19 questions with...me
I've always wanted to do one of these and since this is my blog I figure I can do what I like with it.
There is also a bigger point here - two bigger points in fact. The first is that some of the answers to this surprised even me and sometimes it is entertaining to realise things like this about yourself. The second is that I am planning on launching a new feature on Millennial Gent called "Taking tea with..." which will involve chats with interesting folks I meet.
I'm not a particularly interesting 'folk' but I've got to start somewhere.
1. Tea or coffee?
Coffee.
2. How do you take it?
Black with no sugar. I think I first tried it after seeing a re-run of Twin Peaks and I liked it. Very rarely if I'm tired I will try it a la Winston Wolff - "lots of cream, lots of sugar".
3. Puppies or kittens?
Kittens.
4. What animal do you think you’re most like?
Ironically, probably a puppy. I have a bit of that excitable, wide-eyed, running around bumping into things approach to life. Though Pottermore told me my Patronus is a fox.
5. Have you ever been mistaken for a celebrity?
On holiday in Majorca when I was about 16 some Germans became convinced I was a Premiership footballer John Stead, I think someone else had told them I was in an attempt to chat them up, but I ran with it. It wasn't the best ruse when you consider I'm 5'5" and was chubby. I also spent a weekend in a hostel in America pretending to be related to the Duke of Kent but that was just cashing in on the accent.
6. What Hogwarts house are you in?
Gryffindor.
7. What’s your favourite pizza topping?
Ham and mushroom with some olives and a couple of dollops of marscapone.
8. What’s your drink of choice?
It depends on the occasion. A gin and tonic is the easy classic I guess. Sat in the pub it's a pint of lager and give me a cocktail menu and I'll go looking for an Old Fashioned.
9. What’s your favourite drunk food?
Pizza probably. I don't really eat when I'm drunk.
10. What’s your favourite swearword?
"Bollocks". There's something very satisfying about it and if you say it right it almost doesn't sound like a swear word.
11. What advice would you give to your teenage self?
"Enjoy it". I think I spent too much of my time as a teenager waiting for the next stage when things would be better or different and I missed the fun going on around me.
12. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
"Learn to say 'I don't know'." It wasn't actually given to me, I got it indirectly from my one of my mum and dad who was trying to teach someone at work to say it. There's a power in admitting your own ignorance sometimes. My godfather is a journalist and he once told me there is a real power in interviewing to admitting you don't know something and asking the interviewee to explain it. It also has run into the best lesson I've learned myself which is: "Take responsibility for your actions."
13. Have you ever freaked out about meeting a celebrity?
Yes, I met Jonny Wilkinson in a lift not long after England won the rugby World Cup. I didn't recognise him immediately because he was wearing a cap and is much bigger than I expected. When I spotted it was him all I could manage to say was: "You're Jonny Wilkinson!" He just smiled and said: "I believe I am."
14. What’s your biggest pet peeve?
People answering "yes" to a question when you've given them options to choose from. If I've asked "Do you want tea or coffee?" and you say "yes" then you haven't helped me at all.
15. What was the last song you listened to?
Big Shot on the Black Panther album which Kendrick Lamar has curated.
16. What’s the last book you read?
The last one I finished was Moonraker by Ian Fleming. I'm now reading AA Gill's Pour Me A Life.
17. What’s the last film you saw?
Black Panther. It's excellent.
18. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
Teleporting. I don't like being late to places but I often am, so that would solve that problem.
19. And finally, what’s something people would be surprised to know about you?
I had a black belt in judo when I was younger.
Credit to Buzzfeed for the questions inspiration here