I Want To Talk About Me

My wife did this and has been telling me I need to do it as well. I'm not sure if I can come up with 100 things about me, but I'll try for some random things that most people probably don't know about me. For those of you who don't think that I can come up with 100 interesting things about myself. . . your probably right.

1. I have a slight obsession with the Wyoming Cowboys.
2. I have a more than slight fear of needles - especially for giving blood. It isn't about the pain, but just the thought of what is happening. It gives me the heeby-jeebies.
3. The last knuckle of my left pinkie finger doesn't bend.
4. I love being able to speak Italian.
5. I miss mountains.
6. I miss my dog Alex.
7. I have a minor fear of flying. But I guess if I was ever in a plane crash, it would probably be a fairly pain-free way to go.
8. I don't like bugs.
9. I pop my knuckles.
10. I used to have the best "horse" shot in basketball at the old Institute Building in Laramie. Off the wall, off the ceiling. . . nothing but net.
11. I like to sing along to songs that I know. I have a hard time just listening to music.
12. I like lazy Saturday mornings.
13. I like the number 13.
14. I'm lactose intolerant. Other than that, I think I'm fairly open minded.
15. I think that I'm funny when I tell dumb jokes or say dumb things.
16. I want to live in Lombardia.
17. When I was a little kid, I wasn't cute, but I had lots of "character". I've managed to increase that character over the years through good quality character building experiences.
18. I know all the words to "American Pie" - the song, not the movie.
19. I miss playing sports competitively.
20. I'm a bookworm. If you know me, you already knew that. It started out with Louis L'Amour westerns, then morphed into SciFi/Fantasy and has now moved on to anything that interests me. So if you have suggestions, I'm open to most everything.
21. I say funny things like "used to could" or "more funny" and it sounds right.
22. I can't ice skate at all. Not even a little.
23. I once told my wife that she has no hand-eye coordination, and she still loves me.
24. I don't really like board games. Just not my cup of tea. I think that I get too intense and a little too competitive when I play them anyway.
25. I think that I make better Italian food then most restaurants I've been in.
26. I'm married to Miss Congeniality. Really. I'm not lying. She was. Our friends the Kenyons have seen the video. If you don't believe me, ask Lisa. I'd offer to let you watch the video, but when I mentioned it to Lisa, she nixed the idea rather quickly.
27. I married up.
28. I think that because I have a needle phobia, I go to the hospital more than most people. I've had weird medical things happen to me, especially in the last five years. It's not my fault either, they just happen to me.
29. I read Pride and Prejudice and thought that it was really funny.
30. I don't think that I'm squeamish, but I don't like the sight of blood too terribly much. Every once in a while, we'll be watching TV and Lisa will pause on the Discovery Health Channel just as they are eviscerating some poor mother to get the baby out. I have to cover my eyes.
31. I'm glad I'm a guy. I'm not tough enough to be a girl.
32. I've had three concussions. . . I think.
33. I'm a homebody and have turned my wife into one as well.
34. I still think that I'm about 18-19 years old.
35. My body knows that it isn't 18-19 years old.
36. I have hand-stitched a quilt.
37. I like food. A lot. All different kinds of it.
38. I wish I could play the guitar.
39. I once ran down Grand Avenue in Laramie (at least for a few blocks) with my tennis shoes on. Try not to let your imaginations run too wild.
40. I like my job, most of the time.
41. I shot spit wads in Jr. High School gym class. Sorry Mr. Berg.
42. There is not much better in life than hitting the sweet spot on a bat, throwing a perfect spiral, or pulling up and hitting nothing but net on a jump shot.
43. I've learned that the secret to fishing is holding your mouth right.
44. I know you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.
45. The only speeding ticket I ever got was with Brandon Ross, coming back from the temple.
46. I couldn't sell home security systems to save my life.
47. If given the choice between real food and dessert, I think I'd choose real food 90% of the time.
48. I carry on conversations with myself in my head, in Italian.
49. I wish I could read music. That would make piano playing so much easier. Right now I have to memorize everything that I play.
50. I'm proud to be from Wyoming.
51. I would like to learn to speak Mandarin Chinese and Farsi. Maybe Japanese as well. Arabic anyone?
52. I wish that I had the means and the time to travel wherever I so desire.
53. I really want to be a dad.
54. I'm rather proud and think highly of myself. I have this problem in that I always think that I'm right, except for once when I thought I was wrong, but I was actually right (another classic example of me thinking I'm funny).
55. I've thrown passes to a Belitnikoff award winner.
56. I think that I'm a quick learner.
57. I have mad ping-pong skills.
58. I once drove a golf ball 375 yards with a typical Laramie tail wind helping.
59. Speaking of golf, I once drove the green and eagled a par-5 on the back nine of the Lander golf course. It was during a warm spell in December about seven years ago, so there was no snow on the ground, but the pond was frozen over. I bounced the drive off of the ice and on to the green.
60. I come from a good family.
61. I've cried many times in my life, most of them because of some sort of sporting event.
62. I like Deep Thoughts.
63. I think that it is rather sad that I can quote random dumb movies better than I can quote scriptures.

