On a desert island in December

Well, I’m still ill, although my voice had come back slightly this morning. I still can’t stop coughing though. *sigh*
But this post isn’t meant to be another moany pity-me one. Instead I’m finally going to get round to doing that meme I’ve been going on about for days.

So, I was tagged by Katyboo and the meme is based on Desert island Discs.
For those that don’t know Desert Island Discs is a BBC radio programme in which guests have to imagine they are castaways on a desert island and choose 8 pieces of music to take with them. Then they can choose one book, anything but the Bible or Shakespeare, both of which are already on the island (strange island this). And finally, they can choose one luxury item, nothing to help them escape from the island though.

So, here goes. First my eight pieces of music.
This is quite difficult actually. I have favourite pieces of music for every mood, and what I feel like listening to sometimes changes within hours never mind days, but I shall do my best.

1. Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler – This is my all time favourite song, although it also makes me a little sad. You see, it was also one of my step mam’s favourite songs. I like to listen to it on days when I find myself wishing she was still around (she died when I was 12 those who are wondering). So clearly it would have to come to the desert island with me for her sake. Also it’s on the soundtrack to the film Beaches, which makes it pretty appropriate for a desert island don’t ya think?

2. Bad Day by Daniel Powter – For those days when I’m feeling all hormonal and miserable. Who doesn’t like screaming “cos you’ve had a bad day” at the top of their lungs on days like that?

3. Carnival of Rust by Poets of the Fall – It took me aaages to decide on this one. I knew I had to have something b y Poets, them being my new favourite band and everything, but it was so unbelievable difficult to decide which one. I’ve gone for this one because it’s kind of loud and rocky, perfect for jumping around a desert island too, and plus my boyfriend can play it on guitar so it would be something to remind me of him.

4. World by Five for Fighting – It was a toss up between this one and Devil in the Wishing Well. This one won out, but only just. I would put it on full blast, close my eyes and imagine myself a new world, just like the song says. The perfect way to forget about being stuck on a desert island.

5. Miserable by Lit – Another one for horrible days when everything seems to be going wrong. I’ll never forget the first time I heard this song. I was 18 and I’d just had a fight with my boyfriend of the time. A guitarist friend of mine offered to play a song for me, so I told him to “play something miserable”, which he did. This was that miserable song. I’ve loved it ever since.

6. Ha Ha You’re Dead by Green Day – Not Green day’s best song and not even my favourite, but perfect for a desert island. Another great one for turning up to full volume and screaming out while jumping around like a loony.

7. Tribute by Tenacious D – This song is hilarious! It never fails to cheer me up. Also, it reminds me of my group of friends from uni. The DJ would play it for us every week and at some point it became our anthem. It’s nice to have something to remind of those times now we’re all spread across the world.

8. Keep on Loving You by REO Speedwagon – My first ever favourite song! Obviously I had no idea what it was about back then. I would just sing along to the chorus and imagine how it would be to have someone telling me he was going to love me forever. There are other REO Speedwagon songs that I like, but for my desert island it would obviously have to be this one that came along for the sake of my six year old self.

Phew. That was hard! I just hope I’ve got all the links right. Now for the book…
Well, obviously it would have to be something long otherwise I’d be finished with it way too soon and end up having to read and re-read the bible until rescue came. The obvious one would probably be War and Peace. I’m a quick reader and every time I finish yet another book my boyfriend threatens to buy me that one for Christmas! I think that one would be too obvious a choice though so I’ve decided to go with Gone With the Wind. I’ve heard so much about it but never actually got round to reading it (or watching the film) and I feel like I should. A desert island would be the perfect opportunity. And it 960 pages for this edition it should take me a few weeks to get through it…

And finally, my luxury item.
Now I know people are probably going to laugh at this but I think I would want my cuddly Eeyore.
This Eeyore was a birthday present from my mum this year. (Yes I got a stuffed toy for my 25th birthday. And your point would be?). He’s some kind of bedtime Eeyore, which means he’s dressed in a blue dressing gown and night cap thing and, depending on which way you look at him, either looks unbelievably exhausted or as if he’s just woken up. One day, not long after Eeyore arrived in Germany, Jan decided he felt sorry for him sitting on the table looking like he hadn’t slept in days, so before we left for work he tucked Eeyore up under my quilt. By the time I arrived home I’d forgotten he was there. I’d had a bad day and all I wanted was to get into my room and relax. Upon opening the door I saw Eeyore snuggled up waiting for me and my heart just melted. He looked so cute lying there, and of course knowing my boyfriend had put him there made it even cuter. So if I was going to be trapped on a desert island I would definitely have to tajk Eeyore with me so I could leave him tucked up in my bed waiting to greet me when I returned from a hard day of gathering cocunts and stuff. I’m sure he’d be a great comfort when I got sunstroke as well, which I most definitely would. If I can get sunstroke in Karlsruhe I’ve got no chance on a desert island!

