Blog Tag and I'm It! *is excited*

This seems to be all over the blogosphere at the minute so I've been interestedly perusing all the different posts while lying here with my fluffy blanket this afternoon. What can I say, I'm a nosy little piggie. Imagine my surprise, when having never ever been tagged in anything before, Laura at Devouring Texts tagged me for this one. I haven't been this excited since I learned I could do this to my future child.

1. Post the rules
2. Post 11 fun facts about yourself
3. Answer questions from the person who tagged you
4. Make up 11 questions for the people you tag
5. Tag 11 people

Eleven facts about Hanna:

1) Despite having been profoundly apathetic about sports for almost all of my 22 years, I seem to have developed a slightly embarrassing interest in American football. My boyfriend loves it and apparently the attraction seeped into my brain by osmosis because I actually, willingly stayed up until 4am to watch the Superbowl.

2) I love frogs, to an extent that is nowhere near normal. I have a frog toothbrush holder, two frog showercaps, some frog maracas and pretty much anything else you can think of. The above froggy link in the first paragraph is a set-in-stone certainty for any of my future offspring.

3) I have a current yearning to run off and be an au pair in the US. I found a program where you get free board, food, flights and $97 a week to look after someone's children for a few hours a day. I know that's not a whole lot of money, but it's not like you have to pay rent. If I wasn't in a serious relationship in England, I'd pretty much already have applied - I want to do this so badly!

4) I very, very rarely watch TV or films. Actually, that's not true - I very, very rarely watch TV or films by choice. My boyfriend is a huge watcher and so I pretty much end up watching whatever he wants to. We have 'our' programs, of course - Castle, The Mentalist, Once Upon A Time, etc - but on my own, I don't even turn the damn thing on. Today I have sat in this room from 10am to currently 5pm in complete and total blessed silence.

5) I'm dying for a tattoo, but I'm too ill for my body to take it at the minute and I'm too poor besides. I have so many ideas for what I want though. I'm after a big piece that runs from my hip up to my shoulder along the side - something to do with frogs, but it has to be elegant not cartoonish. I also want this quote - 

'This is the Lord's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes.'

It's what Elizabeth I said in 1558 when she first heard that her sister had died and she was to be Queen. Allegedly, anyway. I'm not sure where, but probably along my shoulder.

Not heels but a favourite :)

I have to be careful with tattoo placement though - I want to be a barrister and they tend to prefer you tattooless.

6) I can't walk in tiny heels, not one bit. Give me a pair of six inch heels and I can do the can-can down the street, but I will fall flat on my face within three steps of putting on a pair of one inch. I can about manage in completely flat shoes, but it's genuinely easier for me to stride along in heels.

7) I sometimes end up with massive gaps in my memory, caused by my ME or my Lupus (I genuinely can't remember why, and that's not even a pun!). I pretty much always lose the first 30 minutes to an hour after getting up, along with periods of the day where I'm particularly tired. My ridiculously extensive Filofax is the running joke of the family!

8) I'm terrified of fish. Not even a mild dislike, but they scare me. I have panic attacks in pet shops! Funnily enough, I'm fine watching documentarys on whales or sharks (you know, things that could actually hurt me) but goldfish? Uh-uh. My boyfriend keeps an episode of Bear Grylls stored on the SkyBox where he bites into a live fish. Just the thought of it makes me feel panicky so he says he uses it to 'keep me in line!'

9) I have a ridiculous sleep pattern, but it's not entirely my own fault. Sleep reversal is a massive symptom of ME and it used to be a huge problem for me. I'd sleep from 4am to 11am everyday and be completely unable to sleep at any other time. I know this can happen to 'normal' people too, but for me, it's not just a matter of getting out of the pattern. It's genuinely just the way it is. I've got used to it now, although I haven't given up trying to sleep earlier.

10) So, so clumsy. So very slumsy. When I was a Scout Leader, it used to be a running joke that if I didn't walk in with some sort of bruise, cut, bandage or sling, I was an imposter. I once needed a total of 14 stitches in my head, arm and hand just because I tried to get a glass out of the cupboard.

