Baa baa black sheep..

[tree_and_leaf]

Taken from dreamer_marie

I want everyone who reads this to ask me 3 questions: no more, no less. Ask me anything you want (though I reserve the right to not answer, or to answer evasively).

Comments

[dreamer-marie.livejournal.com]

1. Tree or leaf?
2. Father Christmas or Easter Bunny?
3. Jane Austen or Jane Eyre?

[tree_and_leaf]

1 I would say 'tree'. But if you take it in the metaphorical Tolkien sense, I'm definitely more a leaf (i.e. I get so fascinated by details I often don't finish the big picture).

2 Father Christmas. Random fact: in parts of Brandenburg, they used to say Easter Eggs were brought by a fox.

3. Jane Austen. Mind you, it's worth having Jane Eyre for The Eyre Affair and follow ups alone!

[eagles-rock.livejournal.com]

Reserving the right duly noted.

1) A habit, a comfort, a faith?

2) Gordon or Dave?

3) Porsche or bicycle?

[tree_and_leaf]

1) Habit: tea (or is that an addiction? Hm.) Comfort: Looking at the stars, or, alternatively, listening to Tallis or the like (I am particularly fond of the Oxford Camerata's 'Spem in Allium', which, agreeably, is available on Naxos). I find both activities excellent for finding consoling perspective, without being in the least bit sentimental. A faith? I usually find the Creeds enough to be going on with - if you mean something less existential, Flintoff's cricketing prowess will do. And of course he will be fit enough to play a decisive role in the Ashes. ;)

2) I'd rather, despite everything, have Ming - but if you put it like that, Gordon. I don't agree with all his policies, but I have the feeling that I know where he comes from. I don't trust Dave - he's just Blair with a blue rinse, and one was quite enough, thanks.

3) I can't drive, so bicycle. If I could: well, I'm not mad on cars anyway, and I rather like cycling and feeling the wind on my face. On the other hand, if someone offered me a well looked-after 1950s MG...

I also have a strange fondness for the Trabant, but that isn't a car, it's a roofed over lawn-mower.

[prelud.livejournal.com]

What languages do you speak?
What perfume(s) do you wear?
What superpower would you like to have?

[tree_and_leaf]

1) English and German. I have a few utterly useless words of Russian and French, but not enough to count. I can also read a number of dead languages with a greater or lesser degree of proficiency, and struggle through written Dutch and French, in an 'I know more or less what is going on here' sort of way.

2) I despair of finding a perfume I like. They all seem either too sweet or too musky.

3) I would love to be able to fly like Superman!

[themolesmother.livejournal.com]

What do you see yourself doing in five years?
Which famous figure from history do you admire most?
Which fictional character would you most like to have an hour's conversation with?

MM

[tree_and_leaf]

1) The realistic-tempered-with-optimis scenario: doing temporary work in academia or being a junior research fellow while looking for a permanent post. Possibly married. But really, I can't be sure what will happen post doctorate - assuming I finish the bloody thesis...

2) Tricky. I think I'll say King Alfred, because someone who was a great king despite starting in very difficult circumstances, a patron of the arts, took his religious responsibilities seriously, invented the Royal Navy and still had time to translate Boethius into Old English has to be a Good Thing.

3) Peter Wimsey (no use opting for someone who can't talk well at the drop of a hat, which rules out, for example, Mr Darcy).

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

If you could be anything/have any experience for a day, what would it be? (Caveat: it has to be physically possible, but if dangerous you are guaranteed to survive it)

What is your favourite item of clothing?

What book that has not been written do you wish had been, or was written, but has been lost?

[tree_and_leaf]

1. Sailing a small boat in the coastal waters of the Baltic (which pre-supposes learning to sail, but hey...)

2. I have an unreasonable love for my Scout hat - the old-fashioned, broad-brimmed sort which may be mistaken for a Mountie's hat. It is pure wool felt, as breathable and waterproof as you ask for, and doubles handily as a bellows if you can't get the fire going. Reasonably unbiased people have assured me that it suits me, but I have yet to wear it in a non-Scout context (discounting on planes, or trains in Germany, en route to same)

3. I think I answered this in another meme, and said the 'barbarian songs' Charlemagne had written down. Taking the form of another epic like Beowulf, only in Old High German. I'd definitely be studying that if it existed (Anglo-Saxonists get all the fun...)

Pre-supposing learning to sail

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

You can do anything you want, so this being the case you are a skilful sailor (and it would be a very nice day). I have canoed the coastal waters of the Baltic, but only a very small section.

Re: Pre-supposing learning to sail

[tree_and_leaf]

I have canoed the coastal waters of the Baltic, but only a very small section.

Which bit?

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

1. What advice would you give to someone starting on a PhD?

2. If you were awarded a day off right now, what would you do with it?

3. Who is your favourite Archers character, and why?

[tree_and_leaf]

1. Think hard about it, especially the financial side and whether you want to do research all the time - but don't let the moaning of PhD students put you off. It's partly letting off necessary steam, and partly what we do to assuage our guilt about not feeling compelled to Get a Proper Job. Oh, and the feeling that you aren't good enough (or, conversely, that you can't remember why you wanted to do this) is normal and not permanent. Everyone thinks that now and again, even the people you think are frighteningly driven and competent.

