100 Facts - Pt. 2

The final 49 facts:

1. I hate yardwork. If I could just pave my lawn and paint it green, I'd be a happy man.


2. I have two good friends that I've known since we were 13 and we're still doing things together. That's been 30 years.


3. We just went to a Dodgers/Braves game last weekend..


4. I met Burt Ward, who played Robin in the '60s Batman series, when I was a preschooler (before preschool was invented). He was a jerk, even to small children.


5. I'm old enough to remember toys being made of wood and tin and having sharp edges.


6. I am a firstborn. The upside is that we're fairly responsible, generally speaking. Most U.S. presidents have been firstborns. The downside is that we feel responsible for everything. This comes from only having adults as examples and from always being expected to take care of our younger siblings - even if we were only six ourselves.


7. I have extremely eclectic tastes in music. I get this from my parents. As a child I could hear Chet Atkins, Jimi Hendrix, Dolly Parton, Seals and Croft, David Bowie, Martha and the Vandellas, Conway Twitty, Ennio Morricone, The Mamas and the Papas, Jim Reeves, The Bee Gees, Lawrence Welk, Earth Wind and Fire, Pink Floyd, Willie Nelson, and Beethoven - all in one weekend. Even if I don't particularly like something, I can usually appreciate it.


8. Except for rap.


9. And speed metal.


10. When Elvis died, I considered becoming a living tribute artist ("impersonator" is so passe). I was 12. But I was pretty good at it. Or so our dog thought. The cat was ambivalent. But cats always are.


11. I am a cat person.


12. But I love dogs, too.


13. I'm pretty serious about voting. I've only missed a few votes (and no elections that I can recall) in 24 years.


14. I am a populist. That's (very broadly and not entirely) a social conservative and fiscal liberal. At least that's what my American Government textbook said.


15. Spelling was always my highest score on standardized tests, usually around the 98th to 99th percentile. I am pretty anal about spelling. But the older I get, the worse my typing becomes. It's very frustrating.


16. When I gave my wife her engagement ring and we finished dinner, I realized that I'd left my wallet at home in all the excitement. I left her there at the restaurant as I ran home to get it. She LOVES telling this story.


17. Especially because it was at Pizza Hut.


18. You have to understand how I was raised. We couldn't afford to eat many places that weren't fast food. The closest we came was Quincy's. Pizza Hut was considered an absolute luxury. Feeding five people for more than $20 was a burden.


19. I never saw the inside of a Steak and Ale, a TGI Friday's, or a Red Lobster until I was in my 20s. They were considered "rich people" places.


20. I try to remind my middle class friends who will listen that this is still true for MOST Americans. Just because your peers do something, that doesn't make it normal for everyone.


21. I love Cracker Barrel. Since my wife was raised by a Connecticut girl, she never learned how to make or appreciate Southern food. If I want it, I have to get it there.


22. I find it odd that many of my friends my age have parents that are around 80. Mine are barely in their 60s. My grandparents are in their 80s. I suppose that's a benefit of being firstborn, too.


23. I never finished college. This surprises most folks. I don't know why. Should I be breathing through my mouth and dragging my knuckles?


24. This post is giving me ideas for my next main blog post.


25. I am a Mac user. End of conversation.


26. I hate onions. But I love onion rings. Discuss.


27. While on two weeks annual training at a naval hospital, I was handed a bottle of fluid and told to take it to the lab. The lab tech informed me it was the residue of an abortion. They had to make sure everything was removed to prevent sepsis. I was pretty upset, to put it mildly.


28. Thankfully, later that week I was asked to observe a live birth. Hands down, it was one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced. And ladies? Hats off. Especially if you had an episiotomy.


29. No, I have no problem discussing such things. It's all incredible to me.


30. Our cats' names are Oliver and Misty.


31. However, they think their names are Buddy and Li'l Bit because this what I call them all the time.


32. I was in Cub Scouts for about a year. I think I made Wolf.


33. In high school, I was photographer for the newspaper and (by extension) the yearbook.


34. I was good but my photography teacher was told by the yearbook sponsor that I took too many pictures of girls. He responded, "He's a 16-year-old boy!"


35. I was only on the newspaper because of my 10th grade AP World Lit teacher. She saw a comic strip I was working on for my own amusement and recommended me to the paper's editor. I would never have submited any work on my own. I still have a problem with that. I always think I wouldn't make it. I'm afraid of failure and success. That's a fun combo, let me tell you.


36. My grandfather's first name was Junior.


37. It's also my dad's middle name.


38. I never understood the mania over Krispy Kreme doughnuts that swept the land ten years ago. I grew up on them. They were as plentiful as air in Alabama. They were just doughnuts. Now Yankees treat them like they're freakin' ambrosia or something.


39. I love visiting historic places. The Washington, DC, area is like Mecca for me.


40. I spent all day alone at Chickamauga Battlefield in Georgia once. I can still vividly recall standing in a line of trees where General James Longstreet waited to attack a Union position. I tried as much as possible to put myself in his shoes and feel what he may have felt. He'd just force-marched thousands of men down from Virginia during a blazing hot summer. He was still depressed and angry over the fact that he'd been overruled by Lee at Gettysburg and had lost that battle. Two of his young daughters had died of yellow fever a few months earlier and he was away at war. Now he was facing death himself. Then I opened my eyes. Great experience.


41. Having such an experience is impossible without already knowing those facts about Longstreet. This is why history is so important to me!


42. I haven't taken a real vacation in 8 years.


43. I liked penguins before they were fashionable.


44. I like astronomy, even though it's never been fashionable. The enormity of it is simply breathtaking sometimes.


45. I like several so-called "chick movies" and shows. The deciding factor is usually wit. Jane Austen is terrific. The Emma Thompson version of Sense and Sensibility rocks. Gilmore Girls was one of the best shows ever made. The dialogue was brilliant.


46. Of course, Lauren Graham being smokin' hot didn't hurt.


47. That 16-year-old boy isn't quite dead yet!


48. I cry whenever I run over an animal.


49. I still have my Man Card.

Still reading? Tell them what they've won, Don Pardo! Why they've won a year's supply of Turtle Wax, the home version of our game, and a year's worth of Rice-a-Roni: The San Francisco Treat!