25 Things about me – Because I was asked…

I was “tagged” in facebook and thought this list would be a nice addition on my personal blog as well.

1. I have been on crutches on at least 3 separate occasions in my life. Twice for reasonable things, once ’cause I was being an idiot

2. I have exercised rigorously pretty much all of my life, but it doesn’t really show unless you’re looking for it

3. I used to love summer school when I was in high school. I never could quite get the hang of mornings. I’d finish summer school before I’d normally have woken up anyway so no vacation time was lost for me…

4. I absolutely believe that you need to cultivate some bad habits to let off steam. You do not need to feel guilty about these, just don’t overdo them.

5. I spent a year attending one-on-one bible study when I was in University. We went through the entire New Testament. There were still a lot of unresolved questions after that.

6. I am an atheist. I don’t hate your god, I just don’t subscribe to any aspect of his/her/its existence. More properly I call myself a freethinker so as not to define myself within a context that is not relevant to me. Current conceptions of god are too small, too petty and completely overshadowed by the amazing natural universe for me to even consider otherwise.

7. I love bicycling. When I take a day off work in the summer I nearly always make time to take my roadbike out for 20 or 25 miles. I have cycled the Cabot trail on a tandem bicycle with my (now) wife, Michelle.

8. I dislike crowds and crowded places. I like the theory of large groups of people WAY more than I like the actuality. My favorite time is spent with maybe a half dozen friend talking over pleasant food and good drink.

9. I have never been to a rock concert (corollary to #8).

10. I am now a cat person. I was not until Michelle introduced me to cats. I intensely dislike dogs. There are some individual canines that I appreciate, but none of them can take me in a fight…

11. When I was younger I had 23 allergies, I could eat almost nothing, pets had to be fish or reptiles.

12. One of the hardest goals I have ever achieved was getting my private pilot’s certificate. Not having anybody who flies in my family made it very difficult to assess the effort and to understand the culture. Plus the arcane meteorology symbols and charts are ridiculously difficult to master. I consider myself a competent pilot (read – not a hazard to myself or others) but I recognize that I will be learning about flying for the rest of my life.

13. I have only stolen once in my life, it was an Aero bar (mmmm… chocolaty bubbles) and I was probably about 4 or 5. My mother made me take it back to the store and apologize.

14. I have not been bored since I was in grade school. I think I even remember that last time. I have too many hobbies and interests to wallow in morose self pity and I don’t have much patience for those who do.

15. My undergraduate degree is in Human Biology with a minor in computer science. I also had sufficient courses to minor in Philosophy but made computer science my “official” minor when I realized how good I was at it.

16. I tried smoking a cigarette ‘way back in grade school. One puff was enough to show me that this was not a habit for me.

17. I don’t drink coffee. In high school I started to cultivate a taste for coffee. But I was drinking it pretty much 1/2 coffee and 1/2 milk and sugar. I decided that, if I’m going to indulge in coffee, I needed to enjoy it on its own merits and should have it black. My first cup of black coffee went down, then came back up again in fairly short order. I realized that there weren’t any really compelling reasons to drink the brew and moved on.

18. I love sweets, but I mostly refuse to cultivate new tastes in desserts. I like enough junk foods that I do not need to cultivate any greater repertoire than I have now.

19. Due to #11 above my taste in food can be quite bland. I have become more and more adventurous in non-junk foods in my adult life. I never had Mexican food until I moved to America when I was 31 years old.

20. I much more enjoy a book or movie when I know how much of it is left. I will read a few chapters of a book and get rid of it if I don’t find it appealing. I usually am in the middle of 2 or 3 substantial books at any given time.

21. The things that bother me most about other people are the traits that I do not like about myself.

22. I am passionate about excellence. I respect people who exhibit it, regardless of what they are doing. I strive for it in what I do and would that I could achieve it more often.

23. I am a sucker for any movie involving immortality. The idea of spanning lifetimes to see the evolution of civilization into the future intrigues me. Also, the exploration of the price that almost certainly would need to be paid fascinates me.

24. I would love to live in California for about 5 years, Las Vegas too. I like it warm and I think those places offer interesting opportunities both from a work and from a personal growth point of view.

25. I like to know. I watch the needle go into my arm when I give blood or get a shot. I want to know exactly what the dentist is going to do. I cannot abide censorship and I have no tolerance for folks who want to “protect me”. My imagination can be worse than most realities (when you think about painful situations). Reality is very important to me, it grounds me and it gives relevance to the world around me.

There you have it, 25 things about me. Your turn!

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