25 Random Things...

My roommate filled out one of these and I figured that I'd give it a try too. Here's what I came up with:

1. I love daffodils! I'm generally not much of one for flowers but there are a few that appeal to me. Irises and lilies are fun, but there's just something about daffodils. They always make me happy.

2. I can recite pi to 60 digits. I memorized the first 70-odd digits when I was in elementary school, mostly 'cause I was bored, and it just stuck with me.

3. I spent copious amounts of time playing with Tonka trucks as a kid. Way better than Barbie dolls, believe you me!

4. My singing could make small children cry. I couldn't hold a tune to save my life.

5. I love road trips but I hate driving. I'd rather be the passenger any day.

6. I've traveled a fair bit but I still get terrible wanderlust a lot of the time. I don't like to stay in one place for too long. I get restless.
If I ever get the time and the money, there's a whole list of trips I'd like to take, places I'd like to visit. India, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, Australia, Romania, Argentina, Brazil... I could go on. I discovered something called OzBus a couple years ago. A twelve week road trip from London, England to Sydney, Australia. You pass through 20 countries along the way. It sounds absolutely amazing!

7. I love to bake. Bread, muffins, pies, danishes; not too crazy about cakes though. I think it's the icing. I don't like decorating them. Strangely enough I don't mind doing fancy shapes and decorations for other pastries, there's just something about cakes.

8. I'm a voracious reader. "When I get a little money, I buy books; if any is left, I buy food and clothes." -Erasmus. That just about sums it up for me. I love books. I love owning well-made books. I have some lovely hardbacks variously bound in silk, leather, or cloth. Depending on the book, I also like second-hand copies. They have more character.

9. I'd take a camping trip over a five star resort any day. I feel uncomfortable with people waiting on me like that. I'd much rather feel self-sufficient. Besides, when you're in one of those fancy resorts you're so far removed from everything. I want to experience the place I'm visiting. I want to feel it, see it, smell it; not be hidden away in some plush, padded room somewhere.

10. I generally like coffee-flavoured things but I hate coffee. I'm much more of a tea person. However, I do like iced cappuccinos, mochas, coffee-flavoured truffles and chocolates and the like. Honestly though... there's nothing like a good, hot cup of red tea. Just a spoonful of sugar, give it a stir, and enjoy.

11. I usually do alright in the cold (as long as it's not too windy) but I can't stand the heat. Once it gets past about 25 C, I just shut down. Especially if it's humid as well.

12. The oldest landmark I've seen is Stonehenge. I went to England with my family a few years ago. We stayed with my aunt, rented a car, and took a tour of the UK. We saw some pretty amazing stuff. Visited a few castles, saw the white cliffs of Dover, went to Oxford, walked through Sherwood forest, spent a very chilly afternoon at Hadrian's wall. I'm pretty sure, out of all of those, Stonehenge is the oldest and the most famous. It was really an amazing thing to see.

13. The coolest thing I've seen is probably a shuttle launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
See below for more details on that one.

14. Words like "irregardless" tend to annoy me. It's redundant. "Regardless" is already negative, you don't need to negate it again by tacking a useless "ir-" onto the front.

15. I like to collect quotes. I've found a few new ones recently that really appeal to me. They should be listed below somewhere.

16. I love myths and legends. I collect mythologies, fairy tales, fables, etc.

17. I have a soft spot for guys with accents. My favourites are probably Scottish and Australian. I absolutely melt for them! Latino accents are pretty good as well. British can be alright. I'm rather partial to Liverpool accents. And I have to admit Donegal accents can be rather pleasing as well.

18. I'm fascinated by languages. I always like to look up the etymology of words. I'd love to be a polyglot. I can speak a little French and Spanish, and I can understand Portuguese, but English is the only language I speak fluently (so far). I'll keep working at it though. Not that I've had much time to dedicate to language study or practice lately, but I'll get back to it. Eventually.

19. I'm a computer science major who loves all things old-fashioned. Horse-drawn carriages, dip pens, ink pots, pocket watches, wax seals, turntables, rotary phones. I know they're not all even remotely from the same era, but they're all things I'd like to see more of. They're interesting. Fun. They have character.

20. I hate socks! Generally the first thing I do when I get home is rip off my shoes and socks. I'd go barefoot all the time if I could. Unfortunately that's not always an option.

21. Cats and cows are my favourite animals. There are very few animals that I don't like, but they're probably at the top of my list. After that I'd probably go for a snake or a lizard or something. Iguanas and bearded dragons are pretty cool...

22. I can't eat in the dark. It's just one of my weird little quirks. My food needs to be well lit. I can just about handle eating popcorn in a darkened movie theatre, but anything beyond that... well, you better have the spotlights turned on.

23. I love board games. Of course, all the classics are great: trivia games, scrabble, monopoly, risk; but some of the more obscure ones are just fantastic!

24. I like trying obscure or bizarre foods. I've had fried rattlesnake, ostrich sausage, buffalo burgers, venison stew, rabbit souvlaki, sea cucumber sushi, pickled squid salad, custard apples... some of them are stranger than others, I know, but I thought that they were all fairly interesting.

25. I've always wanted to try hang gliding. I know I'll be slightly terrified once I get up there, but I still want to do it. I think they usually send you up with someone else, an instructor, the first time anyway, so that might not be so bad. The idea of flying like that just thrills me, even if it does scare me a bit at the same time. What an amazing experience!

Well, this has been fun... If a little more lengthy than anticipated. Hope I didn't babble too much.