That 25 Random Things That Has Swept The Internet And Is Now On It's Way Back To Bayonet The Survivors
(Crossposted from my Facebook account):
This came with the following introduction:
You've probably heard about this as bloggers are using it to fill their blogs with bits of random junk. I'm not too proud to join the bandwagon! Enough introduction, here's 25 non-random things in order that I've arranged them following no particular principles except my own sense of aesthetics:
1. I overheat at the slightest hint of warmth, so always sleep with the window open and the radiator turned off unless it's actually freezing outside.
2. I often use the word "So" in conversation to introduce a new topic. I picked this up from Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf.
3. I used to find waiting very frustrating but now I use the time to go over what I'm doing next or what I've just done.
4. The first time I stood up in front of a bunch of kids and they called me sir was a weird experience. I quickly got used to it though.
5. I used to get annoyed about people misusing the word random, but I'm just about okay with the colloquial use now.
6. I don't think any of my habits are strange, but apparently everyone else in the world disagrees.
7. Over the years I've found many situations where the experimental method is inappropriate. I would still suggest it for cooking though.
8. In daytime winter is brilliant. It's the best season to go out in, at least when it's not completely pouring. The problem with winter is the 15+ hours of darkness, which depress me greatly.
9. I drink too much booze, but as it turns out I can actually stop that fairly easily. My drug of choice is coffee. Other caffeinated drinks substitute for it poorly.
10. I don't compromise well (or gracefully) and am happiest when I spend a fair amount of time alone. Unsurprisingly I'm single. This suits me fine.
11. When I first grew the beard I was surprised at how unanimous the praise was. It took nearly two years before I met someone who hated it and insisted I shaved it off. I didn't.
12. The beard has also changed my life more than I expected. On the other hand I thought it was only going to keep my face warmer in winter. It's made a small, indirect, but significant contribution to getting my new job.
13. I review bad sci-fi on the internet, or, more accurately, don't review bad sci-fi on the internet. Today I learned that Sci-Fi author and movie critic John Scalzi has also received this meme and used it as the basis for this weeks column. So he's filled one of these out and has got paid for it. The smug git.
14. I love coriander. It's possible for me to have too much but I think you'd be surprised by how much that is.
15. I also love garlic, but it's much easier to convince me that I've had too much than coriander.
16. I haven't spoken to someone for 12 years because I can't forgive her. I used to think that I couldn't forgive her because I still love her, but to be honest, it's probably because I'm just not a forgiving person.
17. On the other hand, although I take note of things in the category I call "petty accounting" - whose round it is, lifts, invitations, who pays what and when at restaurants and going out - I don't worry about it. If you're tightfisted, then it's noted, but I love you anyway. if you're generous then it's appreciated, but I'm not going to make a fuss about it.
18. At primary school they used to tell us "Only boring people get bored". I realise now that they were just trying to stop kids from complaining they were bored. Still, it's stuck with me, and even though I've managed my boredom effectively for years, I still think of things to write and then decide "No one wants to read about me. It's boring. I'm a boring person." I know in my head this isn't true, but I still believe it, blood and bone, marrow-deep.
19. When the Hayfever season starts, the first few days on anti-allergy stuff makes me feel spaced out with the present disconnected from the past and future. I always feel like what I'm saying doesn't connect with the people around. No one else notices.
20. I was electrocuted twice at university. Since then I've stopped trusting other people's electrical work, as well as always checking when people say it's off.
21. Sometimes I think I've lived my life according to Q's final words to Bond - "I've always tried to teach you two things: never let them see you bleed; and always have an escape plan"
22. If this was actual random things, some of them would be false and many of them much more interesting. I'm not doing that because Patrick Nielsen Hayden did his version first and better.
23. Unsurprisingly I hit my head on things a lot, but I also injure other parts of my body frequently, especially the extremities. I guess I have trouble knowing where the ends of my hands and feet are unless I concentrate; I do have very long arms and legs. I used to scratch and break the glass on watch faces all the time, but now I have one that has a metal rim around the face. The metal rim is scuffed and scraped.
24. I've never broken any bones.
25. I've sat here with 25 things for ages, hoping for something more interesting to say. There were a couple, but I'm not putting them in this thing. Eventually I dumped the least interesting thing (it was the joke about the man with 5 willies) and replaced it with this summing up item. I'm pretty happy with this now, but will have second thoughts as soon as I hit publish. I always do.
This came with the following introduction:
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 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.
You've probably heard about this as bloggers are using it to fill their blogs with bits of random junk. I'm not too proud to join the bandwagon! Enough introduction, here's 25 non-random things in order that I've arranged them following no particular principles except my own sense of aesthetics:
1. I overheat at the slightest hint of warmth, so always sleep with the window open and the radiator turned off unless it's actually freezing outside.
