5 things
I was tagged by jenn over at i am following my fish. Here goes…
10 years ago - I was 28 and a few weeks into my penultimate year at Leeds University where I studied Classical Civilisation. I was having a great time. I'd given up a good job building aircraft, my flat on the Isle of Wight, all the things I'd worked for since leaving school at 16. I drank, took all the drugs I could get my hands on, shagged about and studied. I lived in a nice house in Kirkstall with two top blokes and a cnut, but his girlfriend was sweet. Life was good.
5 years ago - I was living with Claire in Reading. I must have been working in the Pension Review. It was good money and we lived in a nice though small flat, we smoked a lot, ate well (£13 of pick and mix sweets one Saturday night) and we tried not to take things too seriously. Life was good.
1 year ago - I'd just passed my finance exams and received a 30% payrise. I'd also just realised that the finance industry was killing me slowly through boredom and indifference. Escape plans were formed. They're still being worked on.
yesterday - I lay in bed beyond the last possible second and was 15 minutes late for work. I blamed the traffic. I blamed it again today. Had a really busy morning, worked through lunch, drove to my other office, ran off some reports, sent some files off to an external auditor and left early. Cooked myself a good shepherd’s pie for tea, went on-line, ranted and drank some brandy. Went to bed at about midnight.
5 yummy things - single malt whisky (Talisker or The Balvenie), good weed, red leicester on toast with a dash of HP sauce, a proper roast dinner, jelly babies.
5 songs I know by heart - Brown Eyed Girl, Van Morrison (makes me cry, but that happy crying); Brassneck, The Wedding Present; all of the White Album, in fact pretty much all The Beatles' songs; The Saturday Boy, Billy Bragg; 25 Minutes To Go, Johnny Cash.
5 things I would do with a lot of money - I've never had too much money. I haven't been truly poor either, but I've been close and have only recently (at 38) learned how to manage what I earn and make to it last the month. I'll be debt free in 5 months which will make an enormous difference to my life. So, and apologies if this sounds shallow but the first thing I'd do if I suddenly became rich would be to enjoy myself. Really, really enjoy myself. Relax (you know what I mean), unwind, spoil myself and the people I love. A big TV, games systems, all the DVDs and CDs I've always wanted, a DB9. If I lived past the first 6 months I'd want a nice place in the countryside, several actually; one on the Isle of Wight, one in Wiltshire and one in Yorkshire. Then I'd travel; St Petersburg, the Americas, Greece, Italy. Where would one stop? I'd like to do something to keep me busy which might be a little bookshop in York or Kirkstall or an art house cinema. I'd probably become a bit of a philanthropist as well. For example, I want to give something back to the hospice which cared for my dad in his final weeks, nearly 20 years ago now. Places like that never have enough money. We can afford advanced bombs that fly down chimneys and wait for the target to get home from the shops before exploding, we can afford space stations that do nothing but go round and round all day and all night but we can't afford to care for our sick and dying. About a third of the population of the world has to walk more than a mile to get clean water; dirty water causes diarrhoea which is just a nuisance in the west but it kills thousands of people in the developing world. It makes me fucking mad.
5 places to escape to - My space. I'm quite a recluse at heart. I love my family & friends and I see them often but some weekends, probably too many recently, I'll get home at 5 on a Friday afternoon and not speak to another person until I get back to work on Monday. Solitude is important to me. In my flat I have my books, my music, my computer, the TV and satellite box, I eat well, there's always a bottle of something on a shelf and there's usually a Henry or so in my tin. What more do I need? When I go and see my family on the Isle of Wight I always, always take a long walk by the sea either at St Helens or Brook Chine. I prefer it in the winter when there is nobody about and the sea is wild. The sea, the whole of nature is so much bigger and more impressive than anything man has ever made or ever will make. Look at Monet’s Water Lilies. Isn’t it exquisite? I spent about an hour looking at it the first time I saw for real and I still see something new every time. But now look outside at the trees changing colour as autumn advances (pic from Re-Inventing the Wheel), the infinite shades of red, brown and green. Who could paint that? Too few people appreciate the beauty we have all around us and for free as well.
5 things I’d never wear – sandals, anything expensive, white socks, anything else white (except my Let It Be t-shirt & my Yankees shirt. I don't even own a white Spurs shirt. I have a yellow one, a blue one, a stripey purple one - the best shirt we ever had, but not a white one. If you ever see me eat you'll know why. Ex forces personnel (and I believe former public schoolboys) all tend to eat like the plate is about to be snatched away. It's something to do with having to eat crappy food in a short timespan. You just want to get it down so that you can go for a smoke. Or a pull), err spots and stripes I don’t know. Really, clothes are the least important thing in my life. It’s been years since I bought anything new. I have a pullover on at work today because my shirt only has 3 buttons down the front and one of the cuffs is torn, but it works so it’ll do. People worry to much about what they look like. I’d wear my dressing gown 24/7 if I could.
