Seven things about me

Ooooh, I’m SO excited today to have been nominated to tell all my tens of thousands of readers (optimistic, moi??) seven things about me. Thanks, Linz!!

I thought this would be quite hard to do initially, but once I started I couldn’t stop, so you nearly ended up with seventy things about me, all of which were slightly more dull than the last. Turns out, I love blathering about myself as much as I love blathering about food. So, with no further ado:

1. I was born and bred an Essex girl. I moved to Yorkshire nearly ten years ago, but have been reliably informed that you don’t get to claim residency until you’re third generation, so I guess that means I’ll be staying an Essex girl. However, I can’t really do an Essex accent – unless very drunk, when the odd twang slips out. If I attempt to do an Essex accent, I sound a bit like Dick Van Dyck in Mary Poppins. I think there might be some serious repression going on there.

2. I have, at various points in my life, wanted to be a pilot, a neurosurgeon and a barrister – so I’m not quite sure how I managed to end up a civil servant. However, I am willing to bet that the fields of aviation, medicine and law are heaving a huge collective sigh of relief as we speak; I’m probably far too absent minded to do any of those things well.

3. I’ve always wanted to write. One of my most treasured possessions when I was younger was an old fashioned typewriter in a bright blue case that my grandfather gave me. I used to write school stories, a la Malory Towers and the Chalet School. I never got past Chapter One. The day I hit Chapter Two will be the day I know I have a keeper.

4. I read English Literature at university, because I realised that it would mean sitting around (one of my favourite things) and reading (one of my other favourite things) for three whole years. Obviously, not being a vocational degree it did not prepare me for any sort of actual career. However, it did leave me with an enduring ability to waffle about nothing at length and sound vaguely intelligent. The faux-posh accent (see point 1) probably helps with this as well.

5. I have spent more hundreds of pounds than I can bear to think about over the last few years on eating out at the type of restaurants where things are served in shot glasses or on pieces of driftwood and it has given me a tremendous amount of pleasure (although the resulting credit card bills have been committed to the shredder without being opened). I have eaten at two of the top three restaurants in the world according to these people (who are supposed to know about such things) and the memories of those meals make me break out in a huge smile even years later.

6. I am getting married next year, even though I am fairly sure that I am not grown up enough to be a wife. But I’m not supposed to talk about the wedding until T – 365 days (so expect a big ole wedding post on 17th September!)

7. I name things. Inanimate things. I never realised that this was weird and assumed everybody did it, but apparently not. The car, of course, has a name – he’s called Ethel, short for Ethelred (as in the Unready). Don’t think that’s too far out? OK, my engagement ring is called Jasmine (well, actually, just the stone, because obviously to name a setting would be weird). My Ipod is called George. My computer is Lizzie Bennett. I once spent a lot of quality time with a scanner named Howard. The communal tea tray in our office is called Colin – and I could go on. Unfortunately, naming things means that I get overly emotionally attached to them. When the stone fell out of my engagement ring earlier this year, I literally cried for a whole day – and that was before I found out that the insurance company weren’t going to pay for it to be replaced. In the end, I had to invent a story for myself in which Jasmine went on a seaside holiday before coming home to York.

And there you have it. Now, I would love to pass this on but being a relatively newbie in the blogging world I don’t think I know of fifteen other blogs to pass this on to who have not already been honoured. Therefore, if anyone who stumbles across this wishes to post seven interesting (or, as per above, quite dull) facts about themselves, please feel free! I’m terrible nosy.