No matter how it’s written, someone out there will probably already know most–if not all–of the items (hi, Mum!). Should it be written for the person asking the question, in which case it might be a different list to that offered to new friends which, in turn, might be different to that offered to fresh visitors from search engines. Maybe I’m just over-thinking the whole thing.

To make this a little more interesting (for me, at least) I’m going to change the game a little and write in detail about one thing (and one that I often have to explain, at that), along with a shorter list of a further four things.

Non-alcoholic

For seven years or so, I’ve abstained from drinking alcohol.

Yes, you read that correctly: a 24 year-old guy that doesn’t drink. No need to alert the media.

On a friend’s birthday (I believe it was his 18th), all those years ago, I got heinously drunk. A bottle of Bacardi, bottle of Jack Daniels, multiple lagers, and an amount of vodka by 10 o’clock and being unable to recall the rest of the drinks consumed until midnight kind of drunk.

Needless to say, I stumbled back home (which, thankfully, was just around the corner) by about midnight and after attempting to sleep and—being troubled by the fact that my room had, apparently, been relocated to a turntable—decided that being violently sick with my head down the toilet for the next six hours was a smart course of action.

Over the next two days, I came to the conclusion that taking a break from alcohol was a good idea. I never intended this break to last very long–much like anyone with an awful hangover–but I held out for a week or two. The next thing I knew, it was a year later and I was telling this story to new friends at university. 7 years on, and I still don’t drink.

I’m often asked if I miss it, or if I’d consider drinking again. I’ve certainly thought about drinking again, but every time I find myself wondering exactly what I’d gain from it. Who knows: maybe one day I’ll give drinking another try.

…and the rest

• I wasn’t always a rabid Apple fan: there was a time that I ridiculed a clamshell-iBook-toting friend for his ‘toy’ computer, with its one-button mouse. It took membership—and ultimately becoming an Admin—at Aqua-Soft to turn me into the Apple-lover I am today.

  During this time, I made an iTunes skin for Windows Media Player 9. And then Apple released iTunes for Windows about 2 months later. And then I finally got a Mac of my own. And another. And another (although, technically, that’s a machine owned by Yahoo!).

• Climbing is the only sport that I have any interest in. I haven’t done any outdoor climbing yet—much to my chagrin—and have always been tempted to go on an Outward Bound ‘adventure’ but haven’t managed to… yet.
• Thanks to my GCSE in Art (or rather, my GCSE Art teacher), I found myself unable to draw, design, or even so much as doodle until I was at university (thanks, in no small part, to design blogs). Even now, I find it hard to do (but I’d like to think that I’m getting better at design).
• I adore food and cooking. Flavours and the science of food—and their application—are an eternal source of interest for me. I could happily spend days investigating and experimenting in the kitchen. I doubt I’m particularly talented, but I’d like to think I can at least cook well.

Pass

Rather than passing this on to the usual suspects (who are, incidentally, very suspect—and welcome to take this as passing to them, if they like), I thought I’d try to pass this on to a different bunch:

• D. Keith Robinson
• Dan Rubin
• John Oxton
• Jon Hicks
• Norm!