Since Kaja from Of Dragons and Hearts tagged me!
Four names that people call me:
- Nikki — obviously! This is what most people call me, these days.
- Nicole — my family tend to still call me this. My real name!
- Nicci — shut up, it’s totally different somehow. But only my childhood friend is allowed to call me this.
- Squeak — well, actually, Dad’s stopped calling me this because I’m an adult now. But I have a very high soprano voice, and my dad has tinnitis, so, voila. It was “Croak” when I had a cold, “Squeakley” when he was being affectionate, “Princess Squeakerella” when I was being a brat…
Four jobs that I have had:
- Medical secretary. This mostly involved a lot of filing, some pestering people for money, and a lot of typing.
- Transcriptionist. People send me audio recordings of their meetings, interviews, etc, and I type out everything they say. Or sometimes most of what they say, only more grammatically. I’ve transcribed all sorts of stuff: David Cameron’s speeches, Nick Clegg’s excuses, conferences, financial results, NHS board meetings, court cases… It can be kind of interesting.
- Copy writer. You need someone to advertise coffee they’ve never tasted? Someone who doesn’t even like coffee? Sure! I’ll do it! And various other things, like providing content for blogs, writing web pages, etc, etc.
- Volunteer. Yeah, kind of cheating, but I haven’t had any other paying job. But my volunteer roles could populate this list again and then some…
Four movies that I have watched more than once:Ā
- Apollo 13.Ā Shut up it doesn’t make me cry.
- Howl’s Moving Castle.Ā <33
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier.Ā Steve Rogers is my bb.
- Sherlock Holmes.Ā With Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr.
Four books Iād recommend:
- The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison. I don’t think this needs saying, does it?
- Bloodshot,Ā by Cherie Priest. I have a craving to reread this, so here it goes in the list. I love the vampire law here, love Raylene’s OCD tendencies and how she’s kickass anyway, and the found family that grows throughĀ Bloodshot andĀ Hellbent.
- The Fifth Head of Cerberus, by Gene Wolfe. Want your brain twisted round and round? Yep. Gene Wolfe.
- Strong Poison,Ā by Dorothy L. Sayers. Because Lord Peter is the best detective. Shut up. Yes. The best.
Wait, there isn’t room forĀ Seaward?Ā The Dark is Rising?Ā Among Others?
Four places I have lived:Ā
- Yorkshire. I grew up there.
- Gordon Hall, Cardiff. I was in a hall of residence in my first year of university, naturally; this was my first home away from my parents.
- Flat 3, Cardiff. Second year of university. There were mice. Let’s not go there.
- Hardy Place, Cardiff. Maybe my favourite of my homes so far, lived here with some of my university friends.
Four places I have been:
- Brittany, France. I’ve blanked out most of it because it was awful — it was a school trip, and my classmates wanted me to be unhappy. I was.
- Various parts of Belgium. My partner lives in Belgium!
- Rome, Italy. Went to Rome with my mother after finishing my degree. Favourite place: Pompeii. Definitely.
- Cornwall, UK. We went for the total solar eclipse. It turned out to be cloudy there; there was a better view back home. But Dad did teach us to swim.
Four places Iād rather be right now:
- Belgium. I want my bunnyyyyy.
- Yorkshire. I love Wales, but right now I’d rather not be here.
- Venice. I’ll settle for turning my PS3 on and running around Rome on Assassin’s Creed, though.
- Bed.
Four things I donāt eat:
- Spaghetti bolognese. My mother once forcefed me some because she didn’t believe I felt sick. There was projectile vomiting.
- Haggis.Ā Whyyy.
- Turkish delight. Ughughugh.
- Christmas pudding. Gaaah.
Four of my favourite foods:
- The sausage thing with onions that my partner gets from the chip shop down the road. Oh god I could eat it right now.
- Cauliflower cheese. I like cheese. Nommy cheese.
- Crispy duck in pancakes. Mmmmm.
- Dad’s chilli. Or other chilli, if necessary, but Dad does it best.
Four TV shows that Iāve watched:
- Firefly. I’ve watched this far too many times, really. I can quote most of it. “I swear by my pretty floral bonnet, I will end you.”
- Pushing Daisies. I need to rewatch this! So cute.
- Due South. I’m not kidding you when I say Fraser was my first squish.
- NCIS. Okay, so I can’t watch it without crying still because I used to watch it with my grandad and I can still ‘hear’ his commentary on it. But I do love it.
Four things Iām looking forward to this year:
- Going to Canada!
- Visits to Belgium.
- The Wales vs England game on Friday.
- Visit from my ex-housemate.
Four things Iām always saying:
- “Daaaaaaadddyyyyyyy…”Ā Yes, 25 and I still call him ‘Daddy’. Especially when I want something.
- “How much is my library fine now?” Wince.
- “Books books books!” The hunting cry of the wild Nikki.
- “I hate math…” This science course involves far too much math and not enough DNA.
Runners up: “ugh David Cameron, you [expletive]!”; “Muuuuuuuuuuuuum”; “EZIO STOP FALLING OFF BUILDINGS YOU’RE MEANT TO BE AN ASSASSIN”.
Four people I tag:
- You.
- The other you.
- Yes, you.
- My imaginary friend.