It's been a while...

I have been busy. But yeah, time to pick up where I left off, with Thursday Thunks. It is now Thursday in England.

1. What is your favourite type of soda (if you drink soda)?

Soda just means fizzy drinks, right? In that case Dr. Pepper. Well actually no, there's this drink called Portello which has 50% more sugar than Coke and is only available in Sri Lanka. It's awesome. Also, just to cover all my bases, my favourite drink with the word 'soda' in it is Cream Soda.

2. Do you believe in astrology? If so, what does your sign say about you?

Hmm, not really. I'm a Scorpio, but if I'm at a stage of boredom so advanced that I'm actually reading horoscopes (probably on the train, in a newspaper I've picked up) then I'll tend to just read all of them and pick one that seems relevant to my life. Or, for a more entertaining use of my time, I'll just read the cartoons again.

3. Who is John Galt?

I googled this and went to the wiki page. This is what I do whenever something confuses me in life. However, I got bored after the first sentence.

4. What is the last thing you do before you go to sleep at night?

Close my eyes. OK fine, you want a non-smartass answer, I plug my phone into its charger.

5. Who's your Daddy?

Um...my dad.

6. Jelly beans or Jelly Bellies?

OK, so I thought maybe Jelly Bellies were some American thing we didn't get over here but once again, googled, and they look exactly the same as jelly beans. Is that the point of the question? Well screw that, I'm going with Jelly Babies. Yeah, now that's a transatlantic reference that YOU don't get. Ha.

7. What do you think about yellow car? Why car manufacturer actually made yellow cars?

And here's another one that I don't get. Well, actually, I have seen this on American TV shows and stuff. Over here though, there's a whole variety of other games that involve being able to legitimately punch your friends. My favourite is the one where you make a ring with your thumb and index finger, and have to make the other person look at it whilst keeping your hand below waist height.

8. Holding on or Letting go?

In theory the latter but in practice the former.

9. What kind of underwear, if any, do you wear?

Clean.

10. Who is your daddy and what does he do?

Huh, obsessive much? He did something with computers, now he's retired.

11. Spring - is it here yet??

Yes. Because the midges are out, and soon I won't be able to open my window in the evenings without experiencing my very own 3rd plague of Egypt.

12. Does Google Streetview scare you?

No, the Ebola virus scares me. If someone knows where I live anyway, there's a lot worse they can do than look at a picture of my house on their computer.

13. What is your favourite brand of ice cream?

Ben & Jerry's. My favourite flavour is not by them, but I like them best overall.

14. What is your favourite flavour of ice cream?

Haagen-Dazs Pralines & Cream.

15. Do you ever get tired of your everyday routine?

I tend not to keep one for very long, such is the life of a student. But sometimes, some parts, yes. But that's generally because they're dull and/or unpleasant rather than just because they're routine.

16. What inspires you?

Hmm. Being creative? Making people laugh? Some combination thereof? Alternatively, my friends.

17. It’s springtime-do you spend more time outdoors?

Only if there are sufficiently few midges.

18. When do you think Bud will let us see the DVD of him and the french twins?

As soon as he's figured out an appropriate pricing strategy.

19. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you, and why?

London, because it's awesome and I'm unadventurous and all my friends live there. If I was a little braver I'd say New York for a year or two just so I could see all the seasons, and maybe Hong Kong again for a bit longer than last time, if the right people were there with me.

20. Why do you blog?

Because my mother never hugs me. No that's not true, the woman is like a bear. I think the reason is whatever I said in my first post however many weeks ago - I made a new year's resolution to write more stuff, and I'm an attention-seeking prick.

21. What are electrolytes and why are they good for us?

As a (former) science student I can say that electrolytes are electricity-conducting substances containing free ions. That is all.

22. Do you twitter? Why or why not?

No, because I really cannot be bothered to figure it out. However I do occasionally look at the pages of certain celebrities, notably Seth Rogen, who is one of my idols, and Christopher Walken, who is a living god.

23. What did you dream last night?

Dammit. I never usually remember when I wake up, but today I did. And now I don't. Well this'll eat at my brain for a good few hours.

24. What is the strangest thing you've eaten?

Donkey, in China. Tasted like beef.

25. What was the last picture that you took?

My friend sitting in the boot of my other friend's Smart car.

26. what is your favorite part of spring?

The combination of the sunshine and the breeze.

27. what is one thing that you did this past week that no one knows about?

I bought a new toothbrush.

28. What kind of bandages do you typically have in your household?

None, as far as I know. There's plasters though.

Whoa...

...it's Thursday again?! This confirms my theory that my life is racing ahead without me and spiralling out of control. Or something. Anyway, Thursday Thunks:

1. This cat - scary or cute?

Good god. Who finds that cute?! That almost makes me scared of cats. I accuse this meme of having a subliminal anti-feline agenda.

2. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes reproducing again. Good idea or don't care?

Not really bothered.

3. Do you smile at strangers when you make eye contact?

Only if they smile first. Otherwise I look away frantically and hope they don't stab me.

4. What percentage of your sarcasm isn't really sarcasm at all?

All of it, dumbass. Oooh, now you don't know if that was sarcasm or not. And if it was, was it real? THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR PLAYING MIND GAMES WITH ME.

