10 Things You May Not Know About Me

Eric S Burdon

Sep 12, 2018·10 min read

A few days ago I was tagged by Shannon Ashley to write about some things that may not be common knowledge. While my life is mainly an open book — for the most part — some things I don’t mention as I try to keep some of my personal details actually personal.

That being said, there are some details of my life that I have yet to put to paper and I think now would be an appropriate time. Not just because I was tagged to do something like this, but because it would be a fun writing experiment and to inform my audience a little more about who I am and where I’ve come from.

So let’s begin.

I’ve Got A Frog Collection

Over the span of my time on the internet I believe there is only one picture I’ve taken of my frog collection. It’s hidden in the depths of my Facebook profile, but it’s there.

I’ve got an assortment of stuffed animals, and figurines of various frogs. From a wooden one to glass, I’ve got a pretty good chunk of them.

I’ve lost track of how many I’ve got, however over the years I’ve only been collecting them sparsely.

Some of you may also be wondering why the hell I’m collecting frogs of all things?

I think a lot of it is to do with my stuffed animal frogs looking so damn cute. Not to mention the figurines that I’ve got are pretty unique. Most are from a figurine maker in New Brunswick who handcrafts and paints them so you can’t find them anywhere else.

I’ve Never Dyed My Hair Nor Got A Tattoo

I doubt any of my readers have seen my kid photos but I used to be hardcore blonde. Like super blonde. Like that picture above.

But these day’s, my hair is now more of a dirty blonde colour, browner than anything else by this point. How it got to that point is probably due to genetics seeing as my mom is brown and my dad I think was brown too.

But then how did I get the blonde?

I don’t know. Science is foreign to me.

But the thing is I didn’t actually dye my hair. The closest I ever got to dying my hair was through the use of ice tips after I got a haircut done. Back when that was an actual cool thing to do.

I love colours so much that I had ice tips that were red, green, blue, or yellow. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of that.

But at the same time as that I’ve never dyed my hair, I’ve also never gotten a tattoo.

No, the reason isn’t that of some religious belief or anything, I never saw the point in it. These days I know tattoos are a means of self-expression and maybe self-discovery, but I don’t think it’s necessary for me.

I’d rather people know what I’m about through my writing, videos, or by talking to me.

I’ve also gone through a lot of my own self-discovery that I think a permanent reminder on my skin isn’t really necessary, especially if every person in the world wouldn’t know what it means.

I mean, you could ask me, but it then raises the question of why have this in the first place? It perplexes me.

I Was A Cadet

Back when I was 13 I was part of the air cadets here in town. 333 Lord Beaverbrook Squadron. Kind of hard to forget the number.

Part of the reason was to get me out of the house and talking with other people my age. Not to mention putting kids in a military type of format would help in practical life skills.

The other reason is perhaps my father wanted at least one of his kids to be in the military. Since my brother was not the least bit interested, they roped me into this.

I was only a cadet for 3 years before I quit altogether. The big reason is that I felt I was pretty close to going through another depression episode. In a sense, I felt like I was more in the way.

And I won’t lie, I was a bit of an annoying person to be around.

But one thing I learned from it was I looked pretty good in blue. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of me in full uniform.

I’ve Only Dated One Girl In Real Life

My love life at the point of writing this is basically non-existent. Over the length of time I’ve been living, I’ve only dated once in my life. And even that was short lived.

I was the rebound boyfriend, and I knew well before then.

You may be wondering why I would do that and the big reason being was I wanted to help her?

Cause as much of an annoyance I was, I was at least a decent human being back when I was 16.

Furthermore, you may be wondering why I’m not dating or perhaps I’m not sure about my sexual preferences.

To clear that up I’m quite confident I’m into women more than men. I don’t feel any kind of sexual urges with men at all. As for why my dating repertoire is so barren, it’s because of my life decisions.

I’ve said many times before that I’ve lived mainly in solitude. That decision was by choice and as a result, I mainly found my dating experiences to be entirely online.

I wouldn’t say it was the greatest experience especially since a lot of those relationships I didn’t care about. Not to mention lack of physical contact didn’t really help much either. Especially since my love language is clearly physical since I feel a deeper appreciation when I hug someone or I am hugged.

These days, the only reason I’m not dating is I think it’s rude of me to be leeching off of a woman’s success. If it’s someone I have a history with then it makes sense to some degree. But a complete stranger? Nah nah nah.

Like I said, I’m a decent human being and I’ve been through a lot to know how dating works in theory.

I Started Giving Advice When I Was 13

Part of the reason why I know how to treat a woman right is that I learned quickly how to treat people decently. Even though I didn’t engage with people physically, I was still confident enough through the internet to give advice to people.

Early on I was talking to couples that were dating around my age or in some cases was a bit older than me. I was and still am the kind of guy that can get people to tell me their life stories.

Especially since there was nothing exciting happening at all in my own life. Nor did I make any effort to change it back then.

