Tuesday 13 January 2009

Interview with a 'Boner...

Due to the idiosyncrasies of Haloscan, my request to be questioned by the lovely Osbasso appeared at the top of his comments box. That's how I found myself revealing all to the infamous trombonist and custodian of HNT.

The same rule applies here. The first to say in this comments box: 'Please interrogate me, Ms Cake' will be the subject of an in-depth virtual grilling. Naturally, I shall be suitably attired for the job in hand, so there will definitely be leather gloves a la Gene Hunt.

Here are the "official" rules:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the
questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else
in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five
questions.


For this interview, I am sitting at my computer with a cup of fennel tea and a bacon croissant, my naked person enveloped in a very warm dressing gown and a thick pair of socks because it's bloody freezing!


1. Beatles or Rolling Stones?

Wow, that's a really hard one.

There are some great Beatles tracks with fabulous melodies and fun lyrics. 'Michelle', 'Lady Madonna', 'Penny Lane' are ones that instantly spring into my mind. John, Paul, George and Ringo were instrumental in changing the face of British music and I can remember that awful December morning in 1980, waking up and lying in bed listening to the news on the radio that John Lennon had been murdered.

But The Stones, The Stones. Dysfunctional, drunken, drug-taking survivors (well, mostly), with guitar riffs that became instant ear worms and words that set your imagination on fire. I even wrote a post called 'Under my Thumb'.

My favourite Stone will always be Mick Taylor, the quiet one that nobody remembers but who got them through a period where things were starting to fall apart because of their hedonistic lifestyle. Rumour has it that he quit because of problems over songwriting acknowledgement on some of their tunes.


2. You've written some about your battle with anorexia--how hard do you have to fight it these days?

Ruf has made a huge difference to my life in terms of my self-esteem and I remain eternally grateful to both him and Bear for turning my life around. Sure, I'm still very insecure and need reassurance through the medium of verbal/tactile expressions of appreciation but mostly I am very much more content as a person now. This means that when things do get me down, I can recognise the symptoms and take steps to combat and counteract them.

Sometimes, I do have to physically make myself sit down and eat, especially if it's a busy time. The run up to Christmas has always been a difficult time for me because there is so much to be done that I often forget to refuel regularly, so will arrive on the Day itself up to half a stone lighter than when I began December. These days, I can acknowledge this and factor in time for meals better because I know how dangerous it can be for me to slip back into the habit of not eating. Having suppressed my appetite for so many years, I just don't get hungry in the way of normal mortals and my desire for sweet foods like cake and chocolate is definitely far less than anyone I know.

The difficult times are when I am unhappy. If something is really getting me down on a regular basis, it's hard not to regress back into the pit and allow the wrong part of my mind to regain control of my intake. That's when I know that I will never be cured. It is a mental illness that will always try to get back on top but at least I now have the ability to know and analyse it but, more importantly, also the tools to fight it.


3. When are you coming to the States??

I have never actually visited another Continent. I do have relatives who live on the West Coast and they are always nagging me to visit. When the kids were younger, the prospect of a transatlantic flight with children filled me with horror. Now they are teenagers, they are showing much more interest and, hopefully, can be relied upon not to have the screaming abdabs half-way there. I shall start saving, so maybe in a couple of years...?

Naturally, I shall find a way to stop in and sit on the Back Row with you.


4. You are playing Blackjack. You've been dealt a pair of 7s, and the dealer's showing card is a 5. What would you do?

Errr... Take my top off? I have no idea how to play Blackjack and, if I'm playing with you (so to speak), I suspect it would be strip Blackjack... in which case I'm obviously going to lose :)


5. How many plants are growing in your house (or trying to grow...)?

LOL. I've actually been writing a post very relevant to this and hope to post next week. I do not have green fingers. I currently have two real houseplants, having just lost the most long-standing.

Oh, don't be ridiculous! Of course I don't know what type the survivors are. One is a sort of spidery thing and the other is... well, it's green and trailing. They have been around for over a decade but they persist in clinging onto life despite my ministrations rather than because of them.

Before I had children, I used to love gardening. I found it very therapeutic. Alan Titchmarsh was my hero, although I found his foray into fiction with the consequent sex scene writing rather unnerving. Again, I wasn't very good at working the soil but it did give me a lot of pleasure and relaxation. Sadly, once footie (that's soccer to you American philistines - ugh!) and cricket became a feature of my children's lives, the welfare of the unfortunate plants in my borders came a very poor second when confronted with ball retrieval and I stopped trying to cultivate and propagate. I weed occasionally these days but I do enjoy mowing the lawn. It's something about the making of contiguous stripes... I am soooooo anal :)

Thank you for being gentle with me x

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interview me, baby. Interview me hard. Interview me fast. Interview me over and over.

Osbasso said...

Ooh! Depending on which part of the west coast, I could come to you! And I'll bring the cards! Though I do like your way of playing blsckjack. :-)

Thanks for playing along! Next time it'll be a little rougher! ;-)

Osbasso said...

Blackjack, even!

Cate said...

I love learning these odd little bits of info. After you posted the cleaning HNT at Ruf's, I would have guessed that you had green fingers, but maybe not.

The things you learn!

Cate xxx

h said...

You be good writer. Interview me!

Your best move was doubling down in that blackjack scenario, btw.

Osbasso said...

Better move would have been to split, I believe.

Fat Controller said...

Please, please ms Cake, interrogate me!

I like the idea of leather gloves, would they be elbow-length?

Thanks for putting me on to 'Gavin and Stacey', btw, I'm now hooked!

Fat Controller said...

Please, please ms Cake, interrogate me!

I like the idea of leather gloves, would they be elbow-length?

Thanks for putting me on to 'Gavin and Stacey', btw, I'm now hooked!

Trixie said...

Tsk! Troll, how could you get the blackjack wrong? I would have split. Wouldn't do it naked though ;)

Joanna Cake said...

Well, Marianne was first but, strictly speaking FC fulfilled the criteria properly. To be fair, I should probably interview you both but then Troll would complain about being left out.

LOL... Ok, ok, I shall interview the three of you. Suitably tailored questions to follow after the weekend...

Joanna Cake said...

PS I still have no idea what the rest of you are talking about... except Cate of course :)