50 things you may not know about me - or care about at all

1. In addition to a cup collection, I also have a monster collection. I have almost 800 images of monsters, ghouls, hags, dragons, demons and zombies. Some are cute and some scare the bejabbers out of me.
2. Me and two other guys in my high school math class told our substitute teacher that we were going to the library to study for another class. We went to the Conoco down the street instead and got caught by our real math teacher who didn’t get us in trouble because she was ditching too.
3. I am afraid of gorillas and I never watch shark week on the Discovery Channel.
4. I have been scuba diving 58 times but never in the ocean.
5. A guy was picking on me and a couple other kids at school. I punched him in the chest, broke his sternum and we were friends after that. He’s the only guy I’ve ever punched.
6. I won first place in the long jump in my fifth grade track and field day.
7. I did over 100 pushups within 5 minutes last year. I can only do 22 now.
8. If my last cell phone ever shows up, I plan on seeing how many times I can skip it across a lake.
9. Regardless of how lame some of the characters and acting were in the new Star Wars movies, all 6 episodes will remain my favorite.
10. In my college writing class at Ricks, my professor asked if my fictional story on a seductive witch that lived next door to us was true.
11. My worst bicycle crash ever was halfway through a 50 mile ride for the bike merit badge. I finished the bike ride.
12. I can’t beat the last level of StarCraft Brood War.
13. I have unlocked every character in Mario Kart Wii (I prefer Peach on the Dolphin Dasher).
14. I can write beautiful HTML code without a GUI but my cursive writing stinks.
15. I am 20% done with my squirrel book, 10% done with my space cowboy book, 9% done with the Return of the Canafantines (which is actually part two of the story), and 100% done with the outline for a book on Charlie Conway (Aaron and I collaborated on this about 2 years ago). I have ideas for 6 other books that I refuse to start until I finish one of these first.
16. The squirrel book was originally intended to be a graphic novel and still might be.
17. When I was 9 years old, Cindy, who lived in our basement took me to a burger shop and bought be 8 $.25 hamburgers, that I ate and then rode my bike home with her.
18. My record stands at 14 pancakes and 9 waffles.
19. For a while on my mission I practiced lucid dreaming and became good at it. I can’t do it anymore.
20. I wrote in my journal almost every day from the time I was 17 to the time I was 22, now only once a month.
21. I am good at Dance Dance revolution, but I would rather drop a bowling ball on my tongue than actually dance in public. Although Andi and I took a short latin dance class a while ago and I liked it.
22. While messing around on top of Mount Audubon, I was chucking rocks at the ptarmigans that ran from us about 50 feet away and actually hit one and broke its neck. I feel bad about that.
23. I’ve never smoked, drank alcohol or coffee but enjoy the occasional diet coke.
24. I’ve tried to be open minded and listened to country music with hopes that it would grow on me, but it hasn’t. I like every other kind of music.
25. I think Andi has the most beautiful hands of anyone I have ever met. She could be a hand model.
26. I knew I wanted to marry her on our third date and we started talking about marriage after dating for two weeks.
27. If I could be any nationality, I would be a tall bald black man or a large Samoan. Those guys have some serious biceps but they always seem so gentle.
28. If I could design the scariest monster for a pet, it would be a smart gorilla with a shark head and bat wings. Man that would scare the pants off any burglar.
29. One of my guilty confessions is that I like reading Dilbert comics and haven’t missed a comic in 7 years. I also maintain my geekhood by reading Slashdot.com and I’ve installed and maintained multiple Linux operating systems for fun.
30. I’ve never had a tattoo. I just can’t think of anything worthy of the canvas.
31. I’ve never had a piercing unless you count the lawn chair that went through my waist while camping at Lake McConaughy or the rock that went through my shin while mountain biking.
32. I have a deep distrust for pharmaceutical companies, but a lack of faith in homeopathic (placebo) meds.
33. The Kindle E-reader, Amazon.com and I-tunes were my ideas. I told one of my old bosses about them 17 years ago and he thought I should do it and would make millions. He was wrong. I would have made billions.
34. I don’t mind that I’m getting some grey hair on the sides, going bald or getting wrinkles around my eyes. I think the wrinkles make me look cool.
35. I’ve had the same picture on my drivers license since I was 18.
36. I’ve shared a home with my son Andrew just as long as I shared a home with my brother Michael David.
37. I have 5 thriving plants in my office that were all cut-offs from dead or dying plants.
38. After working with Grandpa Baker for multiple summers at the nursery and working construction jobs the other summers, I decided at a young age that I was going to get a college education to avoid manual labor jobs. Now I want to go out and dig ditches, plant bushes and prune trees. I don’t miss piecing together sprinkler systems though.
39. I drove a big red dump truck when I was on a construction crew because all the other workers had DUIs.
40. I’ve always had a hard time getting interested in college or professional sports.
41. I rode my bike over 1000 miles during the last year. In 2005 I rode over 3000 miles.
42. I eat oatmeal mixed with low fat cottage cheese, peanut butter and Splenda almost every morning for breakfast.
43. I never took a single art or music class in college.
44. I like olives now. There really isn’t a food I don’t like.
45. I fall asleep really easily at night and I frequently have dreams that I’m flying or happily breathing under water.
46. I consider myself a fast food hamburger connoisseur. Here is how I rate them: Carl’s Jr., In N’ Out, Burger King, 5 Guys, Wendy’s, Fat Burger, McDonalds. I don’t have any experience with Jack in the Box. I also really like the Peppercorn burger at Chili’s, but they don’t serve it anymore.
47. I still draw pictures and color with my kids during sacrament meeting. It actually helps me listen.
48. I’ve had three speeding tickets, but none within the last 8 years.
49. I use hand gestures when talking to people on the phone.
50. I show no mercy to people when playing nerf. I’ll walk right up to my own daughter and pop her in the head with a nerf dart. Oh, your eye hurts now? Well boo hoo! Then I shoot them again in the forehead. But I’m a huge pacifist outside of nerf.