Seven Things – Tagged by Michelangelo van Dam

Ok I was tagged by Michelangelo van Dam and thus let me share 7 things you do not know about me.

Although it is not necessary to comply with this tagging game, I will use this tagging game linked to the seven deadly sins.
So be prepared to enter my mind. And a beautiful mind it is. (Jeps guilty on pride)

Lust

Giving into lust can lead to sexual or sociological compulsions and or transgressions. But what about my lust for writing good PHP?
There is nothing sexual about that? Or is it?!! It can boost my ego whenever I have that ahaa-moment when writing code.
Adrenaline rushes through my body and I want to code some more. Feeling very energetic after that piece of code has been written.
Ready to do some happy dancing, and as we all know dancing is sexual.

Gluttony

Meaning to gulp down, swallow. Gluttony is the over-indulgence and over-consumption of anything to the point of waste.
I never experienced this. I am hungry, very hungry to learn more on a non-stop basis. I gulp down, swallow information like you
wouldn’t believe. Sometimes I think my nickname should be the human sponge as my brain tends to pick up everything it finds
interesting and rarely lets go.

Greed

I love money, I love lots of it. But not from a greedy point of view but from a giving point of view. The more I have the more
I can share with the world. Greed is something I cannot know. My life philosophy just doesn’t allow this. I give away ten percent Of what I earn to good
causes. Try to help out as much as I can. Greed is linked to competition and fear, both of which I lack. If you passion is in coding
and you do a good job at it, as is with everybody who is passionate about something, you do not have to be afraid of competition.
You create something, something beautiful and you will be awarded for it. Every time. Now please donate 5 euro on my PayPal account.

Sloth

The modern view of sloth is the failure of utilizing one’s talent and gifts. As I do not consider my coding as a gift, members of my family and
friends all perceive is that way. What I do perceive it to be, is that it is my passion. And I am doing it even while sleeping. So excess is maybe a better
sin for me. Luckily it does not exist. 😉

Wrath

Anger or rage. This is a difficult one. Not that I become enraged but when people ask my help and I offer it to them freely and without any return value I expect them
to follow the advice I gave them. If they do not follow it, I think it is a pity but it’s like that. Yet if they come for that same advice again or start blaming other external factors instead of themselves in failing to comply with the advice,
I feel it as a waste of mine and their time and thus a certain disrespect. That is when I feel a bit of anger. I also feel a bit of anger when I am counting on somebody, something and it fails me. Yet
the anger is not towards the person, thing who failed me but towards myself for putting my trust in it. So I am guilty on this one. But only in a mild version 🙂 And if you do not believe me you can test me, but don’t
try it while I am holding a Chainsaw.

Envy

I also have a bit of envy, but it is a healthy portion. When I see someone having the thing I want, I might want it too. I will talk to that person, if possible, congratulate him/her and ask him/her how they
did it. Then I will plan to acquire it also. The moment I envy something I go for it, otherwise I really do not envy it and I am not guilty. The mantra I follow is, if you can see it in your mind, you can hold it in your hands.
At the moment I envy authors of best seller books. But I am working on that. 😉

Pride

Definitely guilty on that one. But I have to disagree with the definition of pride where it is linked to competition. I see pride as a healthy love for yourself and you wanting the best for yourself. You can have, be and do anything
you set your mind to. And you should love yourself enough to achieve it with respect and love for others. Take ownership of your faults but take even more ownership in your accomplishments as the world and soon yourself will forget all
the mistakes you made in favor of the good you do. Also please as an absolute minimum in self respect: brush your teeth, wash your armpits and clip your nails. 🙂

I think that’s about it.

Some other facts about me:

1) I live with my wonderful girl Chanie who I met on a boat party called Cruises to pleasure.
2) We have two cats, Google (sphinx) and Nero (Siamese). And a fourth member of our family will soon arive: Moody a Peruvian hairless dog
3) When I was 17 I could hold my breath for 3 minutes 30 seconds. Today it is only half of that.
4) The first real coding I did was a hack for the two great giana sisters on my Amiga 500, followed by a hack on Lemmings. I was around 13.
5) Yes I wear non formal clothing outside work
6) I am attending http://www.phpconference.co.uk
7) I cannot wiggle my right foot clockwise and write a big six in the air without twitching that same foot!

My time to tag 7 people: Mathieu Laurent, Mathieu Kooiman, Christophe Gesché, Zeev Suraski, Jensen Hunter, Langerak Berry, Ruud Alberts

Now it is your turn, happy tagging,
Nick Belhomme
Ps. want to see who tagged who in the PHP Community? WhoTaggedWho

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