64. I wish that Calvin & Hobbes was still going strong.

65. I think my wife is great. I also think it's great that she thinks I'm great.
66. My favorite holiday is Christmas.
67. I'm not a huge fan of eating fish, except for sushi. Weird.
68. Sometimes I think that I'm too laid back for my own good.
69. I'm allergic to animal dander.
70. I've never been cow-tipping. Contrary to popular belief, it is not the state-sponsored sport of Wyoming.
71. I'm not a fan of the authentic, Rochester-only garbage plate.
72. I'm not a big texter.
73. I'm somewhat scared of the dark.
74. One of the things I like best about owning a house is mowing the lawn.
75. I have a rock from the top of Wind River Peak that sits on my desk at work. It surprisingly is not a great conversation starter, mostly people look at it and then give me a funny look.
76. I know that I weigh more than I should, but I'm working on that.
77. It has taken me nearly three days to come up with this list so far.
78. I think that in general I am a happy, easy-going person. It is pretty rare that I really let something get to me. I think that I have been blessed with the ability to assume the best of people, even when they probably don't deserve it.
79. I think that I could talk for five days straight about Italy.
80. Tack on another three days if the conversation turns to Italian food.
81. I'm full of dumb sayings (gathered from Brandon Smith) that just tend to come out. When that happens at work, I get some weird looks. It seems like I get weird looks at work quite often. I guess I'm just the weird kid from Wyoming.
82. I might be the only person in Rochester that doesn't think winter is that bad. I mean, I spent five of them in Laramie. That should have prepared me well for anything, and not just education-wise.
83. When I get bored at church, I count things. Ceiling tiles, bald people. . . if it can be counted, then I have counted it.
84. My wife doesn't like it when I wink at her while I'm sitting up on the stand during church meetings. I think it's funny.
85. I like happy endings.
86. I wish that I had done a musical in high school.
87. I've had five endoscopies in the last six years. It's been 18 months since the last one. I'm due. Sorry Lisa. Maybe I could talk to the hospital and I could get a punch card, like buy nine and get the tenth for free.
88. I like to be in control, or at least feel like I have some grasp on any given situation. I have a hard time just letting myself go.
89. I think that I could still pick up a recorder and play "Hot Cross Buns".
90. One of the talents that I have been given is to be able to sleep on command. I know this drives Lisa nuts sometimes because I can just put everything out of my head and go to sleep at the drop of a hat. More than a few people have said that in this regard I am like a dog. I take that as a compliment.
91. Speaking of sleep, I can go from dead asleep to completely coherent in about .0001 seconds. This seems to mystify my wife. She can get up in the middle of the night with me snoring away (more like a bear at this point than a dog, at least that is what I've been told) and .0001 seconds later, I ask, sans sleepy voice, "Are you alright?"
92. In my office at work, I have a picture of Wyoming mountains, a picture of the 1996 Wyoming Cowboy Football Team, a Wyoming Cowboy Banner, a photo of my grandfather Packer's WWII bomber, and three pictures of different areas of Italy up on the walls.
93. I love learning Italian. I can sit down and read an Italian dictionary and count that as a good time. My wife would tell me at this point that I'm a dork.
94. I'm not the most organized person, but Lisa is. Don't worry, I'm slowly bringing her over to the dark side.
95. I have been snipe hunting. I have also been a guide for those hunting the elusive creature.
96. I think that I could write a book. In fact I've started several.
97. I've been accused by several people of liking the sound of my own voice. Alas, it is true.
98. I could easily spend an entire day doing nothing but reading a book.
99. I'd have to say that an insalata caprese is one of the most simple yet tasty treats in existence.
100. I occasionally have dreams that I'm still playing football. It is somewhat disappointing when I wake up and realize that I'm not.