Interesting facts about you

Tsuyoiko said:
Speaking of weddings and anniversaries, Simon and I just celebrated our 9th anniversary last Wednesday 👍

Well, congrats to you, my dear! May you and Simon continue to live long and prosper!

:-)
 
Here's a new fact about me for everyone to enjoy: I'm unable to sleep at night in a totally quiet or near silent environment. I absolutely have to have some sort of background noise in the bedroom or I'll toss and turn all night long. For me, that background noise is an old fashioned wind-up alarm clock on my nightstand, the steady tick-tock is most soothing for me and actually helps me sleep better.
:-)
 
Flashjeff said:
For me, that background noise is an old fashioned wind-up alarm clock on my nightstand, the steady tick-tock is most soothing for me and actually helps me sleep better.
:-)

I have a friend who used to live near a busy motorway, and when he moved house he could not sleep. He'd got so used to the steady drone of cars that it had come to be strangely soothing to him.

I also remember I used to find the sound of the washing machine soothing when I was little. It would make me go all sleepy.
 
Years ago, when I lived out in Arizona, I had the surprise of my life when a tarantula crawled out of the pocket of the apron I was wearing... never knew I could disrobe that fast...heh :eek:

I have this thing about spiders... I let them live if I don't see them... but once they enter my sphere of existence... well, I'll leave that to your imagination...
 
Tsuyoiko: Congrats! 9's my favorite number, too.

Flashjeff: I can't sleep at all, most nights, so it's good that you know what'll get you sleeping. Sigh, I've tried everything. The only thing that works are sleeping pills but I don't like to rely on those, especially 'cause I get groggy the day after.

anjusan: yikes! That's what I dislike most about insects. They come at you from unexpected places. :p
 
Here's something.

The cologne I use is Allure by Chanel.

I was shocked to find out that my older brother, who I hadn't met nor much even kept in contact with for at least 5 years, wears the same cologne!

My other brother doesn't use cologne to the best of my knowledge.
 
Flashjeff said:
Here's a new fact about me for everyone to enjoy: I'm unable to sleep at night in a totally quiet or near silent environment. I absolutely have to have some sort of background noise in the bedroom or I'll toss and turn all night long. For me, that background noise is an old fashioned wind-up alarm clock on my nightstand, the steady tick-tock is most soothing for me and actually helps me sleep better.
:-)


Jeff, I always used to sleep with a clock radio playing on a timer. I usually would set it to 59 minutes and just lay down and sleep. Many nights I would tune it to AM and pick up Dodger games that were bouncing off the atmosphere, or sometimes I would even pick up shortwave broadcasts or maybe Mexican radio stations doing the same. I did this until I was 18 and joined the military. It stopped for a couple of years, but then I noticed, while I was in the desert in Arizona training, that I was doing the same thing again, but with my walkman! I have once again stopped...but occasionally get the urge to start doing it again!
 
I was just thinking...

What an odd list of organizations/clubs/sports/etc I've been a member of in my lifetime.


For example...

Ballet
Basketball
Cross Country
Wrestling
Karate
Powerlifting
Boxing
Boy Scouts
Chicago Herptological Society
Evanston Soto Zen Center
College Student Association
Youth for Socialist Action
Peace Activist Association

Heheh, that all makes me sound pretty damn weird....

Here's one that might surprise people: I almost went to Seminary School. Yep, I almost went to school to become a Jesuit! (My family comes from a strict Roman Catholic tradition.)
 
Thanks for the congrats Jeff and LM! Nine years is pretty good going these days, right? :D
 
i once shot myself in the hand. and also a friend shot me in the right butt one time.
 
lastmagi: Hmm! Most interesting! Perhaps you could try that old, OLD standby of a cup or warm milk at night before going to bed. Or, if you enjoy exercise, do a good workout with the purpose of tiring yourself out before bedtime. Or maybe a white noise generator which I've heard helps induce sleep.

I myself have no trouble falling asleep most nights, it's staying asleep that I often gives me fits as I'm a light sleeper, so my own brand of noise (the alarm clock) comes in handy. How refreshing to read that other folks use their own sort of noise at night! Cool!
:-)
 
Well, I'm probably not all that interesting, and moreover I haven't been a member of this forum long (but I like it a lot and plan to stay pretty active; very friendly people on it), but anyways here it goes:

As time went on after the divorce of my parents I became increasingly pessimistic and cynical. My brother's (graduating from Princeton university June 6; good for him, but he still could have tried for less of a history of condescension towards me) treatment of me and my sister's (always good to me, probably understands me better than anyone in my family but lives way off in Texas; also has, until about a year ago when she went through big changes for the best of things, had a history of needing money from my parents) somewhat large mistakes at college didn't help this.

