Prodrivel

There are a lot of memes going around Facebook at the moment, many of them reminding me of the ‘100 Things About Me’ post I once wrote for my previous blog. So instead of joining in with the never-ending requests to say which state of America I’ve travelled to, I thought I’d do an up-to-date and more relevant ‘100 Things’ post. It may not last 100 points, it may exceed. It may not be what anyone wants to know, it may not be anything I really want to remember. But one thing is guaranteed, it will be me.

1. I like watching sunsets.
2. I love watching sunrises.
3. I like laughing.
4. I like making people laugh.
5. I have no problem laughing at myself.
6. I have kissed under mistletoe, and in the rain.
7. I have loved and lost, but loved no longer than I believe is reasonably expected.
8. I once (or twice) skipped school.
9. I have jumped off a cliff (into water).
10. I have been lost before, and enjoyed every moment of it.
11. I have swam in the ocean more times than I care to remember, but it is still not enough.
12. I have cried myself to sleep.
13. I once genuinely thought I was going to die.
14. I have never sang karaoke, and have no intention of doing so.
15. I often do things I tell myself I would never do.
16. I have learned that the best experiences in life often result from the things I am most scared of.
17. I have played the Jump Over The Campfire game before.
18. I can sail and surf.
19. I cannot fall asleep easily.
20. I sleep on my left side, on the left side of the bed.
21. I often wake up on my right side, but still on the left side of the bed.
22. I sleep better in strange places, less so in familiar places.
23. I am right-handed.
24. I can play the trumpet.
25. I cannot whistle.
26. I like coffee.
27. I dislike tea.
28. I love to hear the sound of waves breaking.
29. I am just as happy on my own as I am in a group.
30. I hate speaking on the phone.
31. I am the youngest of my siblings.
32. I am the shortest among my siblings.
33. I enjoy listening to all kinds of music, although I often end up dissecting the piece in my mind.
34. I like watching horror movies late at night.
35. I enjoy hugs more than I let on.
36. I am quite good at volleyball.
37. I am quite poor at any other ball sport.
38. I am not a strong swimmer.
39. I love being in the sea.
40. I don’t like seafood.
41. I like tuna sandwiches.
42. I don’t like cheese.
43. I like cheesecake.
44. I don’t wear a watch or any other hand jewelery.
45. I am nearly always warm.
46. I enjoy travelling.
47. I usually prefer to be somewhere remote.
48. I don’t mind being in a city though.
49. I prefer to cook food on a barbecue or campfire.
50. I once pitched a patrol tent blindfolded (wooden mallet and pegs as well).
51. I have been to many countries, but always end up in Italy.
52. I like cars.
53. I love racing cars.
54. I have only ever been to hospital 4 times.
55. I always knew Monster Munch had been made smaller, despite everyone telling me I had just grown up.
56. I do not want to grow up.
57. I dislike religion as a concept.
58. I am respectful of those who are religious.
59. I have never been involved in a traffic accident.
60. I have loved more women than who have loved me.
61. I have been loved by more men than who I have loved.
62. I enjoy good architecture.
63. I have no regrets about leaving university.
64. I have no regrets about attending university.
65. I probably drink more than health experts recommend.
66. I definitely smoke more than health experts recommend.
67. I have four scars on my body; two from accidents, two from surgery.
68. I am scared of heights.
69. I often challenge my fear of heights, but I am not yet cured.
70. I once climbed up a rock face, but refused to abseil back down.
71. I am nearly always writing.
72. I do not believe I am a good writer.
73. I do not like electric shavers.
74. I only take medication when I absolutely have to.
75. I loved my father when I was young.
76. I hated my father when I was a teenager.
77. I realised I had always loved my father when I grew up.
78. I would like to live somewhere else in the world.
79. I enjoy learning.
80. I have had a bald patch on my lower right leg ever since I first grew leg hair.
81. I am an introvert.
82. I have only ever kissed two people on the cheek.
83. I dislike gin.
84. I know how to use and maintain an axe properly.
85. I have no allergies aside from mild hayfever.
86. I am ticklish.
87. I have more friends than I realise.
88. I rarely eat dessert.
89. I rarely eat breakfast.
90. I would do it all differently if I ever had the chance.
91. I should be wearing my glasses right now.
92. I listen more than I talk.
93. I prefer dark chocolate to milk chocolate.
94. I don’t like biting into apples.
95. I do not understand the rules of cricket, nor do I have any desire to.
96. I can still touch my toes without bending my legs.
97. I am a fast walker.
98. I am a slow reader.
99. I prefer headphones to speakers.
100. I do not believe in luck.

