Paula's Favourite Things
Why This List?
It's surprising how much you can learn about someone's personality by
studying their favourite things. Our personalites are shaped by the
things we have watched, read and heard, and in turn our personalities
determine the sorts of things we like to watch, read and listen to,
the places we like and so on.
So what's my motive? - Well, I just thought you might be interested
that's all. Personally, I would be interested in reading these sorts
of ramblings on other people's web sites, and aren't we all a little
bit nosy anyhow?
If you're interested, read on... If you're not, you don't have to
read any further. If you have any comments or suggestions, please
email me.
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Activities
A few of the things I enjoy doing...
- Clubbing - sadly not often enough!
- Reading - especially in a sunny spot
- Writing - I enjoy creating reference material
- Guitar Playing - for my own pleasure
- Gardening - Just tinkering; an antidote to technology.
- Programming - I wish I didn't enjoy it so much!
- Watching TV - When I'm too tired for anything else
See my full list of interests and pastimes
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TV Programmes
These are the programmes I like to watch:
- Drama & Soaps:
- Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Ally McBeal,
Any sort of period drama
- Fashion:
- She's Gotta Have It, Looking Good
- Sci Fi:
- Star Trek - Original/TNG/DS9/Voyager
- Science & Technology:
- Horizon, Equinox, Tomorrow's World
- Archaeology:
- Time Team, Meet The Ancestors, House Detectives
- Current Affairs:
- Gardening:
- Ground Force, Gardener's World
- Comedy:
- Clubbing:
- Greece/Ibiza Uncovered, Nite Cities, Club@Vision
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Radio Programmes
I don't usually listen to the radio in the week, as I'm not really into
mainstream pop music, and I find the chatter too distracting. But at the
weekend I can't get enough of the dance and hip-hop programmes, such
as Judge Jules, Pete Tong, Dave Pierce,
Westwood, and of course the unmissable Essential Mix.
The BBC give excellent dance music coverage, and it's the next best
thing to actually going clubbing!
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Authors & Books
These are a few of the authors and their books I've really enjoyed...
- Mary Webb (Hauntingly beautiful stories of life in rural Shropshire circa 1900)
- The Golden Arrow, Gone To Earth, The Spring Of Joy, Precious Bane, Seven
For A Secret, The House In Dormer Forest, The Armour Wherein He Trusted
- The Bronte Sisters (Life, love, angst and death circa 1830)
- Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall, Shirley
- Malcolm Ross (Very readable stories about Cornwall long ago)
- On A Far Wild Shore, A Notorious Woman, An Innocent Woman, etc.
- E.V. Thompson (Another excellent author for westcountry sagas)
- Becky, The Restless Sea, The Mistress Of Polrudden, Ben Retallick,
and many more..
- L.M. Montgomery (The sagas of Anne Of Green Gables)
- Anne Of Green Gables, Anne Of Avonlea, Anne Of The Island, etc.
- Charles Dickens (Classic, unforgettable Victorian tales)
- Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, David
Copperfield,etc.
Of course I have enjoyed many other books by many other authors, but I
can't list them all here!
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Music
I have always loved serious Classical music, ranging from the early choral
works by Purcell, Byrd, Tallis, Monteverdi and Taverner, through the
organ and large scale choral works of Bach and Handel, the great symphonic
works of the Romantic period, such as Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler,
Tchaikovsky and Sibelius to name but a few, on through Elgar to
Vaughan Williams. Although I enjoy modern Hi Fi recordings, they can be
so flat and emotionless compared to the ancient accoustic recordings.
The performances by Stokowski are just excellent, if maybe not quite
what the composer intended!
I also enjoy a little bit of early (1920's) jazz, the sort you get on
scratchy old 78's, but can't abide the later stuff.
I'm not too keen on mainstream Pop, but I do like Portishead,
Garbage, and old stuff by The Beatles.
Finally, outside classical, the only music which really excites me is
dance music, especially Trance, the darkest Deep House, and some Techno.
Favourite DJ's are: Paul Oakenfold, Carl Cox, and Judge
Jules
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Poetry
I like the dark, melancholy things by the Bronte's, Mary Webb, and
Christina Rosetti, but I do have a soft spot also for John Betjeman.
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Films
It's so hard to remember all the titles, but I love old black & white
British films, especially weepies, and anything with a good musical score,
such as the Hitchcock films so well complemented by the music of Bernard
Herrman - Psycho and Marnie spring immediately to mind. The Australians
have produced some nice films, and of the more modern stuff I couldn't
close this section without mentioning the two Terminator films, which
appealed because they were so relentless and bleak.
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Art
I don't know much about art, so I can't really categorise what I like.
As long as it's colourful, and you want to keep looking at it, who cares
what "ism" it belongs to?
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Places
Rugged, lumpy places appeal to me. Places like Cornwall, Scotland, Wales,
the Pennines, and the Lake District. Places where you can ascend a hill
and see for miles. Places which make you feel insignificant, and make you
realise how old is the Earth. And like most people I love to be near the
sea. No sandy shores and shallow brown waters for me though, I prefer the
fractured coastlines where mother Earth exposes her strata to the ever
changing, heaving blue ocean. Where there are hidden coves, and dangerous
cliffs. Such a place is Cornwall.
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Food & Drink
Strangely, most of my favourite foods begin with the letter 'C' - Curry,
Chips, Chocolate, Chilli and Christmas Cake, which also happens to be the
initial letter to Calories!
Drink-wise, I enjoy tea, orange juice, and coffee in small amounts. I'm
not keen on wines and spirits, other than Vodka, but I'm a great fan of
Real Ale.
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