Who would you most like to meet?

I would like to meet Queen Elizabeth I and Cleopatra. There is so much mystery, contradiction and misinformation about both in our history books. There are so many questions that I'd like to ask Liz and I really would like to see for myself if Cleo was beautiful or a hook-nosed, stumpy, smelly little lady.

I'd love to have met Wat Tyler, just before he had the meeting with King whomever. who told him to stop the peasant's revolution. I'd have told Wat not to trust the slimy little monarch !!

In theory I would say John Lennon (fascinating, complicated, darker than I think people realise) John Aspinall (a supreme risk taker, passionate animal lover and probably the only person to know where Lord Lucan is), John Diamond (witty, interesting) and my dynamic, enterpreneurial, rascally and fascinating friend, also called John, who was born on exactly the same day as me but died in a motorbike accident a couple of years ago. The only problem is: 1. Why are they all called John? 2. Why are they all dead? 3. Actually I think that meeting them would be largely disillusioning. Perhaps the fantasy is better. In truth, I really would like meet John Donne the metaphysical poet. However, I am beginning to worry about a pattern developing here.......

*sulking next to the Book Depository*

Serious, you cannot be.

I tavel with a gun in every hand. And one in my pocket for Wolfie Wimmin.

I'm shaking in my fur, Mr Wesley sir. By the way, you say every hand. Are you man or octopi?

and what pray does 'tavel' mean? do you have a problem with your arse?

I do believe you ees drunk Mr John. An' I thought you was a good methodist and al. Well, well...I do declare.

d'eclair's are best with fresh cream. not whipped.

Whippets are the cream of curs.

I'm cream crackered after whipping those Turks.

Do you not mean 'Coeur' monsieur? Rearguards, Chemin de fer

I know where John Aspinall is!

I would most like to meet the perfect man (maybe his name is John). But alas, I don't think he exists!! :-( If I can't meet him then I would love to meet ed the duck - a great showbiz career cut short. Whatever happened to that rather large faced, jumper wearing duck? Was he just a figment of my imagination? On the theme of ducks I also love Count duckula. Anyway I am away for some help with this fixation with ducks Sarah.

Ther is no such thing as a perfect man Sarah, sorry to disappoint you. There's no such thing as a perfect woman either, all any of us can hope for is to meet someone who matches most of our needs and hope they don't notice our own shortcomings. The unfortunate thing about modern society is that men and women have become idealised by television, cinema and magazines and we now all expect too much. I long ago realised that with a little imagination we can all be the person we want to be and our partners can be who we want them to be. My personal tragedy is I appear to be the only person I know who thinks along these lines!

No actually, you have a very valid point. The media gives us a constant barrage of Persil white toothed, designer clothed people who never seem to have any nasty bodily functions or moody spells. When we are confronted by reality, they fail to match up to this ridiculously idealised 'portrait'. If you believe that you are immune, trust me that it is a subliminal effect. So Mississippi (4 of the letter s and 2 ps is it?), spot on. I have met my 'perfect' man but he is not the spikey-haired, moody style icon that I thought I wanted. I went through a few of those and trust me, I was on the wrong track completely. I think now that I'd like to meet my child sixteen years from now, just to check that she doesn't turn out to be the complete monster that seems to be taking over, aged 4.

Alas you are right the perfect man/woman does not exist - mind you I don't think if he did that he would have spikey hair!! :-) Must apologise, however for my duck fixation last night, I am unsure where that came from. But I am seeking help to find out!! Good luck on finding your perfect person, Sarah.

Well love a duck Sarah, and you certainly seem to! I actually find it very comforting to know that perfect people don't exist. It means that I, along with everybody else, am relatively acceptable. The perfect person would almost certainly reject me out of hand as being inferior, what with all my imperfections. (As it happens the not so perfect ones do too!)

How would you define the perfect person? I met this girl and she makes me so happy. So to me- she is perfect, for the time being at least. She has taken on board all my (hundreds of) imperfections already and says that is what she likes about me. She must be a freak. Well, she is my freak.

Don't put yourself down. Freak or not, it's amazing the positive qualities that a good relationship can put into your writing (not to mention your life) enjoy and don't question too much. Your writing already looks sunnier. Someone has drawn the curtains; let that light in boy!

You're not paying attention are you? I thought I had stated I do not believe perfect people exist so it follows that my definition of a perfect person is one that doesn't exist surely. I suppose you could draw the inference that I believe a perfect person is dead! By the way, if you count your own imperfections in their hundreds perhaps you are the girlfriends freak.

Who cares about the perfect person....if they don't exist why bother fantasising about them. Our faults and imperfections are what make us interesting, our foibles, physical appearance,etc. If we were all perfect we wouldn't be able to tell each-other apart, it would be like waling around a massive car park looking for your car which is identical to all the others....no point.

Slight spelling mistake....I meant walking around the car park.....apologies.....I'm not perfect after all !!

And obviously not dead either. Personally I have never fantasised about anyone, now being able to play guitar like Buddy Guy, or sing like Presley, that would be worthy of a fantasy for me. Alas, I play like Venus De Milo and sing like Lee Marvin!

Wolfie, yes it is weird how someone can just change your outlook and writing. The curtains are open for the time being. Mersey my dear boy. I am sorry if I didn't get what you meant. I am trying to catch up on things. Me and girlie are both freaks so a match made in devon. I concur with the right honourable Martin T. We all think that a certain person is the definition of perfection. In the end, if everything fits, even someone that isn't a stunner can be perfect to you. Gawd I am exhausted

When I said the perfect person I didn't think it would cause so much debate!! I suppose in a way I meant the perfect person for me, which I have been unable to find as of yet. But seeing as how I am only 18 I am not going to fret about it just yet! Personally I would love to meet people like Neville Chamberlain, Ghandi, Martin Luther King and on a more shallow level Graham Norton - just because he is a laugh!! I agree, however that our imperfections added with our strengths make us the wonderful and unique people that we are. Sarah.

I'm grateful for your comments spag and I'm delighted that happiness has trotted up your garden path.......to love....warts and all !! (you don't have warts do you ?......no offence intended!!)

No warts. Thanks Martin. Not sure how long it will last though. Pretty soon she'll realise the huge mistake she made. After all she has to compete for attention with my spaghetti :)

Warts or not she'll soon realise you're pasta it!

Two rather cynical views of love (neither of which I happen to agree with), but they are interesting. Freud says that love is just a projection - when you meet someone new, you project all the qualities you would like them to have onto them. Hence why someone can tell you their new boyfriend is charming and witty and you just can't see it - and ultimately why love doesn't tend to last, because exposure to reality destroys the projection. (Like watching the 'making of' a great special effects movie just after the movie) Jung says that there is an element of projection, but that we become ready to become something we aren't yet, and are attracted to someone with those qualities - so if we aren't confident, but would like to be, we will find a confident person attractive. The advantage to Jung's theory is that if both parties give each other the chance to grow and change, love can keep going. Perfection is a media myth - however, you can find someone that makes you very happy and who you make happy. The problem with perfection is that you turn down plenty of people who aren't Jude Law / Kate Moss lookalikes who would personality-wise have been pretty suitable. See - I always said Mississippi was intelligent and had something to say. In answer to the question - given that I become ridiculously shy when meeting new people, I think I would prefer not to meet my heroes, as I would end up not really saying anything and cursing myself forever.

There's no doubt that I would have loved to meet my hero, Frank Zappa. Yet I was once given the chance to interview him and I turned it down! I was told that I had to take the piss, give him a hard time and generally annoy him. No way would I do it and the journalist who did go got thrown out with short shrift. So, I never got to meet him. However, in response to woflgirl, I did know John Diamond and met him on many an occasion as we trogged around the drinking dens of London. A fine and witty fellow, generous, sharp and caustic in his cups. I miss him as do hundreds of others who made his acquaintance. It's not often that you meet such a genuine and original human being who is willing to share his genius with one and all. As for John Aspinall - great on animals, crap on humans. The man's politics stank. Are you serious? pip pip, Tony

