Room 101

Ok, I took the idea from Single Girl who took it from Dan's Blog. But here goes....

1) I wanted to be a professional tennis player when I was younger. This dream started to fade when I played every Saturday at Crowstone tennis club. Sometimes I played eighty year olds and my standards started to drop.

2) The first women I ever fancied (and wanted to marry according to my mum) was Olivia Newton-John after watching 'Greece' at the age of five. It was comforting to know that even then I could tell that a woman in a black all in one suit, would make good marriage material, a belief I still hold today.

3) I'm not married. See Number 2 for reason.

4) I have never consciously eaten fish. I was fed 'chicken' fingers from a young age, when in fact they were fish. This in turn led me to a deep psychological distrust of all things fish to which still scares me today.

5) I like to use stories like (see #4) to make me feel better about being fussy. I'm not lying, I was fed 'chicken fingers', but saying some story like that sounds a lot better at the restaurant then saying "I'm fussy, fish stinks".

6) I've always lived by the sea (Southend, Portsmouth and Bournemouth), and always will look to live by the sea despite not knowing why.

7) I'm not really into doing anything on the water, despite always wanting to live by it. This is even stranger considering that my dad grew up on a surfboard, lived as a lifeguard, and sailed to the shops. But not so strange when you consider the only times my dad has taken me out to sea, we have sunk.

8) I went Scuba Diving for the first time last year, and nearly drowned. When you combine q phobia of fish (see #4) and my experiences of water (see #7) you don't get a good result. Add friends trying to make you laugh underwater and minimal training, and you get panic and near death.

9) I am not religious, but receptive to spiritual things. I believe in reincarnation,. The spirit world and regression. I have been to mediums and been convinced by their authenticity. On my last visit he said I was going to be 'incredibly wealthy' and 'a guidance for others'.

10) I've just looked at my bank statement. Please ignore #9.

11) I'm addicted to walking. I own a car, it's just I now walk everywhere where feasible. My ambition is to emulate Sir Ian Botham's charity walk from Lands End in the south to the tip of Scotland, in my flip flops from Australia (they have moulded to my feet and are the most comfortable things in the world).

12) My biggest ever achievement is winning the 1989 Centre Parks Holiday round robin tennis singles competition. I won a fake cup and a chocolate bar. I since decided that because I did not specify winning Wimbledon in #1, this was the next best thing.

13) I won a national competition run by Ford in 1992, designing new features that tomorrow's cars would have. They rejected my 'reverse parking sensor' as a 'bit unrealistic'. Two years later Ford implemented a 'reverse parking sensor' without my permission.

14) I refuse to ever drive or purchase a Ford (see #13).

15) I always have a tendency to buy cars with my heart and not my head. As a result I spend most of money keeping the things on the road, despite my addiction described in #11.

16) I have a upper honours degree in I.T and Psychology. I guess that means I can design things that can go wrong, but in theory I should have analysed why it went wrong before it did.

17) I recently achieved an objective I set myself in 1997, to bench press my own body weight. Okay, eight years late, but Rome wasn't built in one day, more like 752 and nobody complains about that.

18) The type of women I go for are Kristy Gallagher, Kelly Daglish and Kirsten Dunst. It helps if they are intelligent, genuine, low maintenance and got a sense of humour.

19) I’m currently single (see #18)

20) The worst thing that ever happened to me was a broken wrist when I was sixteen. Not spectacular in itself, although playing a three set, league tennis match with a broken wrist was. I thought it was sore, but didn’t want to make a fuss. We lost the game, mainly because I could'nt serve.

21) My favourite beer is Stella Artois, at 5.2%, one of the strongest beers available, but I just like it for its taste.

22) I suffer from memory loss on a lot of nights out (see #21)

23) I hate dancing, unless I’m pretty drunk.

24) I tend to frown at women, not smile, if I like them (see #19).

25) I rarely make the first move, even with encouragement (see #19).

26) The last girl I was with was called Anna, she was Dutch. She made the first move.

27) I currently fancy eight women in my office. It will stay that way unless they make the first move.

28) I regularly keep in contact with five Canadians, two Dutch, one Swede and one German.

29) I’m not a big fan of one night stands, not for moral reasons, just because I don’t get a lot (two night stands on the other hand maybe, although that hand would get sore).

30) I’m a football(soccer) addict. I currently support statistically the worse team (Southend) in England over the past ten year, and I’m proud of it.

31) My biggest ever win on the lottery was ten pounds. Of course I invested it straight back.

32) My mum used to be a school teacher, my dad a lifeguard come account.

33) I have got a brother who is 30, a sister of 28 and I’m the youngest at 26.

34) I don’t really like my name, that’s why I’m known as Coops. Rich is okay though.
Well it’s okay when you don’t get people saying “SO are you Rich then?!”. Ha ha.

35) I hate big egos and falseness.

36) I got my tongue pierced as a result of a dare in New Zealand. I just haven’t got around to taking it out yet.

37) I need two fillings. I just haven’t got round to sorting them out yet

38) My car needs some work done on it, I just haven’t got round to doing it yet.

39) I tend to put things off quite a lot if I they can wait (see #37 and #38)

40) I’m half Kiwi thanks to my dad. Thanks to my mum I was brought up in England.

41) I used to worry a lot. Now I just don’t care.

42) I worry sometimes that I am so stress free

43) I contradict myself quite a lot (see #42 and #43).

