six things: Big Tam Connery

• One thing that’s always worth getting out of bed for

Curioshity ish the mark of a creative pershonality. Lotsh of thingsh can block you in your daily life, but if you remain curioush, about yourshelf and all around you, then even if you’re not looking forward with absholute confidenshe or glee, you probably get out of bed jusht to find out what will happen, how you can make it through the day. Ash a younger man, the world wash, in shome waysh, my oyshter; now, retired, living quietly, I’m kept alive by the queshtionsh that come into my mind; why did I do that, feel that, forget that? What jusht happened, and why? What will I find out today?

And of courshe it’s worth getting out of bed becaushe of the people around me, family and friendsh whom I love to shpend time with – ‘vice versa’ they tell me – even if I’m a crochety old fellow shometimesh.

And – yesh – love ish often what makesh you want to get into a bed, rather than out of it…

• One thing about myself that often obstructs me

It ushed to be – well you could call it impashienshe, but it wash probably anger – anger at being taken, I thought, for a fool in mattersh of money, contractsh, feeling I was doing all the give in the ‘give & take’ of a career in the moviesh, anger at being patronished. You might shay I had a chip on my shoulder about childhood poverty & my own value to the shtudiosh I worked for, and I probably wouldn’t knock your teeth out for shaying it, not now. I’m a bit older & posshibly wisher, but I guessh I’m shtill impashient, if lessh angry.

• One thing I’ve learned the hard way

About women. About men and women. About the thingsh we want from each other and how not to get into a power shtruggle, how not to have to ‘win’. I’ve learned a lot about how my background shaped me ash a man, which, along with the Bond filmsh and the ‘mores’ of that era, meant I washn’t alwaysh kind or shtraightforward about that men/women shtuff. And, ash my wife would tell you, I’m shtill learning.

• One thing that gets under my skin

Bad mannersh. Rudenessh. Lack of reshpect. Over-familiarity, cashual cruelty & sharcashm, all make me furioush.  Intellectual or classh shnoberry. I care about that shtuff.  However, they do shay that you get annoyed either by what you ushed to do yourshelf or by thingsh that you’re convinshed you never did, but are in your own blind-shpot. Hm.

• One thing I’d love to change

I had a long-held hope for Shcottish independenshe… I shtill do, but I recognishe I wash looking at it idealishtically, from outshide the country; and now that the Natsh (ShNP) are in offishe, do I like how they’re handling it? Well. Not entirely. Then again, shome thingsh they’ve got right. Dropping chargesh for preshcripshionsh, for inshtanshe. I would shtill like to shee Shcotland retaking powersh from the UK government and enhanshing the livesh of Shcotsh; but alsho – very importantly – Shcotland not forgetting it ish part of the wider world, part of Europe, looking out, not in, and shelebrating itsh identitiesh (plural, becaushe a Highlander ish not the shame ash a Borderer or an Orcadian) in more original waysh. Shtuff the tartan kitsch, it’sh fine for shortbread, but all the shpirit of itsh writersh and great thinkersh, that’sh our gold, that’sh our mosht valuable flag to fly. Shcotland should ashpire to great thingsh, not tinker with petty troublesh & be complashent about itshelf for having politishiansh who shpeak and think in shpin jusht like everywhere elshe.

• One thing I hope for

To live long enough to complete Big Tam’sh Book of Shoupsh, a project I began in January 2011 when Twitter fansh and friendsh commented on my habit of making shoup almosht every day, and appreshiated my reshipesh. I’d like to get that into shape and out there for anyone who lovesh a good shoup!