Randomness

Okay, so I don't normally blog about myself, but my wife says I have been tagged and I must compile a list of 10 random things about me. And since I don't consider it wise policy to go around disagreeing with women who are 9 months pregnant, here goes nothing:

1) I suppose I should start with number 1, as in 1/1, as in my birthday: January first. Yes, I'm a New Year's baby, which is only mildly random. But what makes it especially random is that I was born on my father's birthday. Random related anecdote: My mother goes into labor New Years Eve, arrives at the hospital, doctor asks if she wants him to speed things up "so you can get the tax write off for this year?" Needless to say, she passed up the offer and I was born a few hours later on my Dad's birthday. (And did I mention that my Dad turned 58 the day I was born; he's 87 and still going strong).

2) I sweat from the left side of my face when I eat...profusely when it is something spicy, salty or sour. This nifty biological defect makes a fun party trick and was developed courtesy of a benign tumor that was removed from the parotid gland (the largest saliva gland) on the left side of my face, just below my ear, when I was 6 years old. As my face healed from the surgery, the nerves that go to my saliva glands crossed with the ones from my sweat glands, and thus the left side of my face sweats and turns red when I eat. Many years after developing this talent I found out it actually has a name: Frey's syndrome. I'm not kiddin', look it up.

3) I have a dishwasher problem...I cannot tolerate when one is not loaded properly. I promise I am not OCD. This odd condition comes from my youth, when my primary evening chore was loading the dishwasher. From that nightly routine I was instilled with an innate drive to maximize the ergonomics of any dishwasher so as to never leave any dishes remaining in the sink or any dish in a position within the washer which might prevent it or the other dishes from getting completely washed. Be warned, if I see you have loaded the dishwasher improperly, I will go behind you and redo it.

4) Although I now hold two degrees from UGA and have a mild obsession with the gridiron Dawgs (I admit it, I subscribe to the Dawgvent) my most common recurring childhood nightmare was of me being chased through a Scooby-Doo-style haunted mansion by none other than - you guessed it- Uga.

5) Five...that's my lucky number...or 25 (5x5) will do equally as well. Not sure exactly how it came about, but I seem to remember it having something to do with the number 25 jersey I wore as a JV basketball player at MHS. That exact jersey had been worn previously by Steven Goolsby, perhaps the best Blue Devil baller never to live up to his full potential, and I considered myself lucky that I got his old jersey. I try to remember each morning I place 5 quarters in my pocket. I'm not superstitious, it doesn't ruin my day if I forget, but it sure comes in handy when I need a Coke Zero at the courthouse.

6) I aspire to be Automatic for the People. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to go see Weaver. Weaver D's is the finest, most authentic soul food eatery ever established. Dexter Weaver is my friend, he fed me lots of fried pork chops and collard greens during my time in Athens. I was on his meal plan - 20 meals, $100 bucks - every semester of undergrad. The first time I took my wife out to eat - Weavers (she had to pass the collards test if we were going to keep things moving). He catered our rehearsal dinner and his big, shiny, black, bald head is in the frame for a large portion of the video from our wedding ceremony.

7) I am a wheel hog. I love to drive. I do not love to ride shotgun. I despise riding in the back seat. I particularly enjoy driving on long road trips or around places I have never been. I truly believe if I were not an attorney, I would be a long distance trucker.

8) I am a history dork. No really, a huge history dork. The last three books I've read: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abe Lincoln; David McCullough's 1776, and Clarence Thomas' autobiography. Next up on my list: Augustus: Rome's First Emperor. I own Ken Burn's Civil War documentary on DVD, got his WWII documentary for Christmas, and am constantly checking eBay to see if anyone is selling his Jazz documentary at a reasonable price.

9) On a related note: I am all about some public broadcasting. My wife can testify. I think she probably can't remember the last time she got in my car and it wasn't on NPR. I'm a PBS fiend because of Ken Burn's stuff, Frontline and many other programs. I think my attraction to NPR is because I remember what it was like to read good, intelligent journalism during my J-school days in Athens. But I don't have time to read it now, so NPR is the next best thing: its like someone reading the New Yorker and the Wall Street Journal to you while you commute.

10) I am the first male in my family for many generations not to serve in the military. My dad served in the Army during WWII and drove tanks all over Europe; his dad, my Papaw, served in the Army in WWI (and lived to be 99 years old and tell me about it); my mom's brother, my Uncle Dan was the Captain of an aircraft carrier, the USS Kittyhawk; and my brother flew A-6 bombers for the Navy. The only school I ever considered as a serious alternative to UGA was the Naval Academy. Once I met Katie in Athens, she made it clear she was not signing up for military service from day one of our relationship, but I still sometimes struggle with the idea that I probably will never serve my country in the military.

OK, so that was a lot longer than I thought. I guess I need to blog about myself more often.

Well, the only sucker I can think of who hasn't been tagged is my homeboy Sweetchuck. If I think of some other's I'll edit this and tag 'em up.