Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Pure as the Driven Snow

Way back on the 18th of April DJ of Chez Aspie tagged me with the “Creative Writer Award”. To accept the award you have to tell six lies and one truth about yourself. Being a compulsive liar (aren’t all novelists when it comes down to it?) I told DJ I’d get on to it on the weekend. In fact it has had to wait until now.

So without further ado some porkies:

  1. I have a very rigid routine. I have so much happening in my life the only way I can keep it all flowing is if I diarise absolutely everything.
  2. During my surfie period in my youth I was waiting to catch a wave when suddenly a huge shark burst out of the wave next to me. I have never been so frightened.
  3. When I was a toddler I lived in a house that had no less than 20 of the deadliest snakes in the world in residence. They didn’t frighten me because I was simply too young to understand the danger.
  4. Again on the subject of houses, I have lived in a large number of places over the years. In fact the total number of houses I have now lived in is nearly 20.
  5. Deb and I first met when I sat next to her in a lecture hall on our first day at university.
  6. I was on a ship in the Suez Canal when the 1967 Arab-Israeli war broke out.
  7. When I was 18 I wrote off (totalled) my first car by crashing it into a tree.

What do you think? How truthful have I been?

I chose to inflict this tendency to lying on Lisa at Lit and Life and

Myrna at Night Writer

A random photo from the archive.


Next (if I chose not to lie): I get tagged again.

21 comments:

Jaydee Morgan said...

Ooh, these are tough. Either you are very creative or live a totally interesting life! I'll guess that #2 (the shark) is the truth :)

Karen Jones Gowen said...

I'll bet #7 is the truth, because if it did happen you would never forget it, but I hope the shark story is really the truth because that is awesome!!

Natasha said...

Just stopped by to say there is an award for you on my site.

Ann said...

Lets see, it it the car or the shark. I will go with the car! Hope you weren't hurt!!! Congratulations on the award.

Kristen M. said...

I think it's #4 -- you seem like you could have moved around a bit. I'm sure you had a surfie period though. :)

Angie Paxton said...

Because it's the drabbest one on there I'm going to say the one about meeting Deb in a lecture hall is a lie. If the shark thing really happened, yikes!

Myrna Foster said...

I'm going with number five. Thanks for the award. I haven't been given this one, and it looks like fun!

Anne Gallagher said...

I'm going to say # 3 is the truth. I don't know why.

Hannah said...

I'm going with number 5.

Old Kitty said...

Oooh tough one!

No.6 is the truth?

I hate to think of you as a baby surrounded by all these snakes..!

Yikes!

Take care
x

Lisa said...

Well, since you've already lived in two places since I started following you (ew, that makes me sound like some kind of stalker), I'm going to say that the true statement is that you've live din more than 20 places. Although I'll bet you've also totaled a car!

Anonymous said...

hmmmm I like the snakes but am tossing up between the houses and meeting Deb. ok I will go with the houses... #4 :o)

JournoMich said...

I'm going with #4--20 houses! I really don't want the shark thing to be true for your sake. :)

Michele
SouthernCityMysteries

Anonymous said...

Hi, I found you via Ann's inkpot n quills, she actually passed that award onto me in March and I subsequently lost all my comments, people actually thought my half truth was that I was Michael Flatley's original dance partner.

I think yours is the car one, drawn towards the shark one though.

Wendy R said...

Al
I think it can only be 5. Or am I lying?
wx

Roland D. Yeomans said...

Congrats on the award. And from your answers, I can see a future for you in politics! Roland

Alyssa Goodnight said...

I'm guessing #4 is the truth?? That's pretty tough--you're a good liar! :)

DJ Kirkby said...

1, 3 and 5 are the lies?

Al said...

Hi Jaydee,
I am naughty aren’t I? I am creative and I have had a reasonably interesting life.
The shark is a great story but it is a porky. I think the real version is even better :).

Hi Karen,
The poor little FIAT 850 did die an inglorious death at my hands, but not by hitting a tree. The shark story is a good yarn isn’t it.

Hi Rayna,
Thank you! I’ll check it out!

Hi Ann,
Thank you!
Both wrong I am afraid. I was hurt, but given how it could have been I really wasn’t harmed.

Hi Kristen,
I certainly did have a surfie period and I did move around a lot. But neither story is quite true!

Hi Angie,
I suppose it is quite drab, but the story as it is told is not true.
I agree it was yikes, but as you will see from my next post it wasn’t a shark at all!

Hi Myrna,
Alas number 5 is not true! You are most welcome to the award. I certainly have had fun with it.

Hi Anne,
Ta da! You picked it!

Hi Hanna,
Unfortunately it is not number 5. :-(

Hi Kitty,
I have tried to be devious. No # 6 is not it. The Snakes are it!
Take care

Hi Lisa,
I have lived in heaps of places, as you’ve guessed. But the way I phrased it # 4 is in fact incorrect.
So I am a compulsive liar, but you are a stalker – That is much worse :-)
I did total the car but not in the way I said in my lie.

Hi Niki,
You should have stuck with the snakes! You would have been correct! Never mind :-(

Hi Michele,
Sorry, but technically #4 is a lie. So to was the shark, but as I say both stories hold an element of truth.

Hi Brigid,
Welcome to my blog!
Isn’t the award fun? I’ve had a great time telling lies. Gee you must be good at dancing :-)
Both are great stories, but neither is entirely truthful!

Hi Wendy,
5 is not true. But at least you can always maintain you were only fibbing!

Hi Roland,
Thank you! A politician? Ugh! Maybe I'll be a story teller instead.

Hi Alyssa,
#4 is technically a lie. Like all the others it has an element of truth. I think the best stories (or lies for that matter) build on the truth.

Al said...

Hi DJ,
Your comment must have come up as I was posting the answers and responses.
#3 is true. All the others are, strictly speaking, lies!

prashant said...

I'm sure you had a surfie period though. :)
data entry work from home