Final things
Alright, people, here it is... the post you've all been waiting for. The final seven in my master list of 25 things that make me awesome. In case you're late to the party, here are a couple links:
25 things that make me awesome - #1-9
25 things that make me awesome - #10-18
Now that I assume you're all caught up and you know all the narrative involved with this project, I'll direct you to one more link if you haven't read it.. It will serve as a de-facto introduction to this site. Other than that, let's get on with it:
- A bunch of my extended family migrated from Bergen County, NJ to St. Simon's Island - part of the Golden Isles on the Southern coast of Georgia. It's really nice down there. Incidentally, two summers in a row (2002 and 2003) I lived on SSI interning for Sea Island in the IT department. It was great times, and I love the area - it's just weird to work at a resort during the summer. Everyone is there vacationing, and you're there working, wishing you could be on vacation. Now, it'd be great to live the life down there and have an unrelated job, which makes me secretly envious of the family.
- For a very, very long time I was admittedly OBSESSED with Star Wars. I can't even tell you how many times I've seen the 'original' films. As a matter of fact, (and somehow I'm not quite as embarassed as I should be to admit this...) I have a large number of mint-in-package action figures from the 'new' era of interest in the films from the late '90s. They are displayed on the walls of my old room at my mom's house. ...on second thought, maybe that should be more embarassing than I thought.
- Speaking of which, my Mom and I are very close. She left my father when I was too young to know anything was going on - and I'd say it was a good decision. Anyway, I don't really talk about it much because there really isn't anything to talk about. I was raised well and I'm awesome enough to have to struggle to fill 25 bullet points. I'd say everything worked out great.
- I have a pet parrot - a Maroon Bellied Conure. His "real" name is Houdini - named for his true mastery of the art of escape. When I got him as a young bird, I was told to beware the penchant for finding his way out of cages, but I learned the hard way a few times how true the given name is. Though he's officially "Houdini" and I will refer to him as such, most often I just call him "The Bird Man." It makes sense, and his attitude reflects it. Conures aren't known for their talking abilities, but he's able to say some garbled phrases such as "ooo-dee-ni" and "da-burd-man." Shockingly, he doesn't say anything like "asshole" or "shit."
- I'm a music fiend. I hate listing bands or genres, because I love a billion bands from a billion genres and hate just as many bands and just as many genres. One of the best things in life is seeing a concert from a favorite band/musician, so here's a list of shows I've seen in no particular order:
-NIN (at least 7 times without thinking too hard)
-Dave Matthews Band (6+ times easy)
-Tool (5+ times?)
-Radiohead (first show in North America just before In Rainbows was released)
-Aerosmith (my first show ever!)
-Weird Al (sweet.)
-Dream Theater (saw them in London)
-Puddle of Mudd (laugh all you want, but free tickets at a sweet club in Jacksonville, FL is way awesome)
-Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top dual bill (first concert I ever drove to!)
-Smashing Pumpkins (reunion tour at Tower Theater in Philly... never thought I'd see them, so a major high point)
-Other amazing shows: Steve Miller, George Thorogood, Rush, Styx, Night Ranger, Kanye West, A Perfect Circle (opening for NIN), Mindless Self-Indulgence (several shows), Cake, OK Go, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, The Killers, Iggy Pop, Ghostland Observatory, Man Man, Mutemath, Sonic Youth, The Flaming Lips, Ween.... Good lord, I'm going to kick myself when I remember everyone I'm forgetting. Like I said, nothing like live music from a good band.
- I've got lots of scars - the biggest is a 15-inch scar on my back from the removal of a ginormous weird birthmark when I was like 11. The docs didn't like it, and thus it was gone. Genetics dictate that my body makes serious looking scars, so it kind of looks like I got stabbed. Other scars include one on my middle finger from a botched hard drive installation (nerdiest wound ever), one on my forefinger from being dumb in high school, another on my palm from slipping and falling on a knife while camping, one on my elbow from ditching on a mountain bike, and among many others, my most visible: a five-incher below my left elbow from a freak fourth-of-July accident that occured during one of those previously mentioned summers in Georgia.
- Most likely one of the coolest things about me would be my SCUBA training. My diving experiences are some of the best times in my life. I wish I had the time and money to get more certifications (like night diving, wreck diving, drysuit diving, deep diving, etc). I spent a week in the British Virgin Islands on a catamaran my family chartered, and my uncle and I would just pick a spot, anchor the dhingy and dive. It was amazing.
Time for some sleeping, but maybe if I get a chance during the weekend I'll add some links and/or photos to make this slightly less boring than it already is.