Tagged aaages ago by @annie-of-wonderland and @all-seeing-ifer Thanks :D <3

What’s the origin of your blog name?

Hal is a play on my actual name, which reminded me of the computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey, so I slapped a number more to my Tudor-loving liking on the end. Not totally sure why past Hal didn’t go for 1501, which probably would have made more sense as a reference, but past Hal’s reasons for doing many things (including many sartorial choices and at least 2 haircuts) are a mystery to me.

What’s your ‘I will always order this’ food?

I generally like to try new things, but I am very unadventurous when it comes to supermarket meal deals, because my choice is restricted by needing to avoid interacting with mayonnaise (Satan’s condiment). I usually end up with something like: plain ham sandwich, cheese and onion crisps, and a coke.

What’s your overused emoji?

Get a lot of use out of this guy:

And his friend, who is having a much-less-good time:

What’s your current comfort show/book/movie?

Depends very much on mood etc, but as far as I’m concerned it is always a good time to re-watch the 1995 tv adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, and Donald Sutherland could never.

Song you’ve had on repeat this week?

Weeeeell, over Christmas I did do a lot of listening to The Darkness’ Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End), so let’s go for that. Still not sure how they got away with the subtitle but I’m very glad they did!

What’s the last thing you hyperfixated on?

Still firmly in my Buffy, Lord of the Rings, and Discworld era <3

What’s an oddly specific thing that brings you joy?

I love to see a bird I haven’t seen before - genuinely could not stop smiling the first time I saw a kingfisher in real life. Also love watching the usual garden birds - especially blackbirds scurrying around like they’ve forgotten they’ve got wings.

What smell instantly makes you happy?

Wet earth, heather, the sea. Also, the smell of a proper pub, especially after a long, cold walk.

What’s something you loved as a kid that you secretly love now?

I’m a card-carrying sceptic, but I’ve always loved stories about weird, spurious and poorly-evidenced creatures (but not ghosts. Ghosts are boring, for some reason) and I’m really fascinated by conspiracy theories . It’s not really a secret, but it’s something I have to caveat a lot when talking about this stuff with new friends in case they think I genuinely believe in, like, Sheepsquatch or a flat earth. So, for the record, I don’t believe in Mothman (or any of the others). Although, as the mug my sister got me says, “Mothman believes in you” <3

What’s your phone wallpaper right now?

A Nice Landscape™ from a holiday I went on last year :)

Are you a morning person, night owl, or something else entirely?

Morning person, especially in terms of actually being productive. RIP my productivity after, like, 3pm.

If you work, what is your work profession? And do you like it?

I work in the Great British Public Sector, which is definitely not for the faint of heart (or for the easily exasperated). My colleagues are mostly great and the work’s interesting, but management and the political context can be frustrating. But then if I couldn’t take a joke, I wouldn’t have joined…

If you haven’t done this and would like to, take this as permission to do so!