Monday 20 October 2008

Meme-o-rama

I've been tagged by the grotto of delight that is Perfume Shrine, and after trying to think of things about myself that I haven't already said (I'm hardly Mrs Enigmatic) here we go.

Six random things about me :

a)I am allergic to Metronidazole. Never heard of it? Neither had I, until I was prescribed it and nearly died. I persisted in taking it even while the migraine, double vision and swollen joints threatened to cripple me. I thought because it was an antibiotic it would make me feel better. Oddly the fact that I could no longer feel my extremities as I crawled to the loo didn't tip me off.

b) I make the finest, crunchiest, most golden roast potatoes in the world. I will take on all comers. The secret, sadly if you're a vegetarian, is goose fat.

c) Back in my Air France days Omar Sharif once sent me a postcard thanking me for getting him from Cairo to Nice during a baggage-handlers' strike. It wasn't easy, I can tell you. I had to reroute the poor man via Paris AND Amsterdam. At least he was in Club.

d) I was interviewed on Radio 4 a while back about the preponderence of parody books (Bored Of The Rings, The Va Dinci Cod, Barry Trotter et al) in the run-up to Christmas. While I had a fabulous speech all prepared about parody being one of the oldest forms of humour, it was reduced to about 45 seconds in total (including "candid" background noise of me at the till) on air. I got my name read out though! Have also accidentally been interviewed on TV twice but have already covered that...

e) When I was 7 I invented knitting. No lie. Casting on, and everything. My grandmother had to kindly explain to me that it had been around since the egyptians. I still invented it, though...

f) I have double-jointed fingers and can bend them back like a Thai dancer. While this was great when I was at school, making me top pick in certain rarefied gym activities (I can balance a netball on the back of my hand like nobody else), apparently it means I'll have terrible arthritis later in life. Never a silver lining without a cloud, eh? Also means I have to be careful when gesturing, as there's a fine line that separates graceful Pavlova hands from weird bendy E.T. hands... see bottom right.

I'm making myself popular by tagging Steve, JRSM, Reluctant Blogger, Can Bass 1, Scentself, and of course Laura because she just can't get enough memes (snicker). I would have tagged Mantua Maker and Titian-Red but neither of them has a blog (yet).


1. Link to the person who tagged you

2. Post the rules on your blog

3. Write six random things about yourself

4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them
5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

24 comments:

Can Bass 1 said...

Oh God!

Lucy Fishwife said...

Yes, but you may call me Lucy.

Perfumeshrine said...

Even the comment here was funny!!
And the knitting comment is precious. (aren't kids cute!)

Amazing about the fingers, had no idea people without training could do the Thai dancer thing! My fingers (and palms) are made of steel thanks to years of extreme piano practice and I can reach a mean 10-keys in one stretch but I could never bend them backwards no matter how hard I tried. I can think of lots of uses for them, although arthritis sounds gruesome (ouch).

Congrats on the credit: for them to do that while cutting back most of your speech means they felt the need to credit some phrase of brilliance (you should divulge!)

And were Sharif's eyes as hypnotising as they seem on screen? (mmm)

PS. "boozehound daughter of the Man From Del Monte": LOL :))

Lucy Fishwife said...

Not sure where I inherited the weird hands from! As well as the netball-balancing I was in frequent demand to gross people out with my ET impressions. I can barely remember what I said on the radio - may have to go home and listen to the CD they thoughtfully sent me! I wish I had actually seen Omar Sharif in the flesh - we spent a cosy hour on the phone but I can state he has a very charming phone manner. I just closed my eyes and imagined him in a troika...

Titian red said...

Thank you for the potential tagging - I feel very honoured, and is that the sound of a mitten being cast down that I hear ?
I may, one day, feel brave enough to venture into the realms of technology (even if it means borrowing a tame teenager) but as I have just made leek and potato soup that tasted of slightly oniony wallpaper paste, I feel very despondant so it won't be today - oh, and Adam Dalgliesh is on television - another one with a "high brow" I sense a theme ....?

Titian red said...

Oh hells teeth - now the gloom is greater still - "despondent"

Lucy Fishwife said...

Hmmm Adam Dalgliesh.. just realised that most of my fictional crushes (post Knightley) are linked by being either policemen/private eyes or total villains. Not a poet or architect among them.
It is a testament to how hungry I am that my stomach rumbled at the thought of onion flavoured wallpaper paste.
Go on, do a blog! It's the new black. Anyone who beats themselves up over accidental errors of spelling and punctuation is a natural.

