Seven things

I’ve been tagged by Kelpenhagen in the Seven Things meme. You need to share 7 things about yourself, and then ask 7 people to do the same.

I’m not so sure that there are 7 interesting things about myself (at least that can be published on a work blog) but I’ll give it a go.

1. I did an exchange to the US for twelve months when I was 15 years old. I lived in Colorado for a year and had the most amazing time - this is the one event that has probably shaped my independence and self-reliance more than any other.

   I look back and realise what a total baby I was, and how easily so much could have gone wrong - I think 15 was way too young.

   The funny thing is I realise now I only really wanted to do the exchange because I grew up in a horrible country town and wanted to get the hell out.

   Coming home after a year of being away was an incredibly traumatic experience and I never really settled back in. It was so hard to go back to high school after living away for a year and realising that everyone was still talking about the same things and hadn’t really grown or changed. I was 16 going on 30 and everyone else was just 16.

2. I think I have a mild form of face blindness (self diagnosed). I really can’t recognise faces unless they are either particularly distinctive or I’ve met someone a lot.

   It makes me look really rude, especially when I’ve met someone a few times - they usually think I’m really stuck up for not acknowledging them.

   I usually overcompensate by pretending I recognise someone when I don’t, or start conversations with random strangers thinking I must know them.

   I spent 5 minutes talking to a guy on the beach this morning that I thought was Scott. Turns out it wasn’t him. That was pretty embarrassing.

3. I’ve only ever worked in the internet industry. I’m one of the first digital natives, my first job out of high school in ‘95 was at OzEmail, a tiny little startup ISP. That was the best job I have ever had, anything and everything in the world was possible.

   I worked at a computer show in ‘96 and described the internet to an attendee. I said there was information on anything you could ever want - I said “Give it a go… the world is your oyster”. He said he wanted to look up oysters.

   We typed Oyster into alta-vista and got no results. There was nothing on the entire internet about oysters.

   The guy left without taking our startup disc.

4. I am Eurasian (my mum is chinese malay, my dad is white aussie). Growing up as an asian in a white country town really really sucks.

   I hated being half asian growing up but now I love it… it took about 16 years to accept. People say that kids can be cruel - I also think adults can be pricks. I still get the occasional “go home” comment, or worse, guys telling me they have a thing for asians. Ughh.

5. I am a total book nerd - I read a LOT and my biggest expense/luxury is getting more books to read. When I backpack, I pack light but then am weighed down by at least 7 or 8 books.

   My fallback book when I don’t have anything new is The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan. I think I’ve read it about 200 times.

   If you haven’t read it, go out now and buy it.

6. I am a pescetarian/vegequarian - I don’t eat meat but I do eat seafood. I’ve written more about it for my Writing about Food course.

7. I’ve had a couple of brilliant ideas in my life that were going to make my fortune.

   The first was a dog rental business down at Bondi Beach. Most people I know live in apartments and can’t have a dog. I would love to take a dog running on the weekends, or just play on the beach or in the park when I have time, but I don’t want a full-time dog. Enter dog rentals - rent a dog for a few hours, then give it back when you’re done. If that was successful I was going to branch off into baby rentals.

   The logistics and ethics all proved too much.

   The second brilliant idea is sunscreen for solo people. It’s nearly impossible to get an even coverage of sunscreen on your back when you are alone, and no amount of contortion, sprays, etc will get that little bit in the middle. My inventions is either something you buy with the sunscreen or a particular tool that will ensure even sunscreen coverage across your whole back, even when you’re alone.

   Again, the logistics still need to be worked out.

   You can have this idea if you are good at making things. I can be your beta tester.

So there you have it, seven (probably very boring) things about me. I have to tag another seven people so I am tagging:

1. John Lampard
2. Cindy Li
3. Scott Gledhill
4. Dustin Diaz
5. Tim Lucas
6. P. Mark Anderson
7. Brian Fling

This post is tagged under: memes, random thoughts