In this case though the above is true so go over and have a look at her stuff, she is a textile artist that dabbles in other media. She also has an Etsy shop with some very pretty jewellery. Her blog is filled with images of her work and her life but it is more than just a shop window, it is often charming and touching. This is NOT a sponsored post, no money has changed hands, no cake , beer or chocolate has been passed discreetly in brown paper bags at motorway service stations. Go on over and have a look and tell her "Joe sent ya"
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| Deep Blue by Suzanne |
So Here Goes.....
Q1. Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Tricky this one, its probably the person that has had the greatest influence on my life, my mother.
At first glance it would seem a weak and predictable choice, but she has endured a difficult and hard life. In 1972 she was beaten and left for dead by my father, after extensive surgery she ran away and hid for 8 years in a small desolate farm in North Wales, she spent the first 6 months recovering from massive physical and psychological damage but every day she struggled with the help of friends to rescue her two children aged 4(sis) and 2(me) from her husband and the care system. Although we lived in what was a picturesque rural location every day she was in fear of my father finding us and taking us away, and as the only two mixed race children in a 100 mile radius we were somewhat exposed. During all this time her parents and brother and sister refused to support her saying she had "brought it on herself for marrying a black man". She stayed strong in her belief that she was a mother and it was her role to give her children the best she could, not in a material way but in her love and attention. Its only when I have become a parent that I realised just how difficult it must have been for her to raise two young children alone and in fear.
Over the years she has battled cancer and bouts of depression yet through all of this she still remains positive and focused on her responsibility. I am very glad to say that now she has a fulfilling and happy life, enjoying the joys of being a grandma and living a calm and healthy life.
Q.2 When were you last happiest?
As mentioned before it is a real blessing to be able to be happy "in the moment". I tend to look back on events and say that those were happy times, but in answer to the question, last week walking in the woods and rolling hills around the Weald in Sussex.
Q.3 What is your most embarrassing moment?
I am blessed and cursed with the inability to get embarrassed. This leads to me getting into potentially embarrassing situations all the time. I have always had an ambition to become qualified as a scuba diver, so when at the age of 18 I received my first credit card the first thing I did was go shopping and max it out on a wetsuit, flippers snorkel and mask. Not really thinking it through, I had all the gear but no money for lessons. No problem I thought I was a strong swimmer and I had the gear all I really needed was a suitable stretch of water. I was living in north Manchester at the time and as its 60 miles from the nearest coast my friend and I decide that the best place to go would be in the boating lake in a near by park. So we humped all our kit on the bus to Mosses Gate country Park. When we arrived we were really excited as this was to be the christening of our kit and the start of our careers as underwater explorers. After20 sweaty minutes of struggling into our wetsuits and kit, suffering jeers from passing youths and amassing quite a crowd of younger kids asking questions and laughing we were ready. All our safety checks were done, dive plan arranged and last minute nerves overcome with a Navy Seals "Boo --Yah" we set off wading in to the water. As the water rose from above our shins to above our knees we excitedly exchanged the "o.k" sings to each other, the water now was at our waist and we had kicked up a cloud of silt. We pushed on and decided that rather than wading we should start to swim out, so we literally took the plunge. After 20meters of "finning" we were still kicking up silt and it was impossible to see anything so I stopped and tried to tread water, my fins touched the gloopy silt at the bottom of the lake and realised that I could stand. It turned out that the water never got past 3 feet deep and that the lake and indeed the whole park was built over a refuse landfill site and the water contained some pretty nasty bacteria. The result was that after 3 days of horrendous vomiting and diarrhoea it was ages before I went diving again, the stench of the silt never came out of the wet suit.
Q.4 Aside from property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
If by expensive you mean could least afford then probably the wetsuit and equipment from above. At the time it was probably about half my annual wage and on the credit card repayment took about 7 years to pay off!
Q.4 What is your most treasured possession?
I don't tend to "collect" things with sentimental attachment. I have a toy bunny with one arm (parachuting accident) that I have had from being 3. Probably the the thing I have which gives me the greatest pleasure is my garden. oh and my children...of course.
Q.5 Where would you like to live?
I would love to split my time between Iceland, a little old fashioned ( but warm) tin house just outside Reykjavik for winter, and for summer and sunshine probably a Greek island in a minimalist white house like this..
Q.7 Who would play you in a film of your life?
Tricky this one, its probably the person that has had the greatest influence on my life, my mother.
At first glance it would seem a weak and predictable choice, but she has endured a difficult and hard life. In 1972 she was beaten and left for dead by my father, after extensive surgery she ran away and hid for 8 years in a small desolate farm in North Wales, she spent the first 6 months recovering from massive physical and psychological damage but every day she struggled with the help of friends to rescue her two children aged 4(sis) and 2(me) from her husband and the care system. Although we lived in what was a picturesque rural location every day she was in fear of my father finding us and taking us away, and as the only two mixed race children in a 100 mile radius we were somewhat exposed. During all this time her parents and brother and sister refused to support her saying she had "brought it on herself for marrying a black man". She stayed strong in her belief that she was a mother and it was her role to give her children the best she could, not in a material way but in her love and attention. Its only when I have become a parent that I realised just how difficult it must have been for her to raise two young children alone and in fear.