2. I often use the word "So" in conversation to introduce a new topic. I picked this up from Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf.
3. I used to find waiting very frustrating but now I use the time to go over what I'm doing next or what I've just done.
4. The first time I stood up in front of a bunch of kids and they called me sir was a weird experience. I quickly got used to it though.
5. I used to get annoyed about people misusing the word random, but I'm just about okay with the colloquial use now.
6. I don't think any of my habits are strange, but apparently everyone else in the world disagrees.
7. Over the years I've found many situations where the experimental method is inappropriate. I would still suggest it for cooking though.
8. In daytime winter is brilliant. It's the best season to go out in, at least when it's not completely pouring. The problem with winter is the 15+ hours of darkness, which depress me greatly.
9. I drink too much booze, but as it turns out I can actually stop that fairly easily. My drug of choice is coffee. Other caffeinated drinks substitute for it poorly.
10. I don't compromise well (or gracefully) and am happiest when I spend a fair amount of time alone. Unsurprisingly I'm single. This suits me fine.
11. When I first grew the beard I was surprised at how unanimous the praise was. It took nearly two years before I met someone who hated it and insisted I shaved it off. I didn't.
12. The beard has also changed my life more than I expected. On the other hand I thought it was only going to keep my face warmer in winter. It's made a small, indirect, but significant contribution to getting my new job.
13. I review bad sci-fi on the internet, or, more accurately, don't review bad sci-fi on the internet. Today I learned that Sci-Fi author and movie critic John Scalzi has also received this meme and used it as the basis for this weeks column. So he's filled one of these out and has got paid for it. The smug git.
14. I love coriander. It's possible for me to have too much but I think you'd be surprised by how much that is.
15. I also love garlic, but it's much easier to convince me that I've had too much than coriander.
16. I haven't spoken to someone for 12 years because I can't forgive her. I used to think that I couldn't forgive her because I still love her, but to be honest, it's probably because I'm just not a forgiving person.
17. On the other hand, although I take note of things in the category I call "petty accounting" - whose round it is, lifts, invitations, who pays what and when at restaurants and going out - I don't worry about it. If you're tightfisted, then it's noted, but I love you anyway. if you're generous then it's appreciated, but I'm not going to make a fuss about it.
18. At primary school they used to tell us "Only boring people get bored". I realise now that they were just trying to stop kids from complaining they were bored. Still, it's stuck with me, and even though I've managed my boredom effectively for years, I still think of things to write and then decide "No one wants to read about me. It's boring. I'm a boring person." I know in my head this isn't true, but I still believe it, blood and bone, marrow-deep.
19. When the Hayfever season starts, the first few days on anti-allergy stuff makes me feel spaced out with the present disconnected from the past and future. I always feel like what I'm saying doesn't connect with the people around. No one else notices.
20. I was electrocuted twice at university. Since then I've stopped trusting other people's electrical work, as well as always checking when people say it's off.
21. Sometimes I think I've lived my life according to Q's final words to Bond - "I've always tried to teach you two things: never let them see you bleed; and always have an escape plan"
22. If this was actual random things, some of them would be false and many of them much more interesting. I'm not doing that because Patrick Nielsen Hayden did his version first and better.
23. Unsurprisingly I hit my head on things a lot, but I also injure other parts of my body frequently, especially the extremities. I guess I have trouble knowing where the ends of my hands and feet are unless I concentrate; I do have very long arms and legs. I used to scratch and break the glass on watch faces all the time, but now I have one that has a metal rim around the face. The metal rim is scuffed and scraped.
24. I've never broken any bones.
25. I've sat here with 25 things for ages, hoping for something more interesting to say. There were a couple, but I'm not putting them in this thing. Eventually I dumped the least interesting thing (it was the joke about the man with 5 willies) and replaced it with this summing up item. I'm pretty happy with this now, but will have second thoughts as soon as I hit publish. I always do.
Comments
As I'm sure you know, you can fill it in or not, and I don't mind. There aren't even 25 of you tagged, because I've never come across a rule without having the urge to break it. I'd be interested to see anything you want to write, but frankly you can all ignore this and I'll be perfectly happy, although I'll be a bit surprised if the usual suspects don't randomly abuse me in the comments.
The usual suspects came up trumps.
I found it hard work after 15 or so (but I reordered them so it's not just the last 10, except the very last one which was the last one written). Having only hit 15 or so people with this, I have spare tags if you want one.
I think I'd have difficulty coming up with 25 interesting things about myself that I'd be willing to share in public anyway. I shall remain untagged.