1. What honours/diplomas/degrees etc do you hold, or, how did you end school/college in terms of honours etc?

Just a high school diploma. And I regret not going to college - my knowledge base would have been much broader, and I would have been able to advance much more quickly career-wise. Went to a math and science-oriented high school and that was a mistake (although it was an excellent school). Had a fairly good average in the high 80s on graduation, but that was only on the strength of English grades and other courses involving language. I was middling in Science classes (except that I loved Chemistry), and did very poorly in Math classes barely getting by by the skin of my teeth.

2. Who is your favourite fictional character?

This is a tough one – maybe Dorothea Brooke in Middlemarch (a book Marie recommended and I really loved). I identified with that character in various ways.

3. What’s the longest you’ve even been awake, without any sleep?

About two days, I think

4. A bird flies into your house/room/apartment/office: what do you do? Try to let it out, open the window, doors, etc.

This actually happened in our apartment twice, when sparrows flew in through the terrace door. The first time it happened, I just waited until the sparrow flew back out. The second time, we had a sparrow that wouldn’t leave :) – so I bought a butterfly net and gently caught and eased it back outside.

5. I guess not so much now, or maybe, but when you buy or used to buy books, if your favourite author had a new one out, did you go for the hardback or wait until it came out in paperback?

Same as rubber soul – I don’t really follow modern authors. I usually read non-fiction or classics, in paperback. If a book means a lot to me, I’ll sometimes repurchase in hardcover – but that’s a rarity.

6. What’s your opinion, generally, on advertisements/ commercials?

I have little patience for them – and get frustrated when I can’t fast-forward through commercials/ads, especially if I'm really engrossed in a program.

1. What honours/diplomas/degrees etc do you hold, or, how did you end school/college in terms of honours etc?
I got a *** laude high school diploma. My university diplomas have reasonably good grades but nothing special. I never opted for the available honours programmes or extra things like that
2. Who is your favourite fictional character?
Mary Garth from Middlemarch, as some of you may know. I like that ribbons identifies with Dorothea, that makes sense to me!
3. What’s the longest you’ve even been awake, without any sleep?
I think about 24 hours
4. A bird flies into your house/room/apartment/office: what do you do?
Open all doors and windows are trying to gently shoo it out
5. I guess not so much now, or maybe, but when you buy or used to buy books, if your favourite author had a new one out, did you go for the hardback or wait until it came out in paperback?
Never been in that situation but I guess it depends on how hyped I'd be
6. What’s your opinion, generally, on advertisements/ commercials?
I hate them with a passion

Edit: I'm leaving the unnecessary censorship as it is because that's hilarious

Mary Garth was truly good, not showy-good. The scene in the BBC series where Mary refuses Featherstone's bribe on his deathbed still makes me tear-up.

1. What honours/diplomas/degrees etc do you hold, or, how did you end school/college in terms of honours etc?

I have a gamer score of 853 on my PS4.

2. Who is your favourite fictional character?

The god damn Batman.

3. What’s the longest you’ve even been awake, without any sleep?

I dunno, two days?

4. A bird flies into your house/room/apartment/office: what do you do?

Let him crash on the couch till their next flight.

5. I guess not so much now, or maybe, but when you buy or used to buy books, if your favourite author had a new one out, did you go for the hardback or wait until it came out in paperback?

Never kept up with books but I did get Brandon Sanderson's latest entry in The Stormlight Archive before it came out in paperback and I'll probably do the same when he drops the next one too.

6. What’s your opinion, generally, on advertisements/ commercials?

What do you think?

1. What honours/diplomas/degrees etc do you hold, or, how did you end school/college in terms of honours etc?

Valedictorian with honors and a 4.0 GPA.

2. Who is your favourite fictional character?

Asimov's Multivac. I compiled a spreadsheet of every short story to feature the character and surveyed them chronologically. "The Last Question" and "The Last Answer" are my favorite short stories of all time. I tracked down the original 1956 first printing of "Question" as it was the tale that first enamored me to science fiction as a young man.

https://i.imgur.com/OWmyXI1l.jpg

My other strong favorite is Patrick McGoohan's Number 6 from his iconic and unparalleled series, The Prisoner from 1967.

3. What’s the longest you’ve even been awake, without any sleep?

3 days. Your mind becomes a prison.

4. A bird flies into your house/room/apartment/office: what do you do?

Open the French doors and gently guide her out.

5. I guess not so much now, or maybe, but when you buy or used to buy books, if your favourite author had a new one out, did you go for the hardback or wait until it came out in paperback?

I'm an avid collector of deluxe edition antiquarian lit hardcovers. I don't really read contemporary texts outside of free culture manifestos and essay collections.

6. What’s your opinion, generally, on advertisements/ commercials?

I studied them at university when New Media was the hot new subject and found the psychology of advertising fascinating, but as someone who has never owned a television or used a streaming service I find contemporary adverts absolutely reprehensible and repugnant.

The best advert to this day remains the 1964 "Daisy Ad." Shared below for younger members.

yes, and that applies to Dorothea too! She is good on a surface level in a way that's easy to recognise and can be misconstrued as showy, but then she's also good on a deeper level in a way that can be missed (and does get missed by some people) just like Mary's goodness. Casaubon for instance never appreciates her for her best qualities, and Rosamond only does so at the end to her own surprise when they have an honest talk, which is also one of the most moving scenes to me

Started reading Middlemarch long ago thanks to a fascinating discussion in Angela Carter's Alison's Giggle (an article on representations of female sexuality throughout the different ages of English literature and the power of the female giggle). Only made it through the first 20 pages or so (lack of time...) but was really impressed with the writing.

cool, I should read that article. George Eliot is certainly interesting when it comes to female sexuality; I wonder if what Angela Carter says about it is related to this:

1. What honours/diplomas/degrees etc do you hold, or, how did you end school/college in terms of honours etc?
BSC in Science - Geography and Statistics, Post Grad in Geography. Post Grad Cert in Antarctic studies (scholarship), Post Grad Cert in Business and Digital studies and half a diploma in software and development.

2. Who is your favourite fictional character?
Trixie from Call the Midwife

3. What’s the longest you’ve even been awake, without any sleep?
I think like around 24 hours, nothing crazy.

4. A bird flies into your house/room/apartment/office: what do you do?
Grab the cat! Lol just kidding, try and save it from my kitty's and catch it using a towel.

5. I guess not so much now, or maybe, but when you buy or used to buy books, if your favourite author had a new one out, did you go for the hardback or wait until it came out in paperback?
The handmaid's Tale is a favourite of mine and Margret Atwood which I bought on Ebay, the rest of her books I borrow from the library. Also John Marsden's Series Tomorrow When The War Began I have, as well as Game of Thrones book series by George R Martin and finally Christopher Pike's The Last Vampire series. Because I work in a library I tend to get a lot of the withdrawn books/comics so have a big stash.

6. What’s your opinion, generally, on advertisements/ commercials?
Can't stand them. I hate capitalism anyway.

That would be so amazing! What country are you from by the way? Aww you just fill me up with so much love. I have had to learn to let go of the past, the trauma and keep moving forward as optimistic as possible. It's not so easy with chronic pain plus injury after injury but I won't give up as I would hate to lose my job. I personally think you are very kind also, you can look past a person's history and see the good in them. I see the good in you! Hehe I am glad you like them, another cute creature we actually surveyed in a 1km block is Weddell Seals, they are really adorable:

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8b/a9...6f76d34678.jpg