The A-Z of Simon

I'm a bit iffy about memes - not entirely sure why. The first time I was tagged, I politely declined. But in retrospect, that felt a bit unsociable. So when Grace of the Wild Pomegranate blog tagged me a while back, I thought I would play along and see how that felt. (It's OK so far...)

It's taken a while for this whole thing to come to the boil in my brain (are there any prizes for slow meme response, I wonder?) but here it is at long last. The A-Z of Secret Simon, 26 things that you may not have known about me:

First off then: A is for Acceptance, the cornerstone of enlightenment and gateway to the secret of life. I'm working on it.

B is for Book and also for Blog, which may explain some confusion which has arisen over my priorities. My spirituality book is called The Skeptic's Guide To God and I started this blog to promote it. The trouble is: I got so interested in the blog that I never quite finished the book. You just wait though...

C is for CFIDS, the American name for the medical condition I've lived with for more years than I care to remember. (Over here in Britain, they still can't decide what to call it.) A few years ago, I might have told you more about the illness, but the truth is I'm sick of the d*mn thing. (No pun intended.)

D is for dictionary, which I've needed to consult on several occasions to complete this post. Word games were never my strong point.

E is for Expert Patient Program. I trained as a tutor for this. It's all about  self-empowerment for people with long term health conditions. I get a lot of satisfaction from this and I've never talked at length in front of a class before, so it's meant getting out of my comfort zone, which is always a good thing.

F is for Fiction. I've written quite a lot of this: four short stories (published - hooray!) and three novels (two for adults and one for children, all unpublished - boo!). I like reading fiction too, though I've been having a problem with eye pain, so these days I mainly listen to audio books.

G is for Gardening, which I took up a few years ago and really enjoy. It's a great way to be in the moment.

H is for Harrogate, the rather cute town in the north of England where I was born. It's a great place to spend an afternoon. The trouble is: I had to live there.

I is for Indecisive, which I can be sometimes.

J is for Jam. Raspberry is my favorite. Or maybe apricot. (I told you I was indecisive.)

K is for Kent in the south of England, where we lived for about sixteen months when I was a boy. I loved it there. So my parents moved straight back to bl**dy Harrogate.

L is for Leeds in the north of England, which is where my wife Chris and I live now. It's quite close to Harrogate, but I don't hold that against it. Leeds is a city, so there's plenty going on, but it has easy access to some nice countryside too, so it suits us both just fine.

M is for Meditation and also for Mind. I do one to get out of the other.

N is for No More Than 13 Letters Left now...

O is for Oneness, which lies at the heart of my philosophy.

P is for Puddings. I like them.

Q is for Quite Nice Really, which Harrogate is, I suppose - but it helps to have a running joke in something like this.

R is for Radio. I spend a lot of time listening to this. Chris says she will bury my DAB beside me - though not for a while yet, we hope.

S is for Science Fiction. I used to co-edit a science fiction and fantasy short story magazine - but please don't make misleading connections between science fiction and spirituality. Science fiction people don't approve of this sort of thing at all - not unless they're L Ron Hubbard (or Philip K Dick).

T is for Travel. I like doing this but I'm not very adventurous. I've seen a lot of beaches...

U is of University, where I studied civil engineering. All in all, I quite enjoyed my job and the company of some entertaining colleagues but when push comes to shove, you shouldn't be an engineer if you're not interested in how things work, which I'm not. So I spent my working life pretending to be an engineer. And if you're not being you, you get ill...

V is for Voice. Never had one of these, not a tuneful one - which may explain my disenchantment with mainstream Christianity.  I couldn't cope with all the hymns...

W is for Writing. I knew that I wanted to do this from a very early age. The impulse has remained with me throughout my life: never quite compulsive enough to propel me to professional success but always too strong to stop me settling down to anything else more useful.

X is for Xenon. Remember this. You may need it the next time you play Scrabble.

Y is for Yoga. Chris and I have taken this up over the last year and I have to say that I really enjoy it. Most of the time it's been Dru Yoga, though we've recently also taken up Kundalini Yoga with Ed Harpin. Both of these forms have a strong spiritual element.

Z is for Zygote. I used to be one of these.

But enough about me. Here is where I'm supposed to pass on the baton to some other bloggers out there to give us some A to Z facts about themselves:

The instructions say that each player starts with some random facts/habits about himself/herself. As you are tagged you need to post the rules (this bit) and your responses on your own blog. At the end of your post, you need to choose some people to tag, list their names and, of course, leave them a comment, telling they have been tagged and they need to read your blog for more information.

All right then, here are the people I'm tagging. I thought I would choose some of the newer blogs I've come across:

Peripheral Vision

Your Caring Angels

Birthing Your Life Dream

Life In 360

Heal Pain Naturally

Silent Cacophony

It's OK guys - there's no compulsion. If you'd like to take part, that's brilliant. If not, that's brilliant too. And if anyone would like to borrow my dictionary, just ask...

Right - that's all done then. That just leaves one more meme and three awards for me still to catch up on. It'll all be sorted by Christmas...

Comments

[mergingpoint]

Wonderful dictionary -- Totally personalized!
"M is for Meditation and also for Mind. I do one to get out of the other." --- may be to Master the other, The Mind.

[Angelbaby]

I love it. It sounds like great fun to do this tag. Can I have a little time to get it done? I hope you don't mind. I can get to it on my weekend, I think. Thanks for the tag.

Love and Blessings,
AngelBaby

[vinni]

thanks for the tag simon! and this dictionary is totally personalised! i agree! and the meme you wanted would be something like this! the best things to look forward in india! will send it across in a while.

[Jennifer Mannion]

Hey Simon, Thanks for the Tag -- it is complete -- check out my blog to see what I came up with... I LOVE word games! ;-) Gratefully, Jenny

[Liara Covert]

Your responses to this challenge reveal you are a man of ingenuity and dry wit. Readers of this blog recognize your creative ability and are drawn back to share insight. Thanks for revealing new sides to your self-discovery.

[Malcolm Campbell]

I go to Meme's Anonymous meetings whenever I get the urge to take part in one of these or, worse yet, tag somebody.

Mostly, I'm successful. Even so, reading your list was fun, especially the Xenon tip.

Malcolm

[Chase March]

Secret Simon, I really don’t understand this thing. I appreciate being tagged and don’t want to appear anti-social. That being said, I respectfully decline to participate in this exercise. I enjoy reading your blog and will continue to do so. Don’t take this as a slight.

I have never appreciated chain letters in any form. That is basically what this is. I don’t even read those emails that come with FWD:fwd in them.

It seems like these things open us up to vulnerability. Maybe I am just being paranoid. I don’t know. Maybe these things just tie us all in one large interconnected knot as well.

[Lynda Lehmann]

First, thank you for tagging me, Simon! I really enjoyed reading your post, as it gives me more of an idea of you.

I'm sorry you have to cope with CFIDS. Any chronic illness is hard to live with, as is one that is life-threatening. Meditation and yoga are a good decision!

I share your interest in sci fi, and once participated in an online workshop called "Critters," which was well run and a terrific experience. I loved it but had to give it up because I didn't have time to continue.

I've written four young adult novels and a bunch of stories (most of them with a soft, sociological sci fi slant) so we have that in common.

I'd better stop here, more when I do the meme. If there's an award for slowness on memes and awards, I've earned it, for sure! :)

[vinni]

i am working on it now.

[Secret Simon]

Hi mergingpoint - Welcome to The Secret Of Life! Your comment made me wonder whether meditation really 'masters' the mind. I think it is more about observing the mind and getting it into perspective. Perhaps what we really master is our mistaken belief that we *are* our mind.

Angelbaby and Vinni - I look forward to your A to Zs. Take as long as you like!

Jenny gets five gold stars for not only completing her A to Z the very same day, but rhyming it too! I am mega impressed...

Liara - Thanks for your comment - you really say the nicest things!

[Secret Simon]

I'm glad you enjoyed this, Malcolm, though I note that you share my rather uneasy relationship with memes. It's very difficult to know who to tag - you don't know who's going to love it, who's going to be confused, and who's going to freak out.

I've already written to Chase to assure him not to worry - this was always intended to be voluntary! And like I said, Chase, the first time I was tagged, I turned it down too, and for much the same reasons as you. I really don't like chain letters either because they come on all friendly yet at the same time they're trying to tell you what to do. You don't see many these days which actually threaten you with death if you don't send them out to another six people, but the threat kind of lingers in the air...

I have to accept that there's a chain letter element to memes, yet at the same time, I've come to realize that they encourage interaction and friendship between bloggers, which can only be good. It's nice to get a bit of attention, after all. So... I think my attitude for the time being is one of guarded welcome, though I reserve the right to change this at any moment.

I was interested to discover, though, that the original term "meme" was invented by someone who has featured from time to time on this blog: none other than Richard Dawkins. I wonder if he has any idea of how it is used in blogging?

[Secret Simon]

Hi Lynda - I'm glad to learn that I have company in the 'slow meme' department! I look forward to reading your A to Z, and I'm impressed to learn that you write extensively as well as producing the excellent visual art you feature on your sites.

Thanks for your comments everyone!