1. I'm a terrible procrastinator. Actually, that's not correct. I'm a GREAT procrastinator. Sometimes I'm totally on top of stuff but I'm much more prone to putting stuff off. That's why it's taken me weeks to get around to writing this note.
2. I love teen romance movies. I'm a total sucker for those “Hughes-esque” movies set in high school about the nerd and the cool person hooking up or whatever. It's not very manly, but there it is.
3. I have tremendous respect for people in the armed forces. I can't stand a lot of our government's policies but I honor the men and women who dedicate their lives to defend people they haven't even met even if it means doing the bidding of an evil corporation.
4. I enjoy doing small craft projects with my hands. I knit, crochet, make chain mail and make Indian accessories. It only just recently occurred to me that I've been like this most of my life. When I was a teenager I made several of the pieces that I wore with my Indian outfit in the Scouts. I taught myself to knit and crochet and am actually better at it than my mom. I taught myself to make chain mail jewelry recently and have had a knack for it. I can look at a picture of a piece and replicate the weave.
5. I love improv acting and really miss it. Before we left California I had just finished up taking improv classes with a place called ComedySportz and was eligible to participate in their “minor league” shows. I liked improv a lot. For those who don’t know, improv is not stand-up comedy. It’s more like “Who’s Line is it Anyway.” I want to take some more classes out here but haven’t gotten the chance yet. I’ve been doing other things instead.
6. I’m terrible at learning languages. I tend to be a really quick study on most things, but I stink at languages. I have tried to learn French, German, Russian, Spanish and Sign Language all unsuccessfully. The best I can give you is a few words in a variety of languages. I just don’t seem to have a head for it.
7. I may be deluding myself, but I think I’m a pretty good teacher. I’m typically terrible at lesson planning (see item #1) but really good at teaching the lesson. I have to teach my Scouts every week and used to have to teach the young men at church every week. I think I have a style that is enjoyable and engaging. Again, I could be enjoying delusions of adequacy.
8. You remember that song from “Mary Poppins” called “I love to laugh”? That’s me. I love to laugh and my laugh is of the “loud and long and clear” variety, to quote the song. My laugh has garnered me lots of attention, both negative and positive, when we’re out in public. I have received many dirty looks from people around us at plays. I’ve actually gotten a little sensitive about it. I cringe even when people compliment my laugh. I just want to experience joy and laughter without feeling self-conscious. Is that so wrong?
9. I can be terribly shy at times. This totally befuddles most people who know me but it’s true. My wife and I hate going to church dinners for this reason. We hate the whole picking-a-place-to-sit thing. If we sit at a table that is already partially occupied then we may be imposing on those people. If we sit at an empty table then we fear that no one will want to sit with us and we’ll spend the evening alone. Plus, if we get thrust at a table with people we don’t know very well we wind up having to make pleasant chit chat. I know this sounds totally neurotic, but there it is.
10. I play a variety of musical instruments, at least ten. I don’t necessarily play all of them well, but I claim at least a small amount of proficiency. I’m currently teaching myself to play four instruments, guitar, bass, drums and piano. It’s pretty slow going, though, because of item #1. My life frequently comes back to that….
11. I’m terribly retentive at times. Looking around my cluttered office you wouldn’t think it, but it’s true. When I do things I tend to monkey with the little things until everything is “just so.” When I’m doing graphic design stuff something even one pixel off drives me crazy. It bugs the heck out of my wife sometimes.
12. I like to dance. I’m not necessarily very good at it and my self-consciousness frequently rears its ugly head but I still like to dance. I don’t really get the opportunity much, though, and tend to refrain from it even when the opportunity is there. My wife physically can’t dance and is too self-conscious even if she could. So, due to the lack of a partner, I tend to be a wall flower whenever there is dancing. My heart still yearns to be out on the floor looking a great big goofball, however.
13. I frequently throw out movie and song references. Generally all it takes is a couple of words and my mind immediately goes to some movie or musical quote. Frequently these quotes will be from a musical and cause me to then break out into said song. This is fine at home or with friends but gets me funny looks at work.
14. A big part of the fun of live theatre (and sometimes movies) for me is the conversation on the way home. Typically this involves ripping the thing to shreds. Both my wife and I are theatre snobs and have a good enough eye to pick out problems with acting, lighting, sound, etc. Our drive home is always occupied with a long critique of the thing we just got done seeing. Once in a while we spend the drive home raving about how good something was. We had that happen recently and it’s good to know that we can go both ways.
15. I don’t have a lot of photos of myself. If you look through our family photos you won’t find very many pictures of me. Even the large group photos don’t have me in them even though I was at the event. This is because I’m always the one taking the photos. I’m the unofficial family photographer and I like that role. I have even been the official photographer at some of the events. It always makes me smile to see family photos up on people’s wall and know that I took that picture. It makes me smile even more if it’s one that I, theoretically, should have been in. It’s like I’m the undocumented family specter. It’s kind of cool.
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