44) I have an IQ of 131, yet sometimes I forget the smimplest things, like setting my alarm.

45) I hate anything Sci-Fi.

46) I don’t really read fiction books, only fact based ones.

47) I like any sort of Music, from Nine Inch Nails, to dance, to soul, to bands to classical.

48) 'The office' and 'Little Britain' are my favourite comedies of all time.

49) Steve Coogan is my favourite ever comic, his character Alan Partridge being a comedy masterpiece and my biggest influence on my life.

50) Bill Byron is my favourite writer and biggest influence.

51) I suddenly became addicted to writing when I read ‘Down Under’, promptly causing me to quit my job and go travelling.

52) Thailand remains a taboo subject. So don't ask about it!

53) I have fallen asleep twice at the cinema. Watching 'Star Wars Phantom Menace' and 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' (Both times against my will).

54) I walked into the wrong cinema once and sat in the front row for a film that was ten minutes from the end. Then walked out again two minutes later.

55) My great, great Granddad was the Lord Mayor of London. He changed history, he fell off his horse whilst being drunk, since then Lord Mayors have never been allowed to ride by horseback.

56) I have seen a ghost. When I was fifteen I saw a girl standing at the end of my bed. When my mum consulted the man who used to live in my house, he confirmed his daughter died in my bedroom at the age of six.

57) I had my first cigarette when I was sixteen, drunk. I proceeded to smoke it the wrong way round and burnt my mouth. If only I had taken the hint at the time.

58) I smoked my last cigarette ten years to the day later in Sydney. I gave up after being ill for a week, and have never looked back.

59) I passed my driving test after 12 lessons, booking myself in early by ‘mistake’. I took the driving test drugged up on Beta-blocker, and two shots of whiskey.

60) The worst day was on receiving my A-level results.

61) The most nervous day of my life, in reverse order…. A) Best man speech at brothers wedding b) Driving test whilst intoxicated c) French oral exam with ex-mastermind champion French teacher.

62) The best day of my of my life, in reverse order….a) Sitting on a balcony in Fiji four days into my travels, overlooking a perfect sunset b) Getting my degree mark and a) meeting a combination of people on my travels (who will remain nameless).

63) I’m six foot, weigh 75 Kilograms and have size eleven feet. When I was younger I always wanted to be shorter and fatter. When I was older I always wanted to be taller and slimmer.

64) I have never been involved in a car accident.

65) I walk six miles to and from work each day and see the same people all the time. One day I will just say 'hello' to one of them.

66)I never get lucky with seat lottery on airplanes.

67) I have walked through the ‘Nothing to Declare’ aisle at the airport, with a lot to declare on a couple of occasions. And always looked guilty.

68) I once nearly set my house on fire. I was on the phone to a girl for an hour and left a candle burning in my room. I had to throw a chair out of the window, must to the bemusement of my neighbours.

69) No, I have never, unfortunately.

70) The last time my heart was beat through my chest. Two minutes ago. Watching the last minute of Chelsea v’s Barcelona. I love football.

71) Last good beat before that, unnamed girl, Syndey.

72) … and before that getting my articles published in magazines.

73) Last bad heart drop, Somewhere in New Zealand, not saying over who, but a big bad beat.

74) Best thing I have done recently reverse order a) Gave my seat up on a train and stood for two hours b)Bought flowers for someone I wanted to c)Gave my parents a five star meal at the London Ritz.

75) Biggest recent regrets in reverse order A) not working whilst I was travelling b) not going surfing in Australia c) Not taking more risks when travelling.

76) Most expensive ever purchase – my Alfa Romeo 156 in 2002.

77) Worst ever purchase – Greyhound bus pass round East Coast of Australia.

78) Best ever purchase – my laptop I bought in Thailand.

79) When time seemed to go soooo slowly – House Party in Brighton, New Years Eve 2001, I wanted to sleep at 1am due to illness. The only space left to slept was next to the main speaker in the main party room. It finished at 6am, along with my will to live.

80) Best ten minutes – Sky Dive, New Zealand, 2004

81) I achieved a lifetime ambition and drove a Ferrari around a race track in 2001

82) I like reality t.v.

83) I’m always thinking of ways to make money, and always watching people be successful with my ideas later on.

84) I can tell what type of person people are within five minutes of meeting them.

85) The people I want know, I do my best to keep in contact with.

86) I should think less before I speak.

87) I love taking things apart, and not being able to put them back together again.

88) Show me a problem, and I will enjoy finding the solution. That's what I do for a day job, spend all day making complex things appear simple to people. Like a nice, calm swan floating across the water, but paddling furiously underneath the water.

89) I spend too much time on the computer.

90) I can be quite untidy.

91) When I write 101 lists I can get a bit sloppy.

92) When I go to the hairdressers I never look in the mirror.

93) I don’t know where I want to settle down in life.

94) I am really into gadgets, big style.

95) I learnt the word 'procrastinate' for the first time last year, amazing considering I do it so much.

96) The first time I took drugs was in 1998 at house party on the beach in which my brother was dj. One of the best nights I have ever had.

96) The last time I took drugs was in 2001. One of the worst morning after’s I’ve ever had.

97) Generally I’m happy being me, sometimes it sucks.

98) I worry that I will never be able to afford my own house in this country.

99) Then I revel in my complete freedom to do anything I want, whenever I want, wherever it may be on this earth.

100) I hate people who do 101’s.

101) I’m often misunderstood for being ironic (see #100).