Sep 13, 2010

A Day in the Life of Richard


I read the news today, oh boy.
About a lucky man who made the grade...

If you haven't already, go HERE
and read the Sunday Times article called
"A Day in the Life," featuring Richard.
It's not too long, doesn't have any "Spooks" spoilers,
and takes you through Richard's  normal daily activities.
I really enjoyed this article since it isn't the same old mumbo-jumbo.

In a nutshell, Richard seems to live a normal life...
so why are his ordinary, boring activities so intriguing?
Because it's Richard doing them?

Let's discuss a few points.

*First of all, poor Richard has to get up at 5 am!?
(When he's filming "Spooks.") Ugh!  I'm not a morning person.

Woke up, fell out of bed,
dragged a comb across my head.
found my way downstairs and drank a cup
and looking up, I noticed I was late.

*Richard eats porridge for breakfast.
(You know food would catch my attention.)
Is that the same thing as oatmeal?  That's what I often eat for breakfast!
It's like we're breakfast buddies!

*Richard makes his scrambled eggs in the microwave.
My first thought was "Ew!"  My grandma used to make them that way
and they just didn't taste right.  In a pan, on the stove, over medium heat is my
preferred method... although I'm not here to judge.  You go ahead
and microwave those eggs if you want, Richard.  Just stay away
from the turkey bacon or else I'll have to start calling
you Nancy.  (My grandma's name.)

*Richard has a garden.
I wonder if it's a flower garden or vegetable garden?
Perhaps he strolls out there and does this, ever so seriously:

*Richard has an ipod.
I'd love to know what tunes he listens to.

*Richard eats healthy,
never anything processed.
It was how he was raised.  Good for you, Richard!

*His grandmother worked in a cotton mill.

*Favorite quote: "I'm a bit of a brooder."
Seriously?  That's so odd... I'd never ever associate Richard Armitage with brooding.

*Richard's house is a bit messy
(which he thinks of as organized chaos) 
since he's so busy and doesn't have a cleaner.
I wish that were my excuse.

*Richard gets fixed on a favorite dish
and likes to eat it over and over.
Again, a bonding moment for us.
Why do I like him more whenever I read his thoughts on food?
It's disturbing.

*Richard likes to take a bath before bed.
I love taking a bath at night.  We have so much in common, we should be BFF's!
(Okay, so really we share a few eating habits and both own ipods.  That's probably it.)
I am curious to know if Richard likes bubble baths with a toy submarine?
(Like Chandler on "Friends.")


Is there anything in this article
that particularly that stuck out to YOU?


Thanks to Richard Armitage Net for the goods.

EDIT:  Also, be sure to check out RA Frenzy's take on this article.
It wasn't until after writing this post that I realized she had already covered this topic with her thoughts,
a day before me, plus has quite a few comments on the subject.  (Oops... I guess that's what happens
when there are several of us who blog about the same guy! Not trying to steal anyone's thunder.)

*For those of you who aren't familiar with the Fab Four,
the green, italicized writing in this post are lyrics from the Beatles song "A Day in the Life,"
which is also the name of the Sunday Times article.


36 comments:

Anonymous said...

Clearly you have a connection. =) I thought it was interesting that he has such a bad temper. I know it should be obvious considering the roles he undertakes, but for some reason, I wouldn't have guessed.

Skully said...

ahaha, bubble buddies?

My gran's name is Nancy, too! She doesn't do eggs in the microwave.. but she does make coffee in the microwave. Why oh why I do not know. It's not like boiling a kettle is hard!

tyme_4_t said...

I totally identify with the organized chaos. That part made me smile as I imagined books & scripts strewn about his place. Oh look there's the new [spooks] jacket draped over the back of a chair along with his hoodie. And there in the kitchen is Jamie Oliver's cook book opened to a lovely vegetable pasta recipie that we - ahem - Richard is going to make with the vegetables from his garden. He picked them after he trimmed the ivy. Silly boy got his shirt dirty and had to take it off...

tyme_4_t said...

...I believe it's time for his bubble bath...

Anonymous said...

If you are wondering what sort of house Richard lives in, my guess as a south Londoner and knowing East Dulwich a little would be something like this
http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.aspx?edid=00&salerent=0&pid=7101136
Hope that fuels your imaginings!

Myrtle said...

" I don't have a cleaner"... that's probably another one to add to the list of things Richard shouldn't say, if he wants to avoid unwanted admirers ha ha.

Dusters at the ready girls!!!!

Don't you just love him.

Salmon, couscous and tomato, my fav too.....

Anonymous said...

The temper. He's mentioned having an unpredictable temper (in regard to road rage) before, but I did not realize it was outside the car as well.

Chairs have not gone through windows but a set of my car keys almost have. I have smashed a bar stool into kindling and cracked two knuckles hitting a wall.

