Fall Pals

Welcome to a bright but slightly grey South Manchester. Autumn has really kicked in now and there are leaves everywhere. It was chilly on my walk today but some of the trees look lovely. The photo above is from earlier this morning. 

Shall we dive in with some silly questions from Sunday Stealing? 

1. Do you decorate for Autumn?

Not at all. We only decorate for Christmas usually. I did notice a couple of houses nearby that are trying to embrace the American Hallowe’en culture by adding spooks, black cats, pumpkins, etc. to the outside of their houses. We don’t need to do that as we have two black cats roaming around our house all the time.

2. How often do you clean out your closets?

Before the summer of this year, not a lot. Since then we have been planning the back room redecoration and have decided to have a massive sort out of every nook and cranny in the house. Our house is an Edwardian terrace with high ceilings that was built in 1903 and has three double bedrooms. 

The problem is that I have a lot of junk and stuff that I have kept for years and Mrs PM has been moaning about the lack of space for that junk. If I had a pound for every time she has called me a hoarder, I would be quite well off. 

We took a decision to convert the loft – not as a living space but as a storage space instead. Previously it was just a dusty black mess with no flooring and lots of spiders. Now, it is a great storage space with a membrane to protect everything up there from crap that falls down from the roof. It is weather proof and easily accessible now. 

And I have spent the last few months sorting stuff out and storing it in the loft, and, yes, even throwing some stuff out. There’s still a lot to do but hopefully by Christmas it will all be over.

3. When is the last time you planned a surprise for someone?

Probably Mrs PM’s last birthday.

4. Are there foods you really don’t like?

Yes. I am not a fan of figs, dates, damsons, pears, artichokes, lemon grass, prunes, apricots, liver and parsnips. 

There are more but the king of foods that disgust me is rhubarb. I hate rhubarb. The taste of it makes me feel physically sick and the last time I had it I actually threw up. It should not be consumed by human beings.

5. What is something you recently learned?

I have been trying out Italian on Duolingo so I have learned some very basic Italian phrases like:

Io ho due gatti negri.

6. Items you’re most likely to buy at a convenience store

Usually things that we have run out of like basic groceries, such as milk, bread, butter, cheese etc.

7. Do you believe in the paranormal?

No – but I really hope that ghosts do exist. I thought I saw one once but I could have been mistaken. The problem is that anything paranormal has been exploited by charlatans whose sole aim it to make money out of people’s gullibility.

Like this guy:

8. How would you describe your spirituality?

I find the whole concept of “spirituality” a little bit bogus and whenever people have told me they are “spiritual”, I have asked them what they mean. Nobody has ever given me a satisfactory answer. 

I looked up a quick definition of “spirituality”. Here it is:

Spirituality is a broad concept with room for many perspectives. In general, it includes a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves, and it typically involves a search for meaning in life. As such, it is a universal human experience—something that touches us all. People may describe a spiritual experience as sacred or transcendent or simply a deep sense of aliveness and interconnectedness.

The implication from that is that we are all spiritual in our own way, and maybe when I start looking into the vastness of the universe, from a scientific perspective, that is me being spiritual. Personally, I don’t think so; I think I am just trying my satisfy my curiosity about things I don’t understand. The universe is certainly bigger than I am and in that universe of trillions of galaxies, each with billions of stars and planets, there must be one planet similar to ours, statistically speaking. 

So – am I spiritual? I don’t think so. I am sceptical about a lot of things and my scientific mind demands truth for me to believe it. 

I’ve said on this blog before that I would like to have a chat with God but only to ask him why he doesn’t come down to people to prove his existence. It would be fun, I imagine. 

Actually, having just written that down, as a Roman Catholic, there is a voice inside saying “now you are in trouble, Dave!”

Maybe I am – but he could dispel my scepticism by having a chat. I don’t think that is disrespectful because apparently he is supposed to have done it many times over the centuries. And I am a nice guy.

That said, many Christians have faith and I am delighted for them if it makes them happy and content. That’s all I want for people. If a person claims to be spiritual, I will be delighted for them if it also makes them happy.

Why would I not be?

9. Do you make plans far in advance

We usually plan for holidays up to a year in advance and I have been planning my retirement for a few years. So, I guess the answer is yes. 

10. Do you like being scared for fun?

Not particularly. I hate rollercoasters now and, as a follow up to question to 7 about paranormal activity, I would be too scared to go to a haunted house. That wouldn’t be fun. 

11. What has been difficult for you lately?

Having the house turned upside down. It’s largely finished now and I am happy once more. 

12. Have you ever written or read fanfiction?

This is really sad. I started a novel based on Star Trek that included the cast of The Next Generation, Deep Space 9 and Voyager. It got into about ten chapters before I gave up. 

13. What type of wall art do you have in your home?

We have just brought some pictures for the back room. There are two of Hong Kong and two black cats, one made up as David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane and the other with the Kiss makeup that Mrs PM used on me for her photography project that effectively turned me into the Plastic Mancunian. 

Here they are. 

Here I am as Gene Simmons (from 2008):

14. Are you more likely to be private or overshare?

I have a tendency to wear my heart on my sleeve but I am very private about certain things. 

15. What have you recently learned to live without?

Listening to CDs.

I joined Spotify while on holiday because my IPod died on me, leaving me without music. Mrs PM was already a member so we now have a family membership. 

Sadly I now have getting on for 600 CDs that are gathering dust and in my efforts to sort my stuff out, I have had to find a place for them. I still use them occasionally and I want to keep them (even though Mrs PM wants me to rid myself of them). 

In fact this morning I have just bought a bunch of CD boxes to store them all in and they will take pride of place, organised of course, in a new cupboard from Ikea that I spent yesterday building. 

I will never get rid of them even though I will rarely use them.

But I have to say, Spotify has been amazing. I’ll leave you with a new song I discovered by a French band called Klone. The song is called “Yonder” and it is amazing.