Funny you should ask that...

[f4f3]

Five questions fromjen_c_w :

1. If not Scotland, then where else would you want to live in the UK (presuming work considerations aren't an issue)?

I've always said I like living in London, but what I mean is that I like living in reasonably appointed hotels in Mayfair. What I love about London is the diversity and opportunity to participate in a thrilling cultural life. What I hate about it is that everyone ends up living in their own little villages, and trying to summon up the energy after a day spent struggling too and from work on overcrowded and sweaty public transport to make their way into the middle for some of that there culture. So if I could live here, London.

2. What music genre can you absolutely find no redeeming feature in?

Tricky. There are many genres I'm not a huge fan of, (Jazz, Hip-Hop, German oompha-oompha music), but I'm having problems coming up with any I don't have some favourites in. Um. Light opera. Nope, I like some of G&S. Brass bands? Nope, picnics in the park wouldn't be the same without "The Dambuster's Theme" wafting from a bandstand. Hmm. Folk music, then, when it's too reverent.

3. Did you have a midlife crisis - or do you reckon that's still ahead?

I've certainly had a lot of stuff happen in the last two years - a marriage break up, moving 150 miles, a lot of commotion in my personal life, but it does occur to me that I had the same level of change happen when I was 29, (except it wasn't a marriage that time, it was a seven year relationship) so age may not have been a factor. So no, not a mid-life crisis, not yet.

4. Is there anyone you absolutely hate?

No. I think hating anyone is a result of a failure of imagination, in particular a failure in empathy. To hate someone you have to think that they are some sort of monster, and that you could never do what they've done. I think that's an abdication of personal responsibility, as bad in its way as the sort of thinking that lets someone do terrible things. Hate the sin, not the sinner. Having said which, "When they finally lay you in the ground/I'll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down."


5. What was the best day of your life?

It's cliched and hackneyed, and given the way it all worked out kind of ironic, but, to date, they best day of my life was the day I got married.

Comments

[meredyth-13.livejournal.com]

It's terribly nosy, so don't feel the need to answer if it's inappropriate or uncomfortable, but I am curious as to which parts (if any) of 3. were by choice, and which were inflicted upon you.

They're rather huge and stressful, life changing events to have happen in such close proximity, but the energy of them is vastly different, I think, depending on how they came about.

I would like to add - I am a great admirer of you spirit for life and how you appear to live it. It speaks of a level of self-awareness and simple enjoyment of environment that has no relationship with age, and everything to do with the kind of maturity that comes with surviving substantial upheaval.

:D

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm very good at not answering nosey questions :)

But most of the choices I made in the last couple of years were my own, so even when I cocked up spectacularly I could blame myself. The marriage break up was largely a mutual decision, and was, in some ways, a few years late. OTOH, there were good reasons to stay together until then.

Moving back to Scotland was entirely my decision, and still feels like the right thing, but even that was touch and go for a while.

And as for the rest... Thanks!

[jen-c-w.livejournal.com]

thank you, all v.interesting. My thoughts on 3 are the same as your's - that I feel like a lot of stuff's happenned but not proper midlife crisis-y - there is no harley etc...Perhaps you will be one of those rare but delightful creatures that entirely avoid them.
I like your answer to 5, and I'm glad.
I probably owe you 5 if you have any deep desires to find something out, but don't feel obliged.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

Hmm, let me think about that :)

And I may not have the Harley, but I do have the much younger girlfriend...

[cleverthylacine]

Re 4.

But I really truly CAN'T imagine doing some of the things that people have done to me. They make no sense. None what.so.ever. Not even in context of what I know about the person. It's not that I think these people are monsters, it's that I think people are all different, and omgsomuchwtf.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

Well, I have to agree with you partly on that - I WOULDN'T do some of the things I've had done to me, but that doesn't mean I COULDN'T. Plus, in their eyes, who's to say that what I've done hasn't been as bad?