10 things about me

Hmph, more like 42, if you ask me. Marauder has once again tagged me for one of these things because he knows I often reply against my better judgment.

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?

I had recently gotten married, and was working for a mortgage company, which I considered to be my first "real job". It was one of those magical times that people talk about where we lived in a small apartment with our only furniture being a deck lounge for a sofa and a futon mattress for a bed, and of course it was one of the happier times in our lives, living so simply. As a bit of technological nostalgia, we didn't own a computer, so if we wanted to check our e-mails, we had to use my father-in-law's computer, which had a 16 MHz processor running Windows 3.1. Of course even then it was out-of date, but it got the job done.

2. What were you doing one year ago?

I was still working at my job at a missionary organization as a statistician, but was in the process of looking for a secular job that would pay more so I could better support my family. My kids were just starting their first year of school (I have twins, for those not in the know), and in my spare time I was following the lonelygirl15 series, which had recently been revealed to be a hoax, but fascinated me for being a sort of new art form. On the tech note, so long as I did it above, I was doing most of my work on an 833 MHz machine running Windows ME using Office 2000 and SQL. As of now, I have a secular job in I.T. working on a 3.0 GHz machine running Windows NT Professional, I do a lot of my work in PHP and JavaScript, and will soon be training my co-workers in how to understand Office 2007.

3. What are five snacks you enjoy?

• Starbucks pumpkin scones
• Salt & vinegar potato chips
• Jalapeño poppers
• Frosted mini-wheats
• M&Ms

4. What are five songs you know the lyrics to?

Sheesh, like Marauder, I'm a lyrics freak, so I know a lot of lyrics. It might be more to the point to ask for five albums I know the lyrics to. For instance, if I get a song from the Beatles' White Album stick in my head, I'll usually run through the entire album mentally. Let me think of some unusual songs I know...

• "Penis Song" by Eric Idle
• "Fidelity Fiduciary Bank" from Mary Poppins
• "De Colores" traditional Spanish folk song
• "different town" by Strong Bad and TMBG
• The Spongebob Squarepants theme
  

5. Five Things You Would Do If You Were A Millionaire

• Invest in real estate.
• Get a graduate degree.
• Travel around the world.
• Give $1,000 to 1,000 people and tell them to change the world.
• Never wear the same pair of socks twice.

6. Five Things Your Kids Have Taught You

• Sometimes having a good laugh is as important as actually being funny. The humor of a four-year-old seldom makes sense, but it's always funny to them.
• Macaroni and cheese is always a good meal choice when in doubt. Goes without saying.
• All animals are really cool. One of my daughters loves dogs, but she'll be nearly as excited about touching a spider as a puppy.
• There's inherent excitement in trying something new and different. 99% of the time, my kids ride in my wife's car, but on the rare occasions that I've moved their car seats to my car, even a trip to the grocery store is an adventure to them.
• Having my own children has taught me a lot about how God looks at us as His children.

7. Five Things You Like To Do

• Constructing artificial languages.
• Studying typefaces.
• Solving British crosswords.
• Debating philosophy.
• Writing crap like this blog.

8. Five Things You Would Never Wear

Never? I don't know that I can imagine, let's see...

• A toupee. If I ever go bald, I hope to do so with dignity.
• A nosering. I had been considering getting my nose pierced shortly before I first met my wife, and she told me she didn't like piercings. I don't even wear my earrings anymore.
• More tattoos. On a semi-related note, I had two tattoos when I met my wife, and have abstained from getting additional ones. Most people who have tattoos seem to have several, as it's actually sort of addicting in a way that's hard to explain. While I'm happy with the ones I have, I realized that there's something oxymoronic and silly about making a permanent fashion statement.
• A pair of shoes that cost more than a day's wage.
  
• A speedo. Ew.
  

9. Five Favorite Toys

• I have this windup toy that is sort of hard to describe. Ah, here it is, the Critter. For some reason the thing cracks me up to no end.
• The Rubik's Cube. I couldn't solve I back in the day when it was hot, but eventually figured out how to solve it (although not very fast) about five years or so after its heyday. A fun mental exercise in algorithmic processes.
• Scrabble. (Does a board game count as a toy?)
• Kittens. Awesome.
  
• This blog.
  

10. Five Things You Hate To Do

• Being forced to come up with five of everything
  

Okay, I tag Pervez Musharraf, the unknown person who is in current possession of my senior class ring, Bertie Wooster, Ganesha, and the concept of Lazer Tag.