There was a meme. It started with the 100 things about 100 webloggers in 100 days project and spread in 2002; not being a blogger at the time I knew nothing of it. Five months into 2003 I decided to leap onto the bandwagon, and so I now have a list of one hundred things about me. These were originally released on my blog at a rate of ten items per day; this is because when I launched it I'd only written half the list. Ahem.

Now read on...

1. I'm always late into any trend I participate in. Like this one.
2. When I put CDs or DVDs back into their case, I then rotate them so that the writing is the right way up before I close the case.
3. I am generally obsessive about things that I like - whether it's reading all of my blogroll daily, buying all the books an author has written, buying all the albums a music artist/group has released (and then downloading all the B-sides), catching every episode of any TV program I watch, etc.
4. I talk to myself a lot and daydream far too much, even in public places.
5. I am a list-maker. Lists of what to do, what books to get, what features to add or markup to change for bent back tulips, what to blog about, what films I have recorded but not yet watched, etc.
6. I believe 'geek' and 'nerd' are two separate things.
7. I am a bit of a feedback junkie - I check my referrals a few times each week, and my comments each day (more often than I blog).
8. It takes a lot to make me lose my temper - not many people have seen it happen.
9. I can't stand other people's misuse of language, such as using 'everyday' instead of 'every day', or saying 'consequently' when they mean 'subsequently'.
10. I have a long attention span, and a lot of patience.
11. I get intensely involved when I'm watching a good film.
12. I hate watching films with people who aren't paying full attention to it. This includes people talking in the cinema.
13. I will never be bored on my own.
14. I can't stop buying books or cheap videos when I go shopping.
15. I don't cry at traditional or generic 'soppy' films, but I am the only person I know of who has cried at The Godfather Part II.
16. When I sing along to music that I'm familiar with I sing in harmony with the main melody line. Often without noticing.
17. My life has a soundtrack due to the non-stop playing of music either on speakers or in my head. I can't stop it even when I'd like some silence.
18. When I'm not singing along to music I tend to be humming to music that's in my head. Other people get annoyed since I don't notice myself doing it.
19. I am a mild perfectionist and pedant.
20. And yes, I insist that the year 2000 was last century.
21. I reread all books except for those I didn't like at all.
22. My favourite book, which I've read sixteen times, is Gone With The Wind. I can't stand the film.
23. I cannot read fanfiction (apart from Cassie Claire's Very Secret Diaries), although I've written a piece for an online competition.
24. I sometimes have a tendency to overanalyse things.
25. I can't touch type 'properly', but can type looking at the screen and using all ten fingers, at about 75wpm.
26. I like to think things through before stating my opinion.
27. My dream car is an old (but perfectly preserved) Jaguar E-type, with a CD player installed.
28. If you can't find at least one Beatles song you like, you're not listening hard enough.
29. I don't believe that astrology is in any way meaningful.
30. I'd rather be too cold than too hot.
31. I have very sensitive tastebuds. Some people don't believe me when I tell them that orange Smarties are made with orange-flavoured chocolate. They are, though.
32. I don't have a favourite colour.
33. I hate not wearing a watch, because I need to be able to see what the time is. And it needs to be accurate.
34. Having said that, I barely ever look at my watch and will instead do a visual search for a nearby clock.
35. I can in no way be described as a morning person.
36. Since I was born at 6.44am this means that I almost never witness my birthmoment.
37. I tend to dwell on things.
38. I hate keeping other people's secrets. My own, I'm fine with.
39. I generally get ill only once a year. But it will put me out of action for a whole week when it happens.
40. The first time I saw The Matrix I was half-asleep and the film was halfway through before I realised that Keanu Reeves' character wasn't called Neil.
41. I don't exaggerate about things.
42. I am an introvert.
43. I used to be very shy but I've mostly got over that. Now I'm just antisocial without the excuse :-)
44. I hate shopping for shoes - not that I've done it more than twice in the last two years - because my feet are too narrow and shallow to fit most shoes. Slip on shoes like mules, or any shoes without straps just fall straight off again.
45. I can't roll my tongue despite the fact that the rest of my family can and it's hereditary (according to my third-year Biology textbook, anyway).
46. I'm also the only member of my family with only one middle name instead of two. I was incredibly offended when I realised this, aged six.
47. I get upset when other people are disappointed in me.
48. I hate editing things after I've written them, so I spend a long time composing my writing in the first place.
49. Galaxy is the best chocolate. No question. Update: Galaxy used to be the best chocolate. But in about August 2003 they altered the recipe slightly, and now I have to reluctantly concede that Dairy Milk is, in fact, the best. Update update: At some point Galaxy switched back to the original blissful creamy wonderous recipe, and is now firmly #1 again. Hah.
50. I passed my driving test first time, four months after I started driving.
51. I've lived in three countries - the UK, France for 10 months when I was five, and Singapore for 18 months between the ages of almost-seven and eight.
52. I've visited fourteen countries. Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, England, Wales, Scotland (okay, cheating a bit), France, Germany, Canada, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy.
53. At the age of ten I won 96 Creme Eggs from a national newspaper for writing in on a postcard and telling them how I ate mine.
