43 Random Things

1. For about 2 years, every Bosconian video game machine in the greater Chattanooga area had my initials atop the high score list.
   
2. I prefer typing, chatting, emailing and texting to talking.
3. All my pets have been named after fictional (or close to fictional – I had a cat named "Elvis") characters.
4. "Flavored" coffee is okay, but I loathe flavored creamer.
5. My longest "continuous" relationship was for two and a half years.
6. I'm still kind of a picky eater, but I used to be really picky. Until college, I had never eaten any "ethnic" dishes or any seafood; never put anything on a burger except ketchup and never had a topping on a pizza.
7. I've written two screenplays and almost an entire book, that no one ever saw, that were eaten by a computer crash.
8. I've got 109 MB of rantings about an ex.
9. If you were to count up the number of televisions shows that I've seen in their entirety (every single episode), it would definitely be over 100.
10. I've balanced my checkbook to the penny every single month for over 22 years.
11. I've had 13 different cars since I started driving. 2 Dodges, 1 Pontiac, 2 VWs, 1 Buick, 1 Toyota, 1 Eagle, 1 Ford, 1 Mazda, 1 Lexus and 2 BMWs. But you always remember your first.
    
12. I've visited 7 different countries.
13. Since I've been smoking, I've only bought three brands: Lucky Strikes, Vantage and Marlboro.
14. Though I've probably said it a couple of more times, I think I've only been in love 9 times. At least as far as I can recall. These things are always hazy. And with an "adult mind," I've probably only really felt it twice.
15. I've talked my way out of a BUI by saying my ABCs backwards.
16. I always played shortstop, and I slept with the third "baseman" on my softball team. (note: it was a co-ed team).
17. I've always had the same cell phone number.
18. I shot even par once. But it should have been a 69, and I got greedy on the last hole.
19. I hate vegetables, except for green beans.
20. My first real kiss was from my babysitter.
21. I've never lost my car keys. Or my wallet. Or my cell phone. Or sunglasses. Or pretty much anything. Except for my way. And my self-respect.
22. I think eating with chopsticks is idiotic. Why not write with a quill pen or walk over to the TV to change the channel?
23. I hate riding roller coasters. I've only ridden them 3 times: Once with Sam, and I cried. Once with my most prominent significant other, and I whined. Once, stoned to the bejesus, with a red-headed and spectacularly endowed college girlfriend. That one was worth it.
24. I used to write and illustrate my own comics when I was a kid. I didn't understand why the copier in my dad's home office couldn't make them exactly like "real" comic books, so I could print them and sell them.
25. I've been arrested twice.
26. I QB'd my relatively small frat intramural team (which was coached by the "Mountain Fox") to the semifinals of the all-campus flag football tournament. Signatures: scrambling and last minute heroics, pinpoint accuracy, the pre-game hooka, a slightly deflated football (I have small hands), halftime ciggies and Captain America socks.
27. I've always eschewed and been puzzled by the idea of reproducing (the result, not the participatory act, mind you) and parenting. I got a chance to do it (the latter) for a year, and surprised many (and myself) with how naturally it came, and how adept at it I was.
28. In every sporting event I've ever played, I've worn number 13.
29. With a delightful and beloved partner, I've completed and won a game of Trivial Pursuit in one turn. It was against my parents, trivia gods in their own right. They went first, missed the question, and we went next. We proceeded around the board, answering every single fucking question and gathering every single pie piece, before moving to the center for the win in one turn. My parents picked "geography" as the subject, since I can't find my way out of my parking lot without a GPS (though if the geography questions relate to movies, TV, literature or sports, I'm golden. I could probably compute the distance from Stars Hollow to Caprica), but my partner knew the answer. I forget the question, but I still remember the answer: The Liffey.
30. In two score years of dating, I've only cheated once. And I regret it to this day.
31. In my personal life, I'm horrible about returning phone calls. But I listen to every single message, ponder their implications and sentiment, and write them down (or make a note in the crackberry) and really mean to call back.
32. I've won many games of skill, but I've only won one thing in a "drawing." (Sadly, not mega-millions). When I was a kid, I won a Darth Vader mask/helmet from a magic shop.
33. I firmly believe that the best beginning to an album of all time (and the best "linked" or "segued" song trifecta) is from Robert Palmer's "Sneaking Sally Through the Alley," which opens with "Sailing Shoes," "Hey Julia" and "Sneaking Sally Through the Alley."
34. I've only sung karaoke once in my entire life, and it was at an x-mas party that involved a lot of whiskey and a lot of the Devil's parsley. It was a medley of Sinatra that involved "My Way" and "The Lady is a Tramp." For such an innocuous and isolated event, that really says a lot.
35. If you see some type of retro commercial or website about a toy from the 60s or 70s, chances are I had it.
36. When I was in journalism school at UGA, I took several broadcasting classes. One of the exercises we did was intended to "loosen us up" on camera, so we would appear less robotic and have more personality. It involved picking a song of the day, and filming a music video in the studio with you lip synching. Unbelievably, my two choices were George Thorogood's "You Talk Too Much" and Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up." (I had desperately wanted to do the aforementioned "trifecta" from Robert Palmer -- "Sailing Shoes," "Hey Julia" and "Sneaking Sally Through the Alley" – but we had to use something "contemporary"). This, of course, was before I realized I could have digitized that video and "RickRolled" my friends, so I chose Thoroughly Good George. Somewhere out there, captured in the emulsion, is a video of a whacked out, drunk in the morning, skinny version of me in black jeans, a gold sequined jacket, greasy hair and wayfarers duckwalking and shaking my ass with a Strat.
37. One of the weirdest experiences of my life was having cocktails with my dad and his mistress.
38. I've often thought of checking out of The Hotel Existence (right after running up a big room service bill), but I've only come close twice.
39. My first two or three computers were Macs. There's probably only a very small group of us who switched to PCs and never went back.
40. I don't believe in the concept of "life insurance." Why should death be about profit?
41. I can't recall the last time I met someone I've dated that I didn't meet online.
42. I've had a car stolen or broken into five times. Three of those times it was a VW.
43. I like making lists.