100 things about me

I've seen these lists on other blog sites, so I decided to throw one together.

Read, don't read. That's up to you.

1. I have little patience for bigotry of any kind.
2. I was born in a town along the Oregon Trail in Nebraska.
3. I moved (with my family) to another town on the Oregon Trail in Oregon as a child.
4. I grew up out in the country.
5. I’m the oldest of three boys.
6. I attended school in a very small town.
7. There were 17 people in my high school graduating class (not all of us received diplomas).
8. I was the valedictorian of my class (which didn’t mean shit then, and means less than zero now, but some people seem to think that’s impressive – until they hear how big my school was).
9. I went to a Pac-10 university out of high school (because I was too naïve to know I should probably go to a community college first).
10. I have a college degree.
11. It’s a B.S. degree.
12. I considered 2 different colleges and made the decision which one to go to because one had a yearbook and one didn’t and I wanted to work on a yearbook staff in college like I did in high school.
13. I was a sophomore in college before I lost my virginity.
14. I lost my virginity in my old bedroom at my parents’ house on Christmas break.
15. My dream in college was to be a photographer for Sports Illustrated.
16. I once dated a gymnast.
17. I used to have a motorcycle.
18. I once got hit by a pickup while riding my motorcycle.
19. The crash was my fault.
20. I survived the crash.
21. I was once driving a pickup and had a crash with a farm tractor.
22. My (then) best friend’s little brother was driving the tractor. My best friend witnessed the crash.
23. No one was hurt, but I fucked up my dad’s truck.
24. That crash was also my fault.
25. I got fired from my first job after college, and I celebrated.
26. I have a teenage daughter, and she’s the most important thing in the world to me.
27. I’ve never been married.
28. But I have been engaged – once.
29. The engagement lasted less than 6 months.
30. She broke it off the day Ronald Reagan died.
31. It broke my heart (the broken engagement, not the death of the former president).
32. I’ve met a former president, Gerald Ford.
33. I have a picture of me shaking his hand.
34. I hate pictures of me. I prefer to take pictures.
35. I used to be pretty good at it.
36. I got paid to take pictures once upon a time.
37. Then I got paid to write.
38. Now I get paid to edit (all evidence to the contrary on how badly I edit my own writing).
39. I became editor of a newspaper at age 26.
40. I got fired from that job too.
41. But I’ve been an editor (except for a brief period of unemployment) ever since.
42. I moved to the Mojave Desert of Southern California in 1995 and fell in love with the desert.
43. I moved to Palm Springs in 1999, and fell deeper in love with the desert.
44. In between I was the top editor of a small paper in Central California in a town I definitely did not love.
45. I like rodeos.
46. I sometimes wear cowboy boots (but that's rare nowadays).
47. I own three cowboy hats.
48. I don’t ride horses.
49. I like country music.
50. I started chewing tobacco when I was 18 and have regretted it ever since.
51. I am ashamed that my like of those things may make people think I’m a narrow-minded redneck.
52. I like rock ’n’ roll.
53. Most of the rock music I like is now known as “classic rock.”
54. I like blues music.
55. I don’t like being blue.
56. My eyes are blue.
57. Blue is my favorite color.
58. I don’t like the color orange.
59. My alma mater’s school colors are orange and black.
60. My college mascot is the Beavers.
61. My home state’s animal is a beaver.
62. I’ve heard lots of beaver jokes.
63. I rarely remember jokes, but I can still be funny.
64. I’m a good listener.
65. I’m introspective.
66. I like solving problems.
67. Emotionally, I’m a hopeless romantic, but struggle at showing it.
68. I believe in God, but don’t believe in religion.
69. I’m a dog person.
70. I’m not much of a cat person, but I could be.
71. I’m not currently dating anyone, but there is a special woman in my life. We just live too far away from each other for either of our liking.
72. I wear an ear ring.
73. I don’t have a tattoo.
74. I do have a goatee.
75. I'm a blood donor, but I’m not very consistent about it.
76. I’m a night owl (or a chronic insomniac).
77. I hate mornings.
78. I don’t drink coffee, although that is changing.
79. I do drink Diet Coke.
80. I’m snooty about my beer. I prefer microbrews with body and character, ales and one particular hefeweizen, over mass produced pisswater known as domestic lagers.
81. I’ve been arrested – once. (The moral of the story: If you are going to drive, don’t drink).
82. I’m a terrible housekeeper, which isn’t good when you live alone, but may be a bigger problem when you live with someone.
83. I like hot weather.
84. I hate being cold.
85. I rarely talk on the phone.
86. I am a quiet, soft spoken person most of the time.
87. When I feel passionately about something, I can be quiet animated and gregarious.
88. I am shy, often painfully so.
89. I hate goodbyes.
90. I made friends slowly, but when I do I am fiercely loyal.
91. I wish I could speak Spanish.
92. I used to play saxophone, alto and tenor.
93. I was in a fraternity in college.
94. I am a packrat. I have a hard time throwing things away.
95. I like airplanes, particularly those of the World War II era.
96. My dad is a pilot, but I never learned to fly, and I regret it.
97. I spend too much time in front of computers.
98. I like spicy food.
99. Tabasco sauce is a necessity.
100. I like tomato-based sauces, but don’t like tomatoes.