So I can identify, only I think I am set off more easily then he is. He sounds more like the "slow burn to volcano" type. The "nice guy" many people keep pushing without realizing it until he explodes on them.

I also get on "food kicks", eating the same thing for days/weeks in a row until I am sick of it.

Avalon said...

Good article, thanks for sharing or I would not have seen it. I can agree with him on processed foods, do not indulge myself. The microwave thing...YUCK!

Twinkling Moon said...

2 things got my attention in this article. First, the eggs in the microwave definitely caught my eye. Echoing Avalon here on that one.."YUCK!" I'm with Nat on the "right way" to cook eggs :)

Second, that whole temper thing got to me too. I didn't know about RA's reference to road rage in earlier comments. But I totally believe he has a temper. I find that people that are nice generally and are easy to get along with pretty much all of the time tend to lose it big time when they do get ticked off. But I hope the chair in the window stuff was a bit of an exaggeration because violence generally scares me.

pi said...

I love that he's lived in the same house for 20 years. (This was new to me and says something about his personality). I find that attractive because I never have. I also find it fascinating because it's hard for me to imagine living in one place for such a long time.

RAFrenzy said...

@Nat,

You did not need to put in an edit, but I appreciate you doing that.

I feel many would miss your take on things. I certainly would, and this post is proof! Your view never fails to leave a smile on my face. :D

And yes, I got to this much sooner. LOL! I figured I better do it now as this afternoon is shaping up to be brutal.

Hope you're feeling better.

bZirk said...

@pi,

I had the same reaction. I've never lived anywhere longer than about 12 years. I'm not sure I want to, but I respect that he's still living in the same house pre/post success. Made me think of Warren Buffet. :D

@Nat,

I think "garden" means something like a patio with some foliage, but I could be wrong.

sunflowersue said...

I was ok until I got to the last pic. Especially love the hair..definitely a Depends moment! *wiping tears* (Isn't it nice we don't have to be serious all the time? Well, very seldom as far as your blog goes and I like that!!)

@Rob said...

Seems like he works really hard, not much time for fun in those work packed days. I hope he finds someone to share that morning porriage with. Do you ladies know of any women who'd be up for the job? :)

Fanny/iz4blue said...

The chair through the window temper definitely caught my attention! It's one thing to have a temper and do some shouting, but chair through the window??? I'm guessing he's making a joke there.

And yuck about the eggs too!!

Twinkling Moon said...

question about living in the same place for 20 years. I think I misread the statement. For some reason I thought he lived in the same part of town for the past 20 years, not that he lived in the same house.
If so, that's really impressive that he was able to buy a house at 19! At 19 I was still in college living off of good ol' mom and dad!

bZirk said...

I didn't assume he bought the house, but then maybe you're right -- it's the part of town he's referring to and not a particular house.

Anonymous said...

It would be the same part of London. The East Dulwich area has a large acting community so he probably shared with some mates when he first moved down and bought the house when he started getting decent TV work.

Phylly3 said...

Great post! And thank you to anonymous for the pictures of the house. It is wonderful to imagine him in a place like that!

Sue said...

I think the chair in the window was a bit of an exageration. The problem with people that are fairly easy going (I count myself among them) is that people tend to think you're daft and can be put upon, but usually find out that we AREN'T and have our limits as does everyone. The brooding bit is more when we try to suppress our indignation and anger at such treatment, which bubbles up until it explodes!

As for the scrambled eggs, wasn't there a poll somewhere mentioning whether Richard could do a good job of cooking eggs? Obviously he can (but microwaving is cheating, slapped wrists Richard). The other question was whether he'd experienced underwater sex, but given that he has a fear of deep water, probably not. (Mind you it's surprising what you can do in a bath with a snorkel and rubber duck!)Can't remember what the third possible answer was, got preoccupied with the undewater thing and started to day dream.

As for him climbing up a ladder to remove overgrown ivy. I hope he had someone footing his ladder for him while he did it. Just imagine one foot on the bottom rung of the ladder looking up at the view above! My! I could do that job all day!(Purely for health and safety reasons of course!)

MillyMe said...

@bzirk: Garden means a proper garden with grass. This type of house in East Dulwich would have one.

Eggs in the microwave - don't you think it's because he's in such a rush in the mornings that this might be the fastest way to make them? On the other hand, he is single. Perhaps the eggs are where he's willing to cheat and yet still eat healthily? Never having owned a microwave, I wouldn't know, but I applaud the fact that he still abides by his Mum's wisdom while leading such a busy life.

twinkling moon said...

@Sue, what? "underwater sex?" what interview was this? and what a personal question! My goodness!

pi said...

