Twenty Things

It’s meme time! Lindsay has tagged me so without further ado, I give you: twenty things about myself.

1. I love coffee and cigarettes entirely too much.
2. I tend to dislike anything sweet — no waffles, cake, chocolate, pastry or candybars for me please. Give me spicy!
3. For most of my college days I lived on a steady diet of fries, frikandels and more fries. My mom used to pack me some readymade frozen food which would then sit in the fridge until there was no more space — at which point I would defrost some of the food and throw it in the garbage. Cruel, I know.
4. I am a lousy cook.
5. I am a fan of Frank Zappa whom I humbly consider the greatest composer of the last century. My other site, Kill Ugly Radio, is a tribute to the genius of his music and razorsharp wit.
6. The first album I ever bought was David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”. Child of the eighties, oh yes.
7. I love cats.
8. I think rap music sucks. So do all the Beyonce’s, Shakira’s and Britney’s of this world.
9. I’ve played in a band (called moonbug) whose bassplayer is the brother of a very successful and talented musician by the name of Ozark Henry. Whenever I mention this fact, Gabriela starts to giggle.
10. I had rather severe hearing problems as a kid. After I had finally undergone surgery, it was as if the gates of heaven had opened. I guess that’s why I love music so much.
11. I speak fluent English, Dutch, French, a dash of German and a smidge of Spanish. Gabriela tells me that, curiously, my voice lowers by almost an octave when I switch from English to Dutch.
12. I started playing guitar at the ripe old age of 18.
13. I own 7 guitars: 2 regular accoustic, one 12-string, one Gibson SG, one Fender Stratocaster, one Ibanez and one very cheap guitar I keep for sentimental reasons. That’s not counting the banjo.
14. While in art college (’89/’94) I hated computers. I could not fathom how anything creative could be done on a machine and swore I would stick to pencils, pen and ink. Now I spend 10 hours a day working on a Mac. Hah!
15. I am an Apple nut. Whenever I’m forced to switch to a Windows machine, it makes my eyes bleed and my brain hurt.
16. My favorite brand of beer is Grimbergen. That might seem trivial to you but to us Belgians, beer is a religion.
17. I am terrible at reading maps and following directions. When we recently went to pick up some friends in Lille and drove them back later, I somehow managed to take a different itinerary every single time. Gabriela thinks this is very funny. I think of it as creative driving.
18. I find writing down 20 things about myself increasingly difficult.
19. I have never traveled outside of Europe but that will soon change.
20. I am a libra! You didn’t see that one coming, did you!

Since you’re supposed to spread this meme, and since I know he just loves these kinds of assignments, I am hereby tagging Juan. (Sorry man!)