t gone to Liverpool. At the same time, I was not happy for most of the time I was there. I went there on a knee-jerk reaction after not getting into the course (veterinary science) that I wanted – looking back, it would have made more sense to take a year out, get my head together, and go somewhere else to study English.

4) Prasanth asked – What all things did you do when you were 18? I am 18 now !!
Well, I hope you enjoy being 18 more than I did! When I was 18 I was a very boring person. I never went out, I found it very hard to make friends and was… well, I was just boring!

Josh was greedy and asked a few things –
5) You wouldn’t give up your happiness for a car, house, etc. would you? (Your answer to this better be “no!”, or you shall suffer the wrath of Hobbit Vikings.)
No, I would not give up my happiness for any of the above. That being said, after being threatened with Hobbit Vikings do you think I’d say anything different?!

6) Any chance of you ever hopping the pond and visiting Ohio?
Never say never, mon cher. I’m always on the lookout for holiday destinations, so persuade me!

7) Do you have any intentions of following up on the archaeology degree, i.e. pursuing archaeology? I’m still a bit confused about the hop from Indiana to publisher (not that there’s a problem with that).
See my answer to number 1! So much of my life so far has been involved with archaeology I wouldn’t be surprised if I didn’t end up back doing something related to the field in the future, but for now I think I’m going to have a bit of a break. That being said, more than a few people keep having a go at me to get back into research!

Neko also asked a couple of things –
8) Whaddya want for Christmas?
A pony.

9) Is there any one decision you have ever made that you would change?
Waiting so long before I asked for help. I was severely depressed from about the age of 15 right through to 20/21, when I finally put up my hand and went “um, something’s not right here…” Looking back I really should have said something sooner.

10) If you did, how would your life be different right now?
Hind-sight is 20/20 and I do so hate to play the “what if?” game. Even though it would be nice if that stretch of my life had been different, that’s how it was, and it’s made me who I am today, so I can’t really complain too much.

11) What does it take for you to feel you really know someone?
Erm, I’m not sure. Some people I click with really quickly, slipping straight into the comfort zone with them. Other people I’ve know for years and still wouldn’t say I really knew them. To be true, I’m actually pretty oblivious and absolutely pants at seeing beneath the surface. If someone doesn’t tell me something then I’m not going to guess it!

12) If you were a font (as in, arial etc) which would you be?
Tahoma. No reason, I just like the font.

13) Is there anything random that you are scared of? My mate Tony’s belly button scares me ’cause it is too smooth. I’m sure he is some sort of replicant.
Slugs. They freak the crap out of me. And double jointed appendages. There’s something about fingers/thumbs/elbows etc clicking where they shouldn’t be that just gives me the collywobbles.

Steve got on the bandwagon with the following –
14) If you could be anywhere, right now for 4 weeks, where would that be?
A secluded beach cottage somewhere where I could relax, sleep, and write in peace. If certain eligible bachelors were to move in down the way that might be nice too 😉

15) If you could move anywhere in the world where would you move to?
New Zealand. Or Australia. Or Canada. Or London. Or Edinburgh. Ooh, the Moon might be nice… (You might have got the impression I have no idea. You’d be right!)

16) If you were a superhero, what would be your name?
Trixabell McDuff.
Well, I’m a superhero right, so I can beat the crap out of anyone who laughs at my name.

17) Moose chimed in with – If you were on Time Team, what would you say to Tony Robinson?
… Before or after I slapped him upside the head with a two-by-four?
I have no real reason, but I find the man to be an annoying little tit. A comedic genius, but an annoying little tit none the less. I’d like to think I would have the guts to say something along the lines of “What qualifications do you have to make such sweeping generalisations? And get out of my trench you jumped up little oik!” but knowing me I’d be just too polite and content myself with grumbling under my breath.

illyna was curious enough about –
18) Have you ever told anyone you hated them. And more importantly – did you mean it?
Not to their face, no. And I can’t think of anyone who I genuinely hate. Dislike vehemently, yes. Want to see pushed under a bus? No.

19) Who would you have to play you in a movie of your life?
Maggie Gyllanhaal.

20) roro wanted to know – If you could live inside of any book you’ve ever read, which would it be?
A Georgette Heyer book (they’ve all got fairly interchangeable plots!). The dresses are gorgeous, the men spiffing, and the girl always gets the guy in the end. Supremely predictable, but enjoyable popcorn none-the-less.

Nils felt a burning desire for information on –
21) What invention haven’t they made yet that you NEED?
Something that will write my emails for me. I don’t know why, I just suck at writing emails.

22) With the creepiness quotient for dating (your age /2 +7) resulting in you being able to see anyone between about 19 and 37, would you have a preference?
I’d go for older rather than younger, and my own personal ‘creepiness quotient’ is a bit narrower – say from 20/21 to 30/31. That being said, I’ve known 20 year olds who act much older, and 40 year olds who act much younger, so it would all depend on the person I guess!

23) Seeing you had a podcast out once or twice, and since you blogged drunk, can we expect a drunk podcast? Or just a repeat of any of the two?
The chances are good that there will be some more drunk blogging before I’m done. I’d like to do some more podcasting, but I’m at a loss with what to do with the Bright Cast (any ideas greatly welcome!). Drunk Podcasting though? Most likely not. It takes far too much effort to get the computer set-up when I’m sober. I hate to think what would happen if I tried whilst drunk!

And Peroty finished off with –
24) Can you describe your perfect significant other? Or at least one you hope to find. 😉
Tall, dark, with an accent? Good sense of humour. Creative. Kind to animals. Geeky. Understanding of my taste in films and literature. Understanding of my insane desire to blog my life! Brave enough to take me on.

I’ll know him when I see him, let’s just leave it at that.

25) What little thing in life makes you happy?
Curling up with a good book and a mug of tea. Bliss.

26) Where did Moose’s name come from?
I’ll let Moose answer this in her own words –
Short answer – it’s short for Invisiblepsychomoose
Medium answer – crazy ex housemate combined with sarcastic comment about latitudes combined with Danny Wallace
Long answer – you’ll need about an hour, and something bribe Moose with.