Number two in the award-winning, ground-breaking series "Nick As Alphabet". B amazed. B very amazed....Backbiting: Not my thing. I seldom attack people behind their back, unless they've attacked me first.
Bibliophile: I've always been a keen (but slow) reader. Which is probably why I have such a wild imagination.
Boozer: Absolutely not. A few colossal hangovers in my early twenties were enough to make me a very light drinker.
Bruxism: Teeth-grinding. Never been prone to that. I used to chew my lower lip though.
Butcher: I never set foot in one, being a vegetarian. But as a kid, I was fascinated by the mincing machines.
Bon viveur: Sort of. I enjoy life and I appreciate quality and good taste. But I'm not a carefree, over-the-top partygoer.
Baby boomer: Yes, I'm one of the generation that's supposed to have screwed everything up for the young. Not me. I opposed all the backward steps. But what influence do I have?
Beard: In the sixties I had a luxuriant Lennon-type beard. But it didn't survive my androgynous inclinations.
Big-head: No way. I'm very modest about my (fairly limited) achievements and I have no conspicuous talents to shout about.
Bigot: I really dislike bigots and anyone who prefers brainless prejudice to seeing the world with an open mind and open heart.
Boarder: My five years at boarding school were pretty miserable. I was constantly bullied and there was a rigid daily routine.
Buddhism: Half religion, half philosophy, it stresses self-determination and non-material values and has no God. Fine by me.
Bleeding heart: Definitely not. I'm always sympathetic to the underdog but I'm no softie and I'm always wary of hard luck stories.
Brawn: Don't have any. I'm an effete intellectual with a feeble physique that intimidates nobody.
Blow-in: An immigrant. I blew into Belfast nine years ago but for the locals I'll always be a foreigner, so I will.
I am enjoying these episodes.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could grow a beard, it would be so cool, especially if I used straighteners on it or pleated it.
ReplyDeleteBoarding school - ugh, brings back awful memories for me too ;-)
ReplyDeleteBlow-in - Interesting that you say that the locals class you as a foreigner, is that on both sides of the divide? When I lived in Belfast I got comments a few times about being a foreigner but only from one side of the divide. I'll put it this way a unionist can hardly regard someone from London as a foreigner since that is their capital city after all ;-)
Grannymar - Glad you enjoy all my strange foibles and quirks.
ReplyDeleteHulla - No, can't picture you with a beard, that defeats my imagination. Let alone a pleated one.
Aidan - Oh, from both sides. Unionists may praise Britain but they always think their knowledge of Northern Ireland is far superior to anything I might have picked up. They have a huge store of parochial anecdotes to trump me with in any conversation.
That's funny, I don't think that the same people would like to be reminded of their 'foreignness' in London. Mind you when I lived in the UK in the 1990s I often heard Irish people (from the south) complaining about England being full of 'foreigners' and I always thought to myself 'pot, kettle, black'.
ReplyDeleteAidan - The Irish complaining about foreigners in England? Pot and kettle indeed. It's very disconcerting to see people in the Republic so often discriminating against non-nationals, apparently oblivious to the way the Irish themselves have been treated in other countries.
ReplyDeleteThis is a neat little book on how to get to know Nick. I like what you throw in there and share a lot of your traits, though not a 'fast reader' I would be better than slow. A book every 4 days is my pace.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes buddhism, I'm there. I was veggie for years but blood type wasn't good with it. I try and eat 'happy' meat when I can - i.e. raised clean and in the open.
As to beards I fight what sprouts alarmingly on my chin now that I'm older...
XO
WWW
You'd have liked my risotto! I didn't realise you are a veggie.
ReplyDeletewww - I read one book a week if I'm lucky. I get too easily distracted by other things, my concentration only lasts so long. Funny you should mention chin hair, Liz was just posting about upper lip hair....
ReplyDeleteLiz - Your risotto looks wonderful. Jenny makes a mean risotto as well. Arborio rice is absolutely essential for the best taste.
Great 'B's Nick! Should I be worried about your androgenous tendencies? And I just can't imagine you with a beard! Who'd have thunk it!
ReplyDelete24 to go!
ReplyDeleteI went to boarding school, too. Nobody picked on me but I felt like a foreigner anyway.
Baino - If you're not worried, I'm not worried! I can hardly imagine me with a beard either. I never took a photo of it, a great shame.
ReplyDeleteHeart - I didn't feel like a foreigner at boarding school, but I certainly felt like the odd one out.
Interesting B's, can't wait for the C's!
ReplyDeleteSuburbia - The Cs will be even more amazing, I'm sure. How about curtilage, cartilage, cuticles, cubicles....
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more with your comment to Aidan above - How did my countrymen become so detached from the their roots - we are a nation of immigrants and should welcome others as we have been welcomed
ReplyDeleteQuicky - Indeed, treat others as you yourself would want to be treated. A lot of people seem to ignore that sensible principle.
ReplyDeleteI've been 9 years in The Hague too - time flies..looking forward to C
ReplyDeleteConor - Looking forward to C? Give me a chance, gotta get my thinking cap on. I bet your nine years in The Hague seems like half that.
ReplyDelete