Things to do while compiling large programs…

I’m way behind the times on this meme, but here goes:

1. I was born a month early after just a couple hours of labour.

2. I own a necklace with a Tuareg cross on it.

3. I dislike spiders, although this manifests itself as agression more than fear. I smooshed a huge fat one this morning that left a large brown stain on the wall.

4. I once threw a machete up in the air which landed on my head.

5. Lois Bujold is possibly my favourite author.

6. I dislike talking on the phone.

7. I played volleyball in high school. I wasn’t very good, but I lettered anyway. Then in university I got much better just playing recreationally, until I hurt my back one day landing wrong from a block.

8. I don’t really care about cars. If money was no object, I’d probably get a hybrid, just for the geek factor.

9. Life dreams: successfully landing a large airliner after both pilots have heart attacks. Conquering West Africa by force of arms and establishing the Gordonian Empire. Building spaceships.

10. I didn’t dislike Matrix Reloaded as much as some, but it’s nowhere near as good as the first one.

11. I used to collect spent 5.56mm shell cases from the firefights in our neighborhood.

12. Not a Bush-hater.

13. A & W onion rings are a guilty pleasure.

14. I have a degree in math and computer science, and another in linguistics and exegesis. Unfocused? Nah…

15. I’m a founding shareholder of the company I work for.

16. I swear in Arabic.

17. Did I mention I have a bad back? I could say this is because I don’t exercise or stretch enough, but I think I’ll just blame it on France.

18. I am not allowed to be a citizen of the country I was born in.

19. I hate it when people forward me email that has itself been forwarded twenty times, that contains a stupid joke, or worse, a flash or shockwave animation.

20. “I do not have a sweet tooth . . .”

21. I like the King James Version, but only for aesthetic reasons.

22. I used to only listen to classical music.

23. Some favourite movies: The Thomas Crowne Affair, Three Seasons, The Spanish Prisoner.

24. Every once in a while, growing up, I used to build 747s out of Legos.

25. I need at least 7 hours of sleep.

26. I have lived at least a month in: Zwedru, Liberia; Vancouver, BC, Canada; Scarborough, ON, Canada; Congo Town, Monrovia, Liberia; Vancouver again; Springfield, Missouri, USA; Paynesville, Monrovia, Liberia; Peterborough, ON, Canada; Paynesville again; Lomé, Togo; Langley, BC, Canada; Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire; Langley again; Victoria, BC, Canada; Surrey, BC, Canada, Vancouver again.

27. In speech class I wrote and delivered a speech in Klingon. I also demonstrated an invisible gravity mine.

28. I have had red hair; it’s more blondish-brown now. Once I dyed it red again, and no one noticed. Once I bleached it.

29. In university I sang in a chamber choir that did many projects with the top orchestras in Vancouver. Now I sing in my church choir and worship band.

30. My sister is a doctor. My brother is a classical tenor.

31. I rarely remember my dreams, which is mostly a blessing.

32. I have been engaged, but never married.

33. I have landed an airplane. I have gallopped a horse. I have scuba-dived below 60 feet.

34. My mission in life: to get people to think accurately and rigourously about things.

35. I love the sound of ocean waves.

36. I’ve never done much dancing, but occasionally I’ve been seen doing East Coast swing or the Lindy Hop.

37. I like Shiraz, not Chardonnay.

38. I’d like to have a daughter someday.

39. I’m pretty deaf to poetry.

40. I read Robin McKinley’s Beauty when I’m stressed.

41. A friend of mine in high school and I were going to start a sci-fi magazine. Luckily there was a war before we could really get started.

42. I’m a melancholy sort of guy, but it’s overrated.

43. I have travelled to: France, Kenya, Holland, Nigeria, Germany, Switzerland, England, Japan and Korea.

44. I have never done any illegal drugs.

45. I know all the words to my national anthem, in English and French.

46. I don’t like the taste of coffee. I do like Darjeeling tea.

47. I have often walked around reading a book.

48. I wear black, not from any consciousness of fashion or unfashion, but because I’m too lazy to figure out any other combinations. But Erik thinks I just want to be African.

49. I own (and don’t hesitate to wear) a kilt.

50. I like the sound of bagpipes.