I'm bored.

[apolla]

1. First name? Clare

2. Were you named after anyone? St. Clare of Montefalco, a relatively obscure Italian saint who when she died, was found to have the instruments of the Passion engraved on her heart. Or something. Her feast day is August 17, and I know this because it's also the day I had to go get my A Level results in 2000 and two days before Rich's birthday.

3. Do you wish on stars? I have tried, but I'm not sure I ever really bought into it- I probably wouldn't have even thought to do it if it weren't for Jiminy Cricket.

4. When did you last cry? Not properly for a long time, although I came close when I failed my driving test again. Mostly because I really want to drive myself to see my grandmother at the cemetery. Weird perhaps, but I'd like that to be my first real drive.

5. Do you like your handwriting? Yes I do. However, I'm the only person who ever has. It's so illegible that for literally thirteen years every single teacher I ever had complained about it to the parents at parent-teacher interviews each year. Literally every single teacher ever. I think it's distinctive

6. What's your favorite lunch meat? Mortadella. Always Mortadella, but not the supremo version they have in Waitrose, which is a bit crap.

7. What is your birth date? 25th March.

8. What is your most embarrassing CD? Pah. I own nothing embarrassing, silly people! Except that I do own More Than This: The Best of Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music (Yes, that is a contradiction in terms) because Buzzcocks did intros of a couple of them and it was driving me insane only knowing the first few bars. I own the best of A-Ha for the same reason, although now it's easier I have the net and ability to download.

9. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you? Only under protest.

10. Are you a daredevil? A show-off more than a daredevil, which means I'll do stupid/daredevil/dangerous stuff as long as I have an audience. Ergo, abseiling in thunderstorms to show I wasn't scared, etc. Being not scared is important to me- if you confront a fear, you overcome it.

12. Do looks matter? For Miss America, sure. I think the important thing is to see the beauty that already exists in people rather than expecting everyone to conform to a certain standard- blonde, buxom, botoxed, etc. I think Freddie Mercury was beautiful precisely because he didn't look like every other bloke on the street. Jim Morrison would be considered beautiful by most people with eyes, but it's what he did with it that counts.

13. How do you release anger? I don't. I don't allow myself to get angry really, because then my temper might snap, and I refuse to let that happen ever again. I suppose I release some by ranting about unimportant things, but I don't care about important things enough to get angry about them. C'est la vie, que sera sera etc.

14. Where is your second home? I don't really have one, but Ireland will become my real home one day, I think.

15. Do you trust others easily? Not really. Again, I'm very blase about most things, so it might appear that way, but ultimately I don't think I do..

16. What was your favorite toy as a child? My beautiful, spunky, independent Barbie dolls- all 80+ and counting. Some girls sent their Barbies out on dates to the pizza place with Ken, I sent mine to mechanic school, mine were single mothers living in council flats. Barbie allows girls to dream, as far as I'm concerned, and to explore the world without having to go into it to early. I don't think what she looks like is as important as that. As for those fucking Bratz, they're fucking awful. At least barbie looked human, if pneumatic. At least Barbie had careers.

17. Which class in high school do you think was totally stupid? All of them. Seriously, I more or less dreamed my way through most of school- I always knew there were more important things. By the Sixth Form, I was actively giving up effort in classwork for movies and music and books. Maths has always been so alien to me that I've never found it useful. I don't need trigonometry and I don't need to understand it.

18. Do you have a journal? My mam bought me a wood-cover journal for Christmas but I've not written in it yet. This is the only journal I've ever kept up for long, and even then it's not really about me and my life, I don't think.

19. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Not really.

20. What are your nicknames? I don't have one. It's hard to shorten or modify Clare and the options available don't work on me- Clare Bear? My godfather used to call me Clara Bow or Clarabella as a joke and I've used Clarabella as my journal title in honour of the Beatles' cover of said song on Live At The BBC: "Now here's Paul, whistling Clarabella." And of course, when they found out how big my feet were (short version: a maths lesson on averages and those pink converse boots) at school, Craig Snell popularised 'Bigfoot'. I didn't find it funny then, and I don't now, so I wouldn't recommend trying it.

21. Would you bungee jump? Course I would. Looks like fun. Somewhere warm and pretty, not just some random bridge in Birmingham or something.

22. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Not even on proper shoes. My trainers are untied so rarely that you can tell- the knotted bits are now a different shade of white to the rest of the lace.

23. Do you think that you are strong? Sure, why not.

24. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Ben & Jerry Cherry Garcia, all the way. And cheap supermarket brand Neapolitan.

