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- What is a place you have visited, or want to visit, that starts with D?
I have been to Denmark. Copenhagen, specifically, with the bloke. It was a work trip for him and a jolly for me, before the kids. I brought the dSLR and had a wonderful time exploring the city (https://nanila.dreamwidth.org/tag/copenhagen).
I have also been to Dubai. Well, just the airport to transit through to India or Africa. But honestly, that was enough to assure me that that was the maximum amount of time I ever wanted to spend there. It's not my kind of place. - What is a food that you like, or don't like, that starts with R?
A lot of foods I like start with the letter R: rice, ramen, risotto, roasties, ravioli, raspberries. I don't know how to prepare risotto or ravioli myself, so they're a real treat on the rare occasions when I go out to eat. The others, we prepare and eat regularly. (He makes the best roasties.) - Own anything that starts with the letter M?
Makeup and masks. I had to think for a little while about this, and I might not have remembered the masks if this year's departmental ball had not been masquerade-themed. - Know anyone whose name (first, middle, or last) that starts with N?
Yes. Er, that's all I have. This question was rather less evocative of an interesting reflection than the others for me, sorry. - Favourite movie, book, TV show, or song whose title starts with T?
Oh goody. This lets me talk about Tom Yum Goong, one of Tony Jaa's films. I wrote a long loony fangirl post about Tony Jaa 16 years ago (https://nanila.dreamwidth.org/777069.html). He's an actor and an athlete, expert in multiple forms of martial arts and parkour. He's also 5’6”, which makes scenes like this one where he kicks the light out of a lamppost all the more impressive.
(Tony Jaa kicks the light out of a lamp-post, YouTube, 00:14)
I hope it's clear from this that you don't watch these films for their plots, which contain heavy-handed morals and require a level of suspension of disbelief that can only be achieved through the consumption of large quantities of popcorn. You watch them for the stunning scenery and the eye-popping action.
- In an average week, how many nights do you eat home-cooked dinners?
7 out of 7, unless I’m on travel. We rarely eat in restaurants, not least because it’s fiendishly expensive for four people compared to preparing our own food. - Do you plan your meals out in advance, or just wing it?
Usually there is a loose plan at the start of the week, because we have to plan for nights the children have activities (most weeknights) and / or when one of the adults will not be there. - How many nights per week do you eat out or order food delivered?
If you average it over a month, 0.25 nights per week for eating out, 0 nights per week for food delivery. We live in a rural area so very few places deliver to us. Also, only one of our children likes Indian or Chinese takeaway; the other one won’t touch it, so it feels pretty pointless when you’re still going to end up preparing at least one meal. - Do you keep a stock of nonperishable foods from which you could whip up a meal or two if you needed to?
Oh yes. We have all the pasta shapes and all the tinned goods. - Have you ever tried preparing meals for the week all at once, say, on the weekend?
See the pinned post at the top of my journal. I don’t do this every week, but when I know the bloke is going to be away, all the meals get slow-cooked the weekend prior.
My slow cooker is hands-down my favourite electrically powered kitchen device*, followed closely by the KitchenAid stand mixer and now the Ninja Creami.
* Kettle, toaster and microwave excluded from this hierarchy as their presence is not contingent upon whether or not I like them.
[I have not been around here much. I apologise. I have been disinclined to write since Comet's death, but I'm starting to come out the other side of that period of silent grieving now.]
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- Do you like to spend time outdoors?
Yes! I like walking, hiking and swimming outside. I don’t get to do any of those things often enough, but when I do, they make me very happy. - What is your favorite flower?
Whichever ones are currently in bloom. Right now it’s the tulips, and an iris just opened so for a few days it will be them as they're ephemeral. The roses are getting ready to go as well, and all of our rose bushes are bursting with buds this year which is nice to see. - Any favourite warm weather activities?
Gardening for hours, and then sitting on the lawn afterward with a refreshing cold beverage, admiring my handiwork and planning what to do next. - Have you ever kept a garden? If so, what did you grow?
Yes! I’m not really the architect of our garden. The layout is all the bloke’s handiwork. I like weeding, trimming, and helping out the flowering plants and veg he chooses. - Do you know how to swim?
Yes, but not particularly well. I do wish I’d had proper swimming lessons as a child. Both my children swim very well because of their lessons, and Humuhumu has done lifesaving courses too.
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- What was the last book you read (or are currently reading)?
Jan Morris’ Trieste and the meaning of nowhere, for what I feel are obvious reasons. It is a very romantic, forgiving view of the city. - What was the last movie you watched?
We caught a bit of the Minions movie dubbed into Italian last night. It was (perhaps unsurprisingly?) easy to follow in another language. - What television series are you currently watching?
Nothing at the moment. We finished a few things before the Easter holiday (new series of Death in Paradise, Small Prophets). - What are some of your favorite blogs or communities online?
I really only read DW and LJ these days. That's enough for me. - What social media do you belong to and check often?
I still have accounts on the usual platforms but I haven't checked any of them since January 2025 when I removed all the apps from my phone. I vaguely miss contact with a few people but it has generally been a good move. I spend more time communicating directly through messaging or email, or more diffusely but in greater depth here on DW & LJ.
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- Do you like the look of your country's currency (bills and coins)?