Over the years she has battled cancer and bouts of depression yet through all of this she still remains positive and focused on her responsibility. I am very glad to say that now she has a fulfilling and happy life, enjoying the joys of being a grandma and living a calm and healthy life.
Q.2 When were you last happiest?
As mentioned before it is a real blessing to be able to be happy "in the moment". I tend to look back on events and say that those were happy times, but in answer to the question, last week walking in the woods and rolling hills around the Weald in Sussex.
I am blessed and cursed with the inability to get embarrassed. This leads to me getting into potentially embarrassing situations all the time. I have always had an ambition to become qualified as a scuba diver, so when at the age of 18 I received my first credit card the first thing I did was go shopping and max it out on a wetsuit, flippers snorkel and mask. Not really thinking it through, I had all the gear but no money for lessons. No problem I thought I was a strong swimmer and I had the gear all I really needed was a suitable stretch of water. I was living in north Manchester at the time and as its 60 miles from the nearest coast my friend and I decide that the best place to go would be in the boating lake in a near by park. So we humped all our kit on the bus to Mosses Gate country Park. When we arrived we were really excited as this was to be the christening of our kit and the start of our careers as underwater explorers. After20 sweaty minutes of struggling into our wetsuits and kit, suffering jeers from passing youths and amassing quite a crowd of younger kids asking questions and laughing we were ready. All our safety checks were done, dive plan arranged and last minute nerves overcome with a Navy Seals "Boo --Yah" we set off wading in to the water. As the water rose from above our shins to above our knees we excitedly exchanged the "o.k" sings to each other, the water now was at our waist and we had kicked up a cloud of silt. We pushed on and decided that rather than wading we should start to swim out, so we literally took the plunge. After 20meters of "finning" we were still kicking up silt and it was impossible to see anything so I stopped and tried to tread water, my fins touched the gloopy silt at the bottom of the lake and realised that I could stand. It turned out that the water never got past 3 feet deep and that the lake and indeed the whole park was built over a refuse landfill site and the water contained some pretty nasty bacteria. The result was that after 3 days of horrendous vomiting and diarrhoea it was ages before I went diving again, the stench of the silt never came out of the wet suit.
Q.4 Aside from property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
If by expensive you mean could least afford then probably the wetsuit and equipment from above. At the time it was probably about half my annual wage and on the credit card repayment took about 7 years to pay off!
Q.4 What is your most treasured possession?
I don't tend to "collect" things with sentimental attachment. I have a toy bunny with one arm (parachuting accident) that I have had from being 3. Probably the the thing I have which gives me the greatest pleasure is my garden. oh and my children...of course.
Q.5 Where would you like to live?
I would love to split my time between Iceland, a little old fashioned ( but warm) tin house just outside Reykjavik for winter, and for summer and sunshine probably a Greek island in a minimalist white house like this..
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| Ten different kinds of awesome! |
Q.6 What is your favourite smell?
After "napalm in the mornings", I guess it would have to be Versace Versus aftershave. Its one I got years ago and is really tricky to get hold of now but when I smell it it takes me back to some of the best times in my life
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| Scratch and sniff....mmmmm! |
Difficult this one, Richard Roundtree the 1970's Shaft, or Denzel Washington would be nice.
Q.8 What is your favourite book?
Probably got to be "The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy" a trilogy in 5 parts, 6 if you count the "And Another Thing" but we don't really talk about that. Shallow, I know but its the one(ok 5) I can pick up and read again and again, there aren't many books that I can do that with. I love the works of Asimov, Philip K Dick and other 1950's short story scifi writers.
Q.9 What is your most unappealing habit?
Where do we start....the nose picking, the bad tempered shouting, farting, holding onto the remote control or the constant loosing things in plain sight? Probably none of the above , they are all inherent of every male so I would have to say the worst of my habits has to be being patronising, but you dont have to worry your little head over that.
Q.10 What would be your fancy dress costume of choice?
I would love to go as The Silver surfer from the old D.C comics, fab.
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| "Is there somewhere I can put my board?" |
There are another set of questions to follow so if you are so inclined, please come back ya hear!
6 comments:
Is the silver surfer actually wearing a costume? He looks pretty much in the buff apart from his briefs.
GB- yes you are quite right, maybe that's part of the appeal. A full body wax and a tin of Hamarite paint.
You tried to go scuba diving at Moses Gate - sooooo funny!
Looking forward to reading the rest.
Suze- yeah people were going past laughing and shouting, I thought they were just jealous.
"nose picking, the bad tempered shouting, farting, holding onto the remote control or the constant loosing things in plain sight" - Christ, you sound just like me.
Brother!
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