Matt

I was going to write a post about how I can't write any posts at the moment because our tranquil abode is undergoing major trauma in the form of a complete overhaul of its roof. What should have been a fairly non-invasive procedure has turned into anything but: entire rooms have had to be emptied because of the danger of collapsing ceilings, tumbling plaster etc. Free time to update this site hasn't exactly been available. But I was recently tagged by Lorraine - of the ever-entertaining Here's The Thing - and as I've never been tagged by anyone before, I feel it would be rude to ignore the gesture, so I'm going to use the nostalgia trips induced by the clear-out of my study to provide material for the subject of this particular tag:

25 Random Things About Me

1. The first piece of writing I ever had published was a letter sent to the UK edition of Marvel's Spiderman. I was eight years old and I remember being so chuffed by how I'd linked one paragraph with another using the word 'Anyway'.

2. My favourite film of all time is Three Colours Red.

3. The first concert I went to was Tina Turner at the old Wembley Stadium. And as it happens, I'm going to see her again in just a few days.

4. There aren't many experiences I enjoy more than getting in the car with the Divine L, putting the roof down, setting the MP3 player on 'random' and driving from one European country to another.

5. As a teenager, I used to write reviews of every book I read and filed them in a large ring binder, which I've still got safely hidden away.

6. I think there's something terribly romantic about the London Underground, in a very angst-ridden, Shelley-meets-Sartre kind of way.

7. If anyone ever invents a transmat booth (as in, "Beam me up, Scotty") I think I'd volunteer to give it a test run.

8. I've never seen The Wizard Of Oz.

9. I've met and briefly chatted with Matt Smith, the actor who's going to be the next Doctor Who. I've also got his autograph. I would be lying if I said this doesn't fill me with adolescent glee.

10. I can't go to Warsaw without visiting Krzysztof Kieslowski's grave. It's always a moving, inexplicable experience. Even though I never had the good fortune to meet him, I feel he's there, watching, wishing everyone well.

11. I'd like Finale from the soundtrack of Three Colours Red to be played at my funeral.

12. I think many people love talking, but very few are interested in listening. I can't stand being in the middle of a situation where several people are speaking over each other, turning what should be a discussion into a competition.

13. The very first CD I bought was called The Best Of BBC TV's Themes. It's still around somewhere. And yes, it's got the Doctor Who theme on it.

14. I played Basil Fawlty in a secondary school production of a couple of Fawlty Towers episodes. Honestly!

15. I could eat burnt, buttered toast all day long.

16. I find it very difficult to come up with posts for my site which: a) don't make explicit reference to the day job, b) don't mortify and/or offend friends and relatives and c) don't turn into 1000+ word essays. If I didn't worry about how people are going to react to what I write, I'd get a lot more writing done.

17. The Divine L recently ascertained that I'm a chronic worrier. She's perfectly right.

18. In 2008 I watched 53 films at the cinema and 20 on DVD.

19. Several friends have said that they think of me whenever a Madonna song plays on the radio. I can't imagine why.

20. I have a long-standing obsession with perfume and would seriously consider retraining as a Nose if ever the time came to change the day job.

21. When I was a first-year undergraduate, the Net hadn't quite yet taken over the world. I asked my department's secretary if I could be assigned an email address so I could keep in touch with friends I'd left behind in Dubai. "An email address for an undergraduate?" she asked with derision. "Well, we only really do them for postgrads. We don't really think there's much point giving addresses to undergrads because we don't feel email is something many people are going to use."

22. When I was about six and living in the south of Iran, I appeared on national television in a programme about childhood. I complained about how modern toys are made of plastic and don't last very long. I've always been a crotchety old moaner.

23. I love music and couldn't live without it, but I cannot understand how people can walk around, going about their daily business, with headphones stuck in their ears. I tried it a few times and the way it disconnected me from the world was horrible.

24. I don't appreciate being called "Dariush" by people who don't know me from Adam. But I've yet to find the guts to say 'No' to a call centre employee who says, "Is it all right if I call you Dariush?"

25. I was once at some training session or another and we had to start the day with the inevitable ice breaker. Each of us was asked to stand up and use no more than three words to complete the line: "If I could be anything other than human, I would be..." I wasn't quite expecting the mortified expressions I got when I stood up and said, "Grateful."

Right, that's your lot. I'm not going to tag anyone else, but I'm always up for finding out more about people, so if anyone feels like playing ball, please go for it.

Comments

Tom Jackson said…
Tenerife Calling ...With regard to random fact 14 above -- Why "Honestly!" Why on earth should any one doubt it??

Have you changed so much?
Blogger said…
Well, I used the word only because everyone seems to express such great surprise whenever I mention the fact these days.

Then again, I should hope I HAVE changed a bit since then!

Thanks very much for writing.

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