Yes, I do. I still don't live the plasticky feel of the new bills - they don't fold very well - but grudgingly concede that they are far more durable. - Regardless of their actual value, do you like bills or coins better?
I like the UK's coins. Especially the £2 coin, it's very pretty and has a pleasing weight in the hand. A shiny new coppery 2p piece is also quite attractive. - What is your favorite foreign currency? And why?
Euros. You can use them in so many countries. And they're also very pretty. - Do you collect coins or bills? Elaborate.
Not formally, I haven't got an organised folder or anything. But I do try to save a few coins/bills from trips to other countries as souvenirs. - Do you think human society could make do completely without money? Explain.
No. I think the sheer number of us and the vast variety of goods and services we use as individuals would make a bartering system very cumbersome. And it is still useful sometimes to conduct transactions in cash rather than card.
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- What is a common ear worm that you get?
My children rickroll me pretty regularly, so That Song gets stuck in my head. - How long do they last?
Not very long. My brain is usually too preoccupied with other sources of worry and stress to spend long on an earworm. - What do you do to get rid of them?
I don't know if this will sound contradictory, but on the rare occasions when an earworm sticks, I find that playing the actual song gets rid of it. - What is the worst ear worm you've ever had?
There's this Robyn song that I dislike intensely, and it popped in and out of my head for a week. I don't like the song so was very reluctant to employ my usual remedy. - Do you get some guilty pleasure in passing the ear worm along?
Not unless it's reciprocally rickrolling my children.
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The preceding two weeks of Friday Five questions didn't pique my interest, but this week's are great. Love a bit of meta-blogging. Thank you for the opportunity to navel-gaze.
- What was the reason you began a Dreamwidth or LiveJournal account (or both)?
I started off on LJ in 2001 because everyone was doing it. I created an account and then let it sit for a couple of weeks while I figured out what it was for. I think it was victorine who prodded me into posting regularly and then I just…never stopped. - How many DW or LJ communities do you subscribe to?
A few dozen in total. Most of them are dead, the LJ communities in particular. The only one I participate in regularly is DW community![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
awesomeers, because I'm one of the two people who puts up the daily “Just One Thing” posts. I find it easier to write a short comment about my day there than to write up a full post, especially during the work week. - Do you have a favorite community or one you check out often to see what's new?
See above. I also enjoythefridayfive, and I like reading threeforthememories during its annual spate of activity. - How did you pick your user name?
My current username is a play on my actual name. My original LJ name was “lilith” as that's the pseudonym I first adopted when I started interacting with online communities back in the 90s. Eventually I felt I'd outgrown it, and I've been nanila ever since. - If you could change your user name, would you?
That would genuinely be a big decision after more than 15 years of using this one, in a lot more places than DW and LJ. I'd have to do substantive additional navel-gazing to work out what it would be.
- What made you happy this week?
Notification of winning a small summer research grant. - What made you sad?
I was disappointed in a colleague for trying to conceal some serious underperformance when it could have been dealt with easily much earlier on. As it is, now another colleague and I are going to have to put in a lot of effort to attempt to rectify the situation before a deadline next week. - What made you angry?
An academic colleague being outrageously disrespectful to a professional services colleague. - What are you looking forward to in the next week?
Getting that sad piece of work, which should not have been mine in the first place, off my desk at the end of the week. - What are you not looking forward to?
I have to be off-campus for two days next week. I'm not looking forward to the amount of meetings I've had to ram into the other three days of the working week.
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When did you last…
- Scrounge for change (couch, ashtray, etc.) to make a purchase?
I honestly can't remember. So many places are cashless now that I often don't carry any. It must have been pre-Covid. - Visit a dentist?
Five months ago. My next clean is in March. - Make a needed change to your life?
The most significant recent change was changing to a gym I actually want to use, at the start of the year. I really needed that. I feel so much healthier. - Decide on a complete menu well in advance of the evening meal?
Most nights, tonight included. We have to plan because of the kids. Most days we eat breakfast and supper at home as a family because we have the luxury of schedules that allow us to do so. - Spend part of the day (other than daily hygiene) totally/mostly naked?
No idea. I hardly ever do this. It's flippin’ cold here most of the time. For those who say the UK temperatures are mild, okay, maybe to you, but I spent most of my life in the tropics before I moved here and I wasn't wandering around naked there either.
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Rejoice, friends, for it is finally the 185th of January, the last day of the month.
How many times a day do you . . .
How many times a day do you . . .
- Brush your teeth?
Two, morning and evening. Also, before going to the gym, which is a weird quirk I've never bothered to unpack. - Shower?
Once. Twice if I go to the gym. - Check your E-mail?
I do not want to count. Near-continuously from waking until bedtime. I cannot keep up with it. It doesn't help that I have work email from two different institutions and multiple personal email addresses. - Check LJ? (or DW?)
It depends on the week. In non-teaching weeks and during holidays, I can usually read through both once a day. During term time, I do all my f-list / circle catchup at the weekends.
There are exceptions: camping holidays in remote parts of Wales result in zero signal, and grant proposal submission deadlines result in zero personal bandwidth. - Eat?
I usually have two or three meals a day: just after waking, around noon (if I don't have back to back meetings all day), and late afternoon or evening depending on children's activities and exercise classes. If I have the latter, I'll sometimes eat quite late.
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