I

Ollie
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 states 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.
  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 am quite anti-social.
  12. I open up a lot once I trust someone.
  13. I have cried myself to sleep.
  14. I once genuinely thought I was going to die.
  15. I have never sang karaoke, and have no intention of doing so.
  16. I often do things I tell myself I would never do.
  17. I have learned that the best experiences in life often result from the things I am most scared of.
  18. I believe I am a gentleman.
  19. I can sail and surf.
  20. I cannot fall asleep easily.
  21. I sleep on my left side, on the left side of the bed.
  22. I often wake up on my right side, but still on the left side of the bed.
  23. I sleep better in strange places, less so in familiar places.
  24. I am right-handed.
  25. I can play the trumpet.
  26. I cannot whistle.
  27. I like coffee.
  28. I dislike tea.
  29. I love to hear the sound of waves breaking.
  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 love 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 have a basic understanding of Italian and Polish.
  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 do not want to grow up.
  56. I dislike religion as a concept.
  57. I am respectful of those who are religious.
  58. I am an atheist.
  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 am determined and rarely give up.
  64. I am quite shy, despite my confidence at work.
  65. I have four scars on my body; two from accidents, two from surgery.
  66. I am scared of heights.
  67. I often challenge my fear of heights, but I am not yet cured.
  68. I once climbed up a rock face, but refused to abseil back down.
  69. I am nearly always writing.
  70. I do not believe I am a good writer.
  71. I do not like electric shavers.
  72. I only take medication when I absolutely have to.
  73. I loved my father when I was young.
  74. I hated my father when I was a teenager.
  75. I realised I had always loved my father when I grew up.
  76. I would like to live somewhere else in the world.
  77. I enjoy learning.
  78. I have had a bald patch on my lower right leg ever since I first grew leg hair.
  79. I am an introvert.
  80. I have only ever kissed two people on the cheek.
  81. I dislike gin.
  82. I know how to use and maintain an axe properly.
  83. I have no allergies aside from mild hayfever.
  84. I am ticklish.
  85. I have more friends than I realise.
  86. I rarely eat dessert.
  87. I rarely eat breakfast.
  88. I would do it all differently if I ever had the chance.
  89. I should be wearing my glasses right now.
  90. I listen more than I talk.
  91. I prefer dark chocolate to milk chocolate.
  92. I don’t like biting into apples.
  93. I prefer listening to a live recording of a band than a studio recording.
  94. I prefer listening to a band live than a live recording.
  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.
  101. I don’t always follow the rules.

    102. Update: 22nd June, 2009.

  102. I have spent 3 hours in Monaco’s Princess Grace hospital getting stitches.
  103. I have now been to hospital 5 times.
  104. I now have five scars; three from accidents, two from surgery.
  105. I prefer my steak to be cooked medium-rare, or how the chef recommends.
  106. I prefer Apple OSX to Microsoft Windows.
  107. I nearly always have a bottle of water about my person/in my car.
  108. I have driven a; Ferrari 360 and 430, Aston Martin DB9 and V8 Vantage, Lamborghini Gallardo, Porsche something turbo, Porsche Boxster, Mercedes something AMG, Audi R8…
  109. I scared my boss in the DB9 and the 430.
  110. I overcooked the brakes in the 430 and scared myself.
  111. I would like to own a Ferrari 599. Or an Aston Martin V12 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 consider Eddie Izzard to be the finest stand-up comedian I have ever heard.
  117. I enjoy going to comedy gigs at the Nuffield Theatre.
  118. I consider seeing the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Hyde Park as the best gig I have ever been to.
  119. I consider seeing the Foo Fighters at Hyde Park the second best gig I have been to.
  120. I think seeing Muse at the Birmingham NEC and Wembley and the Foo Fighters at Wembley are somewhere in the mix.
  121. I consider Fight Club as the greatest movie I have seen.
  122. I think Leon runs a close second.
  123. I think Heat, Ronin, Hard Candy, The Talented Mr Ripley, Into The Wild, Juno, Identity and American Beauty are somewhere in the mix.
  124. I prefer well-written, mostly individual dramas to averagely-written, plot driven dramas.
  125. I therefore prefer shows like House and The West Wing to shows like Lost and what The X-Files became.
  126. I have spent ten minutes at JFK Passport Control trying to make someone understand Conne-c-ticut.
  127. I do not consider myself good looking.
  128. I believe my personality makes up for my looks.
  129. I miss the days when I could surf all day and drink all night.
  130. I prefer candle light to any other type of lighting.
  131. I am really slow at responding to emails.
  132. I prefer a bare wooden floor to carpet.
  133. I prefer terracotta tiles to a bare wooden floor.
  134. I have a dream that one day, I will build and use a pizza oven in my back garden.
  135. I prefer red wine to white wine.
  136. I don’t mind a nice crisp Italian Pinot Grigio for a white though.
  137. I spent the first 18 years of my life sharing a bedroom with one of my siblings.
  138. I was the first (and youngest) of my siblings to move out of the family home.
  139. I am more fluent at speaking French when I am drunk than when I am sober. Apparently.
  140. I have no desire to get married or have children.
  141. I believe I am older than what I actually am.
  142. I am not afraid to take something apart to figure out how it works.
  143. I rarely read the instruction manual.

