1. What was the last thing you threw in the garbage/recycling? Strange question. Maybe a milk carton? Nothing exciting.
2. What’s the #1 most played song on your iPod? – Crossfire, by Brandon Flowers. It’s kind of my happy song, and I think I could listen to it 500 times on repeat and not get tired of it.
3. What is your favorite quote? – I have quite a lot so I may have to direct you to Pinterest (sorry, I caved. I sort of judge myself for that, but you were right, it IS addictive. I don’t even look at food or crafts, just quotes!) and hope you return to finish reading this, but “Do one thing every day that scares you” – Eleanor Roosevelt is probably number one.
4. What chore do you absolutely hate doing? Dishes. Just the idea of them, I know they’re not that bad..
5. What is your favorite form of exercise? – Fencing!
6. What is your favorite time of day/day of the week/month of the year? Evenings are nice because I can relax a bit. Very rarely pretty sunrises, or generally being woken by sunshine streaming in. I have a crystal in my window, so it makes everything rainbow coloured and takes me back to being little I guess. Daytime in summer if I’m free is awesome too. A bit obvious, I love Saturdays (lie in *and* having the option of going to bed later!). I like July, October, December. Summer, pretty crisp autumn (like now! Also because it’s my birthday), winter if it’s cold but dry/sunny. It’s not that I dislike spring exactly, but I do find myself getting a bit impatient with it sometimes.
7. What is on your bedside table? My ‘Grateful Book’, possibly its friend the Ungrateful book, a pencil, a torch, a remote control (to turn my lamp off – I have a cool remote control plug), my blog ideas notebook, my ideas/plans for making things book..Nothing overly exciting.
8. What is your favorite body part? – That’s a rather strange question. Do you mean my own? Hmm..possibly eyebrows, if that counts.
9. Would you use the power of invisibility for good or evil? Elaborate. – Entertainment/knowledge I think. Good though I guess. For some reason this reminds me of an Enid Blyton story where a little…woodland creature? can’t remember.. gets to grant wishes and no one believes him, or they only choose mean things if they do until he meets some nice children at the end. I’m going to have to read that book next time I go home now! What do you mean that’s not relevant to the question, it- ok fine. My mind works in mysterious ways.
10. If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, what age would it be? – I’m torn between about 5, and 19, perhaps because I can remember it better. I might have to get back to you on this one…Also I don’t know if I’m old enough to properly answer this question.
11. What is the first thing you would do if you won the lottery? – Make sure my parents are financially secure. Attempt to figure out the best way to invest some, get a flat/house and dog.
12. What is your biggest pet peeve? – Smokers, especially on the streets when you’re surrounded by them. Also people spitting on pavements. Sometimes there’s literally a trail! And being ordered to do something when I was literally about to do it of my own accord. It makes me not want to do it at all anymore.
13. If you could know the answer to any question, what would it be?
14. At what age did you become an adult? I don’t know if I’ve done that yet to be honest. I suppose some steps and events in my life have added to the process and I’m getting there whether I like it or not, but I still have some way to go if you ask me.
15. Recommend a book, movie, or television show in three sentences or less. – Deanna Raybourne’s “Silent in the..” series – it has history, mystery and just enough romance to keep it interesting. Pushing Daisies is cute, colourful and fun, plus it has mystery in it too! ‘Beauty’, by Robyn McKinley is just beautifully written and now I really want to read it again. It’s one of those books you can just savour every sentence of.
16. What did you do growing up that got you into trouble? – fight with my brother. We didn’t seem to have a middle ground, it was either playing adorably together or fisticuffs. The one and only time I ever got sent to my room (which I stayed in, sulking, to prove how unfairly I was being treated, despite the fact that the door didn’t have any kind of lock..) was when I bit him and he got a bruise and/or bled. That makes me sound rather vicious. I was 3, if that is any sort of defence.
17. What was the first album you bought with your own money? – don’t think I ever bought a whole album in one go, I am of the iTunes generation (at least, by the time I was interested enough in music to actually consider paying money for it.) I think the first song may have been Billy Joel, ‘She’s always a woman’, or (cheesy, I know) Take That’s ‘Shine’, because it helped me get through a tough time at school. The first CD I ever owned was Petula Clark’s Greatest Hits, for a class talk on ‘Your favourite song’. I had planned on talking about ‘Come on Eileen’, duh, but then I saw the lyrics and felt that they were not suitable for the 11 year old audience (and I might never live it down, so it’s better to let them remain ignorant and keep repeating the one line they do actually know), so opted for ‘Downtown’ instead, which reminded me of first going on holiday in, and then moving to Scotland.
18. If someone wrote a book about you, what would be the title? – Uhmm..’The Life of Aileen’? No one would get it though. There is a song, and an expression, “The Life of Riley” and I thought it sounded like they sang “Aileen” (or “Eileen, I guess). It would be a sort of inside joke – with myself. I will have a think..
19. What story do you wish your family would stop telling about you? –
20. True or false: The unicorn is the greatest mythical creature. State your case. –

I bet after reading this you’re thinking, gee, only Aileen could make 20 questions end up being this long. You’re welcome, and I told you this when you arrived! 😉