1. I always wanted to be an artistic person, but never really tried that hard. When I was younger I took piano lessons where I practiced enough to win a prize (handmade stuffed bear in the style of an ewok, which I still have to this day), but then pretty much called it after that. The cycles after that were much shorter after that (Violin, guitar, etc).
2. I've always thought I was too tall. This was especially evident when I was younger. I would get chastised for behaving the same way that the other children around me who were the same age as me, or older, because I was taller/bigger.
3. I have few keepsakes from my childhood, because I don't look back fondly on it, generally. However one of those items was a drawing/portrait of me drawn by Ben H. in middle school. It meant a lot to me.
4. I have an unhealthy obsession with the board game Monopoly. I have several versions of the board game, and have it for the Wii. I still play it on the Wii, even though I find the user interface, controls, settings, and saving method obnoxious.
5. It takes a really bad movie for me not to finish it. The last one I didn't finish was Material Girls. It was so awful. I say that and I watched Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter all the way through to the end.
6. I can't believe I admitted that I watched Material Girls.
7. In college, I was invited and went several times to go to the SALT company (Jenny P. (at the time) being one of the times). I only went sober once (I think the time Jenny invited with me). Other times I was inebriated in one form or another.
8. There are a couple to a few years of college that I don't remember very well.
9. I graduated in 2000 from college with a BA in Philosophy and a BS in Psychology. In my exit interview with the Chair of the Philosophy/Religious Studies department, I asked if I could have a BS in Philosophy, because it would just be funny. He said no, but smiled all the same.
10. I blamed my clothes smelling like cigarette smoke on Clif B. for as long as my parents would believe it. After they no longer bought it, I'd take walks, and come back more relaxed.
11. I attempted to quit smoking several times. I finally quit after returning home for a new years trip to Boston to visit the Mattas. Nathan didn't believe that I'd do it, but I've been tobacco free ever since. To accomplish it, I also quit doing things that I associated with smoking. I went sober, I stopped hanging out with friends who smoked, etc. It didn't hurt that the first weekend that I was tobacco free, I was deathly ill and didn't move for 48 hours.
12. I lived without a microwave in my house for a long time.
13. I wanted to be a chef since I was a child, but I fell out of love with food. When I fell back in love with food, I went out and spent a large chunk of money, bought utensils, an entire pot and pan set and etc.
14. I bought a $100 + roasting pan....not to roast, but to make water baths for cheesecakes. I've had the pan for around 2 years or so, and I still have yet to use the roasting pan for anything other then making cheesecakes.
15. Some of my best memories of childhood are food associated. Grandmother's meals, cookies and etc. My mother is also a very good cook. I always loved my birthday because in our family we got to choose what we would have for dinner.
16. In my mind food has quite the duality. I associate it with love and suffering...but mostly love. I may not be able to express how I feel about you, but I can make you something nummy that you'll probably remember.
17. I've generally felt closer to my friends then family. Though I am starting to feel more connected with my family. The problem I think lies in that I can be myself around my friends. I have to be the super-good part of myself around my family. That's not really me.
18. For my birthday party in July of 2006, I made sure that my guests were taken care of, someone would be in charge, and someone would cut cake, while I headed off to the ER to get stitches in my finger that I cut.
19. I drove to Chicago by myself to see Radiohead. It was awesome. I drove home after the concert. Somewhere off of I-80 early in the morning, I wondered around a gas station store for quite a while, because I was having trouble thinking and couldn't decide what I wanted.
20. If you exclude Mediocre Superheroes (which was my friend's band in college) and shows related to those, the live music performances that I've seen the most, in order would be: Andrew Bird, Brother Ali, Atmosphere, Less Than Jake, Punchline, Fall Out Boy, Tori Amos, and Smashing Pumpkins.
21. Brother Ali got off stage, grabbed my shoulder, and guided me, along with the rest of the crowd during a slow emotional part of his show. Yes, that's right, I'm white and I have no rhythm.
22. I love music from classical to hip hop. However, I still think Country doesn't generally fall in the category of music. Though there are a few country songs here and there that I've actually considered buying.
23. I like to play games (Board/video/cards). I play to win, but often don't. Some of my best memories from high school were playing Bridge with my friends at Happy Chef.
24. My first taste of booze was at a friends house on New Years Eve my senior year of high school.
25. It took me well over an hour to write this.