Ten things you may or may not know about me
1. I avoid being overly specific about some things in my life on my blog, because, while I know it is public and I know it is searchable, I am not really trying to reach a wide audience of people who might be googling me. This is because...
2. I am a teacher. In fact, I do a few jobs (currently four) related to education, mostly history. I've been in this profession for 24 years and now hold a senior role. Curious children (I teach those over 11) often find my social media, which is carefully locked, but it would just be easier for me if they didn't find this and, happily, it never comes up when I google myself, and I dive deep into the search pages (though I don't kid myself that I can guess all their possible search terms). I have a work blog too, which is much easier to find if you're looking for professional me.
3. I am middle aged. I've been married to my husband, Mr Z, for 20 years. We met online (or at a meet-up for a BBS community, this is disputed - I say in person first, he says online first) in 1995 when all this was fields and the internet was for playing games against other people. We live with two cats and no children. I refer to where we live as the 'wood.
4. I have other family: a mum - Mother Hand; a brother - Sib; a niece and nephew - the niblings. They don't live close by. Father Hand lived in America from around 1991 until he passed away in 2024, so I have spent a lot of time over there. I think I've been to 27 states but some of them just to drive through.
5. I love skiing. I usually only manage one week a year, there isn't really any skiing in England, but it keeps me fit the rest of the year because I want to be able to ski hard and for long hours when I do get to go, so it keeps me in the gym. I lead the trip for school.
6. Other things I like doing: knitting, baking, reading, swimming in cold water, sauna. I don't crochet. It is a dark art.
7. I also hugely enjoy travelling and reading about travel. I would like to be a travel writer, if I had time/talent/a publisher. I've been to 39 countries (according to a little app my friends and I use, called 'been') and six continents. I have no problem with flying but I am trying, as much as possible, to travel overland where I can because, yknow, climate change; I love rail and coach travel when I have enough time for them. I think my favourite place I've visited was the Galapagos, but it is hard to choose.
8. Mr Z does not like travelling. I know this is about him rather than me but I do think some people might wonder why he's never on holiday with me. He is a homebody, worries about the cats when we're not here and isn't a big fan of other people. We have done some epic holidays together in the past, mainly camping in America, but a train journey taking in a few European cities, which is what my last couple of summer holidays have been, would not be to his tastes. I think we might go to Greece with Father Z and the other in-laws next year, though.
9. I'm a sucker for nice stationery, a museum gift shop, cake, wearing dresses, a library, a forest, dogs...in fact, pretty much any animal or bird esp gulls, the beach, a comfy chair, a book talk or history lecture, hoop earrings, camping, taking pictures of things, a fancy coffee with a big pastry and anything sparkly or brightly coloured.
10. My blog is 28 years old. I started it to complain about The Blair Witch Project, which I had just seen at the cinema and thought was rubbish. My favourite memory of that showing was pushing my hand up through the bottom of the popcorn box and grabbing my friend's hand when she went in for some more - the biggest jumpscare of the entire thing.
I moved to Blogger in 2007 and retired the early years because they were quite raw. If my students found what I'd been writing here I wouldn't worry too much, my main fear is they'd think I was horribly boring; but my university years are perhaps best not spread all over the internet.
Before I started my blog, and in fact for a few years after, I kept a real diary, from 1990 onwards. It's a habit now. I love writing. I also like remembering and writing is an act of memorialisation, imo.
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