Blogography

        The “100 Things About Me” list seems to be an increasingly popular web meme. So, here's mine.  I listed down 165 things originally (I couldn’t stop) and then I had to trim it down to just 100.  Quite a not-so-easy task considering that I have so many things to say about me (as if!). 

        This is really an interesting exercise.  Now, I know myself more.

        So in the tradition of blogography, here are 100 things about me in no particular order...  Probably more than you’ve ever wanted to know:

1. My real name is Florent de Guzman Flora (and that's with a small 'd', so my initials are FGF, not FDF).  My family calls me by my nickname, “Polen”, while some cousins still call me “Ploy-Ploy”, my nickname when I was still very young (That’s why my favorite nursery rhyme is “ploy ploy ploy, the butterfly”).


2. I was born on June 17, 1971 at 8:47AM at the Baguio General Hospital in Baguio City.  For horoscope aficionados, the sun was in Gemini and the moon was in Aries when I was born.


3. I am a (non-practicing but licensed) Electronics and Communications Engineer.  I graduated from Saint Louis University in 1993 with cum laude honors.


4. I only have one sister, Eileen, six years my junior.


5. I absolutely love Spaghetti and Pizza (with thin crust), more than any other food in the world.


6. I don't like wearing watches or jewelries.


7. I usually wear contact lenses but I wear glasses when I have to sit down and face a computer or when I have to meet with some senior people.


8. I love dogs (the big, the small, the fat, and the skinny – any dog, as long as they bark). I eat dog meat also.


9. I fart at least 3x a day (the silent, deadly type that will definitely kill a dengue mosquito five feet away).


10. My body is really warm and I easily sweat that’s why I hate hot humid weather.


11. So I drink water a lot.


12. I played keyboards in a high school band named "Orderly Chaos".  We played new wave music.


13. And I played lead guitar in another band named "Grupo" when I was in college. We played Hard Rock, Grunge Rock and Heavy Metal Music.


14. My band (Grupo) and I would frequently go to bars around Baguio and we would pester the bar management to allow us to play for free.


15. I fell in "love" the very first time at when I was seven years old in Grade 1 with a classmate who kept beating me in academics (She was always 1st, I was always 2nd).


16. I have smoked only (and only) three sticks of cigarettes in my life, just for the thrill of it.  I never liked the taste and it made me very, very tense.


17. I have never taken illegal drugs.


18. If I could speak Niponggo, people would think I am Japanese.


19. I'm an amateur (or a wanabee?) race car driver.


20. I'm a fitness and wellness freak.  I take my vitamin and meal supplements everyday.


21. The first time I ever went to a strip bar was in Olongapo in 2nd year college when we visited a classmate and we went around town bar-hopping.


22. I used to hate veggies when I was a child but when they served "Pallang" (it’s the Ilokano name of the veggie), I ate all of it.


23. I used to eat flower buds from my Mom’s garden when I was a child (so I still ate “vegetables” after all).


24. Trust me, you won't like me when I'm angry.  Honest.  (a la Bruce Banner)


25. My first out-of-the country destination was in Japan in 1996 for a one-month company-sponsored training.  I became a child again when I visited Tokyo Disneyland.


26. I'm 5'4" in the morning and 5'3" at night.


27. I was 140 lbs six months ago (borderline near overweight).  I'm now at 128 lbs, my ideal weight.


28. I've never had my ear pierced (not even my tongue or belly button).


29. I don't get excited easily.  People say I that am always a calm and composed fellow.


30. Blue (any shade) is my favorite color (It was sky blue when I was young).


31. It takes me 20 minutes to relieve myself in the bathroom in the morning and another 10 minutes to take a bath.


32. I can identify the Orion, Gemini, North Star, Little Dipper and Big Dipper constellation groups in the night sky.


33. My high school classmates called me a "painfully quiet" type of guy.  Nowadays I tease a lot and they are always surprised when they see me talking.


34. I am good at remembering names but not faces.


35. I cringe every time I see people eating spaghetti by cutting the noodles to pieces with their fork instead of twirling it around and around like Italians do.


36. I love to drive fast... really fast  (both cars and motorcycles).


37. I started motorcycling only one year ago and have had seven spills, two of them left scar marks on my knees (right and left) and one on my elbow.


38. I also have had seven accidents while driving a car - five self-accidents, one involving an L300 van and another with a motorcycle.  Oh, and there’s another one where the company car I was driving was rear-ended by another company car (but it wasn’t my fault).


39. I was a consistent honor roll in elementary school (except for one year) and a consistent dean's lister in college (except for one semester - blame it on "love").  I never was an honor student in high school.


40. I sang "Footloose" in 1st year high school but without the dance steps.  I just stood absolutely still and only my lips were moving (that’s how "painfully quiet" I was).


41. I had “long” hair in college (not really long-long hair like in a shampoo commercial, but long enough to be able to tie my hair at the back and make a cute pony tail.)


42. I enjoy watching horror movies... even when I’m alone inside the theatre.


43. I seldom smile.  And if you see me smile, it means I'm happy… as in really, really happy (even if it’s just part of my teeth showing).


44. I sleep on my back with my legs straight and with my hands on top of my tummy, like dracula.  I can also sleep while sitting upright in a chair, as long as my head has something to lean on (and I snore, too).


