26 March 2013

5 random things

I got tagged by the lovely Ness of Bunnies and Bettas to tell you 5 random things about myself, and I love random things so this is right up my alley! (Does that count as 1? No? Booh!)

1) My name isn't actually Tecrin. I realised a while ago that people may think my name is Tecrin because of the blogname and because I sign most of my online stuff with that name, (trust me, I would love it to actually be Tecrin because I still lurve that name) but it's not! My real name is Stefanie. Boring, huh?
I think it's quite original, still. I haven't encountered that many other Tecrins on the internet that were not me. So if you come across a Tecrin anywhere, say hi! Good chance that it really is me!
The name Tecrin itself was something I came up with back in the day when I was still more into writing fantasy fiction. I used it for my main in World of Warcraft, Tecrin the Blood Elf Rogue, and it kind of stuck with me all these years! I don't think it actually means anything, but if it does, and you know, let me know!

2) Even though I can't stand clutter and get agitated when I'm in an obviously dusty and messy place, I am the world's messiest person. There's always piles of paperwork or books on my desk, or random stuff that really shouldn't be anywhere near my desk. And don't even get me started on the amount of crochet and knitting paraphernalia that are strewn across its surface. I want to clean the whole mess up all the time, but then never get around to actually do it. Don't get me wrong, it's not dirty, there's no empty bowls of food or leftovers or nastiness on my desk, barring the occasional empty coffee cup, and it may be slightly dusty but that's mostly because I can't reach the dust without dismantling the entire set-up. I'm just a clutter-bug.

3) My morning coffee? A white coffee, otherwise known as a normally brewed coffee with a healthy dose of 2% milk. I'd prefer a latte, but I don't have a milk steamer. I do have an electric whisk that's designed to make milk foam (you heat up milk, stick that thing in, whirr it around and voilá: milk foam! And if you're anything like me, you'll also have a kitchen covered in warm milk.). During my last two months at the bookshop, we had moved to a new place with an in-house coffee corner and my boss made a deal with the proprietors about the rent that included free coffees for the employees on the clock. My work days were often spent daydreaming about their silky-smooth, creamy lattes with the fresh-baked cinnamon biscuits, and since they were free, we often got two coffees when we were having a slow day. When I left, I got the whisk as a gift from my co-workers because now I had to make my own fancy coffee. I think I've used it twice, so far.

4) I love polka-dots. You wouldn't be able to tell now, because my wardrobe has toned down, but I have had years in my life where I would wear polka-dotted EVERYTHING. From shoes and socks to trousers and tops, to the barrettes in my hair. It turned to stripes later, and the polkadots sort of dwindled away from my day-to-day wear, but I still have several spotted items in my wardrobe that get a regular outing. In fact, I just bought a fabulous black and white spotted bra the other day, and I was looking into a tutorial earlier on how to turn normal jeans into polka-dotted jeans with fabric paint. It may be on its return... DundunDUUUUN!

5) I speak 2 languages fluently (Dutch and English), have been taught 2 more in secondary school but my knowledge of them dwindled because I went to Uni to study English, (German and French), have studied 1 more for about 10 weeks, then our study group fell apart because our teacher suddenly stopped showing up (Spanish), once thought I could really do with learning a horrendously difficult language but never actually started (Japanese), and halfway through my Master's I decided that I should invest in learning a this language to give me a better job perspective but I never got round to it (Swedish). If I were ever to make a bucket list, learning these languages to a certain level of proficiency would definitely be on it. I grew up knowing I had a knack for languages and I can intuitively get most of the grammar right, but don't ask me about the differences between all the grammatical cases in German, or to cite all parses of a verb in French, because I wouldn't know what to tell you. I have on many occasions left teachers baffled by getting perfect scores on a written exam but as soon as they tested my theoretical, grammatical knowledge of the language, I'd score the lowest of my entire class. One of the many reasons that I could never be a teacher!

Oooh, now to pass on the torch! Let's see... Which bloggers do I wish to know more about?

1) Tanya from Tanya Today!
2) Nikki from Theonlynikki, because she loves lists!
3) Leah from Good Enough!
4) Nicole from Nicole and the Bee!
5) Chrissie from Stitched Together!

(Please remember, if you are in my list but don't like lists, don't feel pressured to post, and if you aren't in my little list but do feel like you could do with some randomness, post away! Then tell me about it. I love randomness!)

4 comments:

  1. I am totally with you on number 2!!

    I 'll have to think of some interesting things to share :D

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  2. Oh! Good random facts! :D

    I think you and I together would make the most proficient language student. You can speak it and understand it when spoken and I'll do the grammar. :) I know Latin, Greek, French, German, and some Spanish, but can't speak or understand a lick of any of them when spoken to me. My German teachers always felt so sorry for me because I had to do oral exams in class though I only needed to learn how to read it for my degree. :P

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    1. Sounds like we could be the perfect team! Though my oral exams also weren't always a breeze... I've had a few blackouts where I literally couldn't get a single word to come out right, and once my teacher said to me that he heard me yapping away in the auditorium while I was waiting my turn and that it was absolutely flawless, but as soon as I had to talk about my subject for a grade, I completely shut down! Happened twice, once for a French exam in secondary school, once during my first year at uni. The second time my teacher did tell me that my accent was flawless, though, he gave full marks for that, but it still wasn't enough for a decent grade because I didn't say enough! (I still fuss over my accent to sound just right and preferably at least a bit RP, when I'm sober at least . Pour some alcohol in me and apparently I sound like I've lived my entire life in the UK...)

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  3. Ooo, now I've got to wrack my brains - and I don't have many of those!

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