Some questions. And answers.

Questions without answers are frustrating. Answers without questions are… well, I’m not sure what they are. Random statements, I guess.

Anyway, I was nominated for one of the various awards here on WordPress, which I declined for reasons you can read (if interested) here. I decided though to partake a little and answer the questions put forward by the nominator (I think that’s the correct word), Tina Rose. Because as I already said, questions without answers are frustrating.

So here goes… (don’t worry, there’s a TL/DR at the bottom for those averse to reading)

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What is your favourite thing about being a blogger or writer?

When it comes to the writing the best thing for me is finishing a piece, whether it be a simple quatrain or lengthy prose, and feeling a sense of satisfaction with what I have created. Sometimes I discover a new perspective or finally make sense of something as a result, which is always a refreshing moment of clarity.

With regards to the blogging side of it, the response I receive from the WordPress community is great. But knowing that my pieces about things like mental health have had positive impacts on readers means so much. That was the reason I started writing and posting as often as I do in the first place.

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Where do you get your writing and blog post inspiration from?

My website tagline says it all: “Inspired by life, death and everything inbetween.” My own experiences and those of friends, family and loved ones all appear in my writing. Plus politics, society, the weather, drivers, mental health and eating meat. Any thought that enters my head will likely end up in a poem.

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Who inspires you the most in your life?

I wouldn’t say I have any role models or people I look up to. I draw a lot of inspiration from music, so the likes of Rise Against, Avenged Sevenfold, Sum 41, Blink 182, Disturbed, Nightwish, The Offspring… any band I listen to, basically, have all influenced me in some way. Especially the first two I mentioned, as it was various songs by them which really got me through my darkest moments; literally pulling me back from the brink.

But more than anybody else, my true inspiration comes from my soulmate / alien family clone person. It’s cliche, but words genuinely cannot describe just how important they are to my existence.

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How do you deal with writers block?

I write about it, if I can. Two of my poems published on here, Drought and Writer’s Curse, are about writer’s block and written at times I felt its presence. Otherwise I just wait for it to pass. I never search out inspiration. If there is something to write, I’ll write. If I’m not writing, there’s probably nothing worth writing at that moment.

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What is your favourite thing in the world?

My aforementioned soulmate / alien family clone person. But they’re not a thing, so maybe I’ll go for pepperoni pizza. If I could only eat the same meal again for the rest of my life, it would be pepperoni pizza.

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What is your mantra?

I don’t think I have one. I tend to say “Fuck it” quite a lot. That, and “I hate you all.” But are those really mantras?

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Best place you have travelled to and why?

That’s a tricky one. The best week I’ve ever had was spent in the Poconos. But I was with my alien soulmate family person, so we could have been anywhere and it would have been the best week ever. Going entirely by the place itself and not the company, the Galapagos Islands. It’s such a beautiful area. And it’s one of the few places it’s not even slightly perverted to go and stare at boobies all day.

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Where would you love to travel to in the future?

Anywhere. Seriously, anywhere. I’m British, so I’m not hopeful of being able to ever leave the country before too long. After Brexit, Europe will likely be off limits, especially if this current government continues to fuck up literally everything. And Trump is going to seal off America from the rest of the world to keep out anybody with a tan or a beard. So in the future, I will probably just have to take whatever holiday destination I can get.

But Iguazu Falls is perhaps my number one dream destination. That or New Zealand.

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If you were allowed only one item on a desert island what would it be?

Can I be a smart-arse and say “a boat?” If not, I think sun-tan lotion would be a good bet. Or just a really good Swiss Army knife.

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If you had five wishes what would they be?

I suppose they would have to be things that would be otherwise impossible or achievable.

1. Honest politicians
2. An end to celebrities being treated like demigods
3. No more racism/sexism/homophobia/etc.
4. Offense to stop being taken at literally everything because there’s a fear that somebody else might be offended, even though the person claiming offense isn’t actually personally offended, nor are those who are supposedly meant to be offended
5. Cables to stop constantly getting tangled beyond the realms of plausibility

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If you could be anyone for a day, who would you be?

I’d rather just keep being me. I have had plenty of people state, in no uncertain terms, that nobody would want to be me. So if I became somebody else, nobody would be me. So I’ll just stay as me.

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TL/DR Fuck it. I hate you all.