Gilraen Tagged Me

Rules:

1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment to tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Ermmmmmmm.........................................................................................................................................

1. I worked as Women's Officer at my Student Union, sharing an office with the Welfare Officer who was from Dartford, Kent. I'm from Durham. Through general chatting we discovered we were very distantly related through marriage because of distant cousins marrying in Sunderland.

2. I seem to bring out violent tendencies in minor celebrities. I was knocked down by Jimmy Saville. He was running the "Great North Walk" and as he was jogging along, saying "Mornin', mornin' guys and gals!" he knocked me over. His minder said sorry. Richard Fairbrass from "Right Said Fred" stood on my fingers. My pint was on the stage and me and my pal were leaning on the stage. He said sorry. (My friend Pete was sworn at by John Noakes. John Noakes! "Blue Peter" John Noakes. And, my SIL swears that Gary Linekar swore at her when he played for Spurs - their training ground was near her college).

3. "Army of Darkness" (part of the "Evil Dead" trilogy) is one of my favourite movies and at the other extreme I love "101 Dalmations" with Glenn Close. They both have me in fits of laughter.

4. I really like ducks. And penguins. I have no idea why.

5. I used to parachute but I'm scared of heights... though there are several factors to consider. When you jump out of a plane, the ground is too far away to do you any damage. When you're standing on something high, you can vividly imagine meeting the ground face-to-face in a hurry.

6. I studied journalism as my first degree. I now work in public health.

7. I learned to scuba dive in the Red Sea, but I didn't like it. I loved seeing everything - the coral, the fish, even the moray eel...it was all fantastic. It just doesn't make sense taking a little tin of air into an environment where you can't breathe and everything wants to kill you... that moray eel (have you seen the teeth on those things?), the lion fish (how quickly would you like to be stung to death?) the clown fish with their psychotic aggression to their own reflection in your mask ("Finding Nemo" was a lie), the angel fish (that lurk) and all these other things that bite, sting, stab or are just slimy. I'm with Billy Connolly on this.

8. I can canoe, ride horses and fence (with swords rather than garden boundaries) and I had a bash at rock climbing with the mountaineering club, though I didn't like that, (See no. 5). I haven't done any of these for a long time however, and I haven't jumped out of a plane since I broke my arm at a party. Damn good party, it has to be said.

Right, I'm tagging: Seahorse, Auntie Noo and Fraggle Knits, 'cos I haven't tagged them before.

Erm, change of plan, because Seahorse and Auntie Noo seem to have been tagged to within an inch of their lives.... Fraggle Knits, I May Be Knitting A Ranch House and Knitting To Stay Sane.