Assortment of Random Notes

In early 2009 the “25 Things” Note spread across Facebook - the premise is that you write 25 random things about yourself and then tag some of your friends asking them to write about themselves, and so on.

After writing my initial note, more random thoughts kept coming to mind, so I determined to collect them all here (including the original 25). Clearly I have far too much time on my hands.

1. I'm a stickler for spelling and punctuation. It's, its, their, they're, there, these are not difficult, people!
2. However... I more often than not put punctuation marks *outside* my quotes because I'm so used to writing computer code that it feels unnatural to do it the "right" way... Crazy, huh?
3. My DVD collection is sorted alphabetically by title.
4. I love making lists.
5. I don't like being away from home.
6. I am bespectacled (aka, I wear glasses).
7. I was raised drinking skim milk, after St Olaf I've found I prefer 2%. Scandal.
8. I dislike receiving Hallmark eCards, not only because the animation is usually poor and the music annoying, but mostly because there's no way of saving them. I'd rather you write me a one-sentence email than send me an eCard, because then I can archive and re-read it in the future. (A hand-written card in the mail is even better, of course).
9. I love lying in bed and falling asleep to the sound of a running dishwasher.
10. In second or third grade I switched my watch to be in 24-hour mode (Americans call it "military time", in reality, it's the time format the entire rest of the world uses). Then I did it just for fun and to be different, now it seems weird whenever I read a digital clock that isn't in this format - I legitimately get confused sometimes.
11. I never use the word "seriously" in conjunction with a lie (I don'very rarely lie, this is more a 'if you think I'm playing a joke on you' sort of scenario). This I learned from my friend Matthew.
12. Upon finishing The Amber Spyglass (the final book in the Golden Compass trilogy, I was distraught when Lyra and Will didn't end up together.
13. I like to Post-It flag books as I read them.
14. I get really annoyed when, in bothe TV shows and movies, someone is talking on the phone and the other person hangs up and you hear a dial tone. That doesn't happen in real life!
15. I appreciate ballroom dancing, but have never understood the "fun" aspect of typical teen/young adult "dancing"/thrashing.
16. Anytime anyone sends me an urban legend/chain email without first verifying its validity on Snopes, I unashamedly reply-all (because usually they have also neglected to BCC) and scold them - sometimes people have the audacity to get angry at me for this, to which I must kindly explain it's their own fault.
17. As a young'n I drank oodles of soda, but now I generally avoid it unless there are no other choices (Taco Bell, for instance, where they have not any lemonade... No, in that particular case I default to Mountain Dew Baja Blast... because I wrote a paper about their advertising campaign in my first-year writing class at college)
18. I'm an overachiever and am almost always too hard on myself. Difficult as it is, though, every now and then I can impress even myself. That's not arrogance, just an observation.
19. I'm most definitely 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 still holding any resentment there, that's for sure!
20. I love Noodles and Company, but I have very childish tastes, so I almost always (95%) get plain ol' delicious Mac and Cheese.
21. My current favorite TV shows are Lost, The Big Bang Theory (it's sooo geeky and hilarious), and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. That's right, I'm man enough to admit it. Now where's my pink bathrobe...?
22. I do actually have 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.
23. 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.
24. I think beer tastes absolutely disgusting; I much prefer girly drinks like Sex on the Beach (it's pink!) or an Amaretto Sour.
25. 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, let alone a pet.
26. I still have hundreds upon hundreds of Beanie Babies in my basement from years of collecting in my youth.
27. I sung in my church's choir for many years as a child, as well as my school choirs and the Metropolitan Boys Choir when I was younger. I love singing. Not saying I'm wonderful, but I love it anyway.
28. God told me to buy my first acoustic guitar in October 2006. There is no other truthful way to phrase that sentence.
29. Just for fun, I now also own an electric and a bass (and a sweet pedal board). I can't really play either of them very well, but they're fun to mess around with. My acoustic will always be my favorite, it's the only one I can worship with.
30. The first song I memorized on guitar (and second one I ever learned, after Amazing Grace) was David Crowder's "No One Like You".
31. I have played a guitar hero controller a la David Crowder (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Aw8ZWoNS8M) in front of a group of 50+ middle and high schooler kids. They looked at me like I was crazy, but I had a blast anyway. (Download a free software called "Fretbuzz", then run the audio out from your computer into an amp or distortion pedal, voilá!)
32. I aspire someday to write an amazing rock/worship song that will play on the radio and with which people can sing along. On the other hand, in all seriousness, I'm not sure my ego could handle it. That one's gotta be in God's hands, I'll just screw it all up otherwise. In the while, almost every song I've written has been my personal prayers set to music.
33. The more I've tried to "lead worship", whatever that might mean, the more I've 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 working on this. Prayers greatly appreciated.
34. I hope someday I have a child as amazing as Leslie from the movie Bridge to Terabithia. This was possibly the single best movie I have ever seen... Or at least in my top 5 of all time. If you've never seen it, you need to.
35. I absolutely love Miley Cyrus' song "I Learned from You", preferably the remixed version for Bridge to Terabithia (though the original is meaningful, too).
36. I'm a very impatient person, and particularly so as it has come to 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... Oh... right...
37. Needles terrified me when I was younger; now, after all the blood tests when I was being diagnosed with Crohn's, needles don't bother me at all, as long as I can watch it go in.
38. I've donated 13 pints of blood to date as of February 2009, and can't wait to get my two gallon pin after #16!
39. I'm an organ donor.
40. I think the absolute most important thing a person can do is simply *show up*. People, and myself especially, appreciate that more than anything, just show up.
41. In 10th grade I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, an incurable, but non-life-threatening, condition (you can read more than you'd ever want to know about it on Wikipedia). Eventually, my doctor began treating me with Remicade, a relatively new medication typically prescribed for arthritis patients. Every 6-8 weeks I went in for a two-hour intravenous infusion of the $6000 drug (that's not a typo, there are three zeroes there - thankfully insurance paid all but a tiny deductible). This continued until this past summer, when due to my insurance changeover from my Dad's coverage to my very own policy through my employer, it would have been very inconvenient financially to continue treatment (not impossible, just inconvenient). And so, one Sunday after hearing a sermon about healing, I decided to pray: ‘God, I believe you can heal me, and so I'd like to ask for that now. I don't absolutely need it, there are other people who "deserve" healings much more than I, but it would be convenient. My faith will not be shaken if your answer is "no", but I'm asking anyway, because in Psalm 103 (the lesson from church that day) it says you are a God who heals'. I prayed this both expecting, and not expecting, much of anything to happen. On the other hand, what a cool story that would be if I were healed, coming from someone who could barely make it to the 8 week mark without noticeable symptoms. You can draw your own conclusions, but that prayer happened in July, my last infusion had been in June, and I haven't had one since. Cool.
    
