Thursday, August 04, 2005
Special 100th Post: 100 Things About Me.
In honor of my 100th post (not counting the posts on
Things About me:
1) I am a Christian
2) Even though my Dad was baptist and my Mom presbyterian, I went to a Southern Methodist Elementary School and ended up being baptized into the Church of Christ at age 14.
3) I've gone to that same church of Christ, James Avenue, my whole life.
4) I'm not a very "church of Christ" person. I'm a huge fan of the 90's Christian Rock movement, particularly Audio A, Third Day, FiF, and (pre-secular)Skillet. I don't like the typcial CoC approach to church and state, I don't really have a "problem" with musical instruments in church (though I respect the CoC approach to it), I realize CoC is a denomination like any other, I don't think we have it all right (in fact, I think many CoC members overlook a lot of it), and I try to stay open minded about others interpretations of scripture.
5) I've preached about 8 times (I can't remember exactly), never on any of the topics above.
6) The first time I preached was when I was 14, roughly 6 months after I was baptized.
7) I have never been afraid of speaking my mind, and I've only gotten louder.
8) I'm a drummer.
9) ...but not a very good one. I haven't really played in 3 years now.
10) I spent the first 3 years of college living with a percussion major. I'd practice on his stuff occasionally, but only occasionally.
11) In high school I played Jazz drums and (my senior year) keyboards. I was ok at drums, I think, though the kid 3 years younger than me was better.
12) Between second and sixth grade I took piano lessons at Maureen May's Studio when it was out of her house, before she moved uptown (she's still teaching, you can email her here).
13) I wrote my first book when I was in 5th Grade, but I'm not sure it counts because we all had to write them. The first one I wrote completely on my own was 85 hand-written pages and vanished soon after I wrote it my 8th grade year.
14) The current story that I'm working on has been written and re-written in various forms for the past 4 years, and stems from a story that I started 7 years ago.
15) I'm 21 years old
16) my birthday is on dec 16 (well timed, that entry was...)
17) I've been a Star Trek fan since I was 3.
18) When I was 10, I began learning Klingon
19) I published my first newsletter at age 11. It summarized the latest episodes of TNG and offered (somewhat silly, in retrospect) commentary on the "current events" of the series. It was advertised in the pen-pals section of Odyssey, a science magazine for kids, and written on an Apple IIGS. I sent out 2 issues.
20) I <3 Oregon Trail
21) I went to East Lit for Middle School and my first year of High School, but a little confusion over a pocketknife and a boy scouts event sent me back to private school after a brief homeschool hiatus.
22) At Nashville Christian High School I wrote for the school paper, and absolutely hated it. Because of that, I still avoid writing for papers, even when it would be easier and more profitable than me piddling my life away in fiction.
23) I also ran Friday chapels there. It was my responsibilty to either find someone to speak, or speak myself. I spent a lot of Fridays speaking in Chapel.
24) When I wasn't doing all of that, I played Dungeons and Dragons with 5 of my friends. That group grew to 7 my senior year, and split when we all went to different colleges.
25) I'm part of Clark College at Murray State University, where I'm majoring in Creative Writing / Literature and Minoring in Technical Writing and (maybe) German. Yes, I know that's enough for 2 degrees with room to spare. That's why I'm taking 5 years.
26) I spent the Fall 2004 Semester in Regensburg, Germany, and wrote about it at Travel_blog.
27) I'm wrapping up an internship in Vanderbilt's IT department, where I've been trying some hands-on Technical Writing.
28) I never intended to study Tech Writing. It found me via an elective credit and a couple of really good professors.
29) My dad got our first computer when I was 8.
30) I took it apart when I was 15 and never got it back together again.
31) I built my first website when I was 12. It was a member index for an online RPG I was in via AOL.
32) As of 3 years ago, that site's still out there.
33) I learned most of my HTML myself, but studied CSS and a little XML in class.
34) I've lived in the same house, with the same neighbors on one side, since I was 3.
35) I don't remember when I got my first video game system. Dad had an Atari that never worked. The first one that was really mine was my Sega Game Gear, which I got around third or fourth grade.
36) I bite my fingernails.