My parents divorced when I was going into "6th grade" (for non-Americans, I'm finishing 12th grade now, last year of high school, am about to go to college to major in history). Divorced parents are becoming increasingly common, the circumstances though could sometimes be unique.

Anyways, to shift focus on me now (and why this is important), in 8th grade, in an effort to fit in somewhere, I tried smoking weed (marijauna), and ended up getting into doing it consistently for a little over a year, when I just made the personal decision (didn't need to be caught, though two years after quitting I told my parents about it) that something didn't seem right about what I was doing or with the personalities of the people I was doing it with. In 9th grade however, my first year of high school, I did amazingly well in history.

I took a history course over the summer between 9th and 10th grade to move up into honors history in school. I loved all history, but what consumed me was WWII, the Great Depression, and the people who remember it. This was mainly because of the stories of my grandfather before, during, and after the war. He died shortly before the divorce of my parents interestingly enough.

While I tried to hang out with the "smart" kids during 10th grade, I found that they could be superficial and condescending. As crummy people as the kids who decided pot was the answer to their problems (I lived in both worlds, I was a cynic in both worlds). I also, embracing my Irish Catholic heritage in some sort of move for self-pride (which I do still have :D) became increasingly aware of anti-Catholicism, and while that is around I should have been Christian at least before Catholic.

While my grades were looking up already, 11th grade was when my life really turned around. I was preparing for confirmation while the Pope was on his deathbed. I listened to all the stories about what he did with the Church underground to save lives during WWII, and I felt inspiration and yet emptiness, still somehow I didn't understand what I was missing. The night I was confirmed and met the Bishop, I decided I had to find out, what really made people from that generation, like John Paul II, so willing to put humanity first? Other people like Schindler and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, grandparents and even those they fought against, seemed to have such clear minds about what was right, even despite the complex world around them.

Well, I found the answer, but not how I expected. A kid who used to be one of the kids putting me down as some little punk who lives for nothing but thrills like getting high, approached me and asked me if he could talk to me after school in the library. Cynicism still had vast power over me, but something luckily made me decide, "ok, sure."

I was amazed when he asked me for forgiveness. He said that he had been arrogant with a lot of people like me in the past, and he was sorry. Then he introduced me to what all Christians (Catholic like me, Presbyterian like him, whatever) should be foremost about. Forgiveness and humbleness.

Will used to make fun of this kid who was muslim, not because Will was exactly a bad person but because of ignorance and arrogance. At the same time he always wore crosses, Christian type shirts, and other items to say "I'm a Christian". So one day, when he was teasing and pushing this kid around, the kid quietly turned to him, pointed to the cross he was wearing, and said "What is it exactly that this means to you?" and he then walked away without either of them saying another word. My friend Will was, and I quote, "shaken". It was that which caused him to find out what his faith was actually about, and it was forgiveness. The basis of BOTH OUR faiths (Christian) is that Christ died on the cross to forgive EVERYONE'S sin, and it's a fool and a hypocrite that spends his time being cynical of others at that, and worse yet to harm others that have done nothing to you. Will certainly made a big point of apologizing to that kid also, with whom he's best friends now (perhaps because the kid helped Will find himself I think particularly).

I can't fully explain all the changes that then took place, but for some reason it seemed that I started viewing a lot of people as much more human and all as generally good, rather than with the cynicism I formerly regarded them with. I was "reborn a Christian".

Now I respect the many faiths by the way on this board, particularly Islam these days because of the lack of understanding of so many people of that religion. If you're not a Christian the only thing you need to know is that basically I salvaged my miserable life through faith in God, and faith in people, and my long phase of EXTREME cynicism came to an end, and I wish anyone (of whichever faith) else who feels their days darkened by the seemingly all superficial people in the world, that they will find the creator (by whatever name you call him) is GOOD and moreover (the important thing for atheists persay, who refuse to believe in god) is that God's creations, all of us here and the rest of humankind, is good. It seems simple enough, but I lacked that understanding.

So that's Michael O'Brien for you. Jeez, sorry by the way, I know I wrote a book.... and not even a very good one at that! ;-) :wavey:
 
interesting fact about me..hm...I plan to use my signature someday for all of my artwork and go big..yay..Yay?..yay...
 
-My real name is Michelle
-I may be one of the younger people on this board, but I'm weirder than all of you 🔥
-I have a mild lisp
-I'm a vampire
-I love love love spicy tuna rolls
 
I was in Berlin when the Berlin Wall was destroyed. I think my father has a peace of it somewhere.
 
I'm Mauricio from Mexico.

I am a fan of European Soccer (football). I used to like Manchester United but don't anymore cause it is kind of boring seeing them always winning the Premiership!

I also like (American) football. Atlanta Falcons is the best team. they will hopefully find a good coach.

I like going out and have a good time... What can I say?...
 
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