15 Things You Didn’t Know About Me

I recently got one of those viral Facebook thingies where you fill in 25 things people don’t know about you and pass it on… unfortunately, I don’t have the attention span or focus required to do 25, so in what can only be described as the most pathetic attempt at rebellion, I am going to share with you 15 things you probably didn’t know about me.

1: Between the ages of 17-19 I spent two years living at a specialised college studying to be a pro golfer (seriously).

2: When I was a young child… in what we in the UK call “Primary School” (I was approx 11 years old), we had a teacher called Mrs Viv Clarke… she was an awesome teacher, and really bonded with the entire class.

On our last week of school, she said she wanted to buy us (out of her own pocket) our favourite book as a leaving gift. My favourite book at the time was called “Fungus the Bogeyman”, but I wanted to pretend to be clever, so I said it was “The Hobbit” by J.R.Tolkein.

We got our books, and in each of the covers was a leaving message from Mrs Clarke.

Mine said: “Dean, the world is your oyster, but only you can crack it”.

I assumed this was a generic message that was in EVERYONE’S book… but it turns out that it was unique to me.

That advice turned out to be extremely accurate and important advice.

Mrs Clarke died in a car accident whilst doing humanitarian work in a 3rd world country 5 or so years ago… she never knew how much that book meant to me, and I still have the cutting of the message she gave me to this day.

3: I was terrified of public speaking… it still scares me, but I have done it quite a few times, and have even won an award for it. Go me!

4: I am a huge contradiction! I am shy yet outgoing, happy in my own company, but need validation from others, healthy in some areas and unhealthy in others, I am quiet yet loud, I like entrepreneurship, but I also like the structure of a 9-5 career, and a lot more….

5: I am extremely impatient. When I was a child, I remember having a new game or video game, and the journey home in the car would seem like an eternity. To this day, when I want something, I tend to just buy it straight away, and have NEVER shopped around on price.

As a result, I have a ton of crap that I am now looking to sell

6: I had a glass bottle go through my left kneecap and out the other side when I was 19.

It was my last week of golf college, and I ended up in hospital, I had surgery, and had to have rehabilitation to walk properly.

I told my dad that I was out training and slipped, the reality is that I was drinking absinthe on a leaving trip with my buddies, and thought it would be funny to jump into a bush… the beer bottle was in the bush (ouch).

I suspect my dad knows it was my fault, but I feel like I let him down a lot, and for that I am really sorry.

7: Getting a glass bottle through my knee was one of the best things that ever happened to me.

Sounds strange, as it was horrible at the time… but this was a pivotal moment for me. I felt I was going down the wrong path in life, and in hindsight, it perhaps took something that drastic to get me on the right path.

To this day, I consider it a positive thing.

8: My favourite foods are: Curry, Sheppard’s pie, Lasagne, and steak…. oh, and I like prawn cocktails or chicken noodle soup as a starter.

9: I am a daft romantic. I won’t list any of the embarrassing things I have done in the name of love… but I am definitely a daft romantic at heart.

10: Despite having an addictive personality… I don’t think I have ever been addicted to anything… (yet another contradiction) I have drunk a LOT of coffee over the past 6 months, but I quit a few weeks back, and it hasn’t been an issue at all.

11: I am a HUGE Manchester United fan… I watch all of their games, and even read fan forums in my spare time. (blush)

12: I have highs and lows where I go from feeling like I can do anything, to huge insecurity and low self-esteem.

13: The Killer Bunnies that are on my blog and brand were actually inspired by seeing a funny Rayman Rabbits video game clip… the rest, as they say.. is history.

14: I refuse to date smokers.

15: I have very little respect for tradition or “the way things are supposed to be”… especially if it logically doesn’t make any sense. Needless to say, I am not religious (I am agnostic)…  I am very open to people’s beliefs, I just hate being told what to do and what to think, so religion and I was never gonna be a good match.

16: I don’t like following rules, so you can’t cage me in with your “15 things” limit 

17: I care more about what other people think of me than what I think of myself (which is not good)

18: I love to travel. So far my fav places have been Los Angeles, Austin Texas, Las Vegas, Amsterdam, Sydney, and Madrid.

19: I get bored extremely easily… one of the areas this affects is my hairstyles, which are ever-changing. I have had some absolute shockers in the past… see my Facebook profile for some horrible examples.