25 Random Things

I've been tagged on this enough times, I decided to finally do it:

Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (or however many friends you have...) then click publish.

1. I am a father of a three-year-old and minus-one-month-old boys.


2. I have been married for almost eleven years.


3. I am not really comfortable talking about "me" -- at least not insightfully. I have a slight suspicion that one of the reasons my wife pestered me into joining Facebook was so that I would have to fill out things like this.


4. I had never been good at, or enthused at partaking in, sports or athletic activities, until I became a running addict at 33 years old.


5. I am a geek. My father brought home our first family computer (the original IBM PC) when I was seven, and I wrote my first computer program in BASIC when I was nine.


6. Most of my family beat me to the social web -- my wife, my mother, my in-laws, my cousins, all were on facebook and myspace and twitter and had blogs long before me.


7. The only posessions that I have ever been genuinely jealous of, or coveted, is other people's homes and their yards. I would be willing to drive a clunker, dress in rags, and give up tv for the rest of my life if it would help me afford to own a 8000 square foot home with a 20-acre yard.


8. Upon waking, I almost never remember my dreams -- but when I do, its usually because they were either extremely bizzare or extremely disturbing, or both.


9. If I could afford to travel, I would like to go (likely in this order): Germany, Ireland, England, Scotland, China, Australia, Italy, Spain, Egypt, and Antartica.


10. I store all my blue and brown socks in one drawer, and the blacks and grays in a second, with white/casual socks split between them. This way I can grab the right socks in the dark without waking my wife.


11. I was so thin for most of my childhood, even a bit into college, that when I started gaining weight, I considered myself a skinny guy with a just a bit of a "gut". It took several years of being overweight (and expanding) before I realized I was actually a fat guy. After a couple of years of roller coaster weight management attempts, I have since managed to return to my high school weight.


12. I ran my first race in February of 2008, and have run numerous since, including three half-marathons. I have a goal of turning in a full marathon run this year that will qualify me for the 2010 Boston Marathon.


13. Probably around 75% of the women I had dated in my life were in marching band. I met my wife through the Butler Marching Band -- she was playing Cymbals, I was marching Bass Drum (they had enough saxophones, but were short on percussion, and it stuck). Actually, we were initially introduced by Rachel Northcott, who I was dating at the time, and who was also in Marching Band.


14. "My" first car was my parents' 1982 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser Station Wagon. White with laminated "wood" panneling. My second was their gun-metal gray 1986 Dodge Caravan. The first car I ever owned myself was a gray 1989 Mercury Grand Marquis. My first truly New car, was a teal 1997 Geo Tracker.


15. I was a newspaper carrier for six years.


16. We are in the process of making an offer on a half acre lot, where we hope to build our "dream home" -- by doing the contracting, and much of the work ourselves.


17. I consider "Die Hard" to be a classic Christmas movie.


18. My wife and I discovered that we both were in Maui at the same time during high school, a couple years before we had met.


19. I don't particularly like to drink pop (soda). I especially dislike basic colas (coke, pepsi, etc.). In general I prefer water and milk to most other non-alcoholic beverages. On the more leaded front, I prefer dry red wines, dark/stout/guiness-like beers, and jagermeister.


20. I think our whole system of taxation is flawed. Income taxes, property taxes, capital gains, etc. -- all of it should be thrown away for the Fair Tax (see FairTax.org).


21. My wife and I lived in southern California (near LA) for two years. Although I like to travel and visit new places, those two years taught me that I want to live in Indiana. I love living near my family.


22. My wife and I struggled with infertility for several years -- nearly every visit to a doctor had brought some more bad news about the likelyhood of conceiving. When my wife called me to meet at my workplace to talk with me about the OB appointment she had just had, all sorts of worst case scenarios played through my head, like cancer and hysterectomies and whatnot. When she pulled up and told me she was pregnant, the combination of shock, joy, and relief sent me into hysterical laughter.


23. I love hot & spicy foods. At any given time, I have around 6-9 different types of hot sauces open in the fridge. I grow hot peppers in our little garden most years, and every few years get around to making and bottling my own hot sauces.


24. Back in elementary school when we chose what instrument we wanted to play in band, my parents really wanted me to play trumpet, but I wanted to be "different", and chose the saxophone. After some grumbling, my parents supported my decision and got me a used saxophone and private lessons. I really enjoy playing the sax, but sometimes I have a tinge of regret and wish I could join my father, brothers, uncle, and cousins when they play trumpet ensembles at church and family gatherings.


25. I usually gloss over the many web-based advertisements like wallpaper, but the various "Get Rich with Google" ads that keep showing up on the Facebook sidebar are really making me twitchy.