54. At the age of eleven I won two four-day tickets to the British Grand Prix with pitlane passes from the same newspaper, worth £300 each. My brother and my dad went since they're the motorsport fans in our house.
55. The following year I won The Wizard of Oz on video from the same newspaper.
56. I didn't win anything for three years after that (and never again anything from that newspaper) until I won the Thief Of Time and The Fifth Elephant unabridged audiobooks on cassette, one of which was signed by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs.
57. Two weeks later I won the full range (26 at that time) of abridged Discworld audiobooks.
58. Six months after that I won a Dibbler's Pie and a signed Jay Hurst poster of a Discworld scene.
59. I haven't won anything since; I think these things come in threes. Update: Have since won another Terry Pratchett audiobook, and an invitation (one of about six, it seems) to John Cleese's 65th birthday party. See entries A Long-Expected Party and The Man Himself for further proof and details :-)
60. Although fiercely scientific and logical I am also quite superstitious - I touch wood, cross my fingers, etc.
61. I am lefthanded, like everyone in my family apart from my dad. (We're not sure about the cat.)
62. I find I don't need other people's approval.
63. I can read perfectly well in the car without getting sick.
64. However, I do feel sick when I'm in the car as a passenger for more than an hour. Not when I'm driving, though.
65. Although I'm not one for extreme sports - or sports - I'd love to try hang-gliding.
66. I love gadgets.
67. I would love to live in New York sometime.
68. I would hate to live in New York, especially in the summer and winter.
69. I really want to visit New Zealand and Australia.
70. I hate crowds and I frequently get headaches when I'm around lots of people for a few hours or more.
71. I should see more films at the cinema than I do (which really means I should be prepared to go on my own). I can only think of three brilliant films that I've seen at the cinema.
72. I like buying gifts and doing things for other people.
73. I am a bit of a control freak, although I seldom admit it.
74. Although my spelling is generally very good, I can't write my middle name without concentrating.
75. It's "Sarah". (I always try to put an 'h' before the 'r'. Absolutely no idea why.)
76. I despise 80s music. And hair. And fashion.
77. I think one of the biggest tragedies in the world is wasted potential.
78. I never have the television on unless I'm watching a specific program - no channel-hopping, no having it on in the background (a habit that I can't understand). And never in the mornings.
79. I rarely remember my dreams, but when I do they're exceptionally mundane.
80. I procrastinate a lot about things that need to be done. I stick them on a To Do list instead of doing them.
81. I hate it when you can tell someone is just waiting for you to stop talking so they can start.
82. My mood is hugely affected by how sunny it is, which sucks when you live in Britain.
83. I get irrationally scared - I should say terrified - by large insects and spiders. My pulse rate will go up to about 120 per minute if I'm surprised by one.
84. Not only can I not say the alphabet backwards, I have difficulty starting from anywhere but A.
85. I can't use bookmarks; I rely on remembering the page number.
86. I believe that details are important.
87. I'm so used to my mum and I eating Mars bars strangely - starting with the chocolate, then the caramel, then the 'nougat' - I will double-take if I see anyone eating one normally.
88. I've almost forgotten how to do handwritten, non-sideways smilies.
89. I hate not being able to do what I feel I ought to be able to do. However, I'm fine with failing at things that I know are beyond my abilities.
90. This is why I don't mind at all that I came second-to-last out of the whole school year (about 70 girls) in our three-mile cross country run. I couldn't see the point and started walking halfway through. I wasn't absolutely last because I was walking with another girl, we sprinted on the final straight for penultimate place and I beat her by half a second.
91. I can't act; never did Speech & Drama or the like at school. It therefore takes an awful lot for me to notice a good acting performance - such as William H. Macy in Fargo, Al Pacino in The Godfather, Natalie Portman in Léon, Kevin Spacey in American Beauty or Edward Norton in Primal Fear.
92. My favourite actors are James Stewart, Al Pacino, Robert de Niro, Edward Norton, Kevin Spacey and Dustin Hoffman. Notice any overlaps?
93. I have a good sense of direction; if I know vaguely where I'm going I can usually tell which road to take when I'm driving. Er. Without looking at the signposts, I mean.
94. I'm very good at putting things out of my mind when I don't want to think about them. This can backfire sometimes.
95. My books, CDs, etc. are not alphabetised and I cannot imagine who would do such a thing. Books and CDs organised randomly by author and artist, fine, but for the rest I just recognise them by their colour.
96. I don't know what my blood type is.
97. I honestly don't see what the big deal is about New Year's Eve.
98. There are words that I cannot stand. 'Recalcitrant', 'minutiae' and 'infinitesimal' are all valid examples. I'm sure there are more, but I try to forget them.
99. I don't have any kind of fear about needles. I find that I'm able to relax enough that injections don't hurt - no one believed me when I told them that having my ears pierced didn't hurt a bit.
100. My 'childhood movie' that I watched over and over again - assuming that "Rupert And The Frog Song" doesn't count as a movie - is "Labyrinth". I still love it. I only found out a couple of years ago what a cult following it has.