Random things about me

Last revised September 2014



In 2009 the “25 Things” Note spread across Facebook - the premise is to write 25 random notes about yourself, then tag your friends asking them to do the same. After writing my first 25, more random thoughts kept coming to mind, so I started collecting them here. You can learn a lot about me from this one single page.



Other pages in the biography section:

Lists of favorite things
Favorite quotes
Random things
Vocabulary I use
  1. I'm irrationally terrified of worms.
  2. I'm a stickler for spelling and punctuation. Pet peeve: people who abuse it's, its, their, they're, there.
  3. However... I break the rules deliberately because I put my punctuation marks *outside* my quotes. This is because I'm so accustomed to writing computer code that it feels unnatural to do it the "right" way.
  4. My DVD collection is sorted alphabetically by title.
  5. I love making lists.
  6. I don't like being away from home.
  7. Growing up I always drank skim milk; in college I found I prefer 2%. Scandal.
  8. I love falling asleep to the sound of a running dishwasher.
  9. In second or third grade I switched my watch to 24-hour mode (Americans call it "military time", I say it's "normal" because it's what the rest of the world uses). Back then I did it just for fun and to be different, now sometimes if I see a.m. or p.m. I legitimately get confused.
  10. I don't lie.
  11. After reading the Golden Compass trilogy, I ponder sometimes what animal my dæmon would be if I lived in that universe. I think maybe a cat.
  12. Upon finishing The Amber Spyglass (the third book in the Golden Compass trilogy), I was depressed for a week because of Lyra and Will's ending.
  13. I don't believe I've read a paper book ever since discovering audiobooks in 2011. I listen voraciously - in the car, out on a walk, mowing the lawn, doing dishes/laundry, showering, etc - and finish about two dozen books each year. (slight historical correction: when I was little, before I could read, I did have some Winnie the Pooh books on tape... and I wore out the cassette tapes)
  14. Pet peeve: when in TV or a movie, a character is talking on the phone and the other person hangs up and the phone makes a dial tone. That doesn't happen in real life.
  15. Ballroom dancing is classy. Wriggling and writhing and thrashing and whatnought to ridiculously loud music, is not.
  16. As a pre-teen I drank oodles of soda (orange and grape were my faves). Somewhere along the line I stopped, now I'll maybe have a soda three times a year, if there are no other drink options available. Partially it's a health-choice, but mostly it's because the bubbly doesn't treat me well.
  17. I'm an overachiever and am almost always too hard on myself.
  18. I'm not still bitter about my only 2 A-s in high school... 1st semester AP US History my junior year and 1st semester AP Euro history my senior year... Nope, not holding onto any resentment. None at all.
  19. I own a pink bathrobe, which I purchased for the sole reason of playing my cameo (Shameful Finnigan) in Harry Putter and the Chamber Pot of Secrets.
  20. I wish I knew how to make healthy food, but aside from green bean casserole, my idea of cooking generally involves a microwave and plastic wrapped deliciousness from the freezer. Although, I've recently learned to make a pretty good gluten-free bread + tomato + avocado + turkey sandwich...
  21. I think beer tastes disgusting; when I order a drink I'll usually ask for something "pink, fruity, and alcoholic". My favorites are Sex on the Beach (it's pink!) or an Amaretto Sour.
  22. After seeing Eight Below, I'm convinced I want an adorable husky, even though I don't like dogs and can barely take care of myself.
  23. I have over 800 Beanie Babies from my younger years of collecting. Bongo the monkey was my very first, followed by Nuts the squirrel and Zip the cat. They were well-loved. Now I use the animals as cubicle decorations.
  24. I sung in my church's choir for many years as a child, as well as my school choirs and the Metropolitan Boys Choir. I love singing. Not saying I'm wonderful, but I love it anyway.
