Inquisition

Iota has tagged me into a list of cosmic questions to which she requires answers. Self-exposure alarms me, but Iota strikes me as the sort of person I'd like to have as a next-door neighbor so for her sake I'll bare all:
What is the view from the room where you are currently sitting?
The empty playground of a children's nursery and the family Skoda which I had meant to get round to washing last year.
Do you buy lottery tickets?
Of course not. I'd hate to risk becoming an overnight millionaire.
If you had to live in the Arctic Circle or on the Equator which would it be?
The Arctic Circle. I'm fond of tobogganing and dislike heat.
What's the novel inside you (you know, the one that everyone is supposed to have)?
I'm the only person I've ever met who doesn't have a novel inside them. To console myself for this deficiency I channelled my literary energies into a large diary when I was 14. I haven't missed a day since, so should you desire to know what I had for breakfast on 5th May 1984...
Do you still have your wedding dress?
I did, until our last house move but one. It took against the coal cellar where I'd housed it in its giant box and I, once it had turned green and fluffy, took against it. The thermal vest I wore underneath it is still going strong, though.
Is your big toe longer or shorter than the toe next to it?
Well, I don't know and I'm not about to remove my sock and slipper to find out.
Name a guilty pleasure
Speeding past cars queued on the motorway on the opposite carriageway to me.
If you could change one thing you did last week what would it be?
Putting my daughter's cheap pink jeans in with a white wash. Again.
What's your middle name?
Alexandra.
Can you, with Edith Piaf, say 'Je ne regrette rien'?
My stack of years - and all those journals - have taught me that most painful experiences have a purpose, although it can take both decades and discipline to recognize it. They have also taught me that one shouldn't take oneself too seriously. So I try no longer to agonise over what can't be changed. But I do regret not being able to recall the last phone conversation I had with my mother before she was run over.
What fairy story character do you most identify with?
The witch in Hansel & Gretel.
Now I'm supposed to invite 11 bloggers to answer 11 questions of my own. I can't think of 11 bloggers or 11 questions so here are five of each:
When you look in the mirror what do you see?
If you could choose one motto/mantra to live by what would it be?
Which era would you command a time capsule to transport you to?
What was your childhood ambition and have you fulfilled it?
If the world were to end tomorrow where would you want to be and what would be on your apocalypse menu?
When did you last change your sheets?
Over to you...
A Dad Called Spen
Kate Takes 5
Kate on Thin Ice
3 Children and It
Actually Mummy