45. I rarely notice it when I cross paths on the street with people I know, so they always say I'm a snob  (Kalabitin nyo kasi ako... I'm pre-occupied with my own thoughts most of the time)


46. I am never without my cellphone, although oftentimes I ignore text alerts and just read it later at a more convenient time (snob daw ako at hindi nagre-reply sa text kaagad).  And thanks to caller ID, I also ignore calls sometimes (but I do return those calls at a later time).


47. I rarely watch TV nowadays... there simply is nothing good to watch there.


48. I have a pesky pimple on my nose that keeps manifesting itself every now and then.


49. My first kiss was back in 2nd year high school during a class parlor game.


50. I almost got hitched (married) a few years ago, but it simply was not meant to be.  My fault… head ruled over my mind.  It’s now a closed book.


51. My legs are light and hairless; even girl friends become insecure and envy me when they see my legs.


52. I don't have any tattoos on my body.


53. I speak Ilokano, Tagalog and English.


54. I was baptized a Roman Catholic although I attend worship services in a Baptist Church (don't ask me to compare or elaborate).  I am a Christian in a complicated kind of way.


55. I rarely went to church when I was in High School.


56. My first real job was as a computer instructor in AMA Computer Learning Center in Shaw Boulevard, Pasig City.


57. I love all types of chocolates (choco bars, brownies, cakes, ice cream, etc.), except the white variety.


58. I have very lousy handwriting, considering that I am an Engineer. I can never write straight engineering letters like my dad's (he's an architect).


59. The shortest I have worn my hair is 1/8 inch all over just less than a year ago (semi-kalbo).


60. I got my driver's licence at age 24.  I didn't know how to drive when I got my license but I got it anyway.


61. I'm terrible at bowling but I enjoy it anyway (The highest score I ever got was 135).


62. I love cold mountain weather, with its cool breeze and morning fog.


63. I had my first taste of beer when I was in 4th year high school during a class outing in Pansol, Laguna.


64. The last time I drank beer was during my Boss' birthday party last February.  I try to avoid drinking alcohol when I can.


65. I like solving math puzzles.  I can solve the Rubik's Cube in 1 minute and 15 seconds


66. I won in an extemporaneous speaking contest when I was in Grade three.


67. My very first pet dog was named "Pacu".  He’s a big black askal dog with white collar and white feet and he loves to follow me around wherever I went.


68. My favorite pet dog (a chihuahua) was named "Medor".  He could somersault in the air and land on his feet like a cat.  He's a weird dog - he preferred bigger female dogs over his own kind.


69. I used to be able to do 100 push-ups and 30 sit-ups straight when I was in high school.  Now I could do at most 30 push-ups and 20 sit-ups (but I’m improving again).


70. I don't like routine.  I get bored easily.


71. Technically, I know how to swim.


72. I have never held, much less shot, a gun.


73. I prefer drinking coffee in Seattle's Best (real coffee mugs) vs. Starbucks (paper cups).


74. Although I know how to cook (a little), I always eat out or buy take-home food unless somebody invites me at their home for dinner.


75. I still have my tonsils, appendix, and gallbladder intact inside my body.


76. My biggest fear is to get sick and be hospitalized in a foreign land with no relatives and no financial aid.


77. At one time or another during childhood, I wanted to be a Policeman, a Fireman and a Garbage Collector


78. I hate Diet Colas (or any Diet Soda for that matter).


79. I am color blind (I can only read one number out of six on the Ishihara color blindness test chart)


80. I wash and iron my own clothes.


81. I have never been held up yet (knocking on wood).


82. I have lost two cellphones already (I left them inside a taxi cab in both instances).


83. I have a few strands of gray hair on my head that I have had since high school.


84. I have low tolerance for hot, spicy food (gimme lotsa water!).


85. I am sponsoring one child’s education through World Vision Philippines since 2004.


86. The farthest I've gone in the up north in the Philippines is in Kalinga-Apayao, down in Southern Luzon is in Sorsogon, and down south of the Philippines is in Davao City.  The best places I've been to are in Kalinga Apayao with its virgin forests and crystal clear spring water, and Bukidnon with its "rolling" plateus.


87. I don’t find Gizmos and gadgets interesting.  They don't attract me at all so I do not understand people who are so fascinated with these little things.


88. I rarely get colds anymore  (I used to have bouts of colds and cough attacks almost annually when I was young and my mom would say “Take your medicine” but I won’t).


89. I still have two units pending before I can get my Electrical Engineering Degree in Saint Louis University (I’ve not taken these since I graduated BS ECE in 1993).


90. I love to read. I'll read the back of the cereal box if nothing else is available.


91. If ripe mango juice is available in a restaurant, I'll order it.


92. I can sleep comfortably in complete darkness or with the lights on.  It doesn’t matter to me.


93. I have a scar on my nose that I got as a child when I stumbled and fell nose-first on our stair steps at home in Baguio.


94. I prefer sleeping in the living room at the ground floor of my apartment (it's much cooler down there).


95. I am a lousy gardener.  I once killed a rose plant that I was attempting to raise.


96. I prefer keeping a few friends than knowing many friends, and I remain loyal to them forever.


97. Sugar tends to loosen up my tongue and I tend to speak more (That’s why I put lots of sugar on my coffee during meetings).


98. I have this rarely-seen big birthmark on my butt/hip.


99. I give a fabulous backrub. And I enjoy it, too.  Give me a fabulous backrub and I'll follow you anywhere.


100. And finally, after hours of typing and thinking of 99 other things about me: My online screen name is Dexter, and that's what I choose to be.

        Whew!  Now, let's go back to LIFE.  :-)