  25. I felt Called from God to buy my first acoustic guitar in October 2006.
  26. For fun, I now also own an electric guitar, bass, keyboard, violin, banjo, and three other acoustic guitars. The acoustics will always be my favorites - they're the only ones I can worship with.
  27. The first song I memorized on guitar (and second one I ever learned, after Amazing Grace) was David Crowder's "No One Like You".
  28. I once played a Guitar Hero controller a la David Crowder (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Aw8ZWoNS8M) in front of 50+ middle and high schoolers. They looked at me like I was crazy, but I had a blast anyway.
  29. The more I tried to "lead worship" (whatever that might mean) at a church in my college town back in 2008, the more I felt disconnected from God. It's because I too easily fall into the "it's all about me" trap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9dvVp0Nxjo. I'm getting better at not doing this.
  30. I hope someday I have a child as amazing as Leslie from the movie Bridge to Terabithia. This movie is in my top 5 of all time.
  31. I love Miley Cyrus' song "I Learned from You" (both the version used in the Bridge to Terabithia soundtrack, and the CD version with her Dad singing harmony).
  32. I'm impatient. Particularly regarding seeking relationships. It's HARD trying to be "patient" and waiting for God's timing! Especially on days when it's so obvious to me what His plan ought to be...
  33. In 10th grade I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease.
  34. I've experienced a miracle of healing.
  35. Needles terrified me when I was little; however when I had dozens of blood tests while being diagnosed with Crohn's, I got over it. Bring on the needles! As long as I can watch it go in, I'm fine.
  36. As of August 2014 I've donated 3 gallons of blood to the Red Cross (that's 24 pints).
  37. I'm registered as an organ donor.
  38. I think the absolute most important thing a person can do simply is *show up*. People, and myself especially, appreciate that act of solidarity more than anything. Just show up.
  39. I cry. I try hard, very hard to avoid it in public, because American culture says men can't cry.
  40. If I could meet some random people from history, they would be: Deitrich Bonhoeffer, Robert Altman, Joan of Arc, Randy Pausch, and my pastor growing up, Al Neibacher, who died before I was old enough to really appreciate his theology; now I really wish I could go back and chat with him.
  41. Pet peeve: anyone who ignores their ringing phone, and lets it keep ringing so as to distract/bother everyone else around them.
  42. I love regular expressions for saving me countless hours of tedious work. I also adore this XKCD comic about regular expressions.
  43. Almost everyone laughs out loud when they first see me use my voice recorder. It's fine.
  44. I love Dilbert. Fortunately my boss does not have pointy hair.
  45. I learned how to mix sound in college for our Sunday night worship group, and now mix once or twice a month at my morning church, Jacob's Well.
  46. I'm actively involved in two church communities: Jacob's Well Sunday mornings and Upper Room Sunday evenings.
  47. When possible I always pay with a credit card, even for small purchases, because all those dollars add up to cash back and free flights. I pay my balance each month, so I’m never charged interest.
  48. I've spent years training myself to be an active listener. And if I do say so myself, I think I'm one of the best listeners I know.
  49. I switched from iMovie to Final Cut Pro in 2004 and never looked back. Not sure what I'm going to do now that Apple's turned FCP into iMovie Pro. I'm really upset about this.
  50. I loathe being asked computer-related questions outside of work. If we're socializing, I expect to relax, not talk shop.
  51. I enjoy folding towels.
  52. I'm terrible at remembering movie quotes or real-life conversations.
  53. I hate small talk.
  54. My love language is definitely Quality Time.
  55. I'm a font snob; I judge people who use Papyrus. It's not just me, there's an XKCD comic about Papyrus, as well.
  56. I can't drink hot chocolate/cocoa anymore :( It causes unpleasant gastro-intestinal distress.
  57. I hardly ever notice when people change their hair. People literally have dyed or shaved their hair and I didn't notice.
