25 Random Things

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I was baptised on Christmas day 1990, aged 8 (if I err not). I kept the certificate with my Sheffield City Council 50m and 400m swimming certificates for some time. Little bit of filing humour for you there.


2. I was nicknamed 'Dino' in my GCSE sociology class. Ostensibly this was because I resembled a pterodactyl.


3. I am continually bewildered by polarisation; why, for example, can't orthodox and liberal Catholics find more common ground? Why, for example, are left-wing concerns so different to right-wing concerns?


4. Contrary to what may appear to be the case, I don't hate Robbie Williams and Davina McCall. I just think life would be better if they were out of the charts, the news, the telly, the radio - as applicable. Fortunately in Italy no-one's heard of Davina McCall.


5. Mmm. Russian classical music. Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev... so good.


6. I really miss my old choir at Sacred Heart.


7. I can't quite get over the fact that PCs still exist and Amigas don't. An injustice that is quite emblematic of what is wrong with the world, to my mind. I even took an Amiga to university to write my essays with (of course) but I did cave in and got one of Bill Gates' soulless boxes before the end.


8. Since I married in August, I have slept in a real double-bed on but one occasion.


9. Monica is envious of my eyelashes. Apparently they look as though I use mascara on them. For the record, I don't.


10. I really appreciate confession. I had cottoned on to it's practical utility well before I entered the Church. I feel a bit sorry for those who live their Christian life without it, for whatever reason.


11. I went through a phase at university of leaving the house barefoot, especially to go to Mass at the university chaplaincy when it was practically across the road. Monica found this fascinating at the time, but she would never let me do it now we're married. I can only assume she doesn't want other young women exposed to the raw sexual magnetism of my naked feet.


12. For more or less the duration of my teenage years, I wrote music on my computer. It's here.


13. I can't click my fingers. I seem to get by all the same.


14. For a while I've nursed a vague desire to eat a locust. Not any locust in particular. That probably sounds very grim, but they're a bit like flying prawns I suppose, and I've no trouble with them. I have no desire whatsoever to eat anything's testicles however; that's a delicacy too far.


15. I think 'Ulysses' by Joyce is not worth my time. He can write a boring, impenetrable lump of words if he wants to and then expect the adulation of the modern world, but balls to him if he wants me to read it.


16. Although I think (and this is not a consensus view) that I'm generally pretty laid-back, I can get very competitive. On the other hand, this only occurs when I think I have a realistic chance of winning. If I'm not good at something, I tend to just leave it to other people. I suppose this isn't a very sporting attitude.


17. Probably my favourite grammatical error is the double superlative a) because it sounds funny when you hear one and b) because it has a nice name.


18. I am (or was in England anyway) continually disturbed by the number of men that don't wash their hands after going to the toilet. Euggh. I think we're talking about a majority here.


19. Crisps: what the hell is the point of crisps? They don't fill you up, they're unhealthy, and every flavour is disappointing. Write to your MP.


20. For several years now, I've wanted to own a filing cabinet. Not ardently, you understand, but consistently nonetheless.


21. I'm very sceptical about the religious benefits of faith-schools. I don't think (all other things being equal) that I want my children to go to one.


22. When I buy a new bit of kit, I like to read the instructions fully. I don't like the idea of not being fully appraised of all the functionality that I've just shelled out for. I did think that this was just a man thing, but it seems to me that a lot of men prefer not to read manuals. Perhaps this is because they feel that if they work out how to use it on their own, they're as good as whoever invented it.


23. When I was young and foolish, I decided to commit 'Shine Jesus Shine' to memory. Happily, those days are behind me.


24. My earliest memories (which may be lies, dreams, or both) involve me falling (or perhaps being pushed) down the stairs and a horde of ladybirds flying into my eyes.


25. I thought I had brown eyes until Monica said they were green. Brown, green, it's all good.