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An interview with Whifflingpin:
1. How did you come about this site and what makes you keep coming back?
I was probably looking for info on a book or author. & see 30
2. Are you happy with the way things are here?
Pretty Much
3. Have you visited other countries than your own and what did you like about it or not like? If you could live somewhere different from where you live now, where would it be and why?
I’ve had short stays in various countries over the years, on holiday or business. I like travelling, seeing new places and the slightly edgy feeling of unfamiliarity.
If I could live somewhere else it would be a warm, coastal place with plenty of history and no biting insects: somewhere near Amalfi or Trabzon perhaps. (Actually that’s a really pathetic answer; that would just be a warmer version of where I live now.)
4. Do you have any pets?
No. definitely not. My wife has a dog, 2 cats and a rabbit, and they are nothing to do with me and I never ever stroke them behind the ears or give them cheese or goodies when she is not looking.
5. What makes you happy?
Oh, songs & laughter & kisses & grandchildren & deer crossing the road in front of me & meat pie & fresh firecoals. All the usual soppy stuff.
6. What is mankind's biggest achievement, and its greatest downfall?
Motorways and motorways
7. If you had a long day of hard work ahead of you what music would you be playing on your mp3, while working?
What’s an mp3?
8. If you could take one book, music album and one video with you to a desert island, what would they be?
Palgrave’s Golden Treasury, Pauline Cato’s The Wansbeck Piper, The Name of the Rose
9. Do you feel comfortable in your walk with God?
Yes
10. Which actor should play you in a movie based on your life?
Jimmy Stewart, maybe – or Groucho Marx
11.Given the option, what animal would you choose to be?
One of my wife’s cats
12. What were your favourite things to do the past? What about now?
Then: Hiking, sailing reading. Now: Hiking, sailing, reading & being entertained by the grandchildren. In between, I suppose there must have been whatever it was that made grandchildren possible.
13. What activities make you lose track of time?
See 12
14. What makes you feel great about yourself?
See 5, 12, 9 & 16
15. Who inspires you most? (Anyone you know or not. Family, friends, authors, artists, leaders, etc.) Which qualities inspire you, in each person?
My son’s pretty cool. When I grow up I’d like to be like him.
16. What are you naturally good at? (Skills, abilities, gifts etc.)
I sing well (in the bath.)
17. What do people typically ask you for help in?
How to get to places. I don’t know why, but I suppose wherever I am I look as if I belong. I was in New York for one day, and three people asked me for directions – and I was able to give good answers to two of them.
18. If you had to teach something, what would you teach?
Map reading
19. What would you regret not fully doing, being or having in your life?
What I regret is making up feeble excuses, to myself, for not doing things – when really it was just that I was too lazy or gutless.
20. What song is in your head at the moment?
Miss Moore’s Rant, I think.
21. The last book you bought/borrowed from the library?
English County Songs – Broadwood & Maitland - 1893
22. Which book are you reading at the moment?
The Ruling Passion by David Pownall, The Ode Less Travelled by Stephen Fry, Thaddeus of Warsaw by Jane Porter
23. The last book you finished reading?
A biography of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham
24. Favorite food?/ Comfort food?
That’s a girlie sort of question. Beetrootsoupsuetpuddingsausagesroastpotatoesfreshp easenewbreadtomatoesfishsteakandonionsbaconbutican ’teatthatnowbecauseofthegoutkedgereesomekindsofcur ryrussetapplesroastchestnutsicecream.
25. What time of day do you most often find yourself on the LitNet?
Evenings
26. What are you wearing at the moment?
A smile
27. Favorite poem?
Childe Harold
28. First novel you remember reading on your own?
Coral Island by Ballantyne, about fifty years ago.
29. Favorite TV shows?
Nah
30. Which LitNet members would you like to meet in person if you could?
All of you, let’s have a party! Actually I’m not very good at parties, so I’d sit in the corner & chat with Pen & Scher & Logos & Virgil & Mother Hubbard & JBI & Pensive & Madhuri & Nightshade & Andave Ya & Taliesin & ohdammit, let’s just have a party.
31. Favorite post on the Forum?
Unnameable wrote some good ones before he got himself banned. I suppose the ones I enjoy most are well-argued posts that I disagree with – I savour those.
32. Favorite thread?
Most threads in the Religious Texts forum, up to about the tenth post. I suppose I’ve contributed more posts to the Book Title Game than to any other.
33. Last food did you have?
Gooseberry & blackberry tart (or was it gooseberry and rhubarb?)
34. Last words you said out loud?
“Don’t we just!” (Someone had remarked that young people think themselves to be invulnerable.)
35. Last person you hugged/kissed?
The wife.
36. What do you do (for a living) to be able to keep your LitNet addiction going? And are you happy with your chosen profession?
Test software, and yes, it’ll do till I find out what I want to do with my life.
37. What question would you like to ask yourself?
If you had to ask yourself a question, what would it be?
38. What would you like to be if you could change your profession?
Rich would be nice for a change.
39. Least favourite book/song/movie?
Ulysses by James Joyce/Kumbaya/Texas Chainsaw Massacre
40. The most generous thing you have done?
Nah
41. What is your most outstanding feature?
My left knee – a fascinating blend of subtle curves & planes and tones and shading.
42. If you could change one thing about the way you look, what would that be?
Maybe my right knee, which, when all is said and done, is just a mirror image of my left knee.
43. Which book do you wish you had written?
The one I’ve been meaning to write for the last forty years
44. What is your favourite book cover?
Acid-free paper and a protective plastic layer
45. Most and least favourite characters from books?
Odysseus from the Iliad, Mr Rochester from that other book I can’t remember the name of.
46. What would your biography be titled?
Je regrette que je ne regrette rien
47. What should you be doing at the moment instead of answering these questions?
If there is a moment for answering these questions this is it.
48. Wonderful Superman or depressing Batman?
Dr Strange
49. The most embarrassing moment in your life?
Too complicated to explain (and quite dull to anyone else)
50. Which literary character (s) have you been told to resemble the most?
I’ve never been told I resemble a literary character. I think I’m pretty close to Alfred J. Prufrock.
51. List some of the things that annoy you immensely.
No – current politics & religion are not allowed, and I don’t want the police to have any clues about the other things.
52. Anything that you want to forget but you never can?
It’s the other way round at my age, dear.
53. Tell us about some amusing translation mistake you have heard or made yourself.
When I went to stay with my French pen-friend, I was a bit surprised when the first thing his mother asked me was if my mother was beautiful. After I’d answered that question I realised she’d asked me how the sea was.
54. If you had to lose one of your senses, which would you choose and why?
Smell – Then if someone said “You smell” I could answer “No, I don’t.”
55. What’s the first thing you’ll do in an embarrassing situation?
Blush like a girl
56. Are you mostly happy with life or are you still in pursuit?
Yes
57. Are you male or female?
Yes
58. What gives your life meaning?
In itself, not much – as a link in the chain of being, who knows?
59. What type of Faerie would you like to be and why?
Oberon
60. One final word of wisdom for LitNet users?
Amen
61. What would you like to ask to the person to be interviewed after you?
What part of “Final” don’t you understand?