37) I love coffee.
38) I hate tomato juice and tomato juice-based drinks (like V8).
39) I'm not really fond of tomatos at all. I think it has something to do with the long stretches of Cherry tomatoes that have been grown in our backyard my entire life.
40) I love used book stores. I used to frequent Book Trader in west Nashville until that jerk bought it just to resale the space and move to FL.
41) Both my parents have remarried remarkable people, and in Dad's case brought along two step-sibs that are a constant adventure to be around (in a good way!).
42) I know 42 is the answer to everything.
43) I never watched Anime until I came to college. Now I watch fansubs instead of TV.
44) My favorite super-hero is Spiderman. Before that, it was batman (the 90's animated series was awesome!)
45) I'm a terrible speller.
46) Genetically speaking, I'm mostly German. My Mom's parents both have German in them, my Granddad's actually mostly German, and my Dad's side has German and Dutch. They've been in the hills of Tennessee for ages, though, so I guess I'm as much Hill-billy as German.
47) I was born with white-blonde hair. It's darkened to brown. My dad's darkened all the way to nearly black.
48) I wrote puppet scripts for the James Avenue VBS several years, and the skit scripts a couple of times (I think... maybe it was just once?).
49) I've been involved in VBS for 8 years now. At JA, that means being at the church at least 3 hours a day, every day, for two weeks and devoting at least 12 hours one saturday to it.
50) I listen to NPR.
51) Despite being somewhat lazy myself, I have a strong dislike of people who are lazy at work. I like to think that I know exactly how hard I need to work to work, and that when I'm lazy I'm conserving energy for future work.
52) I'm not afraid of criticism, because I am my own worst critic.
53) My favorite video game is Descent. My next door neighbor and I played Descent over a dialup connection in the late 90's. Then we played Descent 2. Now we play Descent 3. I'm a decade-long Descent user now.
54) I spend an average of 5 hours per day on the internet.
55) I really have never chosen a favorite book, but some of my favorite authors are Hemingway, Stephen Crane, JRR Tolkien, Steven King, Robert Jordan, and J.K. Rowling.
56) I own over 700 books, and between my Mom and I that number goes up to around 1200.
57) about 150 of those belong to my "circulating collection." They are books that I take to the nearest book trader and trade for new books to read, which are then either promoted to the "Standing collection," or tossed back into the circulation pile.
58) I generally don't get poetry.
59) I am an unofficial member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. I write Shire Redwolf's newsletter, fight light weapons with them, do a little live weapons, and help print whatever they need.
60) I have helped coordinate the Clark College Medieval Festival three years in a row.
61) I have been involved in Student Government, in one part or another, for every semester I have been in College except the one I spent abroad.
62) I have read about 25 Star Wars novels, and generally enjoy them more than the movies.
63) I saw Star Wars Episodes I and II opening day.
64) I skipped Episode III's premiere because Tiffany and I wanted to see it together.
65) I've seen Audio A live 4 times.
66) I've lived in Nashville my whole life, never been to the Grand Ole Opry, never been to the Mix Factory, never been to the Melting Pot,never been to the Country Music Hall of Fame, never been to a Titans game, and only gone to 328 twice.
67) I've seen an emergency exit window pushed off a moving MTA bus, and since that day I never sit in the seat by the exit.
68) I love all things Nintendo.
69) I rode the dread MTA Magnet School Route during its first year, when 300 kids would cram on a bus made for 150.
70) I love my Danners.
71) I love to hike.
72) I love to sing church hymns, even if I'm not always good at them.
73) I love seeing a beautiful landscape and feeling like all the work to get to that view was worth every minute.
74) I've been indoor rock climbing a few times, and would love to do more.
75) I climbed trees when I was young, often worrying the neighbors.
76) Family's very important to me. I have a small family, one uncle on Mom's side and one aunt on dad's. Both with two kids. I have one sister, one step-sister, and one step-brother. I am also lucky to have all 4 of my grandparents, and my great-grandmother still with me.
77) I love Tiffany, who may have been worried that I'd forgotten her, but has really just gotten saved until I could reach the double-perfect number :).
