Ask and you shall receive
I have been questioned by thymelady. Below the cut are answers for the incurably curious, if their main topic of interest is me at any rate.
1. Concert or theatre, if you must chose. Why?
This was going to be quite easy to answer - and then the BBC red button came up announcing a Manics gig, and now, watching James, my attraction to whom is not the easiest thing to explain but never wanes, my response is immediately more difficult. They’ve just done You Stole the Sun From My Heart, and the thought of never shouting and pointing at Bradfield all the way through that again? Argh. The days are gone (for now) when he’d sing it back to me and wink, because I’ve been a bad fan recently, but I could have that back if I put the effort in.
But would I give up seeing Frankenstein for them? No more Greek tragedy, no more Wilde or Coward or Ayckbourn or Bennett? No, I don’t think I could. My enjoyment and appreciation of drama continues to grow, and now is a great time to indulge.
2. Tell us about a book that made a profound impact or actually changed your life.
There are a lot of books that have stayed with me and that I want for every child to read, because I think you come out the other side a better, more considerate person, but strangely, they’re all ones I read more recently, when they didn’t change my view on something, just reinforced it, so this is tricky. I hope this answer isn’t more frivolous than the question suggests: I was probably always doomed to be a Classicist, and I definitely had strong foundations well before then, but at eleven, when I was hiding away in the library another lunchtime, I found a copy of The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis, and I retreated into the Rome of the 70s AD. Ancient history became a large part of my recreational activities as well as my academic ones, and from that day to this, almost every book I’ve read for pleasure has been some kind of historical mystery. Because I spend so much of my free time in the past, my value system and my vocabulary aren’t quite the norm. I know it makes me odd, moreso in real life than on the internet, but I don’t care very much about that anymore.
3. Is Cumberbatch Teh Sex as Sherlock or do you have a dream role for him? ;-)
Benedict is, to me, much more attractive when being Benedict. I love him red-haired and not-too-thin. He’s beautiful as Sherlock, but in an untouchable sort of way, which is amazing when, as he really is, my first response is ‘I WANT TO HUG YOU NAO!’ (unless he’s making eyes at the camera, and then the response is equally tactile but somewhat less family-friendly).
If we’re looking for a role in which he could be very sexy indeed in an evil and devious way, my dream casting for him is as the tall, elegant, auburn Francis Xonck in The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters. Guh.
4. Could you see yourself living in another country?
No, not really. I love Italy - it’s beautiful; the light makes my heart swell; the food’s incredible, and there can never be too many Roman ruins for my taste, but I’m an Anglophile. I couldn’t leave behind the theatre, what’s left of the music scene and, tragically, the telly.
5. Favourite animal?
Cats. Penguins are a close second, but I have far more to do with cats, and they, discerningly, with me. I saw an icon somewhere once that said something like ‘in ancient Egypt, cats were worshiped as gods - they have never forgotten this’. Nor should they be expected to do so.
If you'd like me to vex you with your own quintet of queries, ask away.
1. Concert or theatre, if you must chose. Why?
This was going to be quite easy to answer - and then the BBC red button came up announcing a Manics gig, and now, watching James, my attraction to whom is not the easiest thing to explain but never wanes, my response is immediately more difficult. They’ve just done You Stole the Sun From My Heart, and the thought of never shouting and pointing at Bradfield all the way through that again? Argh. The days are gone (for now) when he’d sing it back to me and wink, because I’ve been a bad fan recently, but I could have that back if I put the effort in.
But would I give up seeing Frankenstein for them? No more Greek tragedy, no more Wilde or Coward or Ayckbourn or Bennett? No, I don’t think I could. My enjoyment and appreciation of drama continues to grow, and now is a great time to indulge.
2. Tell us about a book that made a profound impact or actually changed your life.
There are a lot of books that have stayed with me and that I want for every child to read, because I think you come out the other side a better, more considerate person, but strangely, they’re all ones I read more recently, when they didn’t change my view on something, just reinforced it, so this is tricky. I hope this answer isn’t more frivolous than the question suggests: I was probably always doomed to be a Classicist, and I definitely had strong foundations well before then, but at eleven, when I was hiding away in the library another lunchtime, I found a copy of The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis, and I retreated into the Rome of the 70s AD. Ancient history became a large part of my recreational activities as well as my academic ones, and from that day to this, almost every book I’ve read for pleasure has been some kind of historical mystery. Because I spend so much of my free time in the past, my value system and my vocabulary aren’t quite the norm. I know it makes me odd, moreso in real life than on the internet, but I don’t care very much about that anymore.
3. Is Cumberbatch Teh Sex as Sherlock or do you have a dream role for him? ;-)
Benedict is, to me, much more attractive when being Benedict. I love him red-haired and not-too-thin. He’s beautiful as Sherlock, but in an untouchable sort of way, which is amazing when, as he really is, my first response is ‘I WANT TO HUG YOU NAO!’ (unless he’s making eyes at the camera, and then the response is equally tactile but somewhat less family-friendly).
If we’re looking for a role in which he could be very sexy indeed in an evil and devious way, my dream casting for him is as the tall, elegant, auburn Francis Xonck in The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters. Guh.
4. Could you see yourself living in another country?
No, not really. I love Italy - it’s beautiful; the light makes my heart swell; the food’s incredible, and there can never be too many Roman ruins for my taste, but I’m an Anglophile. I couldn’t leave behind the theatre, what’s left of the music scene and, tragically, the telly.
5. Favourite animal?
Cats. Penguins are a close second, but I have far more to do with cats, and they, discerningly, with me. I saw an icon somewhere once that said something like ‘in ancient Egypt, cats were worshiped as gods - they have never forgotten this’. Nor should they be expected to do so.
If you'd like me to vex you with your own quintet of queries, ask away.