11) I hate talking on the phone, I always have. When I was little I used to pretend to be ill so I didn't have to phone relatives on their birthdays. Even now my sole motivation for paying bills on time is so I don't have to speak to a representative on the phone.

BONUS - I am 100% way-over-the-top ridiculously excited about The Muppets Movie. I love Kermit and the theme tune was my ringtone for the longest time. I may just go and change that back actually...

Now for Laura's questions:

1. If money was no object, where would you most like to live in the world?

London or New York. I've never been to the latter, but I adore the former. I could easily spend all day every day wandering round all the museums and poky little shops. There's just so much culture!

2. What books are on your nightstand/wherever you keep the books you're going to read next right now?

I know it's strange, but I hardly ever think about what book I'm going to read next before I've finished my current one. I like to keep my options open :) Unless I have some review books that need to be read that is, but otherwise I'm slowly trying to get my TBR down.

3. Do you have any hobbies apart from reading that are really exciting?

The short answer would be a raised eyebrow and a snort. The long answer would involve a book about Lupus and ME, and would probably have a photograph of my bed on the front.

4. What is your favourite cartoon?

I'm not really a big cartoon watcher. I used to love Scooby Doo when I was little though. Well, until I started to get nightmares about the Headless Horseman and my parents banned me from watching it!

5. Who is your favourite celebrity crush, if you had to pick just one?

I've never really done the whole celebrity crush thing, but the guy from Thor is so pretty I would do all kinds of nasty things to him. 

6. What kind of music is your favourite, and which artist would you most recommend to me/anyone?

I'm a rock/indie girl. I think. I've never been that good at classifying different genres of music. I love The Dropkick Murphys, Blink 182, Death Cab for Cutie, The John Butler Trio, etc.

7. Are you a simple girl or a Katie girl? (For help with this question, see this video)

Oh ho ho, I am so not a simple girl. You could ring up every single one of my ex-boyfriends and not one of them would tell you I'm simple. I'm not entirely sure if that's a good thing (it's probably not) but there you go.

8. Readalongs: Scourge of the devil, or really really really fun?

I always sign up but I always fail. I love the idea of reading the same thing at the same time as a bunch of other people and then all talking about it, and posting similar posts. Even now the concept has made me smile! But when the time comes I either don't want to read that book at that time or I can't slow down enough to read it in the designated time period. What can I say, I'm a free spirit.

9. Cupcakes: anti-feminism, or just tasty little cakes?

 Anti-femi...what? No, really. What!?

10. You're given a ticket for a round the world trip- who do you take with you, and where are you going first?

Either my best friend, Caroline or The Boy, depending on whether we've recently had a Harry Potter Argument. It'd be fun to go travelling with Caroline, I think. We're pretty similar and I'm more than a little jealous she's in New Zealand at the minute.

I'm not sure where we'd go. There are so many places I'd love to visit. I've always wanted to go to Russia but right now I'm in the mood for somewhere warm, so I'll go with... Egypt!

11. What is your desert island book?

Oh, I don't know! I don't think I could survive anywhere with just one book! If I had to choose, probably Pride and Prejudice. It's my absolutely favourite, to the extent that I have 33 copies :)

My questions:

1) What's your TBR pile like? How many books are on it and how is it organised?

2) Are you scared of anything?

3) Do you like inscriptions in books or prefer them in mint condition?

4) Would you say you're a girly girl?

5) Favourite dinosaur? :)

6) Your favourite pair of shoes? This is Booking in HEELS, after all!

7) What's the last film you watched?

8) Who would you want to play you in a film about your life?

9) What's your take on audio books?

10) If you could ban one actor/actress from ever acting again, who would it be?

11) What's the strangest google search term used to find your blog?

I'm tagging:

EVERYONE! I know that's a bit of a cop-out but I'm way too socially awkward to actually tag anyone in case they somehow resent being tagged (or something). Instead, if you're reading this and haven't done it yet - I HEREBY TAG YOU!

Booking Through Thursday Survey

What do you mean 'it's Saturday?' No it's not, I don't believe you! And even if I did, I would still post this survey today, simply because I can. It's not like I saw it on Musings of a Bookshop Girl and any potential restraint was overshadowed by my pathological need to fill out surveys or anything.

