Stolen filler content

I’m stealing this from Saoirse, who in turn stole it from someone or other.

1. For a person you loved deeply, would you be willing to move to a distant country knowing there would be little chance of seeing your friends or family again?

Hmmph – not hugely keen on the idea – not for more than a couple of years anyway. Can’t I just persuade them to move to me?

2. Do you believe in ghosts and evil spirits? Would you be willing to spend a night alone in a remote house that is supposedly haunted?

No, and sure. It should be structurally sound, adequately protected by a locked door and fitted with a smoke alarm, though.

3. If you could spend one year in perfect happiness but afterward would remember nothing of the experience, would you do so?

No, I don’t think so. I’m suspicious of ‘perfect happiness’ – it sounds unhealthy.

4. If a new medicine was developed that would cure arthritis but cause a fatal reaction in 1% of those who took it, would you want it to be released to the public?

With the risks advertised, of course.

5. You discover your wonderful 1 yr old child is, because of a mixup at the hospital, not yours. Would you want to exchange the child to try to correct the mistake?

By that point, probably best not. Ideally you could all becomes friends anyway

6. Do you think the world will be a better or a worse place 100 years from now?

Better. Though teenagers will be ‘much more badly behaved than my day…’

7. Would you rather be a member of a world championship team or be the champion of an individual sport? What sport would you choose?

Erm, a sport that’s obscure enough to allow me to carry on with my very unsporty life in peace. Extreme ironing.

8. Would you accept $1 million to leave the country and never set foot in it again?

Not a chance.

9. Which sex do you think has it easier in our culture? Have you ever wished you were of the opposite sex?

“All else being equal, to be born male is to inherit legacies of entitlement that continue to outweigh those bestowed on those born female. Yet the state of maleness carries its own burden of expectations and constraints.” (Dave Hill) And not ‘wished’, but certainly wondered!

10. You are given the power to kill people simply by thinking of their deaths and twice repeating the word “goodbye”. People would die a natural death and no one would suspect you. Are there any situations in which you would use this power?

Apart from self-defence, I think it would be much better not to.

11. If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the body or the mind of a 30 yr old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you want?

The mind, although I’d rather it settled on 45 or so!

12. What would constitute a “perfect” evening for you?

Discussing interesting things with wonderful people. Over drinks. On holiday.

13. Would you rather be extremely successful professionally & have a tolerable yet unexciting private life, or have an extremely happy private life and only a tolerable and uninspiring professional life?

Can you really separate the two? But I suppose the later…

14. Whom do you admire most? In what way does that person inspire you?

Oh I admire oodles of people. Maya sticks out, for one, for her perfect distillation of goodness.

15. If at birth you could select the profession your child would eventually pursue, would you do so?

No! I don’t even know what profession I’m meant to be pursuing, let alone my poor hypothetical child.

16. Would you be willing to become extremely ugly physically if it meant you would live for 1,000 years at any physical age you chose?

No. That would be silly.

17. If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one ability or quality, what would it be?

Perusasiveness

18. You have the chance to meet someone with whom you can have the most satisfying love imaginable- the stuff of dreams. Sadly, you know that in 6 months the person will die. Knowing the pain that would follow, would you still want to meet the person and fall in love?

I don’t need to meet anyone else

19. What if you knew your lover would not die, but instead would betray you?

Ditto!

20. If you knew of a way to use your estate, following your death, to greatly benefit humanity, would you do it and leave only a minimal amount to your family?

Naturally – hopefully my family would be self-sufficient by that point!

21. Do you prefer being around men or women? Do your closest friends tend to be men or women?

I prefer mixed groups, and I think my closest friends form a fairly even spread.

22. If you could use a voodoo doll to hurt anyone you chose, would you?

Apparently, in experiments, those who have the opportunity to inflict revenge of others end up unhappier than those who don’t. So, no. Anyway, with a real working voodoo doll I’d be too busy discovering a fantastic new branch of science!

23. While on a trip to another city, your spouse (or lover) meets and spends the night with an exciting stranger. Given that they will never meet again, and that you will not otherwise learn of the incident, would you want your partner to tell you about it?

