25 Random Things About Me

There is a feature on Facebook that some of my friends have added to their profiles called "25 Random Things About Me." Over the last several days I have kept a draft of the entry you're reading now, and have added to it a little bit at a time - I could never think of 25 things all at one sitting, at least not without getting hemorrhoids. Anyway, here is the list I've put together, in no particular order:

1. I love maps. For Christmas Elisa bought me a World Atlas which must weigh 20 pounds. It was an AWESOME gift!
2. One of my favorite times of the year is when I can spend 12 hours straight watching the NCAA basketball tournament.
3. I absolutely DESPISE hospitals. With the exception of their Birth Centers, hospitals translate into illness, injury and death.
4. I L-O-V-E cop shows, and the edgier, the better (The Shield, NYPD Blue, 24, Homicide: Life on the Street).
5. FACT: My father & I have something in common: We both lived with over 200 women. (My parents were dorm parents at a girls' dorm at Boston University when I was born.)
6. I am a huge klutz. My body perpetually has bruises and/or scars somewhere, minor though they may be.
7. If I win the lottery, I'll give most of it away, but I WILL be buying a house in Italy somewhere.
8. Sometimes I think my biggest regret should be that I didn't continue with piano lessons, but then I realize that I probably wouldn't have been anywhere remotely close to Harry Connick/Bruce Hornsby/Billy Joel/Thelonius Monk good anyway, so it's OK.
9. My biggest complaint about Elisa is that she doesn't like to play cards and board games. She likes to do this thing called "reading." It's really annoying!
10. I've seen about 98% of Letterman's shows since he moved to CBS (and the 11:35 time slot) in 1993, and he's easily the funniest, most intelligent guy on TV.
11. I didn't go to my Senior Prom, and I have no regrets. I could have spent the money on going to Prom (duration: 8-10 hours) or buying a stereo for college and beyond (duration: 8-10 years). If I had been dating anyone seriously at the time, I'm sure I would have gone to Prom, but I'm perfectly fine with the way it turned out.
12. I completed the Marine Corps Marathon in 1997 in a steady drizzle in 46-degree weather, dressed in a tank top and shorts. But that doesn't quite make me a stud - Elisa finished about 30 minutes ahead of me. Still, it's one of my life's highlights.
13. Elisa & I lucked into 2nd row floor seats at a Bruce Springsteen concert at Madison Square Garden in 2000. It was possibly the coolest thing I've done in my life. Ever.
14. I lost 35 pounds in 2008 without exercising at all. The key was portion control and religiously counting calories.
15. Once a week during each December I treat myself to an Eggnog Latte at Starbucks. I'd have one *every* morning, except that each one is about 28 gazillion calories.
16. My Grandma was my athletic mentor. She introduced me to baseball and basketball as a kid. Her high school basketball team was the Tennessee State Champion in 1935.
17. I still remember the name of the referee (Pete Hawkins) who blew a call in the quarterfinals of the NJ state tournament soccer match my senior year that cost us a shot at the title we were favored to win. (Gee, it would be a real shame if he ever got "Soprano'd" at some point along the way......)
18. I lived in Austria & Germany in the early 90's, and have traveled to around 25 countries, some of which aren't even countries anymore (Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, USSR). More than any other country, I want to visit Australia before I die. And despite all evidence to the contrary, I don't include Texas as a separate country.
19. As a diehard Yankee fan, it was very sad to see Yankee Stadium go, but I didn't lose sleep over it. Life goes on; out with the old, in with the new.
20. I was a member of the 1985 New Jersey High School All-State Choir.
21. I can only be happy living in a metropolitan area of at least three million people. Otherwise I get lonely.
22. My two favorite times of the day: 1. Hearing "DADDY!!" when I get home from work, and 2. Having a candlelight dinner with my wife after putting the kid to bed (yes, we eat late).
23. I enjoy and appreciate a wide variety of religious traditions. As long as you are focusing on God and not on trees or the wind or some random statue or something, I'm with you.
24. I've worked in real estate since 1995, but I got into the field basically by accident. I've enjoyed my career for the most part, but I'm hardly passionate about it, to say the least.
25. If Elisa ever splits, I'm sure I can convince Halle Berry I'd be a good catch. At least I could if she'd ever lift the restraining order.

And one more that I will not put on Facebook and will only share with my blog readers:
26. About an hour after Sara Sue was born, I went into a private handicapped restroom on the maternity ward and bawled my eyes out. Overwhelming emotions and around two hours of sleep will do that to a new Dad, not to mention the fact that Grandma had passed away just five days earlier. And the kid has never stopped breaking my heart. I will likely be a basket case when she leaves home.