On The First Day Of Thirty Challenging Days

I've been seeing a lot of people on my Facebook feed participating in this "30 Day Song Challenge" thing, which is basically where you post a song each day, following a theme. Following this, came, I discovered, the "30 Day Book Challenge", and upon searching my hero Google, I discovered that there is a plethora (and yes, I use the word correctly, as the number gives me an overflowing supply of choices) of different 30 Day challenges that one can participate in. Because I like jumping on bandwagons as much as the next person (or, in the case of bandwagons, the previous person) I've decided that I'm going to sporadically do "Challenge" posts that respond to the following "30 Day Challenges":

• Song Challenge
• Book Challenge
• .Gif Challenge
• About Me Challenge
• Photo Challenge
• Facial Expression Challenge

I think that's enough things to make an interesting blog post each time I do one of these kinds of posts. Plus, various people were clamouring to know more about me, so now they'll have no reason to complain!! I suppose, then, that I should discontinue my usual waffling, and get into it.

Song Challenge #1: My Favourite Song

This is, actually, a really difficult question for me to answer. I don't tend to have just one favourite song. I have songs that I like a great deal, but their popularity with me waxes and wanes like our satellite the moon. To compensate for this, I'll tell you some of the songs that come to mind when I think of "What songs do I really really like right now?" and then give you the clip for the one that seems to have been in that list for the longest time (Oooooh oOOooh, for the longest time...) or just the one I feel resonates the best.

• Telephone - Pomplamoose (It's a cover of the Lady Gaga song)
• As The World Falls Down - David Bowie (It's from the film Labyrinth)
• I'm A Cuckoo - Belle & Sebastian
• This Winter I Retire - Said The Whale
• A Winter's Tale - The Tunics

 This Winter I Retire - Said The Whale (It's Been In My Head For A While Now...)

Book Challenge #1: My Favourite Book

With no question, and I have mentioned this fact before, my favourite book (or collection thereof) of all time is the Alice tales, by Charles Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carroll.) For me there is no story that presents a better allegory for "growing up" and learning to face the challenges of both puberty and adulthood. Alice goes from being a well-natured, if naive, young girl, and suddenly falls down this big hole into the unknown. There, her body and mind undergo change after change, she questions who she is, and learns to think for herself along the way, eventually learning to stand up for herself against the Queen of Hearts, and to face her fears when confronting the Jabberwocky. It is exceptionally well written, a joy to read time and time again, and it just...I find it...magniflorious.

.Gif Challenge #1: My Favourite Gif

I have, as with my song choices, many gifs that I really like. Unlike with my song choices, however, there is one gif that, when I see it, it just makes me feel...good...and nice...and happy - and all that kind of stuff. It's the image for the little animated avatar that I used to have as my MSN picture way back when I still lived in Diggings - and it is what earnt me the moniker of 'Tiger'.

About Me Challenge #1: 15 Facts About Myself

Okay - here's a nice straightforward one for me to do. Below are fifteen completely pseudo-random facts about myself (determined by asking people simple questions, what they wanted to know, etc.)

1. My favourite colour is a specific shade of blue defined by the HEX number #003366
2. My favourite number is 5, for ever so many reasons (which I will go into upon request only.)
3. My IQ is around 145, but it fluctuates. I don't think that IQ is a very good measure of intelligence
4. My favourite food is tonkatsu ramen with additional tori karaage in it
5. I've learnt how to play the piano, trumpet, tenor horn, and cello, but I'm not very good at them
6. If I was presented with a piranha infested river (wading across which would mean almost certain death), and I had Bear Grylls as my companion, I use Bear as a meat-boat, to get me to safety
7. I am deathly afraid of the unknown, to the point where being faced with something like a very deep body of water (where I can't see the bottom) causes me to go into panic mode. Similarly, so does being in a situation where I know I should know the outcome, but I cannot determine the best course of action
8. It annoys me how many many characters in the Marvel Universe use alliteration in their names. It's as though their parents were intentionally cruel - examples can be seen in Susan Storm, Peter Parker, and Lois Lane (and, if you count assonance, Clark Kent...) Bruce Banner
9. I am entirely addicted to Book Depository
10. My mother can sing the 60's "Hulk" and "Thor" cartoon theme songs from memory, which I think is a fantastic quality to have in a parent
11. I've always wanted a pet ferret/stoat
12. I used to have a webcomic, but it was terrible
13. I'm an applications developer
14. I don't really have any regrets - I think I can look back on everything as something I have learnt from
15. I am currently single

Photo Challenge #1: My Facebook Profile Picture

I have really been meaning to change this picture, for quite some time, but here it is: 

Look At Me There, Looking All...Something...And Yellow - Maybe I Have Camera Jaundice?

Facial Expression Challenge #1: My Regular Face

And finally, this is what my face looks like when I'm not...well...pulling a face, or smiling, or anything. I like to think of this face as "quiet contemplation" - it's the expression I pull when I am just existing, and nothing more.

Oh God I Have An Alfalfa Cow Lick Thing D: