Five Lists of Five Things

This post inspired by Rarasaur, Benzeknees and Not a Punk Rocker. You know how much I love making lists…

Five Things I Am Passionate About:

1. Books – well this goes without saying! I love books – the content, the feel and also pretty books with interesting covers.

2. Equality, justice and civil rights. I’m a feminist (the intersectional, grey area, looking at the roots of things kind) and believe people deserve dignity and respect. I believe in proper inclusion, not the kind where people do the bare minimum, but embrace and accept each other.

3. Arts and Culture – theatre, art galleries, books, festivals, film, music – my life would be boring and less meaningful without them all. I’m passionate about people expressing themselves through arts and culture.

4. Vulnerability and authenticity. Yes I know these are two different concepts, but to me, they go hand in hand. I believe in striving to be authentic and the bravery it takes to be vulnerable. We’re afraid of vulnerability because it means we are open, but at the same time, being brave and open means you can be resilient. Authenticity – by this I mean being yourself, being okay with that and accepting other people’s authenticity.

5. Challenging the status-quo. I question everything, because when you accept things without questioning them, we are often being fed lies or bias, especially through the mainstream media. Taking things with a pinch of salt and questioning the official line means that you can often get to the root of things, or see two (or three, or four) sides of the same argument.

Five Things I Would Like To Do Before I Die:

1. Publish a few books. Another thing that goes without saying! I want to publish both fiction and non-fiction books so I better get a move on…

2. Travel to Japan. Dan and I have always wanted to go to Japan – we love anime, and are interested in the culture.

3. Actually finish a photo-a-day project for a year. I tried one two years ago and it didn’t go well. Would love to document a whole year in this way.

4. Find our own place. Dan and I live with my parents and sister – although unorthodox, we simply can’t afford our own place yet. We have a huge room and bathroom and I’m thankful for a roof over our heads, but saving up will take a while.

5. Go Interailing around Europe. There are a lot of places I haven’t been to in Europe, and I’d love to take a month to travel around all those countries and cities I’d like to visit. By train – because this is my favourite way to travel.

5 Things I Say A Lot:

1. ‘You know?’ – usually at the end of sentences…

2. Either ‘Bloody hell’ or ‘J**** C*****’ – sadly, I don’t know why that last one is in my vocabulary, I’ve been saying it a lot (usually when angry or freaked out) and can’t think why. I tend to go through phases of saying certain swearwords. I’m only human!

3. ‘Hello, ginger squish!’ – said to Marmalade.

4. ‘Lovely’ – my favourite ‘nice’ word.

5. ‘Oh dear.’ – I know this sounds stereotypically English, but oh well, I say it a lot.

5 Books or Magazines I Have Read Lately:

1. Mr Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan – what a fab book – books and Google, bookstores and secret underground chambers.

2. Mslexia Spring issue – haven’t read it all yet, but I got a year’s subscription for Xmas from my Mum.

3. Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin – author of the Happiness Project – some of the suggestions are worth trying. It’s quite an inspiring and uplifting book.

4. Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey – still reading this from last year on my Kindle but it’s a long epic book!

5. The Witch’s Daughter by Paula Brackston.

5 Favourite Movies (only 5?!)

1. The Return of the Jedi – although I love all the StarWars films, this is by far my favourite!

2. Howl’s Moving Castle.

3. Pride and Prejudice – although I like the BBC TV series, I also think the adaptation with Keira Knightley is good for its own reasons.

4. Pan’s Labyrinth.

5. Cheating a bit – but the Harry Potter films. I think my favourites (at the moment) are The Philosopher’s Stone and The Deathly Hallows Part 2.

Well this was fun – I have lots of favourite films though! I could quite happily give you a list of 100 of my favourites…