Almost five things you don't know about me

In his weblog Allan Lian challenged me to participate in the 'five-things-you-don't-know-about-me' chain. Initially I posted my response as a comment to his entry because I was afraid of what people might think of me after reading these five (actually four) revelations. Maybe they would think I'm a freak and not completely sound of mind. But it occurred to me that these labels depend on the position the reader takes; they say nothing about me or what I am or what I think (related to this is the message that a certain woman wrote on her forum, stating that I was 'status seeking'. The fact that she wrote this says more about her than about me. Funny she found it necessary to delete her message and the response that it triggered. Anything that you write is not worth much if you don't have the guts to stand by it). Also, not publishing my five things would break the chain. So here it comes.

1. I am one of a triplet. I advise everybody not to be reborn as one of a triplet. It is not fun when people shout 'did you know he is a triplet?!' And it is not fun when somebody hits you because he thinks I am my brother. I am not. I am one of a triplet. And it was not a personal choice.
   
   
2. I consult the Yijing approximately once every five year. Personally I find that a little bit too much - but hey, I'm addicted, I can't be blamed for it.
   
   
3. My spiritual guide is Gao Xian 高閑, a Tang dynasty Buddhist monk who is mainly known for his excellent calligraphy (especially cursive hand) and poetry. Now he calls himself Gao Xing 高惺, which sounds like the word gaoxing 高興, 'happy', but it means 'high awakening'. Or something like that. Which shows he's a swank.
   
   
4. In 1978 I started to study at a chemistry high school. I had to travel two hours by train to get there. I had to get up at 5:30 and got home at 20:00, every day. Needless to say this was an utter failure. But boy, how I enjoyed those train rides. And I still love to travel by train.
   
   
5. There is so much I don't know about myself, that it is very hard to come up with things that I do know about myself. I spent two hours to come up with the four points I gave you above.

The last point is no joke. When it comes to my personal history I have a very bad memory; what I do remember is probably very boring. I am a simple guy and I am fond of mediocrity; avoid extremities, maintain balance in every aspect of your life etc. etc. is a central theme in the Yi, as far as I'm concerned. I cannot imagine a Yijing user going bungee jumping, that would be a contradiction.

I invite a good friend of mine and a Tai Chi practitioner par excellence to follow up on this chain. I am not sure if he will accept this invitation, but if he does not he might be willing to pass it through to someone else. Roel, wanna join?