5 favourite TV shows - I'm really falling out of love with the TV. For too many years UK telly has been mediocre at best and I've struggled to find five shows without diving deeply into my memory. But they would be, in no particular order, Family Guy, Simon Schama's History of Britain, South Park, errr the news?; oh and I have a real weakness for those reality cop shows. You know, Road Wars, Worlds Wildest Police Videos, Street Crime UK, I can't get enough of them. Sorry.
5 things I enjoy doing – I try to enjoy most things I do or do mostly things I enjoy. I enjoy reading, writing, pondering the majesty of life, walking in the quiet, discussing the world... that sort of thing.
5 favourite toys - I'm not a big collector of gimmicks and the like. I don't have an i-pod or even a Walkman. My mobile phone is basic, but has a decent camera and does the job. I have a Roberts R986 which is tiny and goes everywhere with me. I have the South Park figures, Jay & Silent Bob figures, a full set of Battle and the Planet figures from Japan, Bagpuss and one of the mice, John Lennon and a Blue Meanie all sat on a bookshelf by a Living Reef but not much else (actually that's quite a lot of man-crap isn't it). My 5 favourite things are my Mont Blanc pen, my Zippo, a copy of η Πολιτεία του Πλάτωνος beautifully bound in green leather, my dad’s old RAF textbooks and the box I keep my memories in. If my flat were on fire those 5 things and of course my cats would be what I'd save first. I have an emotional bond with each of those items.
Oh tags, I forgot to tag...
I'll tag Emily and Jenn has already tagged Skrambled so I'll just encourage him a bit more. Any passing stranger should have ago. Introduce yourself.
10 years ago - I was 28 and a few weeks into my penultimate year at Leeds University where I studied Classical Civilisation. I was having a great time. I'd given up a good job building aircraft, my flat on the Isle of Wight, all the things I'd worked for since leaving school at 16. I drank, took all the drugs I could get my hands on, shagged about and studied. I lived in a nice house in Kirkstall with two top blokes and a cnut, but his girlfriend was sweet. Life was good.
5 years ago - I was living with Claire in Reading. I must have been working in the Pension Review. It was good money and we lived in a nice though small flat, we smoked a lot, ate well (£13 of pick and mix sweets one Saturday night) and we tried not to take things too seriously. Life was good.
1 year ago - I'd just passed my finance exams and received a 30% payrise. I'd also just realised that the finance industry was killing me slowly through boredom and indifference. Escape plans were formed. They're still being worked on.
yesterday - I lay in bed beyond the last possible second and was 15 minutes late for work. I blamed the traffic. I blamed it again today. Had a really busy morning, worked through lunch, drove to my other office, ran off some reports, sent some files off to an external auditor and left early. Cooked myself a good shepherd’s pie for tea, went on-line, ranted and drank some brandy. Went to bed at about midnight.
5 yummy things - single malt whisky (Talisker or The Balvenie), good weed, red leicester on toast with a dash of HP sauce, a proper roast dinner, jelly babies.
5 songs I know by heart - Brown Eyed Girl, Van Morrison (makes me cry, but that happy crying); Brassneck, The Wedding Present; all of the White Album, in fact pretty much all The Beatles' songs; The Saturday Boy, Billy Bragg; 25 Minutes To Go, Johnny Cash.
5 things I would do with a lot of money - I've never had too much money. I haven't been truly poor either, but I've been close and have only recently (at 38) learned how to manage what I earn and make to it last the month. I'll be debt free in 5 months which will make an enormous difference to my life. So, and apologies if this sounds shallow but the first thing I'd do if I suddenly became rich would be to enjoy myself. Really, really enjoy myself. Relax (you know what I mean), unwind, spoil myself and the people I love. A big TV, games systems, all the DVDs and CDs I've always wanted, a DB9. If I lived past the first 6 months I'd want a nice place in the countryside, several actually; one on the Isle of Wight, one in Wiltshire and one in Yorkshire. Then I'd travel; St Petersburg, the Americas, Greece, Italy. Where would one stop? I'd like to do something to keep me busy which might be a little bookshop in York or Kirkstall or an art house cinema. I'd probably become a bit of a philanthropist as well. For example, I want to give something back to the hospice which cared for my dad in his final weeks, nearly 20 years ago now. Places like that never have enough money. We can afford advanced bombs that fly down chimneys and wait for the target to get home from the shops before exploding, we can afford space stations that do nothing but go round and round all day and all night but we can't afford to care for our sick and dying. About a third of the population of the world has to walk more than a mile to get clean water; dirty water causes diarrhoea which is just a nuisance in the west but it kills thousands of people in the developing world. It makes me fucking mad.
