8 Things About Me

I was tagged by the Western Confucian...

The Rules:

1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

Here are my 8 facts.

1. At the moment I consider myself a civic republican, though I question whether the Italian city-states were true polities--were they more like aristocracies/oligarchies? Something to investigate. I used to admire the Confucian civil servant/literatus, who were better than the modern bureaucrat, and also European monarchies and serving in monarchical governments. (Can one really dispute that St. Thomas More was a saint through his service, and not in despite of it?) But now I have a different opinion about the origin of the European monarchies, and prefer the ideals of Romanitas (combined with Aristotle's Politics) to Confucianism.

2. I don't get any pleasure from alcohol. What I usually get are headaches and/or sleepiness. So, it's not a temptation for me, and if I'm looking for something to distract me from the pains and trials of life, it won't be alcohol. Probably not other drugs either.

3. I find women who are praying, wear a mantilla, put their hair up (or have it tied up or done in some other manner, the simpler the better of course) to be "hot." The same is true for women who are deep in thought.

4. I think that if I ever get married, the woman whom I will end up marrying will be someone who likes to write letters as much as or more than me.

5. I hate running long distances or jogging. Short sprints are fun though, and I like going for a long walk. I just need to find a good pair of walking shoes. If I could rely on a bicycle as a frequent mode of transportation that would be ideal. I hate flying on airplanes. I also hate being inactive, especially since it is a weakness.

6. I still have difficulties with judging amounts of ingredients and portion sizes. I suspect that I would probably eat less meat if protein sources were limited to small animals and I had to kill the animal, skin and gut it.

7. My favorite breakfast food would be some sort of congee, with ja leung or yau tieu. I don't think I'd ever get tired of Cantonese cuisine. What would come next? I'm not sure. I do know which restaurant I would visit first as soon as I return to California, and it's Korean. I may go to the Indian buffet too. Brazilian bbq is too salty and dry usually, but that's the fault of the people working there.

8. I like window shopping in malls and examining current fashion trends. I don't like shopping for clothing for myself.


Even if I got out of academia, I'd still wish that my Greek and Latin skills were better, and that I could learn classical Chinese. I'm a bit envious of Paul Potts's talent, I'd like to learn how to sing or chant at least. I don't think I'll ever get a chance to learn Hebrew or Arabic.


I tag Pete Takeshi, Seraphic Single, Sunshineg1rl, xin_lian_xin, alliesarang, James at CatholicPublius, Zoniax, imuhhater, FindingRhenie.

(No pressure on you all to do it, it's just for fun...)