Update: 22nd June, 2009.

101. I have spent 3 hours in Monaco hospital getting stitches.
102. I have now been to hospital 5 times.
103. I now have five scars; three from accidents, two from surgery.
104. I prefer my steak to be cooked medium-rare, or how the chef recommends.
105. I prefer Apple OS to Microsoft Windows.
106. I nearly always have a bottle of water about my person/in my car.
107. I have driven a; Ferrari 360 and 430, Aston Martin DB9 and V8 Vantage, Lamborghini Gallardo, Porsche something turbo, Porsche Boxster, Mercedes something AMG.
108. I scared my boss in the DB9 and the 430.
109. I overcooked the brakes in the 430 and scared myself.
110. I have also driven a; Vauxhall Corsa, Peugeot 307, Honda Accord, Honda Jazz, Ford Transit, Citreon C4, Volvo V70, Audi A4, Audi A5, Mercedes A-Class.
111. I would like to own a Ferrari 599. Or an Aston Martin V8 Vantage.
112. I have also driven some single seater racing cars.
113. I rarely talk about my experience of driving single seater racing cars.
114. I held another driver’s license before I passed my DVLA (highway) driver’s license.
115. I rarely talk about my experiences of surfing in the present tense.
116. I prefer listening to a live recording of a band than a studio recording.
117. I prefer listening to a band live than a live recording.
118. I consider Eddie Izzard to be the finest stand-up comedian I have ever heard.
119. I enjoy going to comedy gigs at the Nuffield Theatre and/or the adjacent Comedy Bar.
120. I consider Eddie Izzard’s Stripped show as being the best comedy show I have been to.
121. I consider Ricky Gervais’s Fame show as being the second best comedy show I have been to.
122. I consider seeing to the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Hyde Park as the best gig I have ever been to.
123. I consider seeing the Foo Fighters at Hyde Park the second best gig I have been to.
124. I think seeing Muse at the Birmingham NEC and Wembley and the Foo Fighters at Wembley are somewhere in the mix.
125. I now consider myself a regular attendee of the Goodwood Festival Of Speed.
126. I would never go to the Goodwood Revival because that involves dressing up.
127. I have overcome my fear of speaking to a live audience on the Internet.
128. I consider Fight Club as the greatest movie I have seen.
129. I think Leon runs a close second.
130. I think Heat, Ronin, Hard Candy, The Talented Mr Ripley, Into The Wild, Juno, Identity and American Beauty are somewhere in the mix.
131. I prefer well-written, mostly individual dramas to averagely-written, plot driven dramas.
132. I therefore prefer shows like House and The West Wing to shows like Lost and what The X-Files became.
133. I have seen every (UK released) episode of Family Guy, American Dad, Blackadder, Fawlty Towers, Red Dwarf, The Big Bang Theory, The Inbetweeners and South Park.
134. I have spent ten minutes at JFK Passport Control trying to make someone understand Conne-c-ticut.
135. I prefer candle light to any other type of lighting.
136. I am really slow at responding to Emails, Tweets, Dents, Statuses…
137. I prefer a bare wooden floor to carpet.
138. I prefer terracotta tiles to a bare wooden floor.
139. I have a dream that one day, I will build and use a pizza oven in my back garden.
140. I prefer red wine to white wine.
141. I generally prefer Chianti to any other type of red wine.
142. I don’t mind a nice crisp Italian Pinot Grigio for a white though.
143. I spent the first 18 years of my life sharing a bedroom with one of my siblings.
144. I was the first (and youngest) of my siblings to move out of the family home.
145. I am more fluent at speaking French when I am drunk than when I am sober. Apparently.
146. I believe I am older than what I actually am.
147. I have a habit of chewing the side of my tongue.
148. I am not afraid to take something apart to figure out how it works.
149. I rarely read the instruction manual.
150. I have no desire to get married.

Update: 22nd January, 2010.

151. I have now kissed three people on the cheek.
152. I am usually at my happiest in the morning, somewhere between waking and opening my eyes.