78) I've been with Tiffany since I was a Junior in High School, 5 years ago now.
79) We've both spent our entire college career at Clark College.
80) Even though I'm president of the Residential College Association, I still can't help but sometimes call them "dorms."
81) I've only stayed in two rooms of Clark College. Carlos and I shared 122 until I went abroad, then we moved to 126, where I am now.
82) I can't spell.
83) Even though I'm an English major, I'm not very good with grammar. I made a C in my College Grammar class because our teacher thought that she had developed a new, better way of understanding the functions of words. Her new way further confused me. Learning German actually straightened me out again, because I began to look at the implied Accusitive and Dative cases in English (who / whom, She and I, me and her, etc).
84) I didn't get a driver's license or a car of my own until I was 21, and I'm still a really bad driver.
85) I haven't gotten in a knock-down fight since elementary school, though sometimes I've come really close.
86) Family is very important to me. Every year I go to a family reunion and "reconnect" with the people who have influenced so much of my life, and who touch it even now.
87) I get along with girls better than guys.
88) I don't have much patience for feminists who think the solution to everything is to oppress the men of society, or African Americans who think the solution is to punish the White Supremists.
89) I am registered as an independent voter, but tend to support democrats over republicans.
90) I don't like talking politics, but often find myself in such conversations.
91) I still pray in school, and found more Christian practice and more christian people in a public school than I ever saw at NCS (sorry to those who take offense, but truth is, we were the minority).
92) Like most Christians, I hate hypocrasy. Unlike most Christians, I know how often I stumble into it.
93) I love hearing people of different faiths talk peacefully together.
94) I am fascinated by the history of Christianity, and spent last summer reading volumes on it.
95) I am equally fascinated by medieval, renaissance, and early modern history. They are more connected than many people ever realize.
96) I hate red wasps. They always swarmed the pear tree in our backyard, eating away at the pears as they ripened and turning our outdoor play area into a dangerous field.
97) I believe that education is one of the most noble things a person can do with their life.
98) I still want to be a "dusty old English professor".
99) I hope to never lose my thirst for knowledge.
100) I hope to never lose my connection to the internet. ¶ 0 comments
Things About me:
1) I am a Christian
2) Even though my Dad was baptist and my Mom presbyterian, I went to a Southern Methodist Elementary School and ended up being baptized into the Church of Christ at age 14.
3) I've gone to that same church of Christ, James Avenue, my whole life.
4) I'm not a very "church of Christ" person. I'm a huge fan of the 90's Christian Rock movement, particularly Audio A, Third Day, FiF, and (pre-secular)Skillet. I don't like the typcial CoC approach to church and state, I don't really have a "problem" with musical instruments in church (though I respect the CoC approach to it), I realize CoC is a denomination like any other, I don't think we have it all right (in fact, I think many CoC members overlook a lot of it), and I try to stay open minded about others interpretations of scripture.
5) I've preached about 8 times (I can't remember exactly), never on any of the topics above.
6) The first time I preached was when I was 14, roughly 6 months after I was baptized.
7) I have never been afraid of speaking my mind, and I've only gotten louder.
8) I'm a drummer.
9) ...but not a very good one. I haven't really played in 3 years now.
10) I spent the first 3 years of college living with a percussion major. I'd practice on his stuff occasionally, but only occasionally.
11) In high school I played Jazz drums and (my senior year) keyboards. I was ok at drums, I think, though the kid 3 years younger than me was better.
12) Between second and sixth grade I took piano lessons at Maureen May's Studio when it was out of her house, before she moved uptown (she's still teaching, you can email her here).
13) I wrote my first book when I was in 5th Grade, but I'm not sure it counts because we all had to write them. The first one I wrote completely on my own was 85 hand-written pages and vanished soon after I wrote it my 8th grade year.
14) The current story that I'm working on has been written and re-written in various forms for the past 4 years, and stems from a story that I started 7 years ago.
15) I'm 21 years old
16) my birthday is on dec 16 (well timed, that entry was...)
17) I've been a Star Trek fan since I was 3.
