25 Random Things
This is a facebook meme; one of the few that I took the time to actually do. I thought I would include it on the site because it actually says something about me (not like those “which Bold and the Beautiful character are you?” memes)
Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose at least 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.
2. I am very shy and am terrified of meeting new people.
3. I can pick locks; I used to be very good at it.
5. I am adopted.
7. I get crushes on people all the time; I’ve probably had a crush on you.
11. I was utterly useless at mathematics (seriously, if a sum came to more than 10, I was in trouble) until grade 5. Now I am a bit less useless at it.
13. I didn’t understand that the object of a running race was to win the race by crossing the finish line first until grade 6, at which point the “maths nerd” (recently crowned) was suddenly the fastest runner in the school.
17. My favourite food is truffles and I resent being labelled a rich, arrogant snob because of it (there are many other, far better reasons).
19. I have a long history of enjoying things that I’m not very good at, like playing the piano, making friends, and speed skating. This trend will likely continue into the future.
23. I won numerous medals for many years in both speed and artistic on rental skates from the local rink before my parents finally relented and bought me my own skates.
29. I love to dance; I used to do ballet and do not believe that this, in any way, calls into question my sexuality.
31. I was nearly kicked out of Melbourne University three times for failing subjects; even at Columbia, my academic record still contains a subject with a “CP” (credit pending) next to it.
37. The two biggest extra-curricular influences on my life are speed skating and amnesty international, yet I have never dated a skater or a person who I knew through amnesty (as of writing this).
41. I once organized a comedy night that featured 20-odd stand up comedians, and played to an audience of over a thousand people, raising tens of thousands of dollars for amnesty international… while I was a 21-year-old volunteer university student. (I also did it three years in a row, but I don’t like to brag).
43. I’ve been extremely close to death 3 times in recent memory, from a car crash (2003), almost drowning (2005), and a high-altitude snowstorm (2007).
47. I’m a bit of a freak at archery; like potential-olympic-freak, but for other reasons (like training for the olympics in speed skating) I never have enough time to train properly.
53. I cried my eyes out on June 4th 1989. I may have only been 7 at the time, but I still haven’t fully recovered.
59. The number of all-nighters I’ve experienced for *cough* recreational purposes *cough* is sadly, grossly (but not infinitely so, thankyouverymuch) outnumbered by the number of all-nighters I’ve experienced for academic purposes.
61. I can move my ears in two, linearly independent directions. I can also move the left one independently of the right one.
67. My first camera was a 35mm film(!), manual rangefinder which I took apart but was not able to put back together. This was mostly because my mother is obsessive about tidying up, and kept rearranging my room such that I was unable to find all the pieces of the camera. The fact that I was 5 years old at the time may have also been a contributing factor.
71. When I was 13 years old, I got a group of friends together to enter a roller hockey tournament… which we won, with almost no training, playing against established teams with uniforms, coaches, and occasionally, support staff. Moreover, the final was won in a penalty shootout, where I scored the game-winning (and only) goal.
73. I have really really really awesome friends who are collectively entirely responsible for me not being a penniless, homeless, welfare-bludging, sidewalk-sleeping, alcoholic dropkick who would have almost certainly put himself out of his misery with a rusty spoon by now. (if you got tagged, I’m referring to you).
79. I really wish they hadn’t given the Nobel Peace Prize to Henry Kissinger, because it makes me unsure of whether or not I ever want one and, if I were to be awarded it, whether I would accept.
83. I used to think “freedom” was a country, and one with a really awesome army because the “Good Guys” in TV shows and movies always seemed to be fighting for it. I will not disclose the age at which I realized that this was not the case.
89. I never believed the scenario from William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” would turn out the way it did… that is, until I went to boarding school.
97. For me, being on stage is both the most exhilarating and most terrifying thing in the world… but hey, all the world’s a stage.
101. I suffer from a lack of credibility
103. I like prime numbers
107. I am The Batman
Many apologies if you got tagged and didn’t want to be. It would have been prohibitively time-consuming for me to ask permission from each and every one of you.
