Sans titre

I've spent the day writing a new print formular for the database, with lots of optional goodness (if X then move these over there, else hide half of them and print Y instead). I think it's clean enough now to release it to Lou and Georgette for testing. Off to Munich tomorrow for a state-of-the-union meeting, to discuss what we might be able to change to persuade a possible new megaclient to sell it on to their 2000 clients.

Nothing else much is new. The crocuses and daffs are in bloom, the magnolias are budding out, the roses are putting out new bright red leaves.

Here's a meme borrowed from Pacian and Zhoen.

1. Do you like cheese?
Yes indeed, particularly strongly-flavoured cheeses like Münster, Passendaele or Parmesan; also runny soft blue cheeses like Stilton, Gorgonzola or St. Aygur.

2. Have you ever smoked heroin?
No, never had any inclination to try anything harder than marijuana, and that was a quarter-century ago. I just have no interest at all in that stuff.

3. Do you own a gun?
(a) No, I'm Canadian. (b) No, I live in Germany.

[Number Four is missing for some reason, P and Z both skipped it without comment.]

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?
Not usually, but it depends whether I think I know what's wrong with me. I have a well-developed and active hypochondria gland.

6. What do you think of hot dogs?
Bah. I live in the land of a thousand Wurst. Eating a hot dog here is like going to Ben and Jerry's and ordering vanilla.

7. What's your favourite Christmas song?
John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (war is over)"

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
I would most prefer to drink a good, strong, flavourful cappuccino; unfortunately this requires leaving the house, so I drink normal blended coffee.

9. Can you do push ups?
Yes, but not many. I have started on a program of toughening myself up before the Great Big Walk in May.

10. Is your bathroom clean?
Alas, no. I like having it clean, but cannot be bothered to make it so.

11. What's your favourite piece of jewelry?
The only jewelry that I wear is a watch that I bought twenty years ago. The nicest piece of jewelry I've seen recently was a one-off that a local jeweller had in her window display: pebbles from the beach, well-rounded grey stones with a thin white stripe in the middle of each, made into a collier. It was very beautiful in an odd Zen-like way: life is glorious if you look at it closely enough. My dream-woman would rather wear that than pearls.

Where's 12?
Across the street.

13. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?
Well, if I had one it would be that my mouth has an "off" switch, and my ears don't.

14. Do you have friends?
To my eternal surprise and gratitude, yes.

15. Do you miss someone?
Many people in many places for many reasons.

16. Middle name?
Montmorency.

17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment?
i. My back itches.
ii. I really should finish this and go to bed.
iii. It was a mistake to think that this would be an easy and quick blogpost.

[Number eighteen also disappeared without trace.]

19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink:
i. Darjeeling tea
ii. Coffee
iii. Hot chocolate

20. Current worry?
Money, and the lack thereof.

21. Current hate?
Apathy and moral laziness.

22. Favourite place to be?
Sitting in the shade on a sunny day, with good companions and enough to eat, and a little more than enough to drink, for thirst is a dangerous thing.

23. How did you bring in the New Year?
Miserably, regrettably, foolishly, worryingly. Read about it here.

24. Where would you like to go?
Oh, where to begin? To Saigon in the Thirties, when it was the pearl of the Orient. To Los Angeles in the Seventies, when the Beach Boys were singing and gas was cheap. To Israel. To Antarctica. To Finland, Iceland and Russia (again). To Tokyo. To bed.

[Numbers 25 and 26 missing.]

27. Do you own slippers?
Yes, wonderful sheepskin mocassins. Snuggly warm and soft and fleecy. My toes are happy.

28. What shirt are you wearing?
Anthracite grey turtleneck.

29. Do you burn or tan?
I burn if I'm not careful during the first few days, after that I tan deeply.

30. Favourite colour?
Many, depends on the context. My favourite colour to look at is yellow, but I'd never wear it.

31. Would you be a pirate?
Sadly no, I'm allergic to parrotshit. A similar disability prevents me from entering politics.

32. What songs do you sing in the shower?
Raucous stuff, Iggy Pop ("Fall in love with me" or "Dum-dum boys") or Elton John ("Your sister can't twist" or "Crocodile rock") or Guns'n'Roses ("Paradise city").

[33 and 34 are missing too. If I had more time, energy and ambition I'd invent new questions to plug the gaps.]

35. What's in your pocket right now?
I just checked, and despite having a grand total of eight pockets in my clothes the answer is: absolutely nothing at all. Not even fluff or crumbs. (The answer would be different if I were blogging at work, but since I wasn't, and don't, you will never know.)

36. Last thing that made you laugh?
Wondermark.

37. Best bed sheets as a child?
Golden light-brown with black owls drawn in a large, loopy faux-Japanese-calligraphy style.

38. Worst injury you've ever had?
I've always kept my seat belt well fastened and my chair-back upright—and have been extremely lucky.

39. What is your biggest pet peeve?
To see wilful, wanton ignorance celebrated as being "authentic" or "genuine."

40. How many TVs do you have in your house?
One, which was last switched on in early February. On the other hand, there are five computer screens in this room.

41. Who is your loudest friend?
Ageing Yuppie, hands down over my ears.

42. Who is your most silent friend?
Z. One sentence an hour is about his speed, but they are always worth waiting for.

43. Does someone have a crush on you?
Not that I'm aware of. Wear a rosette please, or wave a little sign.

44. Do you wish on shooting stars?
No, because I never think to do so quickly enough. By the time I've said "Oh, look, there's a shooting star. Boy, it's moving fast, it must be going dozens of times the speed of sound, I wonder why there's no sonic boom?" the star has long since burned out and gone.

45. What is your favourite book?
Sorry, can't do it. Ask me for a list of forty, I'll get back to you.

46. What is your favourite sweet?
Homemade shortbread cookies. I don't really like sweet foods that much (which is odd because I eat mountains of cookies).

47. What song do/did you want played at your wedding?
Meh. Whatever. I'm sure that I will have strong opinions about this on the day, but right now I couldn't be bothered.

48. What song do you want played at your funeral?
A fortune teller in Boston, who was described as "infallible" by the women who took me there, told me that I would live to be eighty-eight. By then I shall have compiled a full programme (available on CD and DVD at the church door, profits to Wikipedia).

49. What were you doing at 12 AM last night?
Probably already asleep; if not, reading St. Augustine's Confessions.

50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up?
"Hey, the sun's shining, hooray! Get up, let's go!"