5 places to escape to - My space. I'm quite a recluse at heart. I love my family & friends and I see them often but some weekends, probably too many recently, I'll get home at 5 on a Friday afternoon and not speak to another person until I get back to work on Monday. Solitude is important to me. In my flat I have my books, my music, my computer, the TV and satellite box, I eat well, there's always a bottle of something on a shelf and there's usually a Henry or so in my tin. What more do I need? When I go and see my family on the Isle of Wight I always, always take a long walk by the sea either at St Helens or Brook Chine. I prefer it in the winter when there is nobody about and the sea is wild. The sea, the whole of nature is so much bigger and more impressive than anything man has ever made or ever will make. Look at Monet’s Water Lilies. Isn’t it exquisite? I spent about an hour looking at it the first time I saw for real and I still see something new every time. But now look outside at the trees changing colour as autumn advances (pic from Re-Inventing the Wheel), the infinite shades of red, brown and green. Who could paint that? Too few people appreciate the beauty we have all around us and for free as well.
5 things I’d never wear – sandals, anything expensive, white socks, anything else white (except my Let It Be t-shirt & my Yankees shirt. I don't even own a white Spurs shirt. I have a yellow one, a blue one, a stripey purple one - the best shirt we ever had, but not a white one. If you ever see me eat you'll know why. Ex forces personnel (and I believe former public schoolboys) all tend to eat like the plate is about to be snatched away. It's something to do with having to eat crappy food in a short timespan. You just want to get it down so that you can go for a smoke. Or a pull), err spots and stripes I don’t know. Really, clothes are the least important thing in my life. It’s been years since I bought anything new. I have a pullover on at work today because my shirt only has 3 buttons down the front and one of the cuffs is torn, but it works so it’ll do. People worry to much about what they look like. I’d wear my dressing gown 24/7 if I could.
5 favourite TV shows - I'm really falling out of love with the TV. For too many years UK telly has been mediocre at best and I've struggled to find five shows without diving deeply into my memory. But they would be, in no particular order, Family Guy, Simon Schama's History of Britain, South Park, errr the news?; oh and I have a real weakness for those reality cop shows. You know, Road Wars, Worlds Wildest Police Videos, Street Crime UK, I can't get enough of them. Sorry.
5 things I enjoy doing – I try to enjoy most things I do or do mostly things I enjoy. I enjoy reading, writing, pondering the majesty of life, walking in the quiet, discussing the world... that sort of thing.
5 favourite toys - I'm not a big collector of gimmicks and the like. I don't have an i-pod or even a Walkman. My mobile phone is basic, but has a decent camera and does the job. I have a Roberts R986 which is tiny and goes everywhere with me. I have the South Park figures, Jay & Silent Bob figures, a full set of Battle and the Planet figures from Japan, Bagpuss and one of the mice, John Lennon and a Blue Meanie all sat on a bookshelf by a Living Reef but not much else (actually that's quite a lot of man-crap isn't it). My 5 favourite things are my Mont Blanc pen, my Zippo, a copy of η Πολιτεία του Πλάτωνος beautifully bound in green leather, my dad’s old RAF textbooks and the box I keep my memories in. If my flat were on fire those 5 things and of course my cats would be what I'd save first. I have an emotional bond with each of those items.
Oh tags, I forgot to tag...
I'll tag Emily and Jenn has already tagged Skrambled so I'll just encourage him a bit more. Any passing stranger should have ago. Introduce yourself.
posted by phylos @ 15:25
1 Comments:
Shepherd's pie is all about the basics. OK, it was peasants food 300 years ago, but it doesn't have to be now. Use about one third minced lamb, cook this gently first with a roughly chopped onion, then drain off the excess fat and add two thirds beef mince. When the meat is just and I mean just cooked, chuck in a cup or so of stock, turn the heat right down and let it cook through for about 15-20 minutes. (I make my own stock, everyone should. It's not hard it just takes a while and it smells a bit - ok it smells a lot while it's all boiling away.) For the mash, use King Edward spuds and mash them with unsalted butter and full fat milk. Then stir in a good sized teaspoon of wholegrain mustard. When it goes into the oven use an earthenware dish if you can. Cook for about 30 minutes then grate some red leicester cheese on top, turn the heat up a bit and cook for another 10 minutes. It's great comfort food. Trust me. And it goes so well with red wine.
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