thought I would pop in this morning to add a meme (of sorts) I picked up from Lerite over on Livejournal. Maybe if this counts for you, it'd be worth copying and pasting, but if it doesn't don't worry ... I don't need to know how, or why, or to create any kind of sense of obligation in you - it just seems like a useful thing to state.

In response to Khaos Komics, I wanted to start this little meme: Read the following paragraph, and, if you can TRUTHFULLY do so, repost it on your journal with these instructions.

"If you and I are becoming involved (romantically or sexually or whatever) and you are transgendered, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TELL ME. If you're trans, you've got plenty to worry about without trying to figure out when to tell a potential partner. If it's me, don't worry. You can be yourself with me. I won't think it's a betrayal of trust."

We went places! And things happened! But given that the plague also happened, not much writing is going on. So instead please enjoy this meme I ganked for a rainy day from Chiara ...

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?

Not to my knowledge; my name is, at least within the last three generations, entirely my own.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?

Last night when singing Heather Nova's 'I miss my sky' along with Doodle - that song grabs me very quickly.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?

Some people have doctors handwriting; I have engineers handwriting. I'd like to feel it has slowly improved over time, but that's still only relative to its initial state.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCH MEAT?

Quorn pseudo-peppered beef - the mushrooms are our friends.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?

I do not. And except in those few moments when something just goes *twitch* in defiance of all reason (Usually when confronted by ickle bickle fingerses and toesey wozies), It isn't something that distresses me.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?

Freely, and with wry giggles aforethought.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?

All Present and correct!

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?

The idea intregues me, I'm just not sure I'm down with that amount of being upside-down. Experience tells me that parts of me just do not work well that way.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CEREAL?

Kelloggs special K Oats and Honey (mmmmh)

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?

Njet Njet, Unbuckle, unfasten, unzip!

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM?

Icecream not so much, but I am an absolute sucker for a nice fruit sorbet, probably mango or Lemon.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?

Their eyes.

15. RED OR PINK?

Red, a rich dark velvet red.

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?

My Immune System and my sleepy lack of focus.

17. WHOM DO YOU MISS THE MOST?

One or two old loves and friends since passed, they know who they are.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST?

Memes are totally optional . I'll enjoy any I see though.

19. WHAT COLOUR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?

A delightfully grubby pair of bootcut jeans from Next that are ... remarkably ... too long .

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?

The Banjo Stylings of Chris Thile.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE?

forest Green

23. FAVOURITE SMELLS?

Lush 'Kharma', Dying Bracken in Autumn, Tumeric, frying onions, Beeswax.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?

Captain Horatio Monkeypants! He was winging his way to our den of iniquity and needed to let us know his ETA.

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?

I wasn't sent it as such, but the person who I lifted it from is someone I feel is all kinds of nifty (Hey there chiara!

26. FAVOURITE SPORTS TO WATCH?

I'm not much for watching sports outside the Olympics (there's something about the pageantry of it all), but the Hurley is fun on occasion.

27. HAIR COLOUR?

A fairly uniform dark brown, with the occasional much lighter hair .

28. EYE COLOUR?

Dark brown

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?

No, but I am very enamoured of my rather recently acquired Glasses - did you know clouds can actually have very sharply defined edges? I didn't until now! .

30. FAVOURITE FOOD?

Peanut Butter pseudochicken, or anything with Tumeric Rice.

31. SCARY FILMS OR HAPPY ENDINGS?

Probably a little more the latter than the former, though I like a little of the former too.

32. LAST FILM YOU WATCHED?

I am honestly not sure ... it was probably a 'bad movie night' production of some kind.

33. WHAT COLOUR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?

A Black Tank Top, and my little green jacket.

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?

Autumn.

35. HUGS OR KISSES?

Definitely both please .

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?

Most probably either Ezekiel, Raindog or Lamasu, but who knows .

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?

The ones who never comment .

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?

Just finished Lynn fewellen's Tamir Trillogy (which I absolutely loved), and have started on a rather neat Patricia Ferguson book called Peripheral Vision. I've also got a copy of daft Fae romp 'war of the oaks' waiting for me to devour it sat next to me on the shelf due to the wonders of the inter library loan system - I suspect I will be unironically delighted by this food.

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?

Nothing, it is a nondescript grey mess with a wrist rest that was surplus from my old home office. I'd like a nicer one sometime but it's a ways down the priority list.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?

An excessive quantity of south park while we all sat around and geeked it up. Geek visitors to Geekhause are the best .

