Dreadful Nonsense

Friday Five

1. What is your most prized material possession?
I’m quite proud of my book and video collections – they’re coming on quite nicely. I’m a hoarder – in a previous life I was probably a squirrel. I like to kept my precious things around me, and will be one of those people that are discovered weeks after they have died, surrounded by piles of newspapers and things that I have taken from bins and such.
But that’s beside the point. My most treasured possession, the thing that I’d rescue from a fire (after various pets, family members etc) would be my tiny teddy bear Chi-Chi.

2. What item, that you currently own, have you had the longest?
I have had Chi-Chi the longest. I was given him when I was born, and I’ve never left him since. He’s a tiny Panda Bear, filled with plastic beads. He’s slightly older than me, cos he was already in existence before I was born, so he’s probably about 27 years old. I’ve had him for 26 years and three months, and in that time I’ve only lost him once. My Dad had to drive half way across Ireland because I’d left him in the toilet of a hotel on our way to Galway. Apparently I didn’t stop crying until he came back. Dad sent him in a box, with a little story attached about his adventure. All I can remember about it is that Dad gave him cornflakes for breakfast before sending him on his way. He’s been re-filled about three times, is now missing most of his beads, and looks a little tired. He’s one of those Mon-chi-chi dons from the 1970s that such both their thumbs and their toes. I could talk about him for hours.

3. Are you a packrat?
I don’t know what that means, or even what it’s trying to ask, so I’m going to keep talking about Chi-Chi. In college, my flatmate Jane declared that Chi-Chi was creepy, and so her and Emma plotted between them, and one night I walked up the stairs to my bedroom to find Chi-Chi swinging from the ceiling on a tiny noose. Which, I must admit, I thought was really funny. They did it to Elmo too, and I thought that was great. Chi-Chi comes with me on the very rare occasions I take an airplane and is clutched very tightly until we land. Today, Chi-Chi lives on top of my television in my bedroom, and he is currently sucking is right thumb, which is his thumb of choice.

4. Do you prefer a spic-and-span clean house? Or is some clutter necessary to avoid the appearance of a museum?
If I had my way, I would have most of the house looking like a show room, with no clutter anywhere other than on the book shelves, which are filled with books, videos, CDs, DVDs and ornaments. That would be quite an odd show room, admittedly. Every surface would be wiped clean once every ten minutes to avoid dust, and hoovered on the hour every hour. I love things being clean, it makes me feel secure.
My bedroom, however, must always have the appearance that a deranged teenage girl lives there, with piles of things all over the place, posters covering the wall and ceiling, with no discernable pattern or logic to the arrangement. And teddy bears lurking in every corner.

5. Do the rooms in your house have a theme? Or is it a mixture of knick-knacks here and there?
We rent, so there’s no theme at all. We have a lot of tacky, plastic fish ornaments and pictures in our bathroom, which I suppose is a minor theme. Other than that, not really. I like small plastic things, so the theme of all of my possessions and decorations is “small, plastic, tacky and childish”. I might make that my new motto.

This entry was posted on 21 February 2003 at 9:37 am. 0 comments

Dreadful Nonsense

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