Weird and random facts - Part Two

OK, here is the rest of that meme I started on Wednesday.

Just as a reminder, this is the meme:

Rules of the game: Post 5 Weird and Random Facts about yourself, then at the end list the names of 5 people who are next in line to do this.

2. I am something of an 'accent chameleon'. By that I mean that, without intending to or making any effort, I pick up characteristics of the accent of wherever I am living very quickly. This has advantages and disadvantages. On the down side, for example, having lived in the UK for five years before I moved to Germany, my English (language) accent now has a noticably British aspect to it. It's not completely British, by any means. But it's no longer strictly a New Zealand accent either, such that when I'm in the UK, people can tell I'm not British but find it very difficult to place me, and when I'm in New Zealand people ask me where I'm from and then either look astonished or flat-out refuse to believe me when I say "Auckland." In other words, when it comes to speaking English, I am now lingusitically homeless. On the plus side, though, I can almost always pass myself off as a German when necessary, until people ask my name, which is decidedly un-German.

3. Kylie Minogue once made me a cup of tea. It was delicious, and she was much nicer and more down-to-earth than I expected.

4. When I was a little kid, maybe five or six, a friend's mother asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. In response, I anounced that I wasn't sure yet, but I knew what I wasn't going to be: a drunk driver. I have stuck to that to this day.

5. The most inspiring and moving person I have ever heard speak is Toni Morisson. In 2003, thanks to a good friend who hooked me and Ms. Bear up with tickets, I had the pleasure of attending a reading and lecture by Ms. Morisson at the University of East Anglia in Norwich. She read from Love spoke about the book and the writing process and answered questions from the floor. She electrified the room. And, what a spectacularly mellifluous voice. I was stunned.

There, it is done. I don't have five people to pick on with this meme, so anyone who wants to pick it up and run with it is more than welcome. I would, though, be very interested to read Themarina's responses, if she is up for it.

memes