42. FAVOURITE SOUND(S)?

bracken crunching underfoot, waves breaking, the wind in the trees, the lower registers of a flute and every sound a cello can make.

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?

I'd rather hang out with Ramones *sings*.

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?

Most probably either Phoenix, Arizona or Idaho Falls, Idaho. I'd be hard pressed to pick which one

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?

I wouldn't claim any of these to an exceptional standard, but I'm a passable Fire Spinner, beginning to feel like a real honest to goodness Belly Dancer and I can keep you a nice melodic rythm given a suitable bass .

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?

Within ten minutes cycle of where I am sitting right now.

There, that's another fine meme you've got me into.

There is a new quest up at Seven Stones this week, and given the abundance of seeds within our kitchen, I rather felt I could do something amusing for this. As a consequence I present the following: Seed Art! Little Fennel Dogs under Sunflower and Pumpkin seed trees everywhere finally get their moment of internet fame .

If I were a month, I'd be... October
If I were a day of the week, I'd be... Thursday
If I were a time of day, I'd be... Sunset
If I were a planet, I'd be... Saturn (gazing back at the dot)
If I were a sea animal, I'd be... A manatee (huge)
If I were a direction, I'd be... East
If I were a piece of furniture, I'd be... A piano bench!
If I were a language, I'd be... British Sign Language
If I were a number, I'd be... 23
If I were a liquid, I'd be... wyborowa vodka
If I were a gemstone, I'd be... Garnet
If I were a tree, I'd be... A beech tree, twisty branches and all.
If I were a tool, I'd be... a Krone tool (Connecting people :> )
If I were a flower, I'd be... A foxglove
If I were a kind of weather... A rainstorm
If I were a musical instrument, I'd be... A Cello
If I were a colour, I'd be... forest green.
If I were an emotion, I'd be... sleepy affection
If I were a fruit, I'd be... A Kiwi
If I were a sound, I'd be... Leaves in the Wind
If I were an element, I'd be... Carbon
If I were a car, I'd be... Something with a lot of boot space, one window that doesn't wind down and that smells faintly of dog.
If I were a food, I'd be... Tumeric Rice
If I were a place, I'd be... Right here, right now.
If I were a material, I'd... A Silk Brocade
If I were a taste, I'd be... Peanut Butter Chicken
If I were a scent, I'd be... Lush 'Karma'
If I were an animal, I'd be... A puppydog
If I were an object, I'd be... A camera
If I were a body part, I'd be... a hip
If I were a facial expression... an unrestrained grin
If I were a song, I'd be... 'The Wrong Band'
If I were a pair of shoes.... cute little pixie boots
If I were a website, I'd be... Librarything
If I were a TV show, I'd be... The Joy of Painting
If I were an author, I'd be... Kathy Acker
If I were a painting, I'd be... Katie Elder's Medea trypdich, as exhibited in the Oxford Brookes Alumni show 'Plus One'. I wish I was monied enough to buy art like it weren't no thang.

Meme swiped from the ever lovely cmcmck at livejournal.

I seem to have been neglecting the internet for awhile ... or at least this little corner of it. I've been drawn back by a friend on livejournal who posted an interesting little five questions meme/challenge which I wanted to get involved with.

What sort of people to you find you relate to best?

The kind of people who feel a house without books is like a room without windows. People who are easily amused (but not at the expense of others). Musicians and dancers and passionate fools; these are my peeps.

If you could travel anywhere in the world where would it be? What attracts you?

Roztocze National Park in Poland. I'm a sucker for ancient woodland and this park contains some of the last remaining primordial forest in Europe. There are some stands of ancient beech there I'd very much like to walk under (the nearest thing I know of here is parts of Savernake forest).

Are you a fan of animals? Do you have a particular favourite?

I have a deep love for Meercats, those little things are made of cute and fascinating (I could watch them forever). I also think sugar gliders are the cutest thing since the last cutest thing.

If you could change one thing, politically, what would it be and why?

I would introduce some form of proportional representation at a national level. It certainly wouldn't be a panacea, but It feels to me as if the net effect would be positive.

What sort of reading to you like to do best of all? Do you have an all time favourite book? (Fwiw mine's H G Wells's: 'The history of Mister Polly')

I like something I can lose myself in, the kind of book that eats me up and feels like wearing someone elses skin. It's usually fiction, genrefic most often (though that's not a must) and I generally know if it'll be one of those within the first hundred pages. I'll still read ones that don't get me that deeply, but they don't tend to become favourites.

I would be hard-pressed to ever name a single favourite book; there are simply too many that I love. I'll give you a short list that I'm fond of though.

Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith
The Roads of Heaven by Melissa Scott
The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold
Microserfs by Douglas Coupland
Kushiel's Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey

That misses out so much, but those ones definitely grabbed me .

If anyone reading would like to be posed five questions to answer (according to feedburner there are 22 of you, I'm suddenly a little nervous!) then just say the word in comments and I'll come up with some.

I have recently made all sorts of filthy internet discoveries, like blip.fm where I am currently running some sort of train-of-thought radio show. The people on twitter got me hooked on the thing (I swear, it's some sort of social media gateway drug).

Anyway, one of them ( the delightful dirty_silver ), just kicked off the random 10 meme again and I thought I'd give it a go. You stick your mp3 player/favourite audio program on random and list the first ten tracks for posterity ...

1. Morphine - Hangin on a Curtain
2. PJ Harvey - This Is Love
3. Rickie Lee Jones - After Hours
4. The Box Tops - The Letter
5. Tool - Message to Harry Manback II
6. Faithless - If Lovin You is Wrong (sexy edit)
7. Dead Can Dance - Windfall
8. Day One - Trying Too Hard
9. Rebecca Collins - Marseille, Marseille
10. blindoldfreak - Laugh

The random algorithm in MediaMonkey continues to suprise me pleasantly - that's quite a nice selection.

Via Helen because sometimes I like this sort of thing ...

1. Do you like blue cheese? Yes, though I'm more of a goats cheese and stilton person.

2. Have you ever smoked heroin? Yes

3. Do you own a gun? No

4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Starbucks? If I grab anything in starbucks it's normally some sort of icy chilled fruit confection ... or a decaf mocha latte if I'm feeling brave.

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Almost always, being doctored makes me feel quite vulnerable.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? Spicy tofudogs w/ uber pickles and just the right sauce, then we can talk .

7. Favorite Christmas movie? 'A Christmas Story' is something of a family tradition, other than that it's not really a genre that grabs me.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Mint and Fennel tea, it takes the edge off things.

9. Can you do push ups? I've not tried recently, probably one or two.

10. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? A silver leaf on a chain I found in a little shop in town, it's such a small, smooth thing but it makes me happy. The chain has broken, I need to fix it sometime soon.

11. Favorite hobby? Music, in all possible senses

12. Do you have A.D.D? No

13. What’s one trait you hate about yourself? Fear ... it is the mindkiller.

14. Middle name? Nataly

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment? Please, please let me have everything together for Monday. Sometimes the process is worse than the problem it fixes. I hope that didn't break anything.

16. Name 3 things you bought yesterday? An Upright Mouse, Several Licenses for a log-analysis product, A bar of Dairy Milk

17. Name 3 things you drink daily: Mint tea, Ginger tea, Tap water.

18. Current worry? Deadlines, Health (several peoples).

19. Current Dislike? Painfully slow obfuscated project management systems.

20. How did you bring in the New Year? Watching the fireworks on TV with Ezekiel, then nattering to other inebriates on IRC.

21. Where would you like to go? Białowieża Forest in Poland/Belarus. Ancient woodlands are incredible.

22. Name three people who will complete this: Nobody I know is especially inclined to do these sorts of things, so I'm not inclined to push expectations at them.

23. Do you own slippers? No

24. What shirt are you wearing? Little White Tank Top (Worn earlier for spinning in the garden)

25. [This question deliberately left blank]

26. Favorite color[s]? Dark Red, Forest green, Black.

27. Could you be a pirate? No, though I may talk like one once a year.

28. What songs do you sing in the shower? As a rule, I usually don't (we have to keep the window open to let the steam out and I'd be mortified to be overheard).

29. Favorite food? Currently, anything veggie from the Vaults.

30. What’s in your pocket right now? Hah, I don't have any pockets right now! That sure settled your hash.

31. Last thing that made you laugh? Ezekiel and the Boy on the phone with each other earlier - the Simpsons were involved.

32. Favorite sheets? Clean white cotton

33. Worst injury you have ever had? Hard to say, almost certainly a head wound of some sort.

34. Do you love where you live? Yes, I'm rather attached to this area.

35. How many TVs do you have in your house? Just the one, it also doubles as a monitor for the Media Server.

36. Who is your loudest friend? Lamasu! And I absolutely love her for it.

37. How many dogs do you have? Just Fergus, accomplished Medical Doctor and man about town that he is.

38. Does someone have a crush on you? People generally don't tell me! . It's happened before though.

39. What are your favorite book(s): This is a horribly unfair question, I will say only that, in any top ten, Melissa Scott would feature quite heavily.

