You Don't Live Like I Do

1. Of the various cultures, ethnicities or nationalities you belong to, which most strongly do you consider yourself?

British, I suppose. "English" feels a bit too parochial. I would like to say European but that's more an aspiration these days particularly post-Brexit.

2. Is there a culture you cannot claim heritage from but which you feel quite close to?

Technically, Welsh. My mamgu was Welsh and I have a number of second cousins on that branch of the family tree, but we're not close. I've been making an effort to learn and practice the language in recent years, and regularly drive my sister's Welsh husband and my niblings (who understand it but don't speak it) up the wall with my practice.

3. What's one language you wish you knew fluently?

As above, Welsh. Not for any practical reason, I just think it's cool.

4. If you could move anywhere in the world and be guaranteed a job, etc., where would you go?

Brussels. I love the city, I love how European and multicultural it is. It's close enough to the UK for visits. It's the capital of the EU.

5. If you had a time machine, and could witness any one event without altering or disturbing it, what would you want to see?

Hmm. Presumably I'm the only witness and couldn't record it, which means I can't prove it to anyone else. So it'd be something purely for my satisfaction. Part of me wants to see a conspiracy theory come true, like the JFK assassination. But maybe it'd be something like my parents' wedding. I've seen the photos, but it'd be great to have just been there as a bystander and see how happy they were.

From friday_five here:

1. Can you diagram a sentence?

Technically I know what this means, and I expect I could do it, but I don't know the methodology. Breaking up a sentence into clauses, identifying verbs etc. is easy for me.

2. What word do you always spell wrong, no matter what?

"Medicinal", which I always spell (and say) as mecidinal.

3. What word always looks like it's spelled wrong to you but isn’t?

"Phoenix" really feels like it should be "Pheonix".

4. Do you have any little memory games when it comes to similar words, like principle and principal?

Not that I'm aware of.

5. Was grammar something you enjoyed or detested in school?

I loved it, because I was a brainy little swot who could remember it very well, and being correct gave me some small vestige of power and authority over the less brainy people who bullied me.

Now I'm older and more secure in myself. Mostly thanks to cosmolinguist's good influence, I understand that perfect grammatical correctness is a racist tool used for oppression. Between those things I'm a lot less critical of other peoples' spelling and grammar, though I'm always happy to help when somebody wants to get it "right".

• If you could design your life exactly how you'd like, how famous would you be?

I would like to be rich and not at all famous.

• How often would you travel?

I would love to not have a job and travel a lot more than I do. One of my bigger regrets is not having travelled more when it was more convenient to do so.

• How many people would live with you?

I see myself having houses and apartments around the world, travelling there and visiting friends or having them over to stay while I'm in their neck of the woods.

• How often would you eat out at restaurants?

If I were rich enough not to work, I'd probably do a lot more cooking. Eating out for the sake of it doesn't hugely interest me.

• What new hobby would you get into?

I'd love to study music theory, and learn enough about speech and phonetics to be a ventriloquist.

1. What is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?

This is tricky, but I suppose the point of superlatives is to be tricky. Quite possibly the lower chapel of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris - it certainly left an impression.

2. What is your greatest dream in life?

Honestly, I don't have any, any more. There were things I wanted to do - be a parent, get elected as an MP - which I now realise just aren't going to happen. I no longer believe it's possible for people to make a significant difference in the world, no matter how hard they try - I banged my head against this wall for 20 years, and I'm ready to move on. So basically I'm just pottering around enjoying myself until I retire and/or die.

3. What is the best book you have ever read?

This question is the reason it's taken me so long to post this. The answer I keep coming back to, in terms of its influence on me, is Jeffy, the Burglar's Cat. "Think before you act, and wash before you think" indeed.

4. What is your most cherished childhood memory?

Probably aged about 5 or 6 at Christmas, making a Lego space station with my grandparents in the kitchen of my parents' house.

5. What is your best character trait or strength?

Resilience. The last few years would have killed me several times over without it.