2. Either just go out for a day walking in the Chilterns, or run up to London, spend the day mostly in the British Museum (possibly going off to the National Gallery if I get archaeology over-load) and then - pretending that it's on weekdays - see the new play at the Globe about Abelard and Heloise.

3. If you mean the characters I would like most in real life, it's a tie between Alan the Vicar and Aunty Satja. Alan seems like an all round decent bloke, and I have a tremendous respect for Aunty Satja. Or do I mean fear? Anyway, I wish they'd bring her back and we could have a bit less of the Bermuda Love Triange, or the various adultery plots and Dark Hints.

On the other hand, I adore Brian as a character. He's weasly, ruthless, and yet somehow charming. There are even moments when I find myself sympathising with him. The voice doesn't hurt, either. I probably would loathe anyone like that in real life, though.

[aervir.livejournal.com]

1. What is your most favourite spot in Oxford?

2. Is there a quote you would cite as your "life philosophy"?

3. At least one thing about Jane Austen that you dislike?

[tree_and_leaf]

1. I think it is that part of Christ Church meadow where you look back over the fields and the cows to the view of the spires.

2. Hm 'Peccata fortitde' is pretty good, as is 'Grab a chance if you get it, and you won't be sorry for what might have been', but I'm not sure I really live up to either.

3. I know it's boring and conventional, but there are moments when I want to slap Fanny Price.

[aervir.livejournal.com]

Boring and conventional maybe, but entirely understandable... ;)

Ok, I'll bite!

[sacred-sarcasm.livejournal.com]

1. "Anglo-Catholic fellow traveller": could you expand slightly? (I might describe myself as something similar, but am wondering if we mean the same thing by it!)

2. How did you decide the subject of your D.Phil thesis?

3. Do you play any musical instruments? If not, which one would you most like to play?

Re: Ok, I'll bite!

[tree_and_leaf]

1. 'Anglo-Catholic fellow traveller' - well, I was born and brought up Presbyterian, and for that matter still am a member of the Church of Scotland, but seem to feel much happier at high Anglican/ Anglo-Catholic services. Still not sure about the reservation of the Sacrament, though.

2. I was already interested in the text I'm primarily working on. I chose the area I wanted to work on by talking to my future supervisor and other academics in the field.

3. The flute (like everyone else in the universe) and the recorder, but although I enjoy making music, I don't feel any particular connection with either instrument - but I was lucky to get to learn at all. I have a secret hankering to play the organ, but I doubt I have the co-ordination, and I'd settle for being able to sing better.

Re: Ok, I'll bite!

[(Anonymous)]

I was brought up baptist and then evangelical anglican, but now feel at home with liberal High Anglicanism/Anglo-Catholicism, although I have some reservations about aspects of the theology. (I'm a theologian though, so it's natural for me to nit-pick!)

I play the flute also, and the piano. I would LOVE to play the organ, but agree that I lack co-ordination (and probably the ego - if the organists I know are anything to go by).

Re: Ok, I'll bite!

[sacred-sarcasm.livejournal.com]

That was me, btw. I forgot I hadn't signed in.

[dolabellae.livejournal.com]

1. Who is currently your favourite saint?

2. If you could do anything you liked to the driver of the monster bus which knocked you off your bike, what would you do?

3. Do you believe, to any extent, in ghosts? (sorry, completely random there...)

[tree_and_leaf]

1 I think it's currently still Elisabeth of Thüringia, largely because as well as obviously being of a strong faith and deeply concerned for the poor (she probably ought to be the patron saint of the Fair Trade movement, as she is the first person I know of to have realised that it's better to worry about what happened to the people who produced your food than to concentrate on following a precise regime of fasting), she's one of the few mediaeval siants who come over as a real person, and a rather nice one at that. She and her husband were crazy about each other, and weren't afraid to show it, which is extremely unusal for a married couple, especially if they were pious. She seems to have been generally a very cheerful and friendly person. However, she was, history records, a truly abysmal cook, and after her husband's death and her decision to go and work at a hospital, all the other women there seem to have really dreaded the days when she was supposed to be preparing the food, because she'd go off into a dream and not notice when it burnt... I find that last detail so disarming!

I also like S. Katherine of Alexandria, though she does have the disadvantage of probably not being real. And S. Dominic, though I'm not entirely sure why (although, again, there are some fairly good records of him - it's probably the fact that you can discern the outlines of a real person, in this case one with quite a warped sense of humour)

2. Um - I haven't the faintest idea. Treat him to nightmares in which his bus is menaced by an overlarge bike?

3. Random is fun! As to the question, though... agnostic leaning to 'no'. Though I have occasionally wondered if there's something in the theory that places can preserve echos of things that have happened there. Culloden Moor, for instance, is one of the most terrifying places I know - though a scientist would doubtless say it's all imagination, and they are probably right. I think the JK Rowling idea of Professor Binns as a ghost because he hasn't noticed he's dead, or Myrtle becoming a ghost out of spite, is simply brilliant and makes a surprising amount of sense theologically - but I don't suppose it actually happens.