Getting To Know Me Tag

Today’s post is the Getting To Know Me Tag, which is basically 20 questions about me. This is in response to the tag video by How Casey Sees It, a great visually impaired Youtuber who I recommend you check out if you’re not aware of her already. And I’ve made a video to go with this post as well.

So I hope you enjoy finding out a few things about me. And I tag everyone reading this who wants to do the tag themselves too.

1.  What is your name?

My name is Glen.

2. What is your height?

I am 6 foot 1 inch tall.

3. What is your zodiac sign?

I am a Virgo, although I don’t follow the horoscopes.

4. Cats or dogs?

Dogs. Cats are nice, but I prefer dogs. They’re much more friendly and affectionate.

5. Favourite school subject?

Maths and IT were my best subjects at school.

6. Favourite food?

Anything meaty is good. Chicken in particular’s my favourite meat, but I like pork, lamb and beef as well. Fish and chips I also like. And I really like pizza too, my favourite being the Hawaiian (ham and pineapple). And in terms of desserts, anything involving chocolate is usually good.

7. Favourite TV show?

So much choice, and it depends on the genre as well. If you’ve seen the posts about my DVD collection, that’ll you give you a good sense of what I like. But In terms of drama and sci-fi stuff, top of my list has to be Doctor Who, and Outlander is a recent favourite I’ve been getting into. In terms of comedies, like sitcoms, Only Fools And Horses and Fawlty Towers and among my many favourites. In terms of current affairs shows, The Last Leg is great, because it’s always funny, and I’ve been in the audience for that this year. And in terms of gameshows, Taskmaster is my favourite, because it’s hilarious. There are loads of other shows I could mention, it’s hard to pick favourites sometimes. But those are the ones that spring to mind at the moment.

8. Favourite actor or actress?

David Jason is all my all time favourite actor. I love him in Only Fools And Horses and Open All Hours and Porridge and, when I was a kid, in Dangermouse and Wind In The Willows. And he’s done lots of other stuff as well. There was also a great documentary on about him recently (My Life On Screen, broadcast on Gold), and I’ve read his autobiography too. He’s just an amazing, kind, versatile, talented, brilliant guy.

In terms of actresses, I don’t have one particular favourite that springs to mind. But I’ve been enjoying Outlander recently, with Caitriona Balfe as Claire, she’s great. And in Game Of Thrones, having just watched series 1, I’ve been enjoying Arya Stark played by Maisie Williams. She’s very young but brilliant, and she’s been in Doctor Who recently as well, which I think is what made me focus on her in particular. And in the theatre I went to see Matilda recently, and the girl who played Matilda in my performance, Emma Moore, was exceptional.

9. What’s your biggest fear?

It’s probably obvious as I’m visually impaired, but losing my sight would be my biggest fear. I’m very grateful for the sight I’ve got, and that it’s stayed stable and hasn’t got worse. Hopefully it won’t deteriorate either, but you never know what the future will hold. If it did get worse, then I would adjust and adapt to it eventually, but there would be a grieving process and a period of adjustment to go through, which would all would take a while. So that would be difficult to deal with. So it’s not something I would relish having to do deal with, it is a scary thought.

But in terms of more everyday things, then I hate bees and wasps as well, because you never know where they are when they’re buzzing round you, and you’re always worried they’re going to sting you. They never do what they’re told when you open a window either, they never just go straight out. Flies are just as stupid as well – I don’t mind them so much because they don’t sting you, but they’re still very annoying, so I like to get of them too.

10. Tea or coffee?

Neither, I don’t drink tea or coffee, surprising though it may be. I’ve met a few people who don’t drink them though, so it’s not as unusual as it might sound. I do like hot chocolate though, I enjoy that where hot drinks are concerned. Otherwise I tend to just stick to fruit juices and squashes and things like that. Or if I’m in the pub I’ll gladly have a cider.

That said, I did have an afternoon tea recently, the first one ever in my life. And for that I had the pomegranate tea there, because it sounded like a nice fruity flavour, and it was indeed very nice. So I would very happily go to an afternoon tea again. But to date I’ve never had a normal tea or coffee, as I never liked them as a kid, so I’ve just never drunk them since. Maybe I’d feel different if I tried them now I’m an adult, but I’ve never been tempted, as the smell still puts me off to be honest. So I don’t mind not drinking them, I’m happy without them.

11. Your bad habit?

I’m still a bit shy sometimes, and I think that’s always going to be a part of me. So I’m not always the most vocal in conversations when I could or should be sometimes. I’m much better at it these days, especially now I’m in London, as all the people I’ve met have been lovely and friendly. And when I’m around people I know, I’m naturally much more open. But sometimes when I’m around new people, I can still be a little bit too shy I think, if I can’t find an easy way to interject into the conversation that’s taking place.

12. What is your favourite holiday?

Christmas. It’s always a lovely time of year. Especially now I’m in London, and you’ve got all the lights and the decorations and events going on. It just looks lovely when you’re out and about. And it’s great to have things ilike the Christmas food, Christmas music, Christmas TV, pantomimes and carol concerts, and so on. There are just so many fun things that go on at Christmas, it’s great.

13. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

Well, I live in London now, which is where I’ve always wanted to be. I never imagined I’d live here, but when circumstances in my life changed and the opportunity came up, we took it. And I’m very glad we did, because my first year here has been brilliant. There’s been so much to see and do, and so many people to meet, so it’s impossible to get bored here. If I were to live anywhere else in the world, it would probably be somewhere like New York, another big city that’s all bustling with loads going on. But right now, and for the foreseeable future, I feel very much at home in London, I love it very much.

14. What’s your lucky number?

I’m not sure I really have one to be honest. 7 springs to mind as the default, but I don’t know why. Usually when I’m doing something like the lottery, I’ll just put in the day and month of my birthday. And I’ve also used my old house number from where I used to live, and my new house number. But I don’t think they’re particularly lucky. They’re significant numbers in my life, but they haven’t generated luck elsewhere in my life so far.

15. Are you allergic to anything?

Not that I’m aware of particularly. I will get very tiny little patches of eczema occasionally, but I don’t think that’s due to anything in particular. Or if it is, I don’t know what it is. But it’s easy enough to get rid of anyway, so I’m not worried about that. But I don’t get hay fever or anything like that. So I seem to be fine, thankfully.

16. Last person to call you and the last person you texted?

The last person to call me was someone from work, although not on a work related matter. Last weekend I went down to my old home town to go to my work’s Christmas dinner, which was great. So they gave me a call when I was on my way in, just to check my journey was alright and to ask when I would be getting to the office. Since filming the video, that answer hasn’t changed, I don’t get many phonecalls.

The last person I texted has changed since I filmed the video. In the clip it was an old school friend that I met up with while I was away at the weekend, and it was great to catch up with her after so many years. But since then I’ve exchanged texts with another friend, who was thanking me for the Christmas card I sent and asking me how my various Christmas meals were going (I’m having a few this year!). And my latest text was from the activities co-ordinator at East London Vision, in response to her message confirming the time for our Christmas lunch this week.

17. Last thing you bought?

Christmas decorations. We’ve been buying a lot of those lately, as we didn’t have any. This is our first proper Christmas in London, as we’d only just moved last year and everything was still a bit chaotic, as you can imagine. So we feel much more able to celebrate it this year, and we’ve bought a tree and tinsel and other bits and pieces, and it’s all looking very nice.

And, although they’ve probably been around for a while, I’ve only just discovered Command Hooks this Christmas, which are a godsend for putting things up on the walls. No need for making holes with pins or nails, or Blu-tac that leaves a messy residue behind. With the Command Hooks you just use the adhesive strips to fix them on to the wall, and then you can use the tab to pull them off safely afterwards without damaging the wall in any way. Honestly, I’m not affiliated or connected with them in any way, I just think they’re amazing, and I wish I’d known about them years ago!

18. Last TV show you watched?

I’ve recently completed a few significant TV shows. Emily over at Fashioneyesta recommended both Outlander and Game Of Thrones to me recently, so I’ve been binge watching those. I’ve watched all 3 seasons of Outlander over the last few months, catching up just in time for the season 3 finale. And Emily kindly lent me the first season of Game Of Thrones on DVD, as I’ve been way behind the curve on that, having never seen it before. So I’ve now finished watching that. It takes a little while to get going initially, as it’s a very complicated show, and I haven’t memorised or got my head around everything just yet. But it does pick up pace and gets really good in the second half of the season, and I’m told it gets better and better as the seasons progress. So I’ll be checking out the later seasons for sure.

And apart from those, Blue Planet 2 recently finished on the BBC, which has been a stunningly beautiful series about the world’s seas and oceans. And most recently, this week on Dave, we had the last ever episode of Dave Gorman’s Modern Life Is Goodish, which has been a consistently funny and clever show from the outset. I can’t blame him for stopping because, as he says in his blog, it is a huge undertaking to produce. But I will still miss it, it’s been one of those shows I always really look forward to. I’ll have to try and watch him on tour at some point, and I’m sure he’ll do other TV work at some stage.

19. Can you cook?

Yes. I don’t bake things from scratch, although I could follow a recipe to do so if I really had to. But I’m perfectly capable of buying things from the shops and following the instructions to cook for myself. And as I live with my mother, I naturally have the advantage of her cooking for me as well. But I can cook for myself as and when I need to.

20. If you could play any musical instrument, what would it be?

I used to play the keyboard as a child, learning simple tunes and jamming along with blues-style numbers. I even played it a bit in a couple of school plays, when I was in our small band for that. So it would be fun to get back into that. But as a rock fan I’d also love to be able to play the electric guitar, doing classic riffs and solos and things like that.

And that’s it. That’s the last question. I hope you enjoyed it and found it interesting. And if you want to answer the questions yourself, feel free – the list is below for you to copy and paste. Thank you to Casey for bringing the tag to my attention, and thanks to all of you for reading! 🙂

Questions

1. What is your name?
2. What is your height?
3. What is your zodiac sign?
4. Cats or dogs?
5. Favourite school subject?
6. Favourite food?
7. Favourite TV show?
8. Favourite actor & actress?
9. What is your biggest fear?
10. Tea or coffee?
11. Your bad habit?
12. What is your favourite holiday?
13. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
14. What is your lucky number?
15. Are you allergic to anything?
16. Last person to call you & last person you texted?
17. Last thing you bought?
18. Last TV show you watched?
19. Can you cook?
20. If you could play any musical instrument, which one would it be?