1. What’s your favorite time of day to read?

All the time! I know that's a bit of a cop-out answer, but it's pretty much true. I'm not good at reading right after I've just got up, but any other time is fair game. I don't work, so you can pretty much find me with a book in my hand at any given time. I do especially like reading in the early evening though, or maybe just after tea.

 

2. Do you read during breakfast? (Assuming you eat breakfast.)

No, it's the only time of day when I don't. I can't really. I have ME so most days I wake up fairly ill. Imagine your most groggy morning of the last month and multiply it by about four and then pretend you have a sheet of clingfilm across your vision. I do carry my book about with me though, ready for when I'm read to act like a normal person!

 

3. What’s your favorite breakfast food? (Noting that breakfast foods can be eaten any time of day.)

Again, I wake up too ill to eat actual breakfast. The combination of ME and IBS mean that I tend to automatically throw up anything I eat too soon after I wake up. Wow, this is turning into quite a woe-is-me post, isn't it? I do love sausage sandwiches with red sauce though - those are definitely my favourite breakfast food.

 

4. How many hours a day would you say you read?

It varies. I spend half my time at my parents house in Bradford, and the other half with my boyfriend in Sheffield, so it depends where I am, really. I tend to read less when I'm staying at Lewis' because I'm more likely to watch a film with him. Probably only about an hour and a half a day, unless he's obsessed with a particular x-box game, in which case it will be more.

At home it's easily three or four hours a day, simply because I have a short attention span for anything else. 

5. Do you read more or less now than you did, say, 10 years ago?

More, but only because I have more spare time. I've always been a huge reader. I was a little more into TV back then though whilst now I hardly ever turn the damn thing on, so that probably makes a difference.

 

6. Do you consider yourself a speed reader?

I don't know, what's a speed reader? And no, that isn't as stupid a question as it sounds! I don't skim read, but I do read quickly.

7. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

How odd, I had this conversation just yesterday! I'd want to be able to freeze time. There are so many practical applications! You could sit on the floor of Waterstones and read forever, without ever having to buy a book or move out of the way. You could avoid people you don't like and you'd never be late for classes. This is always my 100% convinced answer to this question.

Failing that, because it doesn't really count, I'd like to jump into books like Thursday Next. 

8. Do you carry a book with you everywhere you go?

Yes. More out of habit than anything else. I trail my book about everywhere in the damn house, so it's a logical progression to shove it in my handbook before I go out. It used to annoy me in the Sixth Form Common room when I'd take out my book to read when I was alone, and someone would come over and say "Oh, I saw you were bored so I thought I'd come over!" No. I'm not bored, I'm reading. GO AWAY.

9. What KIND of book?

Big books, little books, cardboard book? All kinds!

 

10. How old were you when you got your first library card?

I don't remember. Very young. I remember they were basically just pieces of laminated white paper with printed black text. You could get six books out at a time, and I remember being so excited when I turned ten and my limit increased to twelve books! It was great because the library is literally a five minute walk from our house.

 

11. What’s the oldest book you have in your collection? (Oldest physical copy? Longest in the collection? Oldest copyright?)

Oh god knows. I have my Mum's old copy of Little Woman, so probably that. It's hardback and the binding is falling apart, but I love it.

I have a lot of classic books, so I have no idea about the oldest copyright. I have a collection of Euripedes' plays, so that's probably the one. Not that they had copyright 2000BC, but you get the idea.

 

12. Do you read in bed?

Every single night when I'm at home. I spend a large portion of the day reading on the bed too, because both The Boy and I live with our parents, so it's the only place to get privacy.

 

13. Do you write in your books?

No, never. I don't have a problem with reading or buying books that have been written in; sometimes I find it quite interesting. But I don't even like breaking the spines, so writing in them really goes against the grain!

14. If you had one piece of advice to a new reader, what would it be?

Surely if they're already a reader, the hard part is done? They've already decided to give a books a go and found reading to their liking! I guess I'd remind them that if they aren't getting alone with a book, it's perfectly acceptable to put it down and choose another.