Yes, I know that Aspinall was a very flawed human being but there was a certain 'verve' to the man that I reluctantly admired. I think you can admire certain aspects of a person but be fully aware that they are very imperfect. I absolutely adored John Lennon but I am full aware that he could be a complete bastard. With that in mind, meeting either of those two Johns might have been a great disillusionment. For one, Aspinall loathed women. Lennon, for all his generous lyricism to the 'other half of the sky' was capable of great emotional cruelty. I have met John Hurt (autograph, Covent Garden). Yes, Andrew, I'm ashamed to say that I did not say anything fine and interesting. I dribbled and giggled. I did watch 'lump in my throat, last night and realised that life is a complete bugger at times; John Diamond had plenty more to say but he was robbed of his voice. Yes, I would have very much like to have met him. I still think a dinner table conversation with all the Johns I mentioned would be an amazing one, albeit somewhat confusing.

This is all getting a bit too deep for me. I think that Freud guy and his mate need to see a psychiatrist, they've obviously got personality problems. The discussion seems to be polarised with roughly half the contributors wanting to meet famous people and the other half wanting to meet the ideal partner. Though what with Sarah hoping for a duck and the pasta masta courting a goddamned freak I suppose the idea of me meeting my great, great grandson or the mother of my fiftieth child doesn't sound so unreasonable after all. On a more serious note I would have liked to have met Martin Luther King so I could ask him where he got the guts to fight for his beliefs knowing it was probably going to be the death of him. I would have liked to have met Elvis Presley in 1954 in Memphis and heard that voice for real, then have met him in 1977 and told him what a tosser he was to sqander his talent and die so young. A true tale this, as an old rock'n'roller I have spent years going to comeback concerts to see the singers from my youth that I never got to see at the time. A song I had always liked was 'Moody River' sung by Pat Boone but I could never make out the words to the second line of the chorus, they have evaded me for close on 40 years. Several years ago I was in the front row at a Pat Boone concert when he came along the front row at the end of the evening and shook hands with everyone and said a few words, when he got to me I should have asked him what the damn words were but all I could manage was a timid 'Nice to meet you'. And I still don't know what the words are!

Hi, My Dad, I miss him so much. AJ :>(

Can I just point out Mississippi that I am not just hoping for any old duck but a celebrity one! Thank you, Sarah.

Talking of ducks, I would like to meet my pet duck that I had when I was a child. It imprinted upon and followed me everywhere whilst listening to my every word, however incomprehensible. A true friend. A fine duck. Not a celeb Ickle but famous in my eyes.

Although I am not interested in common ducks, I always love to hear a duck story of any kind. Very heart warming - thanks wolfgirl! :-) By the way are ducks not scared of wolves? Sarah.

Common? Common? I like my duck rare. Yes, a duck would prove a quick bite for a wolf. Still, I'm a most contrary wolf at times.

Sorry to have offended - I should not have called your duck common. I am sure it was a very classy bird! Sarah.

err id meet myself a week ago and tell me the lottery numbers :)

Sarah, it never occurred to me that you might be interested in anything other than a famous duck! I offer the choice of Donald 'Duck' Dunn, a famous drummer who I last saw playing with Eric Clapton at the Royal Albert Hall or the 'Peabody Ducks' who live in the 'Duck Palace' on the roof of the Peabody hotel in Memphis and spend each day in the fountain in the hotel lobby. Every day at 11am. a uniformed 'duckherd' goes to the palace and brings them down 10 floors in the lift and across the lobby on a red carpet and at 5pm. takes them back. It has become a big tourist attraction in Memphis. (More information on the 'Peabody Hotel' website). I've seen this spectacle several times on visits to Memphis and I'm sure they wouldn't mind sharing their palace with a 'princess'.

*packing her bags for Memphis* quack quack!

Of course there are perfect people in the world. All the imperfect men are called John or something smilar. The perfect ones are ALL called Fecky!! Sarah, I too like ducks, especially Orville's sister, Linda, in Coronation Street.