40. What is your favorite candy? Chocolate covered chocolate, with a chocolate filling.

41. Favorite Sports Water: ... Cambridge Tap Water.

42. What songs do you want played at your funeral? Bury me under a tree, sing something if it feels appropriate, nothing fancy please.

43. What were you doing 12 AM last night? I was out like a light.

44. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke this morning? bleaughle ... do I have time for a shower?

45. Favorite place to be? By the river, under the trees, anywhere with Ezekiel.

I came across an interesting little tool called the Typalizer recently via JJ, which claims to analyze the text of your blog and identify the myers-briggs personality type in your writing. This idea rather tickled me so I decided to give it a go.

My results:

Usually when I take these tests, they give me INFP or INFJ as a result (more the former than the latter), and though not always comfortably so, I have to admit the descriptions seem to fit me well.

It feels to me as if this tool is, not so much identifying the personality of the writer, but the personality they write with (at least, the results that JJ and her commenters saw seems to bear this out). I am not sure I could fit the performer archetype at heart, but I can certainly play one on TV.

Two hours until the end of the day and I'm incredibly demob happy ... we're departing tomorrow morning for a glorrrrrious week in the lakes. We've found a nice little cottage in the hills Skibeen and Bassenthwaite lake where we're going to spend the week walking, playing silly games, watching the odd movie and basically just chilling out together in glorious style ... I've already packed my walkin' boots .

Even better, I'm under orders NOT to stay in contact with the office while I'm gone ... they want me to have a break. This has been simultaniously slightly nervewracking and hugely liberating ... I'ma gonna enjoy this hugely.

Before I go though, I thought I'd talk about a couple of things that've been getting my goat recently:

1. The 'Free Roman Polanski' movement.

Rape is Rape is Rape is Rape is Rape. What the fuck is wrong with you all? When someone drugs and Rapes a 13 year old girl, confesses, is found guilty THEN flees the country to avoid punishment they are a Rapist and a fugitive and deserve to recieve the full penalty of the law. This guy lived the high life in France, hobnobbing with high society, continuing to work, quite probably getting up to equally dubious things elsewhere and you're protesting that he's 'suffered enough'?

Rape is Rape and Justice is Justice, and society needs to see justice done. As far as anything else goes, just don't talk to me, seriously.

2. The pile of steaming butthurt and racist analogy going on inside the M/M romance writing community.

I am playing the world's smallest violin for all of you. An organisation who run awards designed to promote Queer literature decide to change their focus to support Queer literature by actual Queers? Good on them. Queer voices are more marginalised than yours, even if you are writing gay romance. this announcement of a change of focus was made well before submissions started this year for the awards, and you all need to stop making all kinds of shitty racism analogies (talking about not letting you drink from our water fountains? the hell?) and shut the hell up.

There's some dead on commentary from Shemale and Likespring here (with the latter containing some of the more dubious quotes from various M/M authors and community people) and a rather nice piece from Strangetwn_God" here which touches on the endless championing by these people of that godawful Brokeback Mountain as being some sort of progressive queer literary triumph as well ... get off my internets!

(I also want to link to a rather nice post from a big 'ole slash fan who actually gets it as well.)

Natalia Antonova made a post yesterday on the back of this post at Feministe, and really caught my imagination. So as I'm up before Ezekiel on this pretty little Sunday morning, here is a list of things that have shown me beauty, given me hope and generally sparked happiness in me recently.

• The Wind Turbines spinning slowly besides the railway lines back from Birmingham and the way their numbers keep growing.
• Making friends on said selfsame train, at least for the duration of the ride, with someone completely unexpected.
• Lereia explaining to me carefully how anyone, anyone at all can Draw if they just come at it from the right angle.
• The campaign to protect AA/DLA getting 13,000 signups in a week
• Watching the Black and White cat who lives next door chasing Butterflies in our garden with gleeful abandon.
• The fact that it's 2009 and I'm listening to a new Dinosaur Jr Album.
• My friend Helen
• Watching Medium with Ezekiel and seeing a married couple on TV who are both functional and feel real. The Writers on that show are rather awesome.
• The National Health Service and the principle of medical care free at point of delivery for all.
• Discussing the discovery of penicillin with staff at the National Portrait Gallery and reaffirming once again how happy I am to be living in a world filled with simple marvels like Antibiotics.

I'll leave it at that for now and go get on. Though I suspect this is one I might revive anytime I feel in need of a boost.