Things I'm proud of for some reason.

I'm not sure why I should be proud of these traits, but here you have them:

1. I haven't used an alarm clock in about 6 years.
   Like so many people, I feel special because my internal body clock is minute-accurate. This doesn't make me more punctual for work though, because my internal body clock also has a well worn snooze button.
2. I don't move at all when I sleep.
   Why am I writing this? What is so braggable about not moving? I don't know, but it means I can use the second half of my bed for books and stuff (nobody else uses it these days). Also, I assume I can sleep like a vampire all night with my arms crossed over my chest if I so choose. Sometimes I wake in the morning with dead feet, because when I went to sleep they were hanging over the end of the bed. Additionally, though less interestingly, I don't snore either.
3. I have a D& D group that I chill with on Tuesdays.
   Though we don't actually play D& D. In fact, last week we went down to the video store and rented out The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Stand back ladies.
4. I think I'm quite good at programming.
   Note that I didn't say I'm a good programmer, or that I'm good at my job - good programmers make themselves do the boring stuff as well as the interesting stuff, and being good at your job involves filling in your timesheets on time and not being cynical about management.
5. I don't like taking all the credit for things, even when I probably deserve it.
   In general, I tend towards humility. Is it ironic that I write this in this list?
6. People's mums generally like me. Not just girls' mums, but friends mums. I think it's because I care.
7. I can draw better than most non-artists.
   Though not as good as real artists.
8. I've lived with lots of people.
   Over 50 after leaving high-school, at last count. Mainly because of guild house, and I got lots of anecdotes and stories from my various experiences.
9. If someone starts telling a story, stops, and goes 'oh, don't worry' I have the ability to just forget it and literally not worry about it.
   I wasn't born with this superpower - it was instilled into me by an accident with radioactive substances and a girl.
10. I used to clean up at pool.
    At uni I was half of a super pool-playing duo (with 'Seedy' Simon Anderson) that never had to buy drinks or pay for pool because we owned the table all night. Much respect, of course, was rained down on us for being consistently better at pool than drunken pub locals.
11. I don't buy heaps of useless crap.
    But when I buy something (especially food), it's generally an expensive something.
12. I suck at fishing, but love it.
    This is just something I like to brag about - I only go fishing a few times a year and I never catch anything decent, but I really love it and have an awesome fishing rod. Possibly this is what makes me so cool.
13. I love cooking
    And I know a few good recipes too. Me and food are like peas and carrots.
14. I have an almost quintissential bachelor house
    Having lived there for a year and a half, I only last week bought a mop. There is no art on the walls and no indoor plants, and most of the furniture we have came with the house. The bathroom only gets cleaned when we think a girl is coming over. My bedroom is an organic mess that only gets stronger over time. And for some reason, I am proud of being this sort of person.

Things I'm not so proud of.

I have character flaws that I'm too lazy to deal with. First off the rank is probably laziness, though I only now realise that I haven't put that in the list. And I probably wont.

1. I largely started paying attention to good movies and music because I was sick of not knowing what my best friend was talking about.
   The old Paul: 'Fincher eh? Yeah, I'm pretty sure I like his old stuff'. 'Nah, I preferred Kurasowa before he sold out'. 'Um, yeah, Lost In Translation was a masterpiece for some reason'. About 8 years ago I started wearing black skivvies and sporting a van-dyke and started sprouting sentences about movie directors rather than actors. When Mostyn's left, he took care to make sure I'd continue to feel humbled in the movie trivia department by leaving his arguably more knowledgeable little brother.
2. I tend to get belligerent when drunk.
   Well, mainly towards my friends. I have been known to get verbally abusive towards those I respect the most, though fortunately not so much with strangers. Hence my new catchism: lets go get belligerent. I've told Bob to tell me when this starts happening, and this system seems to be working out. Luckily my friends are by-and-large either quite tolerant or abusive alcoholics as well.
3. I retell stories ad nauseum.
   This is because I have a terrible memory. To make up for this, I almost always start my stories with 'have I told you about this before?' and, unlike most people, I generally don't retell it if the person says 'yes'. Why do people do that? People, don't retell stories if someone says 'yes, you have told me before.' Oh look, I turned one of my 'not-prouds' into a 'proud' - it's my list.
4. I can't grow good facial hair.
   I know there are good genes in my family, because both of my little brothers can grow good beards, but my face is a landmine of bare spots.
5. I don't keep in contact with people I don't see on a daily basis, or who don't try to contact me.
   Sadly enough, this includes family (immediate and removed) - I told my relatives in Germany, who were kind enough provide me with accommodation and free tours of Cologne, that I would definitely send them photos and call when I got home. That is where this story ends.
6. I have an iPod
   and I spend my nights weeping about my sold out soul while I listen to emo music, dimly lit in a pool of soft light cast by my iPod screen.

What a cleansing exercise. I know I'll think about other things, and I'll add them to the ends of these lists when I do.