I haven’t done any memes for ages. This one comes from The Ministry of Information.
1. Explain what ended your last relationship?
The Gap Was Too Wide (in more ways than one)
2. When was the last time you shaved?
In the 1980s. Had my beard trimmed last Friday.
3. What were you doing this morning at 8 am?
Leaving home for work.
4. What were you doing 15 minutes ago?
Reposting a month-old PBeM post that two players had failed to respond to, and emailing a new PBeM applicant to tell him that I probably do have a vacancy in the game.
5. Are you any good at math?
As NRT said, it’s a plural!
6. Your prom night? what about?
This another one of those quaint American customs we don’t have over here.
7. Do you have any famous ancestors?
Ultimately we’re all descended from Eve (something evolutionary biologists and creationists appear to agree on). Apart from that, no.
8. Have you had to take a loan out for school?
I’m old enough to have had a student grant. And we call it ‘College’ or ‘University’, not ‘School’. ‘School’ ends at 18.
9. Do you know the words to the song on your MySpace profile?
There aren’t any songs on my MySpace profile.
10. Last thing received in the mail?
A savings account statement. The Dapol Cargowaggons I ordered have yet to arrive, and will probably be in the post tomorrow.
11. How many different beverages have you had today?
Two. Coffee, and Beer. Three if you count standard and decaff coffee as two different beverages. Five if you count black and white coffee as different. (Yes, this is really the answer to 5)
12. Do you ever leave messages on people’s answering machine?
The last one was “Bidibidibidibidi!”. You probably did not want to know that.
13. Who did you lose your CONCERT virginity to?
Hawkwind
14. Do you draw your name in the sand when you go to the beach?
No.
15. What’s the most painful dental procedure you’ve had?
Can’t remember a really painful one. Have probably blotted out the memory.
16. What is out your back door?
A lawn that needs mowing.
17. Any plans for Friday night?
I’m actually going to be the same place as NRT, seeing Opeth.
18. Do you like what the ocean does to your hair?
The ocean doesn’t get to mess with my hair. Neither does the North Sea, the Irish Sea, or the English Channel.
19. Have you ever received one of those big tins of 3 different popcorns?
I know not of these big tins of 3 different popcorns of which you speak.
20. Have you ever been to a planetarium?
There was an open-air one in a field in Switzerland.
21. Do you re-use towels after you shower?
They do get washed eventually.
22. Some things you are excited about?
How about a class 50 tackling the one-in-sixty grade out of Par station from a standing start with 13 coaches behind (alas, no more). Or Mostly Autumn encoring with a sublime version of “Mother Nature”. Of finding a really meaty bug in Chadders’ code.
23. What is your favorite flavor of jelly?
Strawberry. This applies both for what we call ‘Jam’, and what Americans call ‘Jello’.
24. Describe your keychain(s)?
Fob with the SBB (Swiss Federal Railways) on it.
25. Where do you keep your change?
In my trouser pocket. And a jamjar. (Do Americans have Jello Jars?)
26. When was the last time you spoke in front of a large group of people?
About three years ago, when I read the lesson at a friends wedding.
27. What kind of winter coat do you own?
A long dark grey wollen one that I don’t think I wore at all last winter. Not cold enough to wear it quite yet.
28. What was the weather like on your graduation day?
Typical July weather, although it didn’t rain.
29. Do you sleep with the door to your room open or closed?
Since I currently live on my own, I usually leave it open.
http://www.popcorntin.com/ et al. Really popular holiday gifts, especially corporate (cheap, non-gender-specific, etc.) Everything but the caramel corn gets stale and nasty pretty quickly with the prepackaged stuff, but there is (used to be?) a place in the mall called Karamel Korn that makes it fresh… you buy a tin once, then you get it refilled more cheaply, though we never bothered with the three-way stuff and always got straight caramel corn (which, as I recall, they called that; I think I would have passed if they called the actual product Karamel Korn… what, is that like “cheez” or “creme” where you misspell it because it isn’t real?)
(Mmm, caramel corn.)
And no, we have mason jars, though once in awhile you’ll hear them called canning jars or jelly jars.
And even in the US, it’s strawberry *jam*, or occasionally “preserves.” There’s also strawberry butter, which Wikipedia insists is equivalent to “curd” in the UK, but I don’t know: lemon curd involves egg yolks, and strawberry (or apple) butter doesn’t. And I’ve never heard anyone in the US refer to lemon (or lime, etc.) curd as “lemon butter,” though I suppose it doesn’t seem unlikely. Certainly looks more like butter than apple butter does.
Karen,
Regarding butter and curd …
You are correct – fruit curd contains eggs, whereas fruit butter and fruit cheese do not contain eggs. (Fruit cheese and butter are similar except that fruit cheese contains more sugar, is cooked longer and keeps longer than fruit butter.)