Haha – I think I’d demand that they take me to meet said exciting stranger!

24. If the roles were reversed, would you reveal what you had done?

Yes – otherwise it would be like permanent multitasking, and that would kill me. “What shall we have for dinner?” “I didn’t… I mean, it was just one night… I mean, chicken!”

25. Are there people you envy enough to want to trade lives with them?

No.

26. For an all expense paid 1 week vacation anywhere in the world, would you be willing to kill a beautiful butterfly by pulling off its wings?

I’m not sure I trust whoever’s offering me such a deal to go through with it

27. What about stepping on a cockroach?

To be honest, I can pay for my own holidays, it’s fine. No deal.

28. Would you be willing to murder an innocent person if it would end hunger in the world?

Oh, blimey. I’m going to get out on a cheap technically by arguing that ending hunger as a bodily mechanism would be a disaster, because no-one would know when to eat, and subsequently die.

29. If God appeared to you in a series of vivid and moving dreams and told you to leave everything behind, travel alone to the Red Sea and become a fisherman, what would you do?

Probably blog in a bemused fashion about it! (Seems a bit unfair on poor Sanna to be the one getting the dreams, though.)

30. What if you were told to sacrifice your child?

Nope, still set on the blogging plan.

31. What is your most treasured memory?

Edgar giving me a lift in his car: the highest approach up the icy slopes of ‘cool’ I’ve ever made.

32. Have you ever hated anyone? If so, why and for how long?

Not really.

33. Would you rather be given $10,000 for your own use or $100,000 to give anonymously to strangers?

To be fair, if you could select which strangers get the money, the latter could be really fun…

34. If you knew there would be nuclear war in 1 week, what would you do?

Stop paying for National Rail tickets.

35. Would you accept 20 years of extraordinary happiness and fulfillment if it meant you would die at the end of the period?

No! Am I not trusted to find extraordinary happiness and fulfilment on my own?

36. What is the greatest accomplishment of your life?

Getting into the B3ta newsletter, obviously.

37. Is there anything you hope to do that is even better?

I was going to flippantly say no, but it would be quite cool to be the person who sorted out the trains once and for all

38. Would you give up half of what you now own for a pill that would permanently change you so that 1 hour of sleep each day would fully refresh you?

I wouldn’t, but largely because of the ‘give up half of what you now own’ clause. The idea is certainly interesting

39. If you knew you could devote yourself to any single occupation- music, writing, acting, business, politics, medicine, etc- and be among the best and most successful in the world at it, what would you choose?

Politics

40. If you knew you had only a 10% chance of being so successful would you still put in the effort?

Probably not. I don’t think I’d enjoy the process.

41. If you went to a dinner party and were offered a dish you had never tried, would you want to taste it even if it sounded strange and not very appealing?

Those who know me already know the answer to this one: no. I’d ask for biscuits instead.

42. Do your close friends tend to be older or younger than you?

My close regularly-encountered friends tend to be either around the age or younger, with one magnificent exception. But I do cherish those much older people who give me the time of day.

43. If the person you were engaged to marry had an accident and became a parapelegic, would you go through with the marriage or back out of it?

Wouldn’t everyone like to think they’d go through with it?

44. Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire; after saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save any 1 item. What would it be?

My compact portable backup hard-drive!

45. How would you react if you were to learn that your mate had had a lover of the same sex before you knew each other?

Is this my friend ‘mate’ or my lover ‘mate’? Either way, I’d high-five to modern sexual mores and then ask him or her to pass the tea.

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3 Comments on :
Stolen filler content

  1. Lucy says:

    Oh you were nice to me in your quiz. I made horrible jibes about making you breakfast. I am a bad person. xxxxx

    But quite funny.

  2. Andy says:

    As if this is kicking around so soon after my blog has vanished

    Facebook note, me thinks.

  3. Abbi says:

    I love how different we all are… you are uber practical, Sanna goes for yes or no answers, Lucy is our resident romantic and well Jen and I have to philosophise to essay length on everything!

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