This marks my 100th post on If all else fails…use a hammer (not counting reblogs – if I didn’t write them, they don’t count). I also considered not counting posts I imported from my first blog on Blogger, but that meant I’d have to do some math and I really didn’t feel like that. For the same reason I decided to count asides as posts even though they technically…aren’t.
So, this is post one hundred by solemn decree – mine.
To mark this auspicious occasion, I’m going to share with you 100 facts about me. I saw this on Brilliantly Novel and decided to steal borrow the idea. I hope you don’t mind that I stole your idea imitated you which they say is the sincerest form of flattery.
But without any further ado I give you…
100 FACTS ABOUT ME
Personal history
1. I’m 31 years old.
2. I come from the Free State, South Africa.
3. I’m the eldest of two and the middle of three children – I have a younger sister and a step-sister who’s seven months older than me.
4. I’m named for my paternal grandfather.
5. I never knew him as he passed away before my birth.
6. I have terrible eyesight.
7. I wore braces as a kid.
8. I used to run cross-country in primary school. I quit after we moved and the coach at the new school didn’t know the first thing about coaching cross-country. Since then I’ve decided running is evil.
9. During my school career I also tried rugby, tennis, cricket, shot-put, long jump and karate (where I progressed up to a green belt).
10. Most of these were problematic as I have terrible ball skills.
11. I started playing hockey (field) in high school but sprained my wrist in a rollerskate mishap (inclined driveway with a rope stretched at waist height at the bottom – my step-sister and I thought it was a good idea at the time) two weeks into the season. By the time it healed teams had already been selected and I didn’t bother going back.
12. The only sport I truly enjoyed at school was Jukskei, a traditional South African sport where you toss a weighted wooden club at a peg in a sand pit some distance away. Points are awarded for knocking the peg over or landing your club closer than your opponents.
13. I’d like to try fencing. I’m pretty sure I’d like it.
14. I also enjoy chess, but lack opponents.
15. I sang in the school choir from 3rd grade until my senior year. I started as a first soprano (and even had a solo in the 7th grade) and became a bass when my voice broke.
16. I play the piano and guitar.
17. I’d like to learn the cello and the clarinet.
18. I was dux learner of my school (like the valedictorian in the US, except we don’t get to give a speech).
19. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I was a total nerd at school who also spent breaks sitting somewhere reading. In 8th grade specifically it was 20 000 Leagues Under the Sea.
20. My favourite school subjects were Biology and English. In 11th grade I had a perfect score for English.
21. I went to my Matric Farewell (our version of senior prom) with my sister’s best friend.
22. I studied in a town called Wellington in the Western Cape.
23. I have an honours bachelor’s degree in Christian Youth Ministry.
24. I’m busy with a master’s degree in counselling and plan to do my PhD thereafter.
25. I only had my first girlfriend (and by extension my first kiss) in my first year at college.
26. I’ve only had three girlfriends total – I married the last one.
27. I’ve never smoked. Never even been tempted.
28. I’ve never been drunk or high either. In fact, at parties, even if no designated driver was called for, I didn’t drink as I reckoned someone should be sober. Yeah, some would call me boring, I guess.
29. I’m generally very patient, but don’t make me wait unnecessarily.
30. I’m an introvert, yet love being among people.
Hobbies and interests
31. I love reading
32. I love working with wood, but I lack a workshop at my flat.
33. I have a slight movie addiction. It’s not a problem. I can quit any time I want to.
34. I love camping and hiking in the mountains, but haven’t done either in quite some time.
35. I love listening to music.
Favourite authors (in no particular order)
