Other Things You Probably Shouldn’t Know
I’m afraid of spiders
When I am writing, I shouldn’t be interrupted, unless you WANT to be eaten alive. This is a rule no one is brave enough to break. Except my husband and daughter (which means interruption is imminent)
I speak Klingon (very very poorly)
I love Star Trek (and can probably name that episode you vaguely recall)
I hate bad spelling (No, this is not a peeve… I HATE POOR SPELLING)
Bad grammar is not okay.
My grammar is probably worse than yours (he he he)
No one laughs at my jokes, but I keep telling them.
I often disappear. (sometimes right in front of people!)
Yeah, I meant that figuratively (You were wondering, weren’t you?)
I don’t always answer my cell, even if it’s from my best friend (I sometimes don’t respond to messages either) This is usually because I am busy with something and decide to call them back later or respond to the message later (this is only if I know the call or sms will take long) Yeah, you hate me, admit it.
Sometimes I’m a real push over (whom I kidding?! I’m like that all the time)
When I find a book or movie that really moves me (not necessarily the weepy kind of “move”) I will read and watch it over and over. I’m a sad loser that way.
I am protective and occasionally a little possessive. Over a good book (that someone ELSE wrote) a good movie, some random thing I read or some silly belief I hold (boy is that a long list – let’s leave that for another day, shall we?)
I occasionally get this overwhelming need to build or make something. If you don’t let me just run with it, a strange chemical reaction takes place and the whole place blows up. No really… Chances are it’s because I was building something on the low down.
I’m addicted to carbs. I love bread, white bread, brown bread, seed loaf, soft rolls, seed rolls, cheese rolls (need I go on?)
I don’t like chocolate (unless it’s the occasional dark chocolate with almonds – and I DO mean: OCCASIONAL)
I don’t like sugar (unless it’s in my coffee, then I go overboard)
I’m addicted to cayenne pepper (on scrambled eggs, on chips, on corn on the cob, on sliced granny smith apples, on bananas – yeah, I actually AM serious. Don’t laugh, at least it’s healthy… and I don’t judge you (is that a chocolate wrapper in your bin?)
I am clumsy (and guess what, it’s actually a medical condition these days!)
Dropkick Murphy’s is the best band in the world. Amen. And if you disagree, go fly a kite (it’s probably more fun than reading this anyway)
I sometimes wish I had OCD… so I could be more organised.
I think I may have OCD with a few things (usually all the annoying things that I can’t make myself stop doing – like checking everything for spiders)
Hey, you never know where they may be hiding, okay?
I’m always hungry. Don’t ask me how I stay thin (kinda)… I really don’t know. I just am always hungry. It’s one of those bizarre facts of my life (Now THAT’s a long list that I am sooo not touching) If I ate like a normal person I’d probably be really thin (nah, food is better than “really thin”)
Oh well, now that you are:
A) Slightly afraid of me
B) Feeling sorry for my craziness
C) Bored to tears
I will leave you with those few disturbing thoughts (Yes, you can pick as many options as you like)


Yolandi
March 26, 2011 at 9:12 am
B) feeling sorry for my craziness! LOL! Ek is saam met jou in daai bootjie!
Sam
August 5, 2011 at 1:27 am
I love this list…I can relate to so many things on it.
Colin
January 11, 2012 at 11:36 pm
Hi Amanda,
I love this list! Very funny. I hope it was intended to be …
I noticed that you recently reviewed a book called Coffee at Little Angels by a friend of mine, Nadine Rose Larter and I thought I’d take the chance and see if you’d be willing to review my own book, The Baggage Handler which is currently available for Kindle (I’m working on other formats too).
It’s a male take on the romantic comedy as hapless Martin tries to win the heart of his sudden and unexpected love interest, Kasia. He’s like most guys; he’s fine talking to women generally, but cannot pull himself together around her because he’s putting too much weight on it. She on the other hand, doesn’t see that he’s hopeless only around her, because she has nothing to compare it to.
It isn’t autobiographical as such, though I have either done, or witnessed most of the embarrassing, flailing attempts at romance that take place in this book. It is romantic and it is sweet in parts, but for the most part, it is a tale of a man willingly abandoning every aspect of his carefully crafted, deliberately shallow existence for a woman who hasn’t asked for, nor invited his attentions. It’s about sexual politics and the increasing requirement to be a man in the fullest sense, in a world of independent, liberated women.
Ultimately though, the things we’ll do for love are pretty funny, and I hope that comes across in the book.
Summary of the book (from Amazon):
Martin White, editor of The Shallow Review of Books, likes his life as he likes his work: shallow. Living in purposeful near-isolation in the middle of a crowded city, he keeps his relationships superficial and his life uncomplicated. His deliberate avoidance of social potholes prompts his colleagues to turn to him for assistance handling their own life and relationship baggage, which only strengthens his resolve never to allow any of it into his life. He’s pretty happy, albeit hollow and empty.
But then Kasia turns up. Young, Polish, focused on minding her own business, she neither invites, nor encourages Martin’s flailing attempts at romance, but he can’t help himself. For reasons that defy logic for an isolationist such as he, he falls for her, hard. Years of handling baggage have done nothing to equip him to handle his own however as he realizes with excruciating displays of ineptitude, again and again. He’s way out of his depth …
Faced with a challenge by Rich, his more socially adept colleague, to ask Kasia out within a week or Rich will, Martin has no option but to open the doors to all the complexity of modern life and relationships as he re-emerges from the shadows.
The Baggage Handler is an acknowledgement that if you’re going to be serious about it, this love stuff is hard.
About Me:
I don’t know where I’m from, but my best guess is that I’m South African though that’s really a twist-of-fate rather than a birthright. Born in England, I moved to Belgium when I was two, South Africa when I was 12, Dubai when I was 25 and back to South Africa when I was 31. Nowadays, I call London home.
I’ve done some fun stuff. I helped start a successful business in South Africa which I still part-own and I spent a lot of years before that writing articles for magazines around the world.
My first attempt at a novel happened in 1995. It was laughable. My second happened once I’d got over myself, in 1999. Not a lot better. But since then I’ve made writing a big part of my life and The Baggage Handler is the first one I’ve had the guts to put out into the world as grown up enough to take its own reviews. I really like it. I hope you will too.
I’m still writing so there are more books on the way.
Other authors talk about their awards and their accolades, so I suppose I ought to do that too. I won two white mice at a school tombola once. That’s kind of it. My mum made me donate them to the school which is just as well because the cat would probably have eaten them anyway. He was a monster, that cat …
Other than that, I’m just a guy who loves telling stories, loves language and respects both enough to know that if I’m going to ask readers to trust me with their time, I ought to do my best to make it worth their while.
Thank you very much.
All the best
Colin
Amanda
January 12, 2012 at 10:35 am
Hi Colin,
First off, I’m deeply honored to be asked to do a review for you and secondly: Hells yes off course I’ll do it! I had a great laugh about the white mice; the fact that your letter writing is so engaging is a good sign that I’ll enjoy your writing style, so I’m finding myself rather excited to start reading it.
Sometimes things start out funny all natural-like when I write… then the inevitable side effect where I notice it takes place and my humor becomes forced. It’s a challenge to try and remain consistent, hence the “wannabe-writer” status *chuckle*
Thanks,
Amanda
Colin
January 15, 2012 at 4:16 pm
Fantastic! Thank you so much! How do I get it to you? May I send you a pdf? Do you have a kindle? You can email me directly on colinjbrowne at gmail dot com.
So exciting …!
All the best
Colin