OK, that’s it. Now I think I’m supposed to tag people. Unfortunately just about everyone I would have tagged has already done it though, so I pick sleepyjane and anyone else who wants to have a go…

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All that you never wanted to know about me

A lot of my friends seem to be into doing these random survey/questionnaire thingies that get you to answer questions about yourself, what you’ve been doing this week etc. They post them in facebook notes or send them in emails. Everywhere I look I see a new one, so I thought I’d steal one for my blog. Here for your viewing pleasure is everything you never wanted to know about me…

WHAT IS YOUR FULL NAME?

Beverley Ann …. no, I’m not going to publish my surname for all the weirdos to see.

ANY NICKNAMES?

Mostly I get called Bev, or ocasionally Bee/B. A couple of people who used to be interns with my called me Bevchen and I ocasionally get Bevvy from my sister.

WHEN IS YOUR BIRTHDAY?

13th August. Not too long to go now. Remember it people 😉

FIVE PLACES YOU HAVE LIVED:

1.Holywood, Northern Ireland
2.Bedlington, Northumberland
3.Nottingham
4.Austria
5.Germany

NAME THREE OF YOUR FAVOURITE BANDS/MUSICAL ARTISTS

1. Green Day
2. The Fray
3. Poets of the Fall (They’re Finnish but sing in English. Excellent band! Go look them up on Youtube right now! I’d recommend any song from the Carnival of Rust album)

AND NOW THREE OF YOUR FAVOURITE SONGS

1. Bette Midler – Wind Beneath My Wings
2. Green Day – Scattered
3. Kettcar – Balu

WHAT DID/WILL YOU NAME YOUR FIRST DAUGHTER?

Well that really depends on the father’s surname doesn’t it? I definitely want Shirley as a middle name though, after my step mum. All the names I can think of that sound nice before Shirley end in ‘a’. At the moment I like Melissa, Kristina, Natasha, Louisa, Matilda, Natalia, Elena (pronounced Eh-lay-na) but we’ll see what happens when/if I ever have a daughter.

AND YOUR FIRST SON?

Again, depends on the father’s surname. I want Michael (after my Grandad) as a middle name for a boy though. Not as a first name – too common! If (big if!) I end up having kids with Jan our son would be called Karl Michael, Karl being after his Grandad.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE PERFECT AGE TO GET MARRIED?

Ooh, good question! Once upon a time I would have said 25. By that time you’ve been through uni, even had a chance to do a Masters if you want, and had a couple of years to get some work experience and maybe figure out what you want to do with your life. I’m 25 this year though and no sign of any marriage being on the cards, so I’ll have to think again. Soo.. anywhere between 25 and 30 I’d say. Depending on the person of course.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU BECAME A BILLIONAIRE?

* Buy a house
* Buy lots of new books. Lots and lots and lots. All the ones on my list and more 🙂
* Set up a library in my house. I’m going to do that anyway one day even if I don’t become a billionaire.
* Buy my mum a house (my dad already owns his)
* Visit Canada. And Australia and the Ukraine… and everywhere else I’ve always wanted to go
* Take Spanish lessons
* Do lots more OU courses
* Pay off my student loan
* Give my family some money
I can’t actually think of anything else. I’m a bit crap really.

SAY SOME THINGS PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU:

* I went to 5 different schools – 3 primary and 2 secondary (squaddie brat… we moved around a lot)
* I don’t really like downwards escalators. Whenever I go down one I have to hold on.
* I collect keyrings
* I’d love a pet hedgehog

NAME FIVE FAVOURITE THINGS FOUND IN YOUR ROOM:

1.Books!!
2.The Me to You cross stitch that Jan bought me for my birthday last year and I cross stitched and placed in a gold frame.
3.A framed photo of Jan
4.My frog prince ornament that makes me think “hmph” whenever I look at him
5…. I can’t think of a 5th. Most of my favourite things are still stuck in England.

That is all. I hope I didn’t bore you all too much.
Oh, and speaking of being bored… to the people who keep stumbling across my blog in search of “things to do when board” I’d suggest you place learning to spell ‘bored’ at the top of the list…