La Inquisicion

I've been tagged again, by Garry at Blog Up North,, for one of these meme thingummies called The Inquisition (I called it La Inquisicion because it sounded appropriate, slightly more exotic and we are regular viewers of Revista de La Liga on Sky that has a slot called just that). I have to answer 10 questions, so here goes.

1. Which (in)famous person (alive or dead) would you like to take out to dinner, where would you go and what would you like to talk about?

One of my favourite writers is Kahlil Gibran. Some people say that makes me a bit fick, or cheesy, or sommat, but I came across his book The Prophet and was bowled over by the beauty of his words, so it would have to be him. We have the same initials (my maiden name was Giles, as you may have worked out from my last post), and not only that, we have or had the same birthday. We would talk about his works, how he got his ideas for writing and his inspirations. His life in general was pretty interesting too. And for such a special occasion, we'd go to a very special place - El Bulli in Spain, because it will close down soon and is an experience not to be repeated, truly. That would make for a memorable occasion, I'd say!

2. What is the best gift someone could give you (tangible please)?

Um, this is tough. There are lots of things I'd like but I survive day to day without them. If I had to say anything, I would have to say a new car. The car, to me, is a sign of independence and having two children, it gives me options that I would never otherwise have to take them places - even our choice of school would be very inconvenient were it not for the fact that we can drive there. My current car is 6 years old, was originally my company car, which I bought at the end of the lease and is definitely showing signs of me living out of it (not literally) with 2 babies, toddlers etc for the last few years.

3. Where in the world would you most like to live?

This is the easiest question of the whole lot. My answer is Barcelona. I have been there many times and I always feel at home there, even if I am not fluent in the local language or Spanish. It's a fantastic, breathtaking place and I would just love to live there. It has pretty much everything - city, beach, hills, scenery, fantastic architecture, football and great food. :)

4. What do you most enjoy cooking?

I love cooking from scratch. As you might have seen recently, I particularly enjoy cooking curries and cakes. I also love making my own bread but don't always get the time. I became a real bread geek last year when I was doing some preparation for my mini-teach at college, and could bore you all for hours on the subject. I may well be blogging my favourite and simple bread recipe in a blog post near you soon. Keep an eye out for it.

5. What is your favourite novel?

Yeah, this one is tough - even if I raved about The Prophet, it's not really a novel as such so I don't think it qualifies. The answer is always the last one you finished and enjoyed reading. I have a wide taste in books - I loved all of Thomas Hardy's books as I found them a challenge but particularly loved Far from The Madding Crowd. I've been making my way through the Inspector Wallander novels by Henning Mankell recently and really love those (although the Swedish language films made knock spots off them!), and last year, I really enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon which I read in 24 hours.

6. You have your own personal Tardis, where do you go first?

This has taken me ages to come up with an answer. I decided in the end that I'd like to be at an historic event that was also full of joy. So, I think I'd choose to be in London on VE Day. That must have been one amazing experience after 6 long years of war. Can you imagine the unconfined joy that must have been felt that day?

7. How old is the inner you? 

Ooh, good one. Sometimes, I still feel like I'm still in my mid-twenties but at the same time, I am more settled, self-confident and at ease with myself than I was then.

8. Theatre or Cinema? 

Cinema. I've done theatre but I can take it or leave it. I am not a big film-goer either but I do like to go occasionally. The children love it so I take them more than I go as an adult.

9. Would you be famous, with all that means?

If I was good at something, yes. I believe I am already (in)famous in NCT circles for my largely encyclopaedic knowledge of being a treasurer. One of my NCT friends moved south last year and got involved with the branch that whose area she moved into. I commented on her Facebook status one day and someone else commented that it was so weird seeing me on her Facebook page when she reads my emails "all day long" on NCT groups. I go to conferences and people say "oh YOU'RE Kate" and look at me knowingly. I'm worried.

But celebrity type fame, no. I couldn't live with the intrusion into my private life. I revel in anonymity.

10. You are able to learn anything at all, a skill, a language, whatever, what would it be and why?

I think it would have to be to be able to play tennis well. I am rubbish at games which require good hand-eye coordination - whether that's anything to do with being left-handed or not, I don't know. I love watching tennis but I am crap at it. I would love to be able to do it and do it well.

Will that do you, oh great Inquisitor?!

Anyway, in time-honoured fashion, it is now my turn to tag some other lovely bloggers to have a go at this so I will choose:

Joanna at At Home with Mrs M
Jen at The King and Eye
Catherine at How to laugh in the face of it all
Lisa at MrsLJHall

But feel free to do it yourself and put a link in the comments box below even if you are not directly tagged by me.