Wordsmoker

1) In high school, I used to clip pictures of female celebrities out of my grandmother’s Star, National Enquirer, and other celebrity rags, and tape them to the wall next to my bed. The most clipped? Valerie Bertinelli. Second: Brooke Shields. Third: Jaclyn Smith.

2) Despite growing up in Vermont, I have never been skiing (downhill/cross country).

3) I started college in 1984, got kicked out after two bad semesters in 1989, returned in 1990, and graduated in 1991.

4) The highest GPA I ever got for a semester in college (3.84), came in a semester when I spent the vast majority of it drunk virtually every day, after a bad break-up.

5) I lost my virginity at the ripe old age of 23.

6) I had two varsity letters in high school for golf.

7) Despite the confidence I show and my out-going demeanor when posting, I am actually reticent and shy in social situations, to the point of being a wallflower.

8) I am my own harshest critic. I have self-deprecation down to a fine art.

9) In 1984, I worked on Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaign, and got to meet him and be on-stage for an address he gave in Montpelier.

10) I have never used narcotics of any kind, nor been addicted to anything other than alcohol.

11) In high school, I was “Mr. Know-It-All,” owing to the voracious amount of reading I did (and still do, if the Internet counts for anything). It got so bad, that my World History teacher gave me an “Of Course You Know I Know All the Answers” award at the end of my sophomore year in HS.

12) I am not doing what I want with my life, but cannot seem to change course. There are a great many things I would like to do (write more science fiction, learn to play guitar, start charitable foundations, create my own web sites/apps), but I am constantly convincing myself I don’t have the time, energy, money, etc. to do them.

13) I think Lazy Town on Noggin is kinda cool.

14) I have trouble making time for myself and doing things I want to do.

15) I worked with the autistic and developmentally disabled populations (more the former) for 8 years, before changing careers to computer programming — just as the tech bubble burst.

16) We moved to Vermont when I was 3 and my father left me and mom when I was 5. I have always said I never let it bother me later in life — I lied.

17) While I enjoy seeing celebrities in the flesh, I do not disturb them, simply to get an autograph or picture. Last star I saw: Brent Spiner.

18) I was totally unprepared for fatherhood, despite telling myself I was ready. Especially dealing with my wife’s boys; I’m much too hard on them sometimes.

19) I went to college to become an astronomer. I wound up with a B.S. in Psychology.

20) After I separated from my first wife, I went out with a woman who did not date men who were not divorced. I didn’t tell her, and it eventually destroyed the relationship.

(Hello Cats, it’s Your Editor. Have you sent in your 20 Things yet? There’s some newbies here I want to know more about, and if you’re lucky your 20 Things can grow into something beautiful, like a big flower with nearly 200 comment-petals – radiant, healthy – and then a big fucking bee will come in and STING SOMEONE FOR NO REASON and it’ll all grind to a halt, but damn, your 20 will be remembered, won’t it? NOW FIGHT EVERYONE!!! NOT FOR PAGE-VIEWS BUT FOR LOVE !!FIGHT WITH LOVE !!)