Lucy Fishwife said...

P.S. Obviously I meant Mr, not Keira.

Anonymous said...

haha you had me wondering there re Keira! Not that she does anything for me.

My mother swears by the goose fat thing too and her roasties are always dead good.

That thing with your fingers sounds horrid and yet intriguing. I don't have bendy anythings sadly.

Thank you for the tag though - I will address it forthwith. Well, later in the week. I set myself little worky targets before I am allowed to blog!!!

I brought some cheese along anyway - so do help yourself. Forgot to bring any little crackers but I am happy to eat it neat if you are.

The Poet Laura-eate said...

How annoying about your Radio 4 appearance being both chopped and dumbed down Lucy - one would expect, nay demand better from R4!

Not sure if I've got the fingers to compete (is that why you're so good at knitting)? but I might struggle to come up with six things about myself in due course.

Lx

Lucy Fishwife said...

RB - goose fat is the best thing ever! Although at a pinch one could use lard (there has to be SOME use for it). I am now worried that I've made my hands sound gruesome. They're not that bad - they look as though I could possibly play an instrument if I had a scrap of musical ability.
Keira Knightley - bit like SJP - exists only as a supposedly aspirational role model for straight women who think they're fat. I have never yet met anyone who fancies her, gay or straight. And unlike SJP she doesn't even have a following of gay men who think she's fabulous.

Laura - I'm a sucker for a meme. It's the blog equivalent of playing "Truth or Dare" at a sleepover. I'll bring the knitting, you bring the ouija board. RB can bring cheese - I have oatcakes already!

Steve said...

I concur most definitely with the goose fat (or goose fart as my botched typing initially came up with). I shall start thinking now and respond to your meme as soon as my thoughts bear fruit... the tree of mis-knowledge probably...!

JRSM said...

Done! http://causticcovercritic.blogspot.com/2008/10/simple-but-effective-plus-meme.html

Titian red said...

The challenge is accepted - at this very moment I am chewing the end of my (metaphorical) pen as I decide what pearls of wisdom to cast onto the virgin page - actually it is more like that ghastly moment in any exam when you realise all the blank paper has to be filled and you know nothing !

Tim Atkinson said...

Good job you didn't tag me - everything about my life is random at the moment!

Lucy Fishwife said...

Steve - Fruit! Just the thing to go with the cheese, oatcakes, knitting and ouija board!

JRSM - That was amazingly quick, and worryingly full of interesting facts. Who were you engaged to at 6? I had just broken off a doomed romance with Asterix.

T-R - Doesn't it feel good to take the plunge? It's like moving into a new house and decorating from scratch!

Dotterel - You'll be next! And you may not mention Palestrina...

Titian red said...

Anything I should sniff by proxy whilst in Milan ? Parfum de Maven, Scent Size Zero ?

Steve said...

Tag up and running, m'dear...

Lucy Fishwife said...

TR - Oooh Milan. Try those Prada special editions that Luca Turin is slightly sniffy about. I'm not holding out much hope but they may be worth a smell? Have a fabulous time. Last time I was there on a hen weekend I was the only person who didn't buy a handbag (not much of a bag person and I was the only one who wasn't a management consultant or banker).

Steve - on my way!

Anonymous said...

I did it at last. I did cheat a bit but you know how it is - I didn't really have any secrets left.

Far too early for wine or cheese really isn't it? I'm still firing up with strong coffee. Would you like a cup?

Brother Tobias said...

Mmm, your roast potatoes sound wonderful (ours never seem to come out quite right, even with goose fat. I don't think the stove gets hot enough).

Hope you kept the Omar Sharif postcard? (I'm worried about you imagining him in a troika...or am I confusing group sex and sledges?)

Tristan said...

Thanks for the visit to my 6 'me facts'. I know a contract lawyer if you ever do meet a genie, although I strongly suspect that genies may not be bound by British law. EU law maybe...

Anonymous said...

Omar Sharif .... sigh. I lost my heart to him when I saw "Dr. Zhivago." I was 16 and it was true love. That week, anyway.

Must go watch it again.

librarylizzie said...

Hello Ms. Fishwife

I came across your blog via can bass 1, and was thrilled to see your fingers in the your 6 random things. My 6 randon things included not just my double-jointed fingers, but elbows and ankles too.....welcome to the select club of weird-jointed folk.
I also stayed in E M Nesbit's home in St Mary's Bay one holiday when I was about 14. Thee and me must be soulmates!