I stand corrected. He mentioned that he, indeed, had lived in SouthEast London for 20 years not in a house. It was confusing because after that he starts talking about the house he's in now, so it's easy to assume 20 years and the house go together. I just assumed he bought it after a while after sharing with mates as someone above mentioned. Still, baaaaad writer, very bad writer! Slap!

As for the eggs: yuck, rubber eggs. But I can still relate. It's one of those meals you just scarf down to sustain you, not some leisurely brunch while you chill and read the Sunday newspaper. There are more important things to be doing!

pi said...

@Anonymous

Thanks for the link! It gives a sense of place and proportion. Wow! Such tiny properties, relatively speaking. And each one has only a deep and inviting bath, not a shower. Oh the hardship! Houses there are not exactly ostentatious. And yet, I understand it's an actor hotbed. Mucho cachet?

MillyMe said...

We're talking London here, which is horrendously expensive. The north of the river was considered the better place to be until housing prices forced many of the middle-classes south. These places became gentrified. The refurbishment of Docklands and the relocation of many important banks and businesses to the Southeast and east of the city have led to many of these places becoming quite trendy to live in. East Dulwich is defintely the leafy suburbs and has some really lovely properties.

@Rob said...

Ladies those microwave eggs are quite the topic! Who knew eggs could spark sure controversy? I love the pic of him in this article. Would it be normal for a 38 yr old woman to blow it up and hang it on a wall? Hmmm... not sure how hubs would feel about that.

bZirk said...

@Rob,

You are 38? No way!

Jessica said...

Ha Nat- I always focus on the food things too. I swear the more I read about him the more I realize how much we are alike- hahaha! That's not just a crazy fan, delusional hopefulness either- the food, the way he thinks, treats work, temperament, the normality to his day. I'm a brooder too(maybe not so attractive in a woman). Ah, but I'm a wicked neat freak(maybe intolerably so), so I definitely can fill that cleaning void in his life. Too bad he said in the other article he would feel it too weird to date a fan(I think there was a collective sorrowful sigh heard around the world there!). Maybe I need to stop reading up on him, because the more I do, the more I fall ridiculously in love with him! *SIGH* It's unnatural! :)

Phylly3 said...

@Jessica--Your comment "the more I [read up on him] the more I fall ridiculously in love with him" is not unnatural at all. Unless we ARE ALL unnatural!! LOL Join the club, we are all in the same boat (or should I say harem /!

Jessica said...

Ha- phylly3 didn't mean to imply we are all unnatural(at least unnatural in a bad way). Actually, now that I think of it, nothing could be more natural than falling in love w/someone like him. Sometimes though I get a little too caught up in the "I think I may actually have a real chance with him" mindset, which is quite scary sometimes- hehehe. I'm definitely glad and not ashamed to be a member of this "club"! In excellent company!

@Rob said...

@ bZ - I am!!! Does that mean u thought I was older or younger? Nevermind that's a trick question, isn't?

@ Jess it is really easy to get caught up in Armitageland, so easy. You are in good company. To be honest, we are all a bit deluision, grown women mooing about an actor who likes to his microwave eggs!!! I mean come on!!! :) If you don't mind me giving you some advice...I would be on the look out for a guy in RL that is "like" RA or what you think RA is "like." In my mind crushes are harmless, in so much as they don't hinder your RL. Besides, knowing what you are looking for in a guy is half the battle. I hope you don't mind me throwing in my two cents here. :)

bZirk said...

@MillyMe,

Thank you!

@Rob,

Younger! I'm surprised you are 38!

Joan Crenshaw said...

Now, see, I focused on the part about falling back on an ex, which made me think that he'd better hope his ex's didn't see that. Fall back, am I? I was wondering about that Jamie Oliver recipe myself.

Jane O said...

Thanks, Nat, for bringing this to our attention! Perhaps I'm one of the few people now tempted to cook eggs in the microwave, just to see what happens, science-experiment style--I'd never even considered the possibility before. And the librarian-to-be in me wants to catalog and organize all of his scripts and such. I think it's how we display affection.
Jessica, I agree--the more I read, the better I think of him!

Phylly3 said...

@Jane--Well hello fellow librarian! I'd be more than willing to help with that cataloguing project you have in mind! ;) As for microwave eggs, I have made them many times and done properly can be quite delicious!

Anonymous said...

Hi, I'm a bit late to comment this, but I just recently saw N&S (and Spooks and Vicar of Dibley and read a lot of his interviews and saw a lot of youtube videos) and developed an Armitage adiction! And, believe it or not, I'm very happily married with a brooding gentleman that reminds me A LOT about RA! Nevertheless, the crush on RA continues! What a powerful charming man! I always go to London on business (and run there in parks, just like him). But I hope NEVER to meet him, god knows what would I do!!! MB (from Brazil!)