101 things about me

1) I was born at Washington, DC Hospital for Women
2) When I was younger, I used to wonder why I was born there if I was a boy
3) I remember in Kindergarten we used to eat great big sugar cookies, watch TV and color the alphabets
4) I remember in high school we used to eat snickers and fill the circles for the SATs and the state competency exams
5) I never considered the military as a career choice
6) The first time I fell in love, I knew what it was
7) I also knew what it was when it left
8) My parents separated when I was 12 years old
9) Later that same year, I developed cancer in a lymph node in my neck
10) Before I knew it was cancer, my nose used to bleed at school, and the kids used to tease me, calling me “cancer boy”
11) I chose radiation therapy over chemotherapy because radiation wouldn’t make my hair fall out
12) My mother and I lived in a Ronald McDonald House for 3 months.
13) My mother believes I was healed of cancer before my radiation treatment ever started by prayers in the room we were staying in days before.
14) At one point in my treatment I could only eat liquids
15) I put a quarter pounder with cheese and a Dr. Pepper in a blender because I thought I could eat it
16) That was not a fond memory
17) I am a jack of many trades. I've never really named them all though...lets see. Graphic Design, graphic artist, advertising design, technical support, web design, publishing, print production (binding and finish work), editing, writing, teaching, computer hardware installation, interior design, debating, psychology/counseling, music production, video editing, foodservice, hosting/hospitality, cameraman, sales, woodworking, home theatre installation, car audio installation, delivery person, light bookkeeping/taxes, consultant, motivational speaker and in the next year musician.
18) I used to play the clarinet in the 4th grade when I lived in Maryland
19) My teacher called me a prodigy because I could “flutter tongue” naturally
20) One reason I stopped playing because in North Carolina woodwinds are “girl instruments”
21) Another reason I stopped playing was because band was not offered in 5th grade in North Carolina
22) After being treated for cancer, the membrane that allowed me divert the airflow to my nose of my mouth was damaged and I could not “blow” strong enough to produce good sound, so I stopped trying to play.
23) Before I had cancer I was an A/B student
24) After I had cancer my grades became reflective of the practical knowledge in that class
25) I finished high school with a 2.7 GPA
26) I had surgery for a deviated septum when I was 17
27) I had a collapsed lung when I was 18
28) I had a tracheostomy when I was 31
29) I had an Atari 5200
30) In high school I failed Algebra, Chemistry and Geometry the first I took them.
31) I didn’t learn to drive until I was 20 years old.
32) I got a 45 on my final exam (and 20 on the lab) out of a possible 100 score on the first biology class I took in college
33) That was my “sign” that medicine was not my calling
34) I am left handed
35) I have been drawing since age 4
36) I could read at age 4
37) I used to take stuff apart as a kid
38) I still take stuff apart, but now I can put them back together
39) I kissed a girl when I was in the 1st grade
40) I had to write 25 sentences on the chalkboard
41) Afterwards I thought she wasn’t really that cute
42) I got married on the Summer Solstice (longest day of the year)
43) I was in New York with my wife on September 11th, 2001 about to go down to the World Trade Center to take a friend that had never seen it
44) I was put on probation for shoplifting when I was a minor.
45) I tried weed once, didn’t like it
46) I tried to smoke, unsuccessfully, didn’t like it
47) I used to drink beer on rare occasions, like you would a certain flavor of soda
48) I probably drank more beer in food (like crabs and battered shrimp) than out of cans
49) After my parents separated, I admired traits of several men in my life and that became my "composite" father figure growing up
50) I published my first literary magazine in 1992 at North Carolina Central University (Ex Umbra)
51) I think the US government starts wars and “conflicts” to make them look good
52) When I was in college, I was the cameraman for the marching band
53) In the yearbook photo for that year, I borrowed a friends uniform and said I played the tuba
54) I was 5’8”, 101 lbs at that time
55) I have been as far west as Omaha, Nebraska
56) I have been as far east as the Cayman Islands
57) I have been as far North as Connecticut
58) I have been as far south as Kingston, Jamaica
59) I broke my arm once when I was 11
60) I have preferred to date older women since I was I college.
61) I wonder if “older women” will start being “my age” or will I be down with OPG (Other Peoples Grandparents)?
62) I think the government is corrupt
63) I think healthcare should be free to everyone
64) I think some doctors get paid waaaaay too much money
65) I think most pharmaceutical companies make waaaay too much money
66) I think homosexuality is a (mental) disorder
67) I think society has propagated homosexuality by creating unrealistic male and female images in he media
68) I think the amount of estrogen (in pesticides) and other chemicals in the food we eat also contribute to those “special feelings”
69) I have met a lot of homosexuals, and most of them were abused or neglected at some point in their lives.
70) Next year I will be the only member of my family that has a master’s degree.
71) I think drug companies purposely make drugs that are quick fixes instead of total fixes to keep “repeat customers”
72) I used to make decorative dishes like fruit salads when I was a child
73) I have never been sexually, physically or mentally abused.
74) I think macs are waaay cooler than Pcs
75) I went to Mississippi a week after Hurricane Katrina
76) I had never seen so much destruction in my life
77) I had never seen armed military at a gas station
78) I think people are afraid of change, even if its for the better
79) I wonder why the US is the only world superpower that hasn’t converted to the metric system
80) I think sports franchises make waaaay too much money
81) I think it should be mandatory that they give a percentage of their monies back to the cities that host them annually….to promote health and grade school athletic programs
82) My wife has been to the emergency room with me in our 5 year marriage than she has in her entire life before she met me.
83) I think Bill Clinton was the nicest crook we ever had
84) I think the media is hell bent on ratings and could care less about making peoples lives better by being more informed
85) God has been in my life since before I was born
86) I didn’t realize it until December 15, 2000
87) I think gas prices are ridiculously high
88) Sometimes I ponder how much money could be saved if people were just honest
89) I want to travel the world
90) I want to learn different languages, but not in books
91) Some of my favorite foods are: crab legs, pasta, asiago sauce, beer battered onion rings, rotisserie chicken, shrimp, lobster bisque, mashed potatoes with gravy, banana pudding
92) My favorite drinks are root beer, tea, milkshakes and water
93) I think abortion is wrong, but it should not the governments burden to bear (or provide funding for)
94) Aside from an autistic cousin and another cousin that lives on the west coast, I am the only member of my generation for my mother’s family
95) I want to own an Aston-Martin Vanquish like James Bond had in Die Another Day
96) I wish they didn’t cost $230,000
97) I think these are the last days before the rapture
98) I think there is waaaay too much sex on television for little kids to see nowadays
99) I don’t think there is anything wrong with showing the human body, but the erotic nature or context sends the wrong messages to kids
100) I have written an autobiography that has a lot of this information and the stories around them, “A Peace of Me” ISBN 0-9718148-9-9
101) I have written 2 children’s books
102) I had a lot of thoughts come to me during the last 10 entries on this list, but I’m already over 101