The Century

I've tried my hand before at those "100 things about me" blog posts.  I've never been really satisfied with the end result, and I think I've deleted them from my archives.

I started another one in the middle of July and promised myself that I'd keep it in draft form until I managed to think up enough items I thought were interesting.  Now that I've done that, I have also decided that I'm SO interesting I can afford to break it up into four different posts over an entire week.

25 things about me, served up fresh and steaming hot, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.  I'm sticking to the photo thing on Wednesday.

Enjoy!  (I think.  Remember, I'm being honest.)

1. I was named after a "really nice guy" that my mom knew in high school.

2. I have a scar on the back of my right hand that looks amazingly like the continental United States.

3. The only thing that kept me going to Catholic church for as long as I did was the promise of a chocolate-dipped Dairy Queen ice cream cone after mass on Sunday afternoons.  To this day I associate Dairy Queen with church.

4. I have never broken a single bone in my body, even though my arm was once run over by a van.

5. I developed a horrible stutter in grade school that still surfaces at times of intense frustration, fatigue, or anxiety.

6. Unless I consciously check myself, I generally think that I'm smarter and better than most other people I meet.

7. I have four tattoos: the Rebel and Imperial Star Wars symbols on my left and right shoulders, a maple leaf over my heart, and a red poppy between my shoulder blades with Lest We Forget beneath.

8. My favourite party trick is to pop the cap off non-twist beer bottles with my stainless steel engineering pinkie ring.  (It's my only party trick.)

9. I have no qualms about peeing in the shower.

10. I have run two half-marathons and a 38 km leg of the Canadian Death Race.  I intend to run a marathon some day.

11. A really good (bad) limerick is just about my favourite form of poetry.

12. My uncle taught me to juggle before I hit my teens and I have enjoyed playing with my balls ever since.

13. As an international traveller I have been to China, Costa Rica, The Dominican Republic, and various points in the USA.  Soon, Cuba.  (I once spent 15 minutes sprinting through the airport in Tokyo, Japan to catch a connection to Hong Kong, but I don't think that really counts.)

14. I think of myself as a considerate and generous lover, though I'm not widely experienced.

15. I consider lightsabres to be the coolest things that never existed.

16. One of my biggest pet peeves is otherwise unencumbered individuals who refuse to walk up or down escalators.  To me, it's symbolic of society's insatiable demand for convenience, and the tendency of most to use a convenience as a crutch rather than an aid to go farther or faster than previously possible.  Sometimes I think too much.

17. As a kid on the playground, I used to like burying ants under increasingly larger piles of sand to see how big I had to make it before they could no longer dig their way out.  Ants are amazingly tenacious creatures.

18. I have a Lefty! wall clock in the kitchen at home that is marked and ticks backwards, and it drives most people crazy when they try to read it.  Me, I have no problem.

19. I like my bananas with no brown spots and the faintest hint of green at the tip of the peel, so the flesh is still firm and very slightly ripe.

20. Han shot first. (That's not about me, but it's a truth that needs to be broadcast.)

21.  I consider popcorn to be little more than a vehicle that transports butter and flavoured salt into me.  Dill pickle is my favourite.

22.  I think I was around 10 years old when I finally understood why spinning around in the other direction would not make me un-dizzy.

23.  I have always thought that being a dad was something I wanted and would work at harder than anything else I've ever done.  Now, I'm sure.

24.  It took being a dad to drive home the importance of putting the same effort into being a husband.

25.  My single biggest fear in life is failing horribly in either one of those roles.  To me, it dooms the other.  (I expect small failures all along the journey.  But a monstrous f**k-up scares the piss out of me.)

Comments

[Moksha Gren]

So far, no major surprises for those of us who have followed along for a while. But still very interesting stuff. I'm looking forward to the rest.

#4 - never had a face off with a van, but otherwise, I can claim this one too. I was more of a head injury kid.

#6 - not proud of it, but probably true here as well. It's been helpful to have a wife who will call me on it and put me in my place, though.

#8 - no ring...but I can do the same with a lighter. The sudden rarity of lighters is the one sad thing about the slow fading of smokers.

#9 - Who does? I mean, really. My Dad was occasionally known to say that someone was "so dumb he'd get out of the shower to pee."

#12 - I learned to play with my balls on stage at a Renaissance fair in Kansas City and still enjoy it from time to time.

#14 - the second half of that statement is so open to interpretation. But generally, I'd agree.

#15 - It's up there on the list...but I'm still holding out for my teleporter.

#16 - I too tend to overthink things...but had yet to apply this habit to the escalator. Such an eloquent thought for such a silly peeve.

#17 - This seems related in spirit to #16 in some way.

#20 - Amen

#23-25 - Well put. It certainly seems your years of preparation is paying off with excellent Dad-ness (from what I can see from my vantage). If you weren't nervous about it...I'd say you weren't taking it seriously enough.

[Mark]

Fun list, Simon. Anxious to see the rest.

23- 25 - I definitely couldn't have said better myself (if we're using cliches here, and yes, screw the accent mark on that -- I'm on break from training right now)

19 - But, you realize, of course, that you're cheating yourself out of the sweetest flavor a banana can offer. But, to each his own (cliches just won't stay away today)

4 - I'm right there with you guys, except I guess that hairline crack in my ankle. The doctor never called it a "break," and I just had to wear a space boot for about 6-8 weeks (no, it was not cool at all).

[Marc]

I've wanted to do a 101 list myself since I started blogging, but haven't had the stamina. I always run out of ideas (or steam) before I complete it. It takes work to make it good. Well done.

I did the same thing with ants, by the way.

And good point about the popcorn. From now on I think I will just forgo the popcorn and just add salt to melted butter and drink it straight. That way I avoid the inevitable week-long struggle with the popcorn shavings stuck between my teeth and gums.