25 Random Things

Recently on Facebook there's been this thing going around. You're supposed to write 25 things about yourself and tag your friends so they can learn more about you. It's a nice idea and I wanted to do it too but number one on my list is:

I don't like to follow the flock.

So I'm not going to do 25 and I'm going to do it here on my blog instead. Besides, since I opened my facebook account the number of random people I've collected as 'friends' is a little bit crazy; I once got a friend request from a girl who used to cover my lunch breaks at a job I absolutely hated. I couldn't remember her at all! "Is she really my 'friend'?" I asked myself as the cursor hovered over the 'ignore' button. Seriously though, how many times have you had a friend request from some random you hardly know? Is adding friends addictive, like collecting pokemon cards? You need to get the whole set! Everyone you've ever met. I don't know if I want all of those kind of people knowing 25 things about me. Which brings me to number two:

I'm quite a private person but am rubbish at keeping secrets.

I should come with a warning stamped on my head or something. The second I hear some juicy piece to gossip I just itch with the need to pass it on. Students have told me intimate details of their lives in confidence and I spill it to my boss and colleagues as soon as they have left the building. I know, I know; I'm a bad person but I just can't help it! Secrets burn inside me and even if I'm successful at keeping them for a while, the next time I have a few drinks the alcohol literally loosens my tongue. I'll go from respectable and witty to blurting gossip queen in the space it takes to mix another fuzzy navel. Most of the things I let escape are about me though so usually I'm the only one who gets hurt. All I can say is: you've been warned.

I've lost my accent.

I feel like one of those people who go overseas and come back with a shite fake accent. How I used to mock them.

I admire people who follow through on crazy plans.

How many times have you had a conversation with someone about doing some kind of adventure and it never happens. You could easily make it happen if you pushed for it but well, who could be bothered? I have a few regrets, some silly and serious but is it possible to have nostalgic regrets too? In the middle of Shanghai there is an area called People's Square. It's a large area right in the center of downtown and includes a museum, traditional and modern art galleries, an opera house, a very nice nightclub and an amusement park. One day a friend and I were strolling by the amusement park after taking in an exhibition at the modern art museum and we found a pirate boat. It was like finding treasure. Later that evening we related our find to some friends and together (with the help of some rum-based cocktails) we hatched a plan to dress like pirates, ride the subway and either scare or entertain the mostly Chinese passengers, and finally make our rowdy way to the pirate boat and claim it as our own! I regret never doing that to this day.

I nearly always find a way to let people know what I really think of them.

I like to think of myself as an essentially honest person, maybe that's why I'm rubbish at keeping secrets. I sometimes need to remind myself that social niceties revolve around secrets. Secrets about ourselves we keep from others and secret opinions we have of others. I really think if there was more honesty between people there would be far fewer social niceties. And anyway, often what I think about people is nice.

I have little to no time for crazy people.

A long time ago I thought that being depressed was cool, Goth was the look and Nine Inch Nails was it. During that time, I would also periodically fall into a depressive state and do all sorts of dumb things. Hurting and isolating myself and others. In the end I managed to snap myself out of it using common sense and the desire to be happy not medication. Now I can't stand crazy people because deep down I know they can stop being crazy if they really really want to. There's that and I was involved with a string of damaged young men: a self-harming guilty catholic boy, the drug addled son of a vietnam-vet, a lying alcoholic, and one who said this world was too small for him before leaving it via the roof of a high rise building. Sorry to be a bit black and white about "crazy people" but in my case I consider it a result of experience.

I'm lazy.

It's amazing I've managed to keep writing for this long! I'm someone whose effeciency is motivated by how much free time I can get. Due to laziness, I also haven't exercised enough in my life, have given up playing 3 musical instruments and gave up studying languages at school. I regret it all. I used to (and still do a little bit) think that being hedonistic is glamorous and provocative, what's changed? I'm getting old!

I'm turning Japanese!

Not really, but recently I've been afflicted with a terrible affliction. I sometimes can't pronounce L and R. Like a Japanese person. You say glamorous, I say gramorous. Oh dear. I hope it goes away soon, I really do. Also I now say "See you" instead of "See ya." What is this place doing to me? On top of loosing my accent I don't want to return to an English speaking country with a Japanese accent. Imagine all the unintentional racist slurs I would make!

The End.