that’s whacked

My 5 Things.

Thursday, Feb 1. 2007  –  Category: Food

I was wondering when it would be my turn… looks like I’ve been tagged by Forrest. For those unable to see the connection, Forrest is one of the engineers in the Solaris Kernel test group in Beijing whom I worked with (on Hierarchical Locality Groups test support) when I did my six week rotation in Beijing.

So… 5 things you may not know about me: (I say may, because I’ve certainly done my fair share of exposing embarrassing secrets about myself when drunk - so who knows if you know or don’t know this already).

1. I don’t play video games. Seriously. People generally know me as a computer geek (true), and believe I spend most of my day on the computer (true, on weekdays) - and make the assumption that (like a lot of geeks), I must play video games. I can’t think how many conversations have been abruptly pre-empted by me interrupting with “actually I’ve never played World of Warcraft.” My self-imposed computer game ban dates back to sophomore year of college, when a huge addiction to Rainbow Six caused many a missed class, and a caused me to lose a lot of focus at school. That was the catalyst for finally wiping the last vestiges of Windows off my computer and declaring myself free of computer games. We kept a Dreamcast around for short non-continuous (read: no storyline) games for a while, but… well… every good thing comes to an end. Though I do have to admit, I do indulge in cell phone solitaire.

2. I dislocate my toe about once a week. Weird, I know. I’ve had this problem for as long as I can remember. I don’t know why… it just happens. And yes, it hurts like a mofo every time.

3. I was expelled from my first high school… and that was probably one of the best things that could have happened to me, seriously.

4. I sometimes wish I were Canadian. I don’t know why. I’m fiercely proud to be English… but yet I’m culturally very much American. Canada just seems to be a logical midpoint between the two. I go to Canada at least once a year to see family, and I love it there. I always have a great time. I think I could be a really good patriotic Canadian. Except for the football team… seriously, you Canucks need someone other than DeRosario to carry you. You lost out with Hargreaves (coincidentally, just named best English player of 2006!)

5. I’m allergic to alcohol. Tragic I know… Especially given how much I’m fond of the stuff. It’s not just the usual Asian blush either… my asthma kicks in and I get very short of breath. Does it stop me from drinking? Not really. But along with my lactose intolerance, it makes wine and cheese hour (and those of you who know me know I LOVE & CRAVE cheese) both thoroughly enjoyable and miserable.