  58. I prefer the "old" version of the Lord's Prayer: "Our Father who art in heaven..."
  59. Generally speaking, I'm incredibly self-aware - I know my strengths and weaknesses (even if I don't admit them publicly)
  60. I love getting hand-written cards. I like sending them, too (just wish I had more time to focus on that)
  61. I age Peeps like a fine wine - they need to be hard and crunchy before they're ready to eat.
  62. I never cared for wine until meeting my friend Jessie. This is all her fault. (she gladly accepts all blame)
  63. I love board games. Some favorites are Risk, Monopoly, Chess, Acquire, and tons more
  64. I also love tower defense style video games.
  65. I love eating raw cookie dough.
  66. When I leave a voicemail, often I'll re-record it two or three times before hanging up.
  67. I almost always take leftovers home from restaurants (as in, I almost always have leftovers, and if I have them, I always take them home; free second meal).
  68. After growing up in the days of MS-DOS and Windows 95, I eventually saw the light, and am now an Apple fan-boy through and through. I'm constantly amazed, though, how much the computing world has changed in only a few short years. My Dad's first laptop, later passed down as my first laptop, sported an amazingly fast 32MHz processor and 500 MB hard drive. My iPhone blows that away. "Kids today" will not remember a world where iPhones and Droids and mobile computing devices were not ubiquitous. And mine is the last generation that will remember a pre-Internet world. That wasn't that many years ago. Is this how my parents felt?
  69. I was privileged to attend Apple's WWDC in San Francisco in 2007, 2010, and 2011. In 2007 I was awarded a student scholarship from Apple. My parents gave me a generous donation to help cover the airfare and hotel. The other two years I traveled compliments of Title II and the school I worked for.
  70. I truly love and enjoy programming. One of my fondest memories from freshman year of college is staying up programming until 4 a.m. the morning our Software Design final project was due (and watching Harry Potter on my second monitor).
  71. Regarding books made into movies, I almost always love most whichever one I encounter first. For example: Narnia - I saw the movie first, loved it, then read the books and was disappointed. Conversely, the later Harry Potter books - I read them before the movies were made, and even though I enjoyed the movies, the books were better. However, I've noted two exceptions: The Golden Compass, and I Am Number Four. In both cases, I saw the movie first, then read the book, and in both cases found myself vastly disappointed by the movie for changing too many important plot elements.
  72. Since middle school, I have associated the song "Tarzan Boy" by Baltimora with things (time periods of life?) ending. In particular, I remember coming home from ValleyFair on the last day of middle school, after 8th grade graudation; I never knew the words, just the tune, and I remember humming it to myself, somehow finding peace in the melody. It wasn't until freshman year of college that I randomly heard the song playing in my dorm hallway, and finally learned what it was called. I'll often play it when I'm sad about something ending.
  73. I think Minnesota has the best state welcome signs. Every time I drive back into the state, our beautiful sculptured signs bring a wide smile to my face. Home.
  74. I don't have many shallow friends.
  75. I can't pronounce "Massachusetts".
  76. My Minnesota accent comes out sounding Irish, and my Irish accent comes out sounding Indian.
  77. One of my gifts is an ability to pursue two [seemingly] mutually exclusive goals simultaneously. For example: pursuing seminary in Minnesota while at the same time I was looking to move out of state. Second example: planning long-term projects at one job, even when I expected to leave before they were complete. The ruling part of my brain wants to do everything, so I intentionally don't recognize (or refuse to accept) what an outside observer might call either-or situations. This is a great blessing for me, allowing me to live in the moment, plan for the future, and only rarely gets me into trouble.
  78. Plaid is one of my favorite colors.
  79. Sometimes I wear a scarf to pretend that I'm fashionable.
  80. Sometimes I carry a pocket watch.
  81. My computers are named Emmaus, Terabithia, Damascus, and Arcadia. (Bonus points if any of those names mean something to you without Googling)
  82. I'm kind of afraid of the dark.
  83. One of my greatest weaknesses is that I want everyone to like me.