18) When I was 10, I began learning Klingon
19) I published my first newsletter at age 11. It summarized the latest episodes of TNG and offered (somewhat silly, in retrospect) commentary on the "current events" of the series. It was advertised in the pen-pals section of Odyssey, a science magazine for kids, and written on an Apple IIGS. I sent out 2 issues.
20) I <3 Oregon Trail
21) I went to East Lit for Middle School and my first year of High School, but a little confusion over a pocketknife and a boy scouts event sent me back to private school after a brief homeschool hiatus.
22) At Nashville Christian High School I wrote for the school paper, and absolutely hated it. Because of that, I still avoid writing for papers, even when it would be easier and more profitable than me piddling my life away in fiction.
23) I also ran Friday chapels there. It was my responsibilty to either find someone to speak, or speak myself. I spent a lot of Fridays speaking in Chapel.
24) When I wasn't doing all of that, I played Dungeons and Dragons with 5 of my friends. That group grew to 7 my senior year, and split when we all went to different colleges.
25) I'm part of Clark College at Murray State University, where I'm majoring in Creative Writing / Literature and Minoring in Technical Writing and (maybe) German. Yes, I know that's enough for 2 degrees with room to spare. That's why I'm taking 5 years.
26) I spent the Fall 2004 Semester in Regensburg, Germany, and wrote about it at Travel_blog.
27) I'm wrapping up an internship in Vanderbilt's IT department, where I've been trying some hands-on Technical Writing.
28) I never intended to study Tech Writing. It found me via an elective credit and a couple of really good professors.
29) My dad got our first computer when I was 8.
30) I took it apart when I was 15 and never got it back together again.
31) I built my first website when I was 12. It was a member index for an online RPG I was in via AOL.
32) As of 3 years ago, that site's still out there.
33) I learned most of my HTML myself, but studied CSS and a little XML in class.
34) I've lived in the same house, with the same neighbors on one side, since I was 3.
35) I don't remember when I got my first video game system. Dad had an Atari that never worked. The first one that was really mine was my Sega Game Gear, which I got around third or fourth grade.
36) I bite my fingernails.
37) I love coffee.
38) I hate tomato juice and tomato juice-based drinks (like V8).
39) I'm not really fond of tomatos at all. I think it has something to do with the long stretches of Cherry tomatoes that have been grown in our backyard my entire life.
40) I love used book stores. I used to frequent Book Trader in west Nashville until that jerk bought it just to resale the space and move to FL.
41) Both my parents have remarried remarkable people, and in Dad's case brought along two step-sibs that are a constant adventure to be around (in a good way!).
42) I know 42 is the answer to everything.
43) I never watched Anime until I came to college. Now I watch fansubs instead of TV.
44) My favorite super-hero is Spiderman. Before that, it was batman (the 90's animated series was awesome!)
45) I'm a terrible speller.
46) Genetically speaking, I'm mostly German. My Mom's parents both have German in them, my Granddad's actually mostly German, and my Dad's side has German and Dutch. They've been in the hills of Tennessee for ages, though, so I guess I'm as much Hill-billy as German.
47) I was born with white-blonde hair. It's darkened to brown. My dad's darkened all the way to nearly black.
48) I wrote puppet scripts for the James Avenue VBS several years, and the skit scripts a couple of times (I think... maybe it was just once?).
49) I've been involved in VBS for 8 years now. At JA, that means being at the church at least 3 hours a day, every day, for two weeks and devoting at least 12 hours one saturday to it.
50) I listen to NPR.
51) Despite being somewhat lazy myself, I have a strong dislike of people who are lazy at work. I like to think that I know exactly how hard I need to work to work, and that when I'm lazy I'm conserving energy for future work.
52) I'm not afraid of criticism, because I am my own worst critic.
53) My favorite video game is Descent. My next door neighbor and I played Descent over a dialup connection in the late 90's. Then we played Descent 2. Now we play Descent 3. I'm a decade-long Descent user now.
54) I spend an average of 5 hours per day on the internet.
55) I really have never chosen a favorite book, but some of my favorite authors are Hemingway, Stephen Crane, JRR Tolkien, Steven King, Robert Jordan, and J.K. Rowling.
56) I own over 700 books, and between my Mom and I that number goes up to around 1200.
