114 - Sans, Saints and Ports

 There's a game that I've played around seventy times - and the challenge of the game lies in naming all the countries you possibly can. For me, it no longer is about the number of countries I manage to get, but a race against the clock to try and beat my own record of guessing all 195 nations correctly in 4 minutes and 8 seconds. (If you'd like to try, here's a link.)

This winter holiday, I decided to take advantage of the extra time I have and learn all 195 capitals. (Again, if you'd like to try, a link) I only have around 15 African capitals left to memorize, and then I will have them all down. I am surprised at the number of countries that have a capital city beginning with 'B'. (Just to illustrate: Baghdad, Baku, Bamako, Bandar Seri Begawan, Bangkok, Bangui, Banjul, Basseterre, Beijing, Beirut, Belfast, Belgrade, Belmopan, Berlin, Bishkek, Bissau, Bogotá, Brasília, Bratislava, Brazzaville, Bridgetown, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Bujumbura.) It annoys me greatly, as you can imagine.

My next venture will be to study a great number of the islands, rivers, lakes, seas, bays, streams, gorges, dams, volcanoes, mountain ranges, deserts, forests and rainforests in the world, then to memorize the three largest metropolitan cities of each and every country, then to familiarize myself with all the UNESCO sites around the world, and finally, to know the detailed geography of a handful of countries like the back of my hand, possibly just the G8, perhaps the G8+5, perchance the G20, maybe the G77 - Hell, maybe all of them.

Why do I want to do this?

I don't know. This is just one of those things that people do for no reason because it makes them feel good. Who knows whether one day this might come in handy on an everyday basis, or whether I will never implement this knowledge before the day I die.

Who cares?

It's fun to me.

58 - Can you name the Countries of the World?

I managed to name all 195 countries (195 according to this game) in 5 minutes 24 seconds. I obviously trained for this, but on my first attempt ever, I got 104. I know, I know, it's sad that I want to be good at such a dumb game, but hey, it's pretty impressive.

38 - I'm not a boy but I still had fun today

I'm not very good at being a boy. I'm a guy that loves to hug, hold hands, talk on the phone and take long walks on the beach at night. I love passing judgment on fashion, food, acting, writing, literature, celebrities and, of course, others (That means I'm a gossip). I don't like sports like rugby, football and basketball. I don't know anything about guns except for what a pistol, a rifle, a machine gun and a shotgun each look like generally. I have no clue when it comes to cars and their stats either, aside from the different brand names and where each car company has its headquarters. When it comes to games, in general, gore, blood, shooting, violence is fine with me, good and intriguing, in fact, but I have very particular taste and I don't turn on my XBOX a lot. (In case any of you game, I like Burnout, Halo and Fifa. And yes, that's all.)

That's not to say I don't have any boyish qualities. I'm a gentleman who holds the door open and tucks in a lady's chair on formal occasions. I work out, and can lift most heavy objects. I pay way too much attention to my hair. I love meat in any form, cooked in any way. I love making the fire for a good old-fashioned barbecue (well, I can usually make a better fire than anyone else). I love to go bowling, play golf and shoot some pool. I used to get into some really bad fights with boys, and I'm sorry to say that I resort to violence when people push my buttons hard. I get mad, I'm unreasonable at times and I'm selfish. But, at least I respect my mother (most of the time) and I am practically an older brother to my three cousins. I hang out with a bunch of dudes in school. Girls have had crushes on me and I have fallen in deep, deep love with girls before too. This duality in my personality is definitely a result of my bisexuality.

Anyway, so, today, we had two hours of basketball for Sports. I used to be in the basketball team a few years ago but that's all. I'm very good at scoring long-range baskets (freakin' insane at them), but I am utter crap at everything else. My dribbling was awkward. I didn't look before I passed. I ran offside twice in just five seconds.

However, there are two guys in my class that treated me like one of their own (they were on the team for four years) and they gave me a few pointers. I was able to try hard, bring back what I learned from being in the team, and have a lot of fun. I typically would hate basketball, but damn, I was a guy today. We played some games and I scored seven baskets. I ran around, I shoved the opponent without appearing like I was committing a foul, I had more testosterone pumped through me than I've ever had in years.

My days have been good for nearly two weeks now. I'm thankful for that and 2009 is getting off to a good start.

27 - Exorcist maze game

The actual game can be found here.