I'm not expecting to grow flowers in a desert but I can live and breathe and see the sun in wintertime (Big Country)

Outer layer: Likes and dislikes (blame my relentless positivity).

Over the years my love of Star Wars, Arsenal, and The Beatles has been a constant feature and a neat shorthand for getting to know Wozza, the teacher.

It's easy to spot - I have a huge number of posters, T shirts and ties promoting each of the big three.  

In reality my love of music is way deeper than one band (albeit the best band ever). And I appreciate a wide range of movies, TV shows and art. Yes, I am a follower of Arsenal FC but football for me also means Brazil, the dutch team from the 70's, my own playing career, Rochdale, the culture of British football and so on. 

I also support the NZ All Blacks, the Golden State Warriors/the Giants of SF and the Steelers of Pitsburgh. I love many types of literature and...I could go on...it gets complicated and people don't wait around for complicated generally. Attention spans and all that.

So you see - I've used the trio of loves to add distinctiveness to my brand and it's been very successful.

For this, my first post on that onion layer (see previous post) I'll return to my journal from 2005 to provide some specificity.

The 'I love...' list at the back of my 2005 journal summarises things I'd written about during the year:

• The weather
• The Houses
• 28 Victoria Road, Leigh-on-sea
• Scottish borders
• The trains
• The underground
• People (staff) at school - King John
• The Guardian newspaper
• The Times
• Weather forecasts
• Snow
• Walking - Southend/Hadleigh Castle/ Hockley Woods
• Leigh-on-sea shops at night
• London sun
• Fopp

All smiles!

Picking one at random - here's an excerpt from 2 January about the Scottish borders:

The border area remains a real favourite of mine. We stopped at the English/Scottish border - huge winter winds/ a rain shower and gathering gloom from impending night and the mists made this a real highlight!

I can't help it. I much prefer autumn and winter to the heat of summer. Gloomy days and early darkness have a lot of appeal. Particularly when allied to the warmth of English houses and pubs.

What does all this say about me? And how does it add to my brand?

Much like everyone, I'm multi-faceted and full of contradictions. But I know what I like.

Next up: middle layers - political views, social attitudes and so on.

Love and peace - Wozza