So a lot of that came naturally to me as I thought things over and gave advice.

Little did I know that those skills I acquired helped me to become who I am now. A writer. Giving advice.

I Have Musical Talents That Were Self Taught

I used to play the violin when I was in middle school, however, I eventually stopped when I was in eleventh grade. Part of that was due to my skill level not being up to par. That’s not that surprising seeing as many started when they were much younger.

But I felt the community — or at least the people I was around — to be snobbier and discouraged inexperienced players.

I recall my father having a difficult time teaching me and while my father is no snob, he’s no teacher. My father was one of the main reasons I was interested in playing to begin with.

But one thing that I felt more welcomed and still do from time to time is singing.

What others don’t know — especially when they hear my singing chops — is that it’s all self-taught. Outside of choir practice, I had in eighth grade, my experiences were from me singing the songs that I enjoyed listening to.

I eventually moved onto Broadway songs to help with singing longer notes and to help me out with higher notes.

It’s been a while since I’ve listened to any musicals, but I can sing two songs by heart: “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” from the Wizard Of Oz and “Wonderful” from the musical Wicked.

I’m Not Big On Relying On Others

These days I’ve been far more tolerable with this and have come to appreciate the help I have gotten and realize I need it. However, that wasn’t always the case with me.

Part of the reason why I kept to myself was that I preferred it a lot over having to talk to people. I enjoyed being with myself and only myself.

That line of thinking I believe started at an early age as I felt a lot of my childhood I was acting more “grown-up” than usual. I remember when I started kindergarten I think I was a few weeks in when I told my parents they didn’t need to walk me to the bus stop every morning.

Broke my mother's heart that did.

It also made sense that when I flew across Canada during the Katimavik program, I didn’t feel homesick at all during any of it.

While that independence helped me then, there was a lot of things that were wrong with it. For one it hindered my social skills and even my network of people as I didn’t feel much of a connection with them as I do with my current circle of friends.

Furthermore, I feel if I was more social then I wouldn’t have the issues I have now. That’s not to say that I regret every decision. But I think it probably would’ve been better if I was more vocal at various points in my life.

What also helped me a lot was the realization that the lone wolf gig wouldn’t get me far. I had to rely on other people if I were to improve and grow.

I Travelled Across Canada Twice

Travelling isn’t something big that is in my life as I want it to be. I think that’s partially why I want to live this laptop lifestyle I’m striving for.

Not to mention why I want to travel to Brazil of all places.

But when I have traveled out of province, they tend to be larger trips. From visiting family in Ontario to touring Quebec City and Ontario during my grade eight trip. But the biggest event in my traveling repertoire is that I’ve traveled across Canada.

Twice.

Once by car, and the second time was through the Katimvik program by plane. Mind you the first time (the car trip) I was 4 years old so I napped most of the way. Still, I count it.

And if we’re being technical here I’ve traveled across Canada three times seeing as I went from one side of Canada to the other in order to reach my first stop in the Katimavik program.

Either way, I still have aspirations to travel across Canada again at some point and actually experience it. But for the time being, it’s a pipe dream right now.

I Don’t Have A Drivers License

I’m almost 27 and I don’t have a drivers license.

While some people will tell me to go and get one, I haven’t found much of a need to. Cars are way too expensive to buy and maintain (even if you go used), and I’ve been comfortable relying on either the bus system, walking, or carpooling.

The reason why I don’t have one though isn’t because of some hipster statement or anything. I had a fear of cars or more specifically getting into an accident. I felt a lot safer with either of my parents driving as opposed to myself.

The other reason is that these days I have a tendency of falling asleep in cars very easily. Unless I’m having a conversation with someone or there’s good music playing, I’ll probably be out like a light in about ten or twenty minutes.

So long trips by myself or with someone who doesn’t talk much (like my parents), are a huge risk of me falling asleep behind the wheel. This still applies as well even if I’ve gotten enough bed rest too so it’s not a lack of sleep problem.

I’ve Gotten Very Few Awards For Anything

If there is one thing about my life that I think is pretty sad is that most of my life I haven’t achieved anything of great significance. That much is proven by the fact I’ve gotten very few awards over the years.

The last one of recent memory was I was nominated for paperboy of the week one November. That was over a decade ago.

I didn’t grow up much around getting awards for participation much like other millennials so I felt the sting of defeat many times before. In a sense, I’m thankful for it because it gives me more of a reason to do something with my life now as opposed to later.

Not to mention it’s helped me a lot in accepting praise more often and showing genuine gratitude for the compliments that I have gotten over the years.

Conclusion

So those are 10 things not many people know about me. Considering the nature of these posts, I’m not really one to pass these along. That being said I’d like to nominate Tom Kuegler and Michael Thompson if they haven’t done this already to give it a shot.

It’s a decent writing topic and for me it made me think of a lot of my past. More specifically about details that I haven’t quite talked about that have given me some more writing ideas.

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