Completely bizarre and random list of favourites (these Americans can’t spell properly, you know) found over at Milan To Minsk, which just out of sheer bloody-mindedness, I have decided to treat as a meme.

I am not changing the questions at all from the original, but obviously the answers will, in many cases, be different to the original.

If you don’t like all this meme nonsense, now is the time not to read on…

Drink:

Theakston’s Old Peculier (alcoholic); Diet Cherry Coke (non-alcoholic)

Appetizer:

Hmm. Anything with smoked salmon is nice. Or maybe nacho chips with cheese

Blog software:

Wordpress, definitely. Mostly because I’ve only really used Wordpress and Blogger, and the great thing about Wordpress is it works for you so much — particularly with the recent release — that you hardly notice the admin interface

Web browser:

Firefox, just for the sheer number of useful plugins. As a browser, I prefer Opera, but Firefox allows me to adblock, control cookie permissions, control javascript, carry out FTP stuff, check which country a site is hosted in, check the page rank of a site and so on and so forth, as well as having an enormous great pile of web developer tools. Oh, and I think PicLens is really cool looking but I’ve yet to find a circumstance where it’s actually been of benefit.

Mascara:

Ooh, that’s a tricky one. Even when I was in my “metal head with slight nod to goth” university clubbing garb, I still didn’t wear makeup. So I’ll go for the cheapest one, whichever that is.

Book:

Favourite book is always a tricky one. Normally I’m minded to name whichever book I have just finished most recently. Also at this point I feel you’re supposed to put down a book which deals with ‘big issues’ instead of some escapist fantasy trash. So I’ll go for some decent escapist fiction: the crime/dark comedy The Sacred Art of Stealing by Christopher Brookmyre. (Great writer).

City attraction:

…other than pubs, you mean? Zoos. Particularly if they have somewhere where you can watch penguins swim. They are incredibly ungainly animals on the land but beautiful and graceful in the water. But I also like anything ‘historical’, so I’m quite a fan of things like the Roman Wall (Vindolanda, about an hour from me).

Cheese:

I always eat my cheese very Caerphilly. Ho ho. Caerphilly, Wensleydale, Lancashire, Mild Cheddar. I’m happy with most cheeses as long as they aren’t too strong and don’t have mould in them. I’m a firm believer that we aren’t supposed to eat mould.

80s movie:

I dunno. I can’t think of any film that has stood out more than any other from that era. Alien would have been my choice, but was 1979. Either Return of the Jedi or Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom, both of which I loved as a kid.

Breakfast:

Bacon sarnie, ideally. Usually a couple of slices of toast.

Time waster:

Blogging, watching telly, chilling out with the GLW on an evening. Sometimes all three at the same time.

Moment of the day:

Good moment: visiting the dentist this morning and unusually actually having my appointment within 30 minutes of the appointment time, rather than the usual hour-and-a-half wait. Bad moment: seeing what looked like a very serious accident just up the road from my house (no traffic movement, ambulance and police cars in attendance, lots of flashing lights

Solution to depression:

Doing something fun. Might involve going out for a few beers with my mates, might involve watching comedy, might involve playing with the kids. I always go to sleep with the telly on, just to give my mind something to tick over with, otherwise I get the thanatophobia heebie-jeebies.

Family member:

I love everybody.

UK Blogger:

There’s a number of them, but one who gives me a window into entire vistas that I wouldn’t otherwise experience is Paul, as otherwise I would be completely unaware of various issues surrounding deportations, gay issues and the like. And that’s what I like about that blog: it’s things I wouldn’t otherwise have found out about.

Emergency meal:

What’s an emergency meal? When you’ve not got much in? Probably tuna pasta bake: tuna, tomatoes, pasta, cheese.

Favorite restaurant:

The Imperial Chinese Restaurant, Low Fell. I’ve been going there for a number of years, and the staff are always very friendly, and the food is always very nice. And they’re great with our kids.

Hoodie:

I’m afraid I don’t own any ‘hoodies’. To me, it sounds only one step away from “hangin’ with my homies”. And I’m just not down wit’ der yoof no more. To be honest, I wasn’t even down with the yoof when I was a yoof…

Bottled water:

Nope. Tap water. It’s just like bottled water only it isn’t a complete rip-off.

Chore:

Favourite chore? Probably cooking. But as that doesn’t seem like a ‘chore’, I’ll go for ‘hanging clothes up’. Shannon — how’s that for a deal, if you wash & iron, I’ll put the clothes away?