62 Things About Me

Inspired by Rachel, I thought that I would do something like this because I haven't blogged in a while and I need to do something besides PowerPoint. I came up 5 short of her list, but I might add more later...

1. I have resided in the Kansas City area for most of my natural life. For 3 years when I was little, I lived in Lamoni, Iowa and I returned 14 years later to attend college, where I would major in English.
2. I graduated high school 10 years ago from Blue Valley Northwest and I do not intend to attend my 10-year reunion. Not for $63/person!
   
3. I have been married for five years to Allison Ann Arnold.
4. We have a dog. His name is Dreyfuss because even as a puppy, he looked like he was a 70-year-old man in a little puppy body.
5. I like the smell of my dog. He smells like Fritos and I love it.
   
6. I go to the same church that I was baptized in.
   
7. I am a trivia junkie. I like to think that my brain contains the highest concentration of useless information in the region. I am particularly proficient in television and movie trivia.
8. Subsequently, my favorite board game is Trivial Pursuit.
9. I love game shows. Especially old ones like Press Your Luck, but my all-time favorite is Jeopardy. Before I die, I am going to go out to Los Angeles and do the "game show circuit".
   
10. For a long time, I just didn't understand what the big deal was about Macs. Then I tried OS X. I'm proud to say we are an all Mac household although I have to deal with the dreaded Windows environment at work. I've got a 20" iMac G5, Alli has a 17" Powerbook. Our wireless router is even an Airport Extreme Base Station.
    
11. I have worked for Perceptive Software in Shawnee, KS for 5 years, holding 3 different jobs and 2 official titles.
12. Currently, I'm a designer at the company, but I do it on the side too.
13. I am a sucker for movies. Anything really...I have very questionable taste...some people don't trust my opinion because they say I like everything.
14. The last movie I saw was Must Love Dogs. The best movie I've seen this year is Batman Begins.
    
15. My favorite actor is Jeremy Piven.
16. My favorite movie of all-time is Good Will Hunting, but I reserve the right to change my mind at any time. Rounding out my top 3 are Fletch and The Matrix.
17. My favorite TV show of all-time is Friends. Following close behind is Alias.
18. I watch too much TV.
    
19. I'm 6'3", but I tell people that I'm 6'4".
20. I have played volleyball since I was in 7th grade. I still play as much as I can.
21. I drive a Dodge Durango. I don't really have a dream car, but if I did, the Durango is not it. It works fine, but guzzles gas.
22. I'm a geek. I like computers a lot.
23. I have 2 ipods. One is a 20GB 2nd generation brick, the other is a 512MB shuffle. I love them both in very different ways.
24. I am a music junkie. I wish that I had a running soundtrack to my life, like in the movies...I've even got certain songs picked out. Right now, I would have "Reminder" by the Perishers playing.
25. My iTunes library contains 7,220 songs and the most played song is "Warning Sign" by Coldplay.
26. My favorite style of music is sad, maudlin college piano rock (Ben Folds, Elliot Smith, etc.).
    
27. I like photography...my dream job would be to work for the Associated Press as a photojournalist.
28. I like golf. I'm not very good at it. I have a penchant for losing golf balls. Last time I golfed, I lost 8.
29. If I could, I would eat cheeseburgers every day for the rest of my life. That and Pizza Shack (Lamoni, IA).
30. The most recent vacation that I went on was to Santa Fe, New Mexico with Alli for our 5-year anniversary.
31. I am very particular about a couple of household chores. I prefer to load the dishwasher myself because I think that I can optimize the number of dishes in the washer better than most people. I also prefer to do my own laundry because I am very particular about how my stuff is folded.
32. I like my Playstation 2. I don't buy many games, but I enjoy mostly sports games like Madden and Tiger Woods Golf.
    
33. I am, predictably, somewhat enamored by this recent poker craze.
34. I have been to 8 countries outside the United States. So far, England is my favorite.
35. My dad travels a lot more. In fact, he's going to be in Korea in 2 weeks. Some times, he goes to places I can't even pronounce.
36. My brother lives with us and has since February. Prior to that, Alli's sister lived with us. In the 5 years we've been married, we have lived by ourselves for about 1.5 of them.
37. I think that the new Black Pepper Jack Doritos are GENIUS.
38. I have an English friend at work named Phil who I love listening to, but mostly because he can say words like "bollocks" and "wanker" and "tosser" and it sounds funny. When I say them, it just sounds weird.
39. Almost all of the friends that I grew up with live in this area. We still hang out. Not many people can say that they have friends that they still hang out with that they have known since they were 5.
40. I have a large tattoo that surrounds my right calf of a volleyball and a tribal design that spells the word "PERSEVERE". I have the design of my second tattoo and am ready to get it on my back.
41. I have no less than 10 e-mail addresses to my name. (Thanks, Gmail!)
42. I consider myself a decent web designer.
    
43. I have never had a broken bone, but I have had stitches in my leg and have had a cyst removed.
44. I cannot stand when people drive during the day with their lights on.
45. My favorite books of all-time are The Catcher in the Rye, The Lords of Discipline, and High Fidelity.
46. I am typing this blog post at a desk that I hate. I am determined to build my own desk in my oddly-shaped office and paint it red.
47. If someone gave me an hour-long shopping spree at any store I wanted, I'd probably go to either Best Buy or the Apple Store.
48. I can't stand Summer. It's too hot. I'm all about Winter. Give me football, chili and a sweater and I'm good to go. Spring and Fall are OK, but Winter rules all. It might have something to do with my birthday being in December, but I think I would still much prefer the colder months.
49. One of the reasons that we live in the Midwest is that I love the change of the seasons.
50. I cannot draw.
51. Or run.
    
52. Or sing.
53. I can act a little. I was the star of my middle school's production of "Up the Down Staircase".
54. I'm a decent public speaker. I was selected by my high school classmates to give a speech on Class Day. It was pretty good (I think).
55. My favorite smell is barbecue.
56. My favorite candle smell from Yankee Candle is "Buttercream". It smells like frosting.
    
57. I only get sick about once a year. This has been true my whole life. My parents rewarded my good health by giving me one "mental health day" each semester when I was growing up.
58. My legs are considerably shorter in proportion to my torso. My wife is a foot shorter than I am and has the same inseam.
59. If I had cosmetic surgery, the only thing I would have done is that I would have my back lasered.
60. States I have not been to: Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, North Dakota, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, Delaware, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alaska, Hawaii. That's 17 states!
61. My favorite web site is IMDb.com.
62. I should have gone to bed an hour ago.