I’ve been delaying the ‘8 Random Facts’ for a while, having been tagged by a couple of people. In fact, I had it in store for when inspiration didn’t hit anywhere else. And, dear reader, you find me tonight rather uninspired… so let’s hope the 8 Random Facts will not be an unmitigated bore. Also, can I suggest the term ‘arbitrary’, rather than ‘random’, since the latter has entered the vernacular for my generation, generally referring to anything unexpected or unusual. And it begins to wear.
Anyhow, without further ado, my arbitrary truths…
1) I am a Christian, and Jesus is the centre of my life, influencing everything I do. Hard to talk about it without sounding gushy and dramatic, but you should know me well enough by now to realise I ain’t either of the above!
2) I’m quite famous, me. Have been on television twice. My first appearance was 1996, on Tomorrow’s World – the crew came to my school, and asked my class what we thought would happen in the year 2000. 
I said (having just read my Gillian Cross) that computers would use subliminal frames to take over the world. The evidence supports my prediction, I think…
The second time was on Countdown last September. Great fun. I lost. But against the person who came third in the overall series…
3) You all know that I’m at Oxford University, but did you know I had to get through 6.5 interviews to occupy my Magdalen palace? Brasenose, Brasenose, (Jesus), Oriel, Magdalen, Merton, Magdalen. Jesus is in brackets because I was sent there, analysed the set poem for a while, waited outside the professor’s room… only to be told they had no idea why I was there. Had been sent to the wrong college. But it all worked out well in the end!
4) I hate parsnips. Sooooo much. When I’d just had my brace put in (now, thankfully, gone) my family went to dinner with some friends. They all got roast dinner. I got a bowl of curried parsnip soup. The nightmares still return…
5) Most bloggers I visit have an ‘and also…’ interest, alongside books. Opera, photography, gardening, cooking… I’m afraid mine is less sophisticated. It’s Neighbours. For friends across the pond, that’s an Australian Soap Opera. And it’s awful, but I love it. Anyone else watch a trashy soap? Confess!
6) You know that I have a Carbon Copy. Did you know that Our Vicar is also a twin? And that Thomas (our collective surname) means ‘twin’? Zany.
7) Music, you ask? My favourite album is Kathryn Williams’ Old Low Light. Check it out.
8) Alongside my televisual fame, I have also encountered some of my celebrity chums in person. Dame Judi Dench and Prince Charles, to name but two.
We have two guests staying with us from England at the moment and they’re in the lounge room watching Neighbours . You’re not alone!
I recently encountered a parsnip in a lab class and still can’t fathom how anyone decided it was edible.
Yes and to think I’ve only “met” you on the TV Simon! Does that clock really tick? Does that panicky music really happen? Can Carol Vordeman really add up?
Parsnips, yes ugh.
Neighbours…how will you cope when it goes to Channel whatever? I hate to criticise it but I think it’s been going too long and they are starting to repeat storylines. Always a joke here when mes enfants were addicted to it. If ever they missed it I’d say “Oh nothing much happened,Lassiter’s blew up” and they’d all go “oh mum” in exasperation, so of course I loved the day that really happened.
Luckily it will still be on terrestrial… our family’s version is that “Harold died in a hail of bullets”. But Our Vicar, Our Vicar’s Wife and the Carbon Copy all stopped watching in the last month or so. Sad.
And yes, the scary music very definitely plays in Countdown! Very off-putting. And Carol V is in a constant flurry – every word mentioned is put up on the board, without stopping the camera at any point. Often I’d ask for my first consonant while she was still flinging off letters from the previous round. AND she does the sums, sitting down with a clipboard, with no more time than we have.
Sorry to anyone for whom this makes no sense!
I used to watch Neighbours when I was in (and indeed at) Oxford. Brookside was a great favourite of mine but it was canned a few years ago. And I was addicted to Dallas, before you were even born, probably.
I don’t like American soaps at all, and Mexican ones are far too dramatic and predictable, but I have always loved British and Australian ones when I have been fortunate enough to spend time in England! Unfortunately I can’t see them over here…pity…well, probably not a pity (time better spent reading surely).
I love that sketch of Judi Dench! I’ve met her a couple of times, and have a few lovely letters from her! As you might be able to guess, I am making my way through a years worth of posts!