100 Things About Me

1. I was born on July 2nd, 1968 in Illinois, an only child.
2. I had awesome parents but an awful paternal grandmother.
3. My first memory is seeing an astronaut walk on the Moon.
4. The first day I walked was also the first broadcast of a man walking on the Moon.
5. The county where I grew up had no bookstore.
6. To buy a book or see a movie, I had to drive an hour one way.
7. I played my first game of Dungeons & Dragons at 12.
8. My dad was my first Dungeon Master for Dungeons & Dragons.
9. The house I lived in 'till I went away for college was built before the Civil War.
10. There's a lithograph of President Lincoln posing in front of a fireplace in that house.
11. My house was owned by Lincoln's secretary, John Hay.
12. I went to a high school 45 miles away.
13. I can drive very long distances without difficulty.
14. I've been in three car accidents, none of them my fault.
15. I've been in two accidents where the car was totaled.
16. I've only been injured once (see next entry).
17. When I was young, I was hit in the nose by a wild pitch in Little League, a game I didn't know how to play nor wanted to join.
18. I abhor sports. I hate how it takes money from other programs in school and that it has too much emphasis in society.
19. I'm a liberal.
20. I'm a card-carrying feminist and past member of NOW.
21. I majored in ancient Chinese and Japanese history expressely to learn about non-western things.
22. The first thing I wrote that was for someone else that wasn't for academia was for pay and was for the game industry.
23. During college, I fell into near starvation poverty.
24. I've never lived my life according to a list of goals. Therefore, my life is already fulfilled and I'm having a ball.
25. My favorite color is purple. I have a purple car.
26. I met my wife, Julia (whose favorite color is also purple, and who also has a purple car), when she joined my roleplaying game.
27. Two weeks after meeting her, I moved in with Julia.
28. Six years later, we got married.
29. For six months, we worked in the same office, in the same room, at the same elongated desk, and literally knew the precise location of each other 24/7—yet didn't realize we were that physically close until those six months had passed, leading us to conclude that we were, in fact, compatible with each other.
30. We got married on the Solstice.
31. It was a wiccan ceremony that Julia wrote herself.
32. My wife is a witch. (How sexy is that!)
33. I am an atheist.
34. I realized organized religion was bunk in Catholic catechism.
35. That moment was when another student asked: "Why are we here?" The nun's answer: "To be the best we can be."
36. I'm an atheist not because of logic but because I have no faith in a deity.
37. If evidence of ghosts is ever found, I'll believe it instantly.
38. It seems entirely logical (inescapable actually) that there is intelligent life somewhere in the universe.
39. I have no idea whether there are alien-built UFOs flying around the Earth, but it sure would be neat. If they are, I have an original and kick-ass theory as to why they're visiting us.
40. When I was young, I grew up reading UFO magazines and books.
41. Whenever we drove that hour (see #6), we would stop by Skagg's store so I could get the latest UFO magazine.
42. To this day I'm a sucker for UFO stories, even though I know they're fake, misguided, or merely mistaken, they excite my imagination like nothing else.
43. My favorite author is H.P. Lovecraft.
44. If I could go back in time to meet one person, it would be H.P.L.
45. If I met H.P.L, I would punch him in the stomach for being a terrible racist then I would give him a sandwhich because he was near starvation poor like I was at one time.
46. Horror is my favorite genre.
47. My wife says I like cute things (like Hello Kitty) so much that there's a six year old girl inside me.
48. My favorite movie is either Alien or Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
49. I first saw Alien in the theater. My parents took me to it. It was so intense an experience that I nearly threw up, something that's never been repeated.
50. I love movies dearly.
51. I love cats and have an affinity for them as they do with me.
52. I have no opinion about other types of pets.
53. I have very little tolerance for children.
54. One of my favorite sayings is: "Children are like radiation, tolerable only in low doses." It's one of the few quips I made up myself that I really like.
55. I'm very lucky to be married to someone who doesn't care for children either.
56. My favorite drink is Coca-Cola.
57. I can tell the difference between Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola. Given the choice, which one I drink depends on my mood at the time.
58. Anyone who knows me will tell you I have inexplicable food tastes.
59. Vanilla Coke tastes exactly like Cherry Coke to me, for example.
60. When I was young, I wanted G.I. Joe cereal but had no milk. I substituted orange soda (not juice, orange carbonated soda) for milk. People tell me that's what shattered my sense of taste into a thousdand different quantum realities.
61. I love the smell of watermelon but can't stand the taste.
62. I don't like hot drinks.
63. If given the choice between the same dish served hot or cold, I'll choose cold.
64. I absolutely adore the idea of the sandwich.
65. I don't know how to make a good sandwich nor how to cook.
66. Unless you count peanut butter and bananna sandwiches, which I crave.
67. I ate peanut butter and bananna sandwiches for lunch every day from grades 5-8, stopped during H.S. and college, and have since resumed.
68. At lunch back then, I would ride my bike home and eat lunch with my father who came home from his law office. We would watch Green Acres together. Despite this, I did not retain any Green Acres trivia knowledge.
69. My mom worked (still does) nights as a nurse, so we were all home together for lunch and then later for dinner.
70. I print and virtually never write.
71. I have a fetish for pens and inks of all types but especially purple ones.
72. I used to review pens and inks, though not professionally.
73. I write something, at least something, every day.
74. I'm not aware of having any phobias.
75. I get motion sick.
76. I'd love to get a tattoo, but I could never decide on what to get.
77. I've worn my hair long since I met Julia.
78. When I was 10, we visted the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. I got a medallion that one could get a 32-character message stamped onto. The phrase I made up was: "Praise physics and the universe." I wanted to be an astronomer when I grew up.
79. I suck at math. Hardcore suck. Thence went my astronomy career.
80. I abhor musicals, except for The Blues Brothers and the "Once Again, With Feeling" episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
81. Of the top five TV shows of all time, three are episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer ("The Body," "Once Again, With Feeling," and "Hush").
82. I'm not sure what numbers four and five would be.
83. My favorite animated show is Samurai Jack.
84. I've seen all the episodes of Batman: The Animated Series at least 10 times each.
85. I don't read comic books but I enjoy movies based on comics.
86. If I don't like a book in the first chapter, I ditch it. Life is too short and there are too many books.
87. I'm a World War II buff.
88. I suck at office politics because I can't understand why someone would be mean to a co-worker.
89. The most significant classes I took in high school were Typing and Driver's Education.
90. I know nothing about cars but I love driving/racing video games and the movies The Fast and the Furious and 2 Fast 2 Furious.
91. I drove nothing but a stick shift through high school and college. I hate sticks now.
92. I'm fat but I honestly don't care.
93. I've always wanted to learn to fly but assume it will always be too expensive a hobby for me to enjoy.
94. I love Macintosh and hate Windows.
95. I want a hybrid SUV just because.
96. "Moonlion" was given to me by my wife ("Moon–" because I'm a Cancer and the Moon figures prominently in that and "–lion" because of my long blond hair and affinity for cats).
97. I don't like small talk that's merely used to fill silence. It's pointless, awkward, and embarrassing to me.
98. I'm often quiet because I don't like to interrupt—it's rude. But, this means I often don't get a word in edgewise.
99. I have a terrible sweet tooth but healthy teeth because of genetics.
100. I can almost quote every line of dialogue, in proper sequence, of the movie John Carpenter's The Thing.