    144. Update: 9th October, 2017.

  144. I am a workoholic.
  145. I prefer wrapping up warm in winter than dressing down in summer.
  146. I miss my brother.
  147. I love my family, quirks included.
  148. I pretend to hate Christmas and birthdays.
  149. I secretly enjoy Christmas and birthdays.
  150. I believe I am intelligent.
  151. I also believe I am stupid.
  152. I have been in two long-term relationships.
  153. I have had (in my adult life) three crushes.
  154. I was experiencing the third as I typed this update.
  155. I have thick skin.
  156. I wish I could say the same for my easy-to-break heart.
  157. I consider Tazio Nuvolari and Jim Clark my heroes.
  158. I hate my teeth.
  159. I regret not giving up the trumpet for braces as a child.
  160. I rarely open my mouth when I smile. In fact, I only show my teeth to people I implicitly trust.
  161. I dislike mobile phones.
  162. I often trip over words because my brain moves faster than my mouth.
  163. I stuttered as a child.
  164. I apparently stutter as an adult.
  165. I only need 5 or 6 hours sleep a night.
  166. I wish I could sleep in and enjoy lazy mornings.
  167. I cannot stand still for too long.
  168. I am very hard on myself.
  169. I forgive others far more easily than I forgive myself.

    170. Update: 19th November, 2018.

  170. I have little desire to update my generic profile picture, despite it being more than ten years old.
  171. I have only just realised my generic profile picture is nowhere to be found in this website.
  172. I prefer savoury to sweet.
  173. I annually eat a piece of cheese to see if I still dislike it. There’s usually a girl involved in this display of, erm, cheesiness.
  174. I annually eat a slice of cheesecake to see if I still like it.
  175. I prefer to keep my hair short.
  176. I allow it to grow out in winter to see how long I can last before getting frustrated and having it cut.
  177. I believe if jeans hadn’t been invented, I’d be walking around in my boxer shorts.
  178. I find it hard to let go of clothes.
  179. I still own my first pair of 501s (c. 1998) and still wear a jacket I bought in 2008.
  180. I believe myself to be too honest for my own good.
  181. I would never profess to being completely honest though.
  182. I do not develop friendships easily.
  183. I do not like people getting too close to me.
  184. I don’t care what others think of me.
  185. I do not believe I am arrogant, just self-assured.
  186. I can tie a necktie in a variety of different ways.
  187. I am a perfectionist.
  188. I enjoy imperfections.
  189. I understand when perfection is unobtainable and when the best will be good enough.
  190. I like to cook.
  191. I rarely have the time to cook properly.
  192. I may be addicted to watching The Great British Bake Off.
  193. I voted Remain and would do again.
  194. I believe working together for the greater good to be the correct way forward.
  195. I deplore racism and any kind of persecution or segregation of any person based on anything other than their actions.
  196. I have never gone down a water slide (like, the enclosed tubular things at water parks).
  197. I enjoy teaching myself new skills and learning new knowledge.
  198. I have a keen interest in astronomy and cosmology.
  199. I love looking at and understanding maps.
  200. I have a sizeable yet-to-read stack of books.
  201. I dislike round numbers.

    202. Update: 13th June, 2019.

  202. I enjoy looking at the planets and moons through my telescope.
  203. I have, in my lifetime, owned an Apple iPod, MacBook Pro, iPad, iPhone and Mac Mini.
  204. I understand the Dewey Decimal System; I can find a book in a library (which is something I fear is about to become a niche skill).
  205. I have never changed my ‘favicon’ (the green icon next to the site name at the top of your browser), in similar vein to my generic profile picture (170).
  206. I like grapefruit-flavoured vodka, yet I dislike grapefruits.
  207. I have only been to four weddings and two funerals.
  208. I have just realised there was a moment in my life when I had been to four weddings and a funeral.
  209. I have unfortunately been to the same person’s wedding and funeral.
  210. I have never been christened or baptised. And this makes me happy and thankful to my parents.
  211. I was raised without religious pressure, bias or obligation from my parents.
  212. I fervently believe my parents raised me correctly and beautifully, and I am forever in their debt for doing so.