25 Random Things About Me

The 25 random things insanity has finally made its way to me. I say "finally" but I've really just been ignoring it. Anyway, here goes.

1- I once spent the night on a bench in the Brussels, Belgium train station.

2- I've eaten dog. It doesn't taste like chicken... more like beef.

3- I don't like Spanish rice. This is probably due to childhood trauma resulting from exposure to my mom's "danger rice".

4- I started playing the guitar during my freshman year of college. I still play but not as often as I'd like. The first song I memorized was Hotel California.

5- I once disassembled a portable stereo down to individual components, including de-soldering all of the little resistors, capacitors, etc. from the circuit boards.

6- The only time I have ever been frisked was by airport security in Tokyo.

7- I learned about auto repair from my first car, an '83 Oldsmobile Omega.

8- I am excited for my boys to grow older so I can buy toys for them that I can play with.

9- I've only ever received two speeding tickets, one when I was in my mid-twenties and one when I was in my mid-thirties. Both times I was going 13 miles an hour over the limit.

10- When I can't sleep, I slowly count up to 100 in Korean. If that doesn't work, I do it again and form the letters that spell each number in my mind as I count.

11- My first rock concert was Def Leppard. My most recent concert was Dave Matthews. The loudest concert I've been to was Rush. My favorite concert was Barenaked Ladies.

12- My daughter, Bryn Reagan, is named after comedian Bryan Regan because Sue and I saw him perform live while she was pregnant. Okay, not really. She's actually named after a Welsh Bass-baritone and a dead U.S. president.

13- My very first game of Scrabble was with Sue, before we were married. I used all of my letters on my first turn, spelling the word, "genuine". She went on to beat me easily and continued to win every game until some time after we were married.

14- Until we had children we would play several games of Scrabble every week, sometimes more than once a day. At some point we accidentally tied (I know official Scrabble rules don't allow a tie but we don't follow the rules quite so exactly) and from then on we always tried to tie if our scores were relatively close at the end. I win about 52% of the games we don't tie.

15- I experienced being tear gassed several times while trying to get a better look at riots in Korea. The best place to watch Koren riots, in case you're wondering, is from the roofs of buildings along the streets. Supposedly, putting toothpaste under your eyes will help limit the effects of tear gas. In any case, don't rub your eyes because that just makes it worse.

16- The earliest memory I have is when I had my tonsils removed when I was three.

17- I love going into my boys' room when they're just waking up. They are so sweet and haven't found anything to fight over yet.

19- The last time I was in a hospital emergency room was about a year ago when my son Cole slipped in the bathroom and cut his head. He got two staples.

18- The last time I was in a hospital emergency room for an injury to myself was about 10 years ago when I got hit in the chin with a block of ice and needed six stitches.

20- I met my wife at a barbecue. I knew I wanted to marry her after I met her family. I proposed on the trip home after she met my family.

21- I once went backpacking alone up in the mountains in Utah and in the middle of the night a large animal (a moose, I think) walked through my camp. I preferred camping without a tent so I felt (and really was) quite exposed when the beast came crashing through the underbrush. Fortunately, it kept on going and didn't walk across where I was laying.

22- I read a lot. I usually have at least three books I'm reading at a time: one (or more) by my bed, one audio book I listen to while driving, and one other book I carry in my laptop bag for when I have spare moments during the day.

23- After I graduated from college with a degree in computer science I decided that I hadn't read enough "Literature" so I spent a couple of years reading nothing but classical authors: Plato, Dickens, Poe, Tolstoy, Hemingway, etc. Some books I checked out of the library but others I bought at thrift stores, and even occasionally at regular book stores. I won't say it made me a better person but at least I can catch the literary allusions in The Simpsons.

24- Nothing I've ever accomplished has given me the thrill I get when I watch my boys doing something I taught them to do.

25- In the six years we've been married, my wife and I have never had a real argument. We've been annoyed at each other but we both have non-confrontational natures and after a short time whatever issue was bothering us seems insignificant compared to the love we share. Plus, she was on the debate team in high school and would kick my trash in any argument.

26- I'm very easy going but I have a stubborn streak that comes out whenever I feel like someone is trying to make me do something. Even if I wanted to do it, when someone tells me to do it I feel like I have to resist. Maybe that's why I couldn't just do 25 random things.

Reflections on My 39th Birthday

When my dad turned 39 years old I was 13. I remember it mostly because I recall thinking that he was 3 times older than me. Coincidentally, my boys turn 3 in March and I'll be 13 times older than them. I don't remember anything specific about my dad at that age but he was (and still is) almost a mythic figure to me. Tall and dark, with a glare that could freeze water, let alone a teenager's spine. At least one of my friends was genuinely afraid of my dad. But I did my best to avoid becoming the target of his glare and, what's more, I knew that underneath was a funny guy. His glare is an expression I have attempted to replicate, to lesser effect, with my boys. Maybe I don't have a dark enough complexion or maybe the boys just aren't old enough yet to appreciate it. I've still got a few years to work on it.

What strikes me most as I think back, is that my dad always seemed to know the answers. I feel like I'm just fumbling in the dark with respect to how to raise children. Occasionally the boys react in a way that makes me think I'm doing something right and in the next instant they prove me wrong. I find in my dad's implacable wisdom a source of comfort. My parents had children at a much younger age than I. I'm sure the extra years of parenting gave them some knowledge that I can only attain after similar years. On the other hand, the simple process of life itself grants wisdom that my parents lacked when they started. The point is that I don't think that my parents were any wiser than I feel. Perhaps that realization is is another step on the path to real wisdom, whatever that is. And I think my parents did a pretty good job. I hope my children will be able to say the same once they're in my position.