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Friday, February 25th, 2005 10:24 am
[personal profile] tamaranth
Snow! Oh, I know it's horribly inconvenient for anyone trying to go anywhere, and nasty for those that hate the cold: but I am in neither camp, and I got up early to make sure I didn't miss it. Though must go out soon and frolic, before it melts. Lovely hazy pinkish light, mmmm.

I keep thinking about the '10 things' meme. There are not that many unusual experiences I've had that are worth mentioning, really. Mostly they reflect badly on me, or are not very cheerful. So the following are not especially exciting.

1) Interviewed Neal Stephenson.
2) Jumped out of an aeroplane (with a parachute).
3) Fallen under a train (a stationary one). Boring! Try: (3) Presented a weekly music programme on live TV for six months
4) Flown (and landed) a glider.
5) Been charged by mounted police
6) Swum in the sea (off the Devon coast) on Easter Sunday.
7) Been caught in flagrante in a National Park
8) Trodden on a weever fish Not interesting! (8) Cancelled my MENSA membership on ethical grounds actually am not quite sure 'ethical' is the right word: I objected very strongly to the whiff of eugenics from certain quarters
9) Dug my way through a snowdrift to get to a phonebox
10) Been trodden on by John Peel

OK, you can wake up now.

EDIT: More on weever fish. I rather liked this summary (my emphasis), found here:
On sandy, muddy or gravelly bottoms, from a few meters to about 150 m. Rest on the bottom, often buried with eyes and tip of first dorsal fin exposed (Ref. 9988). At night they swim around freely, even pelagically (Ref. 35388). Feeding on small invertebrates and fishes; chiefly nocturnal. Oviparous, eggs and larval stages pelagic. There are dark markings along the scales; the anterior dorsal fin is black and contains venomous spines. Utilized fresh and frozen; can be pan-fried, broiled, boiled and baked (Ref. 9988). Spawning takes place in June and August, pelagic eggs are 1 mm (Ref. 35388).

Date: Friday, February 25th, 2005 10:49 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] flickgc.livejournal.com
Jumping out of planes!

[bounce]

Date: Friday, February 25th, 2005 10:57 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] yonmei.livejournal.com
Frolicking [livejournal.com profile] tamaranth!

*happy smile*

Date: Friday, February 25th, 2005 10:58 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ajshepherd.livejournal.com
Why jump out of a perfectly good aeroplane?

Date: Friday, February 25th, 2005 11:22 am (UTC)
From: [personal profile] zotz
Maybe they didn't like the in-flight movie?

Date: Friday, February 25th, 2005 12:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lproven.livejournal.com
Tell me more about this national park...

Date: Friday, February 25th, 2005 12:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] major-clanger.livejournal.com
(8) and (10) imply some sort of peculiar hierarchy of being trodden on...

MC

Date: Friday, February 25th, 2005 01:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moral-vacuum.livejournal.com
I expect pretty pictures of greenwich and blackheath in the snow forthwith.

Date: Friday, February 25th, 2005 01:16 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] akicif.livejournal.com
Thanks for that image (I'm seeing it as a sort of weird TW3 sketch)....

Date: Friday, February 25th, 2005 04:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pdcawley.livejournal.com
Does it count if you didn't get caught?

Date: Friday, February 25th, 2005 10:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tamaranth.livejournal.com
Long, long ago in a galaxy far far away Yorkshire. I shall Draw A Veil over further detail.

Date: Friday, February 25th, 2005 10:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tamaranth.livejournal.com
it was rather crowded, what with the 6'6" Marine instructor standing between me and the inside ...

Date: Friday, February 25th, 2005 10:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tamaranth.livejournal.com
plus, I should add, it rocked. In a good way. 2,000 feet is really not very far at all. Utter freedom for 5 seconds, though. Bliss.

Date: Friday, February 25th, 2005 11:00 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tamaranth.livejournal.com
if you bounce when you jump out, I believe it indicates that either someone has replaced your static line with bungee cord, or that you have omitted to pack a parachute -- but have landed on something vaguely resilient. Perhaps someone from your Friends list.

Date: Friday, February 25th, 2005 11:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ajshepherd.livejournal.com
New No. 3: Wow! That's cool!

Date: Friday, February 25th, 2005 11:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pmcmurray.livejournal.com
I've fallen under a train too...

Date: Friday, February 25th, 2005 11:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pmcmurray.livejournal.com
and I don't think it counts as in flagrante unless you're caught...

Date: Saturday, February 26th, 2005 06:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] flickgc.livejournal.com
It is deeply cool.

I must do it again, some time!

Date: Saturday, February 26th, 2005 07:21 am (UTC)
From: [personal profile] dalmeny
"Ethical" sounds like exactly the right word.

If I may ask, there is one thing I have always wondered about MENSA -- why do people join? Not neccessarily you yourself, but what did your fellow members want out of it? (Apart from genetically perfect super-race, I now presume.)

Date: Saturday, February 26th, 2005 09:34 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] yonmei.livejournal.com
I did the by-post IQ test for Mensa, discovered there was a pretty good chance I'd pass: thought about it very hard, and discovered I couldn't think of a single good reason for joining.

What was your reason? (Part of my reason for not joining was that I was very, very poor at the time, and the fees would have been a significant chunk of my income, not small change. By the time I got to an income level where the fees would be a never-mind, the no-good-reason-to-join was entrenched.)

Date: Saturday, February 26th, 2005 12:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sbisson.livejournal.com
Weever fish are interesting!

We always had to be careful of them back home - I hope you didn't get too big a dose of the poison!

Date: Sunday, February 27th, 2005 02:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] moral-vacuum.livejournal.com
Policeman: You are engaging in sexual congress in an area of outstanding natural beauty.

Partner: Yes, she is rather lovely.

Date: Sunday, February 27th, 2005 03:46 pm (UTC)

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