5 things about (him and) me

Paul recently tagged us for a "5 Things About Me" meme. He cheekily handed the task of selecting five things about him over to his partner, and Mike provided a most pithy profile of the gourmand. We've decided to appropriate this idea and write 5 things about each other.

Here are five things you might not already know about Michael:

1. Michael's CV boasts 3 degrees: in maths, IT and criminology.

2. The first meal that he cooked for me was a huge wok-full of noodles, chicken, veges, peanut butter, and a sachet of curry paste. This was his signature dish and he was secretly disappointed at the lukewarm response it received from me. I was just trying to keep my watering eyes in check - I was no match for the chilli oneupmanship that goes on in a sharehouse of 20-something males. Still, a man who cooks at all is pretty attractive, right? He's since refined his style but still provides most of the enthusiasm (and labour) for the hearty and/or spicy meals on our table: one-pot wonders, curries, Mexican, and the like.

3. Much to my bewilderment, Michael's a sport lover. He thoroughly enjoys a social game of soccer or netball, and has been known to rise early (3am early) to watch a soccer or cricket game in another time zone.

4. Michael's most hated foods are fresh tomatoes and bananas. His tomato tolerance has gradually developed to sauces, sun-dried and the occasional sandwich but there's been no shift on the banana front. Consequently they rarely enter our house at all.

5. Contrary to popular assumption, Michael decided to go vegetarian before I did. (Seems like it's the kind of bleeding-heart thing girls do, and then bully their boyfs into...?) He challenged himself to try it for 5 weeks and then didn't stop. I followed his lead about a month later.

So, to return the favour: five things you don't know about Cindy:

1. Cindy has a PhD. Unfortunately, she makes scant use of her impressive title, leaving it to me to book flights and things for Dr Cindy.

2. Cindy is a weird eater. There are all kinds of rules by which her eating is governed: fizzy drinks only go with fatty foods, pasta and salad must travel to work in separate lunch boxes, coffee can only be consumed with chocolate. And so on. Most weird of all though, is her obsession with eating neatly. On one of our earliest outings together, I sat and watched Cindy painstakingly pick at a slice of cheesecake so that it always looked like it had just been served up. There was nary a bump or chunk missing anywhere, strictly straight lines. After watching this for some time (another thing: Cindy eats more slowly than anyone I've ever known), I took my fork and mashed her cake up a bit. Not a wise move. I honestly think she didn't enjoy the rest of the cake at all. Weird.

3. Cindy's vegetarianism (while copied off me) brought her into line with the way most people saw her anyway. I've lost count of the number of people who've met Cindy and somehow decided that she was vego. It used to happen with startling regularity. At least now their assumptions don't make an ass out of anyone.

4. Contrary to our inner-city, latte-sipping lifestyles, Cindy doesn't like olives. I've been working on her for years, but even a tapenade is enough to turn her off. Other food phobias: uncooked onion and uncooked mushrooms (despite an almost pathological love of cooked mushrooms).

5. Cindy is a talented (if currently inactive) painter - there are at least three of her pictures adorning the walls of our house. She's tried to paint pictures of me twice, but I can't sit still for long enough without falling asleep, so they're both of me in the land of nod (I wonder if it just means she doesn't know how to paint eyes? Hmmm.)

We won't tag anyone else in particular, but please join in if you feel so inclined and give us a link to your post. I'd love to know at least 5 more things about you!