57) about 150 of those belong to my "circulating collection." They are books that I take to the nearest book trader and trade for new books to read, which are then either promoted to the "Standing collection," or tossed back into the circulation pile.
58) I generally don't get poetry.
59) I am an unofficial member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. I write Shire Redwolf's newsletter, fight light weapons with them, do a little live weapons, and help print whatever they need.
60) I have helped coordinate the Clark College Medieval Festival three years in a row.
61) I have been involved in Student Government, in one part or another, for every semester I have been in College except the one I spent abroad.
62) I have read about 25 Star Wars novels, and generally enjoy them more than the movies.
63) I saw Star Wars Episodes I and II opening day.
64) I skipped Episode III's premiere because Tiffany and I wanted to see it together.
65) I've seen Audio A live 4 times.
66) I've lived in Nashville my whole life, never been to the Grand Ole Opry, never been to the Mix Factory, never been to the Melting Pot,never been to the Country Music Hall of Fame, never been to a Titans game, and only gone to 328 twice.
67) I've seen an emergency exit window pushed off a moving MTA bus, and since that day I never sit in the seat by the exit.
68) I love all things Nintendo.
69) I rode the dread MTA Magnet School Route during its first year, when 300 kids would cram on a bus made for 150.
70) I love my Danners.
71) I love to hike.
72) I love to sing church hymns, even if I'm not always good at them.
73) I love seeing a beautiful landscape and feeling like all the work to get to that view was worth every minute.
74) I've been indoor rock climbing a few times, and would love to do more.
75) I climbed trees when I was young, often worrying the neighbors.
76) Family's very important to me. I have a small family, one uncle on Mom's side and one aunt on dad's. Both with two kids. I have one sister, one step-sister, and one step-brother. I am also lucky to have all 4 of my grandparents, and my great-grandmother still with me.
77) I love Tiffany, who may have been worried that I'd forgotten her, but has really just gotten saved until I could reach the double-perfect number :).
78) I've been with Tiffany since I was a Junior in High School, 5 years ago now.
79) We've both spent our entire college career at Clark College.
80) Even though I'm president of the Residential College Association, I still can't help but sometimes call them "dorms."
81) I've only stayed in two rooms of Clark College. Carlos and I shared 122 until I went abroad, then we moved to 126, where I am now.
82) I can't spell.
83) Even though I'm an English major, I'm not very good with grammar. I made a C in my College Grammar class because our teacher thought that she had developed a new, better way of understanding the functions of words. Her new way further confused me. Learning German actually straightened me out again, because I began to look at the implied Accusitive and Dative cases in English (who / whom, She and I, me and her, etc).
84) I didn't get a driver's license or a car of my own until I was 21, and I'm still a really bad driver.
85) I haven't gotten in a knock-down fight since elementary school, though sometimes I've come really close.
86) Family is very important to me. Every year I go to a family reunion and "reconnect" with the people who have influenced so much of my life, and who touch it even now.
87) I get along with girls better than guys.
88) I don't have much patience for feminists who think the solution to everything is to oppress the men of society, or African Americans who think the solution is to punish the White Supremists.
89) I am registered as an independent voter, but tend to support democrats over republicans.
90) I don't like talking politics, but often find myself in such conversations.
91) I still pray in school, and found more Christian practice and more christian people in a public school than I ever saw at NCS (sorry to those who take offense, but truth is, we were the minority).
92) Like most Christians, I hate hypocrasy. Unlike most Christians, I know how often I stumble into it.
93) I love hearing people of different faiths talk peacefully together.
94) I am fascinated by the history of Christianity, and spent last summer reading volumes on it.
95) I am equally fascinated by medieval, renaissance, and early modern history. They are more connected than many people ever realize.
96) I hate red wasps. They always swarmed the pear tree in our backyard, eating away at the pears as they ripened and turning our outdoor play area into a dangerous field.
97) I believe that education is one of the most noble things a person can do with their life.
98) I still want to be a "dusty old English professor".
99) I hope to never lose my thirst for knowledge.
100) I hope to never lose my connection to the internet. ¶ 0 comments
