Image Details: “Gun Barrel Proof House, Banbury Street, Digbeth – 10mph sign” by ell brown, via Flickr.

Inspired and enabled, as usual, by Martine “The Enabler” iMake (that SO makes her sound like a WWE wrestler) as well as Kate from Kate’s Twirl and the lovely Mossy Moss Stitch, I have cobbled together 10 random facts about me. I was surprised to find that, even though it seems like I know the above-mentioned people quite well from the online world, there is actually loads of stuff I don’t know about them. I was very surprised to find that Kate was a twin, for instance.

It also got me to thinking about how, in these days of increased online presence of everyone, thanks to wide availability of high speed broadband (not in Limpopo) and smart phones, that we often spend more time talking to people we have never met “in real life” than people we have known for years! On the other hand, it is nice to meet people virtually who share our somewhat niche interests, as this is not always the case with “real life” friends. As a podcast listener and a podcaster, it is doubly strange, as when I listen to another podcaster, I feel like I know them more than the impression I get from a blog, as I have heard their voice, which people who listen to my podcast must do too. The other weird thing is the idea I get in my head about what they look like, based on their voice, and I have never yet got it right. Kind of like how you see someone on Ravelry as their Ravatar. How surprised I will be when I meet the person attached to that pair of expertly crafted socks!

Anyway, you caught me after a glass of wine, so here are the 10 random facts, in no particular order:

1) I currently drive a Volvo, although not in the manner that an old person hogging the middle lane does. More like a stolen Volvo. It’s the fastest Volvo in the world.

2) I have been to Ascension Island. The sand is all black. It kind of reminded me of the surface of the Moon. Not that I have been there.

3) I was once awarded more toys than a small child can carry by Michael Barrymore at a pantomime (Cinderella), after providing him with comic material by telling him that my Dad took things off the back of lorries with a fork lift truck for a living. He is absolutely not the thief that Barrymore made him out to be. I should sue him for libel.

4) I played Rugby League for Wigan. Not the Warriors, clearly.

5) I was a Gliding Instructor for 3 years.

6) I am a Director of a Brewery. We just filed our first Company Accounts. It took two minutes.

7) I have had a variety of random jobs, the most random being one where I sent out rejection letters for You’ve Been Framed, with the video tapes, might I add. And no, I didn’t watch any of them. Funny old thing.

8) I have completed an operational tour of Afghanistan.

9) My favourite curry is Lamb Tikka Dansak.

10) Amongst my other range of niche hobbies, I also compete with my Shelties in dog Agility.

So there you have it, the ten most random things I could think of – aided and abetted by my wonderful and darling husband, and, of course, the glass of red – for your reading pleasure. I would love to read yours if you blog them!