    UPDATE: After 43 weeks, some of my symptoms returned. A few weeks later I started a new medication called Humira, which I've also written about on my blog.
42. I cry, but rarely, and usually only for the most important things in life.
43. I choose to use clean language, and to not use God's name outside of a theological context.
44. If I could meet some random people from history, they would be Deitrich Bonhoeffer, Robert Altman, Joan of Arc, Randy Pausch, and Al Neibacher. (Al was the pastor at my church growing up; he died before I reached an age at which I could really appreciate his theology, now I really wish I could go back and chat with him)
45. Phones that ring and aren't answered annoy me to no end.
46. I absolutely love Regular Expressions for the countless hours of repetitious manual labor they have saved me. I also adore this XKCD comic about regular expressions.
47. Almost everyone laughs out loud when they first see me use my voice recorder, but almost everyone then agrees to its usefulness. After three or four years of carrying this memory-saving device everywhere I go, it’s hard to imagine ever living a life without it.
48. I love the Dilbert comic strip, and also enjoy author Scott Adams’ Dilbert blog.
49. I think I’m a decent live-sound mixer. During my senior year at Olaf I had the opportunity to use an LS-9 digital console to mix for Selah (Sunday night worship group), and I have to admit, it’s hard to go back to using an analog board anymore.
50. After finishing the Golden Compass trilogy of books, I’m still pondering what type of animal my dæmon would be. I also rather like that idea of having an adorable animal dæmon/soul, but we live in the wrong universe for that.
51. I always use my Chase Visa card for purchases, even small ones, because all those dollars spent rack up to free gas card rewards, and I always pay my balance each month, so I’m never charged interest. The exception to this is when I shop at Target, then I use my Target Visa because some percentage of the sale is then transferred back to Minnehaha.
52. I love talking about myself; however, I work very hard at keeping quiet and listening to others first. If you prompt me with a question, I'm more than happy to answer, tell a story, offer an opinion, etc, but I'm trying not to be self-centered. It's a strange battle...
53. I switched to editing in Final Cut Pro back in 2004 and I've never looked back.
54. I despise being asked computer-related questions outside of work. If we're in a social context, I don't want you asking me about why your Internet connection is so slow, or what type of computer you should buy. I'm sorry, it's nothing personal, I just really don't care.
55. I love folding towels.
56. I'm terrible at remembering movie quotes.
57. I hate small talk.
58. My love language is definitely Quality Time.
59. I'm a font snob, and I absolutely despise the overuse of Papyrus. It's not just me, there's an XKCD comic about Papyrus, as well.
60. I can't drink hot chocolate/cocoa anymore :( It causes unpleasant gastro-intestinal distress
61. I'm irrationally fearful of worms.