25. Shoe size? 7 1/2 or thereabouts, which translates to a US 9 1/2. For a girl of 5'2, yes it's big. See above

26. Red or pink? Red.

27. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? My mind. But then, that's also my favourite thing.

28. Who do you miss most? At this precise moment? A dream I once had of a man named Jim. He probably never existed as I think of him and he probably laughs at me from his place in heaven, but I miss him just the same.

29. Do you want everyone to whom you send this to send it back? Looks like someone nicked an email forward ;) 

30. What color pants and shoes are you wearing? Dark blue 501s, bare feet.

31. What are you listening to right now? Dazed And Confused by Led Zeppelin just went into its 32nd minute.

32. Last thing you ate? Walkers crisps, beef and onion of course.

33. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Purple and shiny and fabulous.

34. What is the weather like right now? No idea. Looks grey outside.

35. Last person you talked to on the phone? My dad yesterday, asking him to come get me from town.

36. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? I actually don't know, because I don't really think about it in that sense. I suppose if someone has long hair, he'll grab my attention. Being featured on the cover of MOJO also helps.

37. Do you like the person who sent this to you? I do indeed, because she's proof to me that not all Star Wars fans are totally nuts ;)

38. What is your ethnicity? Well, genetically completely Irish. More importantly though, I've been brought up Irish-Anglo with a hint of Croat.

39. Favorite drink? Diet Coke. WARNING: The new Diet Coke With Lime tastes like Fairy Liquid washing-up liquid.

40. Favorite sport? Baseball, probably. Interesting football games (ie, not Tottenham vs West Brom yesterday).

41. Hair color? The first inch is brown, the rest is faded red.

42. Eye color? Blue

43. Do you wear contacts? No. Aside from being quite expensive, I have a stigmatism I think, so I'd have to get special weighted ones.One day, maybe.

44. Are you single? Yes.

45. Favorite food? Mortadella. The bacon and cabbage at Guinness (I made bacon & cabbage with mash MYSELF the other night!!). Pepperoni pizza. Meatballs.

46. Last movie you watched? Some of Helen of Troy from 1956 starring Stanley Baker as Achilles and Rossana Podesta as Helen. Only watching cos my Tommy DVD seems screwed up, BAH. Roger Daltrey is unnaturally beautiful in the Smash The Mirror/I'm Free scenes as far as I'm concerned.

47. Favorite day of the year? The 19th July. It's not actually. I don't know anything that happens that day, but I felt like being unusual.

48. Scary movies or happy endings? I don't really dig scary movies, not being of the opinion I need the shit scared out of me to be entertained. I quite like bittersweet endings, like in Roman Holiday because they allow you to wonder about what happened afterwards. However, the end of The Phantom of the Opera is just WRONG. At least Gerard Butler doesn't die like he usually does in his films!

49. Summer or winter? I don't really care.

50. Hugs or kisses? Hugs are cool.

51. Do you have any favorite rants and, if so, what are they? Well, I'm still stuck on Jude-Law-as-Errol-Flynn-In-The-Aviator-HE'S-FUCKING-BLOND.

52. What is your favorite dessert? Tiramisu. Seriously, I can get through a family size 500g tiramisu in short order.

53. Who is most likely to respond? Dunno. Don't care. This really was an email.

54. Who is most likely not to respond? See above.

55. What books are you reading? Well, I was reading Casino Royale by Ian Fleming after my dad bought me the set of Bond books, but I got bored. Might try From Russia With Love. I'm not so much a book person as I once was.

56. What's on your mouse pad? "Talk To Frank", the anti-drug thing the government did. My dad brings home some curious stuff from work. If you want to look: www.talktofrank.com

57. What did you watch last night on TV? I didn't really- there wasn't anything good on. Joey starts tonight on British TV, and there's also C4's 100 Greatest Tearjerkers or something. 

58. Favorite smells? Guitar strings. Crisps. Pizza in the oven.

59. Favorite sounds? Dean Martin.

60. Rolling Stones or Beatles? The Beatles. Don't get me wrong, I like Keef et al., but this isn't a question where you can really umm or ah. It's like Elvis or the Beatles. You always come down on one side or the other really. To be honest, any Beatles or ... question will end this way for me. Although if you ask me Beatles or Doors/Lizzy/Zep I will just ignore you. Don't make me choose between my boys.

61. What's the farthest you've been from home? California, some several thousand miles. 8000, I think. 

62. Do you have a special talent? Many and varied, I'm sure.

63. I am adding a question for anyone who borrows this meme: What do people see in you that makes them want to be your friend? I wish I knew.