Another ten things you didn’t know about me, but do now.
1. I cry during some songs because they make me emotional.
2. (related) I love to put my music on loud and sing at the top of my voice.
3. I eat Milo straight from the tin. And I eat the Milo from the top of the milk, and (if my wife’s not home) I add more Milo.
4. After I finish writing a book, I feel like it’s the last idea I’ll ever have.
5. I am a massive cricket fan. I was brought up on cricket, on both sides of my family. My summer holidays were spent playing cricket during the lunch breaks of whatever test match was being played with whichever cousins I was staying with. My only gripe with the sport at the moment is that we don’t see enough of the women’s matches on TV.
6. (related) I am a bowler, not a batter, but a friend and I played in a 7-a-side competition years ago and were nicknamed Hayden and Gilchrist because we opened the batting for our team and no-one could get us out. Until our very last game when I was bowled my first ball and our streak was ended by a sneaky grubber.
7. My favourite movie is The Sound of Music. I had a crush on Julie Andrews. My second favourite is Bend It Like Beckham. Because… soccer. And Keira Knightley.
8. In my grade 7 yearbook, I put “rich” in the “What do you want to be when you grow up” spot. I was going to put “play cricket for Australia” but I knew that was out of the question, so I chose the one thing I knew I could achieve. The funny thing about that is as I’ve grown up, I’ve realised that being rich has less to do with money and more to do with experience and who you spend your time with. So I guess I’m well on the way to achieving that goal.
9. I’m one of ‘those’ people who keep ticket stubs, entry tickets and random pieces of junk paper that signify certain things in my life. Drives my wife nuts but I love discovering them when we’re cleaning up and remembering why I kept them.
10. I sang a duet with my then-boyfriend when I was in grade one at the end-of-year school concert. It was a wonderfully romantic rendition of “Mr Sandman”.