You'll be given a number from 1-6, and the direction of travel i.e you get a positive (e.g. +5) or negative (e.g. -4) number. When you land on a square, a fact will be revealed. Watch out for the red squares, as they'll send you back to the start.
Get ready
Let's Play!
When you land on a square, the information will be revealed in this panel. Have fun!
Growing Up
I grew up on a farm in North Yorkshire, in the Nidderdale AONB, although we were actually in the Lower Wensleydale bit. The difference between a shire and a dale still eludes me, thanks to the local geography up there, where there are shires inside dales inside shires. It snowed a lot, as you can probably tell from the photo. That was winter 1982-3.
Books & More Books
Reading has always been a passion, maybe because I grew up in a house full of books. I've recently started using Shelfari. I'll be adding more books as I get around to it.
Arts & Crafts
Both my mum and my dad's uncle were skilled artists, and so I was taught to draw at an early age. I tend to do small things in pencil or large paintings, but don't really have the patience to see things through these days. I'm quite handy if you need an emergency Easter bonnet though (for example).
Music
There was a battered old piano tucked away at our house, and my obsession with it forced the purchase of one that sounded nice. These days I'm a lapsed pianist, lapsed saxophonist and sometime singer; but I did get a Diploma in Music from the OU 'to keep my hand in', and am attempting to learn new piano pieces on my beautiful Roland.
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Fashion
I've always had an interest in fashion, but I must have got old without noticing, because the things teenagers and hipsters wear confuse me. I like putting together layouts at Shopstyle, though.
Science
I got really interested in science and physics in particular after I left school, and I've read lots of scary books on quantum theory. I'm really excited about the experiments that found particles travelling faster than the speed of light; and how it might mean we need to rewrite the rules of how the universe works.
Internet
I'm so glad the internet exists, I'm not sure what I'd have done for a living otherwise. I spend a lot of time reading things online - follow me on twitter and you can see what I find interesting.
Let's Dance!
I did ballet as a child, gave it up when it wasn't cool, then took it up again at 18. I've stopped again now, but I do love dancing, and if there's a dance-floor and an excuse, I'll probably be on it. The excuse in this picture was a no-show from a cast member at the filming of a viral video. Lucky me!
Education
I hated school and dropped out of university, so it's perhaps surprising that I've done some kind of course or qualification nearly every year since then. The Open University allowed me to study all sorts of things that I might not have considered before, and I was proud when I completed my degree - even if it took a decade to do!
Casual Gaming
A friend once called me the most serious casual gamer they'd ever met, and I suppose it's true. I have fond memories of a summer in my teens spent playing Sonic and Knuckles, and am still mildly annoyed that I never defeated the final baddie in Ecco. I can't stand 3D games, and prefer platforms, puzzle games or world building games e.g. Sim City. I took a module in games design and development as part of my degree, and loved it.
Writing
I'd written bad poetry and songs since adolescence, but only really thought about studying writing when I got sick of music theory and needed more credits to finish my degree! It was a brilliant experience, and I might just write a novel, one day. There's some of my uni work at thingsweneversaid.com.
Travel
When I go on holiday, I like to experience things that are different. I hate places that sell Heinz ketchup, basically.In the last few years I've been to Cuba, The Maldives and Kenya. You can see some of my photos at Flickr.
Coding
I really started tinkering with code in '99 (though we did BASIC at school in '92), and taught myself HTML, CSS, and some bits of DHTML as it was called then. Because I don't code for a living, I was never great and am getting really rusty. I'm currently trying to improve my JavaScript, and have been playing with HTML5 and Canvas. I'll put some more things up now I've finally built this website!
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301 Redirect
I got married to Robin in August 2011, and we had a very nice day, thank you. Some people were asking if I'd been adopted as an adult or just fancied a name change, but no; it was a far more traditional reason.
Photo retouching
One of the very first things I learnt to do in my first job was photo retouching - to remove ladies' nipples from Ideal Standard shower pictures! Thanks to sites like B3ta I've been able to put these skills to utterly pointless use, and now find my friends asking me to realise their oddest visions. I am happy to oblige. This is Jane-bear, a dear friend of mine. Sweet dreams!
At Work
I work in Leeds at Numiko, a company making fabulous websites and mobile things for clients like the BBC, Childline, Channel 4 and more. I spend a lot of time nagging people and creating endless spreadsheets, and drink copious amounts of tea.
Well Done!
You've finished the game and now you know more about me. If you got here a bit quickly, you can always play again.