32 Things You May Not Have Known About Me

I don't have a vast amount to write about, so I thought I'd stray from the norm a little. In this blog, I'll share some stuff about me that you may or may not know. Hopefully it'll be interesting to y'all.

1. My nationality consists of around 48% Scottish, 48% English and 4% Irish. My surname (McCluskey) is Irish.
2. I consider myself agnostic (I do not stick by a religion and am not entirely convinced on the whole "God" thing), though was baptised, so am listed as Christian.
3. One of my bigger traits is curiosity. I've frequently found myself in a disadvantaged state because I had to go out of my way to find something out.
4. I'm not afraid of death. This ties in with #3. What happens when you die is of huge interest to me, so to me death will be just another question answered. Having said that, I'm unlikely to go out of my way to find the answer out.
5. I was born (well, once I'd grown hair) with a "dirty blonde" hair colour. This has slowly changed to brunette. I've never dyed my hair and have no plans to do so.
6. Having spent three years single, I miss relationships. However, I do enjoy certain aspects of single life, and try not to dwell on it.
7. I'd consider myself pessimistic/realistic. Despite trying to look on the bright side of things I always convince myself that in the end they won't work. Which leads into:
8. I lack self-confidence. Although I eventually grow into the feeling and loosen up, if I walk into a crowd I will suddenly become very shy and try to find somewhere to hide. My quietness in these situations is a contrast from...
9. In familiar company, I'm loud and talkative. I often try to crack jokes, with varying success.
10. I find life, specifically other people, interesting. I will frequently see strangers and wonder what their life is like.
11. I'm a daydreamer. I must spend at least an hour each day thinking about certain people, places and things. I also like thinking about what my life would be like if I were an [insert career].
12. My brain is bursting with ideas that I know will never come to fruition. These aren't just for games - I have a plethora of ideas for movies, concept albums, and books (though most of these transform into movies as my mind likes to picture everything).
13. I have a tendency to be able to remember things of no importance, while useful knowledge is quickly forgotten. In particular, I'm good with remembering numbers (I was once able to tell a friend his mobile number, having only seen it once about a month beforehand) and pictures/scenes. I actually have a memory of a discussion between my parents from when I was one.
14. I began school life excelling, I ended it failing badly. Before I was two I could spell my full name unattended. Before I was three I could look at signs and read their text. I hit the 15.6-year-old maximum level in a continuous spelling test when I was 11. I also, on several occasions, corrected teachers in primary school. However, though I passed all 10 GCSEs, some of which were scraped passes, A-level went downhill. In Year 12 I got a C and three Us, in Year 13 I got a D and two Us. After the A-levels were finished (last May) I left education for good.
15. One day I want to see the world. Particularly - Tokyo in Japan, Machu Picchu, Coober Pedy in Australia, and Easter Island. I would love to film these adventures too.
16. I had wanted to become a video game creator since I was five, though back then wasn't aware I would be able to do so by myself. I had many drawn pictures of mock screenshots of games. So far, I've only actually gone on to make one of these - 2004/5's "Fight of the Height".
17. Although I discourage the use of "Nal", it's how it began. I made it up at the age of six as my fictional development company. Aged 12, I decided to use it for old time's sake on the back of a geography essay, though decided I should make it stand for something. "Notalot" became that something.
18. I dropped usage of "Notalot" in favour of "NAL" toward the end of 2006 when I decided it looked better on a DVD cover. It came into use as the insignia for a printed-out cover I made for a game dedicated to my then-girlfriend. The game is called "Rabbit Escapade".
19. I consider 2006 to have been my favourite year so far. Not only because of the aforementioned relationship (though it played a big part in it), but also because in August I went on holiday with a friend called Tyrone McKenzie. This holiday holds many memories for me (including one of walking five miles back to our resort from an amusement park because we spent the bus fare on the rides without thinking). Shortly after the holiday he moved away with his dad and we lost contact - avid attempts at finding him have proven moot.
20. I'm accident prone. I've fallen for plenty of stupid things in my time - slipping on banana skins, walking into French windows, hitting my head on the car door frame as I enter it, stubbing my toes more times than countable, etc. Some of these have resulted from my daydreaming - in Year 13, I caused a horrific, three-day headache when I lost attention to where I was walking and took a metal pole to the side of my skull.
21. I consider my two favourite videogames of all time to be Psychonauts and Canis Canem Edit/Bully. The former was simply stunning (particularly a level called the Milkman Conspiracy), the latter was one of the most refreshing experiences I've ever had. This one, in a broken-record-like turn of events, was acquired at my time of being in a relationship. The game deals with high-school relationships so it was incredibly relatable. The game I've probably clocked up the most hours on, though, is Mashed: Fully Loaded, purely for the fact it's the best party game in the world (bollocks to Guitar Hero, Singstar, EyeToy, and anything with a motion-sensing controller).
22. My first ever relationship lasted around seven years (though they were young years). I decided to call it a long day when she refused an invitation to my 12th birthday party on account of it clashing with trampoline class. Charming!
23. I have been accused of robbery and arson in the past. I committed neither, and luckily neither saw me in any lasting trouble.
24. I've been grounded for a total of one day in my entire lifetime - it was for telling somebody to "f**k off" and attempting (but failing) to get a branch into their spokes as they were riding their bicycle. My motivation - the person in question was, at the time, incredibly annoying.
25. I've been in love with two people in my life so far - one became a failed relationship, the other never got that far.
26. I've been in hate with absolutely nobody so far. Though I've disliked hundreds of people, I've not ever absolutely hated them. Leads onto:
27. I cannot hold a grudge. If somebody's rattled my cage, I will want to be pissed off with them for life. It just won't happen. And this, in turn, leads onto:
28. I like being at peace with people. I've been into plenty of arguments in my time, some major, some minor. But my reason for calling the argument off is almost always that I simply don't want it. I respect others' opinions; I'd rather shake their hand and make up with them.
29. I've never been in hospital for my own medical needs. Doctor's clinic - many times. But never a hospital. I've never broken a bone in my body (at least not to my knowledge, I was once told your little toes break five times a year without you ever knowing - I don't believe it).
30. As much as I try to hide it, I'm a very emotional person. Though only two films have actually had me in tears (The Green Mile, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), there are plenty of others that have me fighting it back. I also tend to share other people's emotions, particularly pain. If I see someone upset, even if I dislike them, I instinctively want to help them as I feel bad for them. Connected to:
31. Of all the things that make me happy, making someone else smile, laugh or even just smirk, will make my day. In a world where "life is meaningless" (a philosophy I personally find bullshit) and sadness is abundant, making people happy, even if just for a few seconds, is immensely satisfying.
32. I deal with stress and sadness badly. I've, in the past, used the metaphor of storing stress and sadness in a tanker inside me. When the tanker overflows, I generally break down uncontrollably.

I've tried to cover a piece of everything in writing this. I also thought it would be nice to out a side of me you wouldn't normally see, as my games generally tend not to cover any kind of emotion.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to offer an ending to any curiosity about me. If there's something you'd like to know, leave your question in the comments. I will likely answer them all, unless they're serious or they hit a genuinely massive nerve (which is unlikely, I'm open about myself). They can be about anything you like, personal, game-wise, whatever.

So, yeah. Thank-you for reading, both this blog entry and my blog as a whole. I appreciate it.

~Andrew