A list of favourites and things

Thanks, Arcadia! You know I simply cannot pass up the opportunity to compile another list!

1.Three best films you’ve recently watched:

• Capote
• Brokeback Mountain
• Walk the Line (who notices that I haven't gone to the cinema much of late?)

2. Three favourite songs at the moment:
I'm quite drawn to pieces with really lush arrangements again; that wall of sound that you can listen to on repeat for hours, picking out new things you've not noticed before. This is one of the reasons why I like Depeche Mode so much. Endless variety, yet all tied together by theme and subject matter.

• John the Revelator by Depeche Mode - so damn powerful and probably not unrelated to the whole Judas Gospel/Da Vinci Code controversy
• Mising Piece by Recoil - the electric violin gets me every time
• My Joy by Depeche Mode - the glory of infatuation turned up until the knob falls off

3. Favourite dessert
My mother makes this yummy malvapoeding which is absolutely fantastic.

4. Your favourite two physical attributes
a) of yourself

• I like my scary green eyes
• I think I've got good legs

b) of a partner

• Good dental health
• Absence of dandruff, skin diseases, viral infections, etc. (a slight limp is okay)

5. The ultimate unforgiveable act in your book is:
Violence and infidelity in a marriage. How do people who are so exactly wrong for one another tend to end up together so often? I'm surprised the divorce rate isn't higher. Don't go back to him, girls! The best prediction of future behaviour is past behaviour. Oh, and persons who commit offences against children must be removed from society.

6. If someone had to dress up as you, what would you give them to wear?
Thumb ring and cuff-strapped Fossil watch are prerequisite attire. I like wearing green, but exactly what kind depends on my mood. I tend to cycle between nerdy pseudo-emo sweater vest outfits with hideous Converse hi-tops and my (probably laughable) attempts at turning myself into the ambient trip-hop DJ of my dreams, i.e. Adidas sneakers and hideous shirts. I don't have good taste, but at least it's my own.

7. Three favourite magazines:

• National Geographic is a good read with stunning photography. And it's not biased in any way, oh no, not at all ;-) .
• Plant Cell, because I want to be published in it one day.
• Die Huisgenoot, because I can read the whole thing in 2 minutes (that's if you skip all the advertorials, gossip, fashion and sob stories nobody could possibly be interested in, boys and girls!).

8. A newly acquired bad habit:
I actually think it's a good habit; I've given my circadian clock free reign. I go to bed at about 22:30 and wake up at about 7:30. Naturally, without an alarm clock (the most hated invention ever). This way, I get my required amount of R.E.M. cycles and also get to drive to the University when all of the morning rush hour traffic has dissipated into little old ladies driving to their knitting circles. It looks like I'm not a morning person, after all. And I get to have the lab all to myself at night (no, I don't do cloning in the nude).

9. Dream house, described in a few sentences:
Aaah. Besides a fantastic tropical garden designed by Made Wijaya himself, there are three things I'd like. A conservatory in the Victorian style, where I'll grow my specialist collection of Andean and New Guinea orchids. A library/study which will house my ever-growing collection of books. You must employ a ladder to reach the topmost tomes. The library will have low lighting and dark wood finishings in the colonial style and also house my collection of archeologial artefacts and ammonite fossils. The rest of the house will be modern and minimalist, open and full of light. I shall make piles of money and purchase extravagantly expensive artworks. The third thing I desire is a completely white, square room to be used as a decompression chamber. This is where the SACD player will be.


10. You take five people to a deserted island.....who are they? (and does each one have a purpose or not?).
Wait, am I also on the island? Or do I get to be the observer in a white lab coat making notes on their behaviour? And then sell it to a television network? Okay, let's see...

1. A doctor (I watch Lost, so I know this is a good idea).
2. Wisened old crone to spout aphorisms Oprah-style.
3. Hilarious (but unlovely) guy for comedic relief.
4. Ratings-grabbing romantic interest for doctor person.
5. Fat kid to eat in case of famine.