About me (without mentioning math)...
I was born and raised in Ireland outside Buncrana, Co. Donegal. My mother despaired when I was at primary school because I used to go through a pair of trainers every fortnight, such was the amount of football (the one you play with your feet!) I played. I'm sure that random strangers thought that I was the victim of physical abuse of some sort, since my shins were constantly various shades of black, blue, brown and yellow. These were the days before I discovered shin-guards.
While at secondary school, I abandoned football and took up basketball. I'll never say I was good at basketball, but I wasn't terrible. I eventually ended up playing basketball for NUI, Maynooth but I never felt like it came naturally to me. However, on beginning an M.Sc. at NUI, Maynooth, I began playing football relatively seriously again, and only then did I realise how much I had missed it. Playing football is probably the activity that brings me the most joy in life, the only time when I can switch off and rely solely on my instincts.
Growing up in Donegal means that I am no stranger to rain. I would go so far as to say that I like rain. I have found myself in various places (e.g. Berkeley, California) thinking "I miss the rain". The best time to play football is when it is raining. The heavier the better. "Fair weather players" get on my nerves.
I am known by various nicknames, and I'll generally answer to anything you call me. I have an awful tendency to switch off when people are being introduced to me and, as a result, very often I have no idea of people's names. Hence I rarely call people by their names. Years of working in a bar taught me that there are ways around these sorts of problems.
My friends are very important to me. Good friends are hard to find, and I've got some great ones. I travel home to visit my Irish friends as often as time and finances permit. Eventually, I will move home to Ireland. I will live near the sea.
Living in Rio de Janeiro for three months has shown me a passion for travel that I didn't think I possessed. I would move home to Ireland or to Rio in an instant. I want to see as many continents as I can. I want to learn another language, and at the moment I'm leaning towards Portuguese. My single biggest regret in life is that I do not speak Irish fluently.