5 questions from actionreplay
Nov. 19th, 2009 11:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ailbhe1. What's the coolest place, monument, thing etc that you have ever
visited and why?
2. Do you have a favourite book?
3. Cat or dog person?
4. Have you ever done any sports or martial arts?
5. Do you watch shows like X Factor, Strictly Come Dancing etc and if
so/not, what are your thoughts on them?
1. What's the coolest place, monument, thing etc that you have ever
visited and why?
Um. Just one?
I grew up with Dún Aengus (that Wikipedia article has the nonsense about druids in it, disregard that) so I'll say that one. When I was in my early to mid teens I could go up there for the dawn, there were no fences or barriers - or, of course, paved pathways - and I could just wander up there in the grey and watch the sun rise. I felt really powerful and solitary. A Google images search for the spelling "Dun Aengus" will give you some nice pictures.
After I turned about 14 I developed a very healthy respect for the cliff edge and only approached it crawling low to the ground.
In my mid teens (I forget when) the archaeologists excavating needed a bit of help and I helped sketch and hold measuring poles and put huge lumps of rocks back into the places they came from and so on. I feel really quite special about that.
I was also deeply moved by a single brief visit to Newgrange (not on That Day, no) but it hasn't affected me nearly as much over the course of my life as Dún Aengus has.
I have never brought my children to the Dún because the power of the cliffs frightens me. They are so, so attractive.
(Oh, and I adore Clochán na Carraige, too, and have often sheltered from the rain in it; it's another of the places I used to go in the middle of the night to see sunrise in).
2. Do you have a favourite book?
No, not just one. I'm not a single favourites kind of person. But I have soft spots for books, among them Matilda, and The Bone People, and Sylvester, and Stir Fry.
3. Cat or dog person?
Cat. I have children, they are about as dependent as dogs but will eventually grow up; I find the continuing childlikeness of dogs very weird. I also find them frightening, partially because they are allegedly intelligent yet at least pretending to be subservient. I much prefer cats, who don't ever pretend they think I'm as good as they are.
4. Have you ever done any sports or martial arts?
Nope. I don't think so, anyway. I did a brief self-defense course at school, where I pointed out that it was ridiculous to say that when I was a bit taller moves would work better, but I've generally not been a sports person. I was always slowest at school, and never popular enough to be picked for things, so it wasn't a good scene for me.
I like walking and cycling as a means of transport, and will reach a stage of exercise-bliss while doing them, but hate doing them for their own sake, only if I actually have somewhere to go.
We did some ballroom dancing for a couple of years and I loved that.
5. Do you watch shows like X Factor, Strictly Come Dancing etc and if so/not, what are your thoughts on them?
I have been trying to watch more telly lately and Strictly is something I do actually enjoy fairly often. I saw a bit of X Factor once and found it bewildering. There's a nastiness in the judging of both - to build tension - which I hate; it makes me very uncomfortable. I find it difficult to get into the habit of watching telly though so I often miss the few things I'd be interested in.
visited and why?
2. Do you have a favourite book?
3. Cat or dog person?
4. Have you ever done any sports or martial arts?
5. Do you watch shows like X Factor, Strictly Come Dancing etc and if
so/not, what are your thoughts on them?
1. What's the coolest place, monument, thing etc that you have ever
visited and why?
Um. Just one?
I grew up with Dún Aengus (that Wikipedia article has the nonsense about druids in it, disregard that) so I'll say that one. When I was in my early to mid teens I could go up there for the dawn, there were no fences or barriers - or, of course, paved pathways - and I could just wander up there in the grey and watch the sun rise. I felt really powerful and solitary. A Google images search for the spelling "Dun Aengus" will give you some nice pictures.
After I turned about 14 I developed a very healthy respect for the cliff edge and only approached it crawling low to the ground.
In my mid teens (I forget when) the archaeologists excavating needed a bit of help and I helped sketch and hold measuring poles and put huge lumps of rocks back into the places they came from and so on. I feel really quite special about that.
I was also deeply moved by a single brief visit to Newgrange (not on That Day, no) but it hasn't affected me nearly as much over the course of my life as Dún Aengus has.
I have never brought my children to the Dún because the power of the cliffs frightens me. They are so, so attractive.
(Oh, and I adore Clochán na Carraige, too, and have often sheltered from the rain in it; it's another of the places I used to go in the middle of the night to see sunrise in).
2. Do you have a favourite book?
No, not just one. I'm not a single favourites kind of person. But I have soft spots for books, among them Matilda, and The Bone People, and Sylvester, and Stir Fry.
3. Cat or dog person?
Cat. I have children, they are about as dependent as dogs but will eventually grow up; I find the continuing childlikeness of dogs very weird. I also find them frightening, partially because they are allegedly intelligent yet at least pretending to be subservient. I much prefer cats, who don't ever pretend they think I'm as good as they are.
4. Have you ever done any sports or martial arts?
Nope. I don't think so, anyway. I did a brief self-defense course at school, where I pointed out that it was ridiculous to say that when I was a bit taller moves would work better, but I've generally not been a sports person. I was always slowest at school, and never popular enough to be picked for things, so it wasn't a good scene for me.
I like walking and cycling as a means of transport, and will reach a stage of exercise-bliss while doing them, but hate doing them for their own sake, only if I actually have somewhere to go.
We did some ballroom dancing for a couple of years and I loved that.
5. Do you watch shows like X Factor, Strictly Come Dancing etc and if so/not, what are your thoughts on them?
I have been trying to watch more telly lately and Strictly is something I do actually enjoy fairly often. I saw a bit of X Factor once and found it bewildering. There's a nastiness in the judging of both - to build tension - which I hate; it makes me very uncomfortable. I find it difficult to get into the habit of watching telly though so I often miss the few things I'd be interested in.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-11-20 12:52 pm (UTC)I never felt like I grew in Dublin, though.
The jellyfish quota varied hugely year to year. We swam at Kilmurvey beach where there were sometimes lots of the harmless pink and blue ones and rarely several of the brownish ones with real trailing tentacles. Also weeny green spider crabs.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-11-20 06:28 pm (UTC)