I was kindly sent this by a lovely lady I met on a book-related website and had the pleasure of meeting in person last year. The idea is to release seven random or weird facts about myself into the blogosphere (I’ve refrained from using the word ‘interesting’ as it really doesn’t apply here). It was a welcome diversion from feeling ill. So, here we are:
1. IQ: Those who know me may be surprised by this but, according to MENSA, my IQ is high enough to allow me to join their organisation. Unfortunately, I could not take my application further, due to lack of money. I’m not going to tell you the exact score, as I’ve probably dropped 50 IQ points since spending 14 hours per day watching TV!
2. SOLICITORS: I once worked for a (large) firm of solicitors and hated it, so packed my job in. They said they’d fired me, so I took them to a tribunal. They sent their Chief Exec in to defend them (???), and I represented myself. I won. I won’t embarrass them by mentioning which firm it was.
3. ANXIETY: I suffer from panic attacks. They can happen anytime, any place and the people around me probably don’t even notice. I carry a Star Wars ewok (‘Wicket’) in my pocket as a ‘grounding’ object. Weird, huh? I got a fantastic self-help book about panic attacks – email me if you want the title, as I can’t recall it at the moment.
4. £2: I absolutely HATE two-pound coins. Don’t ask me why, as I don’t know. If I get them, I either spend them immediately or give them away.
5. GEEK: I used to work in biochemistry, genetics and microbiology laboratories and used to do this (which I really enjoyed). I love science (yep, I’m a total science nerd) but was unable to complete my Biomedical Science degree due to illness.
6. STEVE COOGAN: I once slapped Steve Coogan. We met him following a gig in London, and as he was signing my t-shirt, I noticed he’d spelled my name wrongly. I slapped his arm in a completely overly-familiar way and said, “That’s with an ‘i’ not a ‘y’,” which is what he then proceeded to write on my shirt! He was a very nice man, but I went off him a bit when he called his fans “bunny boilers” in an interview.
7. DRINKS: I can’t gulp down a drink from a bottle or a can. I tend to only use a straw. This is due to an unfortunate incident in my childhood. We used to get wrong for drinking from the bottle and one day, I sneaked into the kitchen and tried to take a drink out of a 3 litre bottle of Co-op Lemonade. As I was mid-gulp, my dad came in and caught me. I got such a shock, the pop went down the wrong way and I thought I was going to choke on it. Trying to drink out of bottles invokes a similar feeling, even today!
I’m supposed to pass this on to other bloggers, but I know so few people these days, so I guess I can’t. I’m also guessing that you now think I’m even stranger than you thought I was in the first place!