36. Jeffrey Archer
37. Isaac Asimov
38. Terry Brooks
39. Terry Pratchett
40. Douglas Adams
41. Arthur Conan Doyle
42. JK Rowling (only Harry Potter – haven’t read the other two)
43. GRR Marten (on probation – depends who in Westeros dies next)
44. Philip Yancey
45. PG Wodehouse
Favourite bands/musicians/composers
46. Coldplay
47. The PianoGuys
48. Bach
49. Hans Zimmer
50. The guy who composes the background music for Doctor Who
51. Lizst
52. Queen
53. Steven Curtis Chapman
54. U2
55. A bunch of Afrikaans artists you wouldn’t have heard of
Countries I’ve visited
56. Namibia
57. Zimbabwe
58. Malawi
59. Zambia
60. England (I lived in London for five months)
61. Germany (I spent a month on an exchange program in Dachau and Munich and spent Christmas in Cologne)
62. Netherlands (okay, only the airport, but I went through customs, so it counts)
Favourite sports teams
63. Err…I don’t watch sports, except the Olympics opening ceremony. London’s was disappointing.
My dream car
64. Any model Aston Martin will do.
65. Likewise any vintage Jaguar.
66. Chevy Camaro – vintage or new; either will be fine.
67. Honda Civic (any Honda, really, as long as it’s the newest model.
68. Bugatti Veyron (I just want to take a few laps around the track)
69. The TARDIS
Favourite food
70. Braaivleis
71. Pizza
72. Ice cream
73. Chocolate
74. Broccoli
75. Grapefruit
Favourite TV shows
76. Doctor Who (the revived series – haven’t seen the original series yet, so don’t know about them)
77. Eureka
78. NCIS
79. Castle
80. Mythbusters
81. Warehouse 13
82. House
83. Chuck
84. Scrubs
85. Big Bang Theory
86. Top Gear (the British version)
My favourite superheroes
How do you see that playing out?
87. Batman
88. The Green Lantern
89. The X-men
90. Doctor Who (I dare you to say he’s not a superhero. Come on. I dare ya!)
Some more random stuff
91. I love dogs, but living in a flat I can’t have one.
92. I enjoy travelling, but don’t really have the money to do it.
93. I enjoy cycling and at college did between 10 and 20 km every day, but at present I don’t own a bicycle.
94. I was born twenty minutes before midnight, so technically my birthday only starts long after I’ve already gone to bed.
95. I have quite a collection of vinyl records (if you’re younger than 30 you may want to Google that), mostly classical music and Rogers & Hammerstein musicals (realising my musical tastes are a bit odd for my age group, everyone under 40 may want to Google that), but I have a few Neil Diamond records as well.
96. I’m not sure I completely get Twitter. I just never have anything to tweet. You can reach me under @Kokkieh
97. I love antiques. After books that’s what you will find the most of in our home. (Of course there’s also some antique books…)
98. If I could pick a superpower it’d have to be telekinesis and/or forcefield, but no superpowers with a ring harnessing the power of will could do so much more.
99. If I could be any animal it would be a direwolf or a gryphon.
100. I won’t be repeating this exercise for subsequent milestones.
And that concludes my 100th post. If you stuck with me so far, you’re invited to a party on the roof of my building tonight. You’re responsible for your own plane tickets, though. 😉
if all else fails...use a hammer 
Congratulations on 100! Isn’t it tradition in South Africa for someone reaching an auspicious milestone to award large sums of money to all who celebrate his accomplishment of longevity?
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Erm…no. I think it actually works the other way around.
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Interesting. I don’t know why, but imagined you to be older 🙂
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I honestly don’t know whether to feel flattered, insulted, or seriously concerned that I’m coming across as an old grump 😉
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Nah, not just any old grump, but a legit one with great taste in music, movies, tv shows and cars 😀 I only based my assumption solely on your previous occupation. I think I never ever had a teacher under 30 years old so I was a bit surprised to find out that you’re not much older than me 🙂
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Became a teacher more or less by accident (I’m not even qualified – I’ve never wanted to teach) and two years later found myself acting principal, also by accident. According to my director (it was at a private school) I was the person best suited for the job even without the proper qualifications. After three years in the hot seat I decided I wasn’t.
Strange that you didn’t have teachers under 30. Here you can be a teacher as young as 22 (not that that’s necessarily a good idea) if you go for a pure teaching degree without doing a degree in a certain field first.
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Ah ha. The youngest teacher I ever had was 36; my high school English teacher. Everyone in my year thought he was the hottest thing walking on earth. Good times XD
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Congratulations on your 100th post! I had to google Braaivleis, now I feel hungry…
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Now you made me google it. The Wikipedia article is pretty accurate, except for the bit about the “significant amounts of alcohol”. That’s optional. I also do it year-round, rain or shine. If it snowed in SA we’d braai in the snow as well. And we only braai chicken if we feel we need some vegetables. I was surprised to see there’s a World of Warcraft league in SA called the Braaivleis League. Guess we both learned something new today. Also, ‘braaivleis’ and ‘braai’ are included in the SA edition of the Oxford Dictionary – that’s why I didn’t write it in italics. I think I just figured out what we’re having for lunch today. 😉
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