5. If you were to be a dog breed, which breed would you be?

I dislike dogs. We've been over this before. But meh, fine, labrador.

6. Go grab the closest book. Open up to page 27. Whats the 4th sentence?

"I beam at him."

7. When's the last time someone put one over on you, told you a story that you totally fell for when it wasn't anywhere near true?

Sadly the page no longer appears to be online, but it was that fake BBC News article about zombies in Cambodia.

8. Ever seen Michael Jackson in person?

No. I think if I did I might cry.

9. Do you have a gut?

I...huh? Yes, I do. But is this answer not gonna be yes for most people, and a horrific and uncomfortable reminder for the remainder?

10. What is one thing in your kitchen you have too many/too much of?

Washing up liquid. Don't worry, I'm aware that this is not for consumption. But my point is the stuff takes damn years to finish.

11. Ever had a colon cleansing?

What the hell is this? It sounds like a really disturbing pick-up line.

And we're done til next week. Which will probably be tomorrow in my brain. Argh I'm going insane.

Sunday Stealing

Another meme today: Sunday Stealing: The Procrastination Tool Meme.  This one appears to be designed to take up a whole bunch of my time, and since I'm avoiding some rather dull work, I could not be more pleased. Let's begin.

1. What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?

Gourmet Burger Kitchen. Dunno if they have that exact chain in the States but seriously, the blue cheese sauce is like crack.

2. What food could you eat for 2 weeks straight and not get sick of it?

Pretty much any food that I like. I'm strange that way, I may be one of the dullest people you will ever meet foodwise. But since I feel compelled to give a specific answer, I'll go with peanut butter sandwiches since I ate that for 14 years straight, until they had to take it away from me.

3. Have you ever had anything removed from your body?

Ow, no. Touch wood.

4. What is the last heavy item you lifted?

A box containing several hundred extremely cheap scarves, gloves and handbags. I have strange friends.

5. Have you ever been knocked unconscious?

Nuhuh. I may have passed out drunk, does that count? Although in those situations I can never tell the difference between passing out and just falling asleep...

6. If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?

Hell no. For all the obvious reasons.

7. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?

You know, I think by this point I actually wouldn't bother. I'm used to my name, it works, and anything cool I tried to think up would end up overshooting just that little bit into lame.

8. What’s your goal for the year?

I had two, to write more stuff (going well, as mentioned) and to learn to sing and play the guitar at the same time. That one was going alright but then I left my guitar in my best friend's room about a month ago after an unsuccessful duetting attempt.

9. Last person you hugged?

The Grace to my Will (not actually gay though, for the record), couple days ago.

10. First place you went this morning?

Shower. Can't function very well before then.

11. Do you always answer your phone?

If I realise it's ringing then yes, with exceptions: tend to ignore family when out with friends, tend to ignore friends when in the car with family, sometimes ignore unknown numbers depending on my mood.

12. It’s four in the morning and you get a text message, who is it?

This could actually be any number of people. I know at least one insomniac, a couple of people who are often drunk, and someone who is currently somewhere in the world where 4 in the morning my time would be noon.

13. If you could change your eye color what would it be?

Judging by the coloured contacts I bought in Hong Kong, an unnatural shade of blue.

14. What’s on your wish list for your birthday?

Wow, I never even know this a week before the day, let alone 8 months. I guess a car would be nice, I'm lucky enough that I seem to have most smaller things that I want.

15. Does the future make you more nervous or excited?

Both. The idea of living with at least one of my friends, and the slightly more distant possibility of living with a bunch of them, Friends-style, makes me very happy. Career-wise, if my future is as a writer, then definitely excited, otherwise nervous.

16. Do you have any saved texts?

Couple hundred. I've had my phone for a little over 2 years and have kept almost every text that's seriously amused me in that time (So many phone references today, sorry Tilli).

17. Ever been in a car wreck?

No. Again, touch wood.

18. Do you have an accent?

I don't think so. London-ish if anything, innit mate.

19. What was the last song to make you cry?

When I was about 7 "Fairground" by Simply Red used to make me really really sad, cos of things I associated it with, I probably did cry a couple times. I don't think I've cried for quite a few years now, although a few films and one song get me close to it. That one song, by way of an answer to this question, is "Tears in Heaven".

20. What did you do last night?

I had dinner with a friend, then came back to my room with the intention of working and spent a couple hours rediscovering the best songs of the early 90's with another friend on MSN.

21. Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom?

I think so, bit more than a year ago. Got a lot better. Sounds corny as fuck, but you can never be at rock bottom as long you have friends.

22. Current hate right now?

Essays.

23. Met someone who changed your life?

Repeatedly, mostly between the years 2003 and 2006.

24. How did you bring in the New Year?

With my family, halfway across the world, at some sort of seafood buffet dinner dance with a lot of over-50 year olds. It was actually somewhat dull, until idiotic drunken freshies started playing with fireworks and I had to protect my little brother. I think next year I may be in London for once, yay!

25. What song represents you?

Geto Boys - "Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta". No, I don't REALLY think I'm a gangsta. It's just such a laid back song.

That was fun, go play!