Shane Life

There’s a meme going around Facebook where you are supposed to list 15 films (from this point forward, I shall call them movies) that are significant to you, that you can watch over and over again, or that you just want to recommend to others…something like that. I guess it’s different than a top 15 list somehow, but I’m not sure.

Anyway, since my blog posts automagically import into my Facebook notes, thought it would be worth posting publicly.

Here are my 15 movies, in no particular order:

• Good Will Hunting
• Fletch
• The Matrix
• Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
• Shrek
• Dumb & Dumber
• Shakespeare in Love
• Almost Famous
• Reality Bites
• Moulin Rouge
• Fight Club
• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Die Hard
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• Rounders

What are yours?

So since I don’t have much to say, I’m stealing this from Average Jane. It’s a pretty fun little meme (as much as people hate them), but I think it’s decent. Basically, you have your standard list of things that may or may not appear on a bucket list. You bold the stuff you’ve done already and italicize the stuff you want to do.

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii (in 2010 baby!)
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than I can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland/Disney World
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch (graphic design is an art, right?)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train (although sleeping is difficult when the air doesn’t work and you realize that you are constantly moving)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked (long story…don’t ask)
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community (went to college near one!)
36. Taught myself a new language (I didn’t completely, but was complimented on more than one occasion during our trip to Italy on my Italian)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David (amazing)
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person (amazing)
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class (I’m pretty good with a bow staff…not really)
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt (not sure what this means, but I picked out the t-shirts for my t-shirt quilt)
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Ridden an elephant

So that’s 52 out of 100. There were a few more on there that I’d really like to do and some that I’d kind of like to do and some I just know that I’ll do someday, whether I want to or not. Still, that I’ve avoided breaking a bone for as long as I have, that’s gotta be an accomplishment.

So there’s this crazy note that’s been going around the Internet tubes and I’ve been tagged like 5 times on Facebook to do it. I’ll do my best not to propagate the meme (if only for Meesha’s sake), but I’ll do it here on the old blog and it will then go through the tubes automagically into my Facebook account. (Isn’t modern technology great?)

Now, where do I start?

1. I’m willing to try anything once…especially when it comes to food.
2. Each year, I am more excited to watch the Oscars than I am to watch the Super Bowl.
3. My favorite Muppets are Waldorf and Statler.
4. I think Ben Affleck gets a bad rap as an actor and is much more talented than people think.
5. When I was growing up, the first profession I remember wanting to do was to be President of the United States.
6. I am terrible at poker. But do not mess with me in any trivia-based game. Especially Scene It.
7. My wife is my best friend. I don’t say that lightly because I have very good friends that I’ve known longer than her, but she understands me better than anyone else in the world.
8. I hate mustard in all forms. I will choke it down to be polite, but avoid it if possible.
9. I have competed in 7 different sports in my lifetime (soccer, baseball, basketball, volleyball, football, swimming, tennis). I play golf, but that’s something I picked up in college. The sports that I listed are all ones that I played against other teams.
10. My favorite book of all-time is Catcher in the Rye.
11. My favorite T-shirt is a volleyball camp shirt that I got at the Marv Dunphy Volleyball Camp at Pepperdine over 15 years ago.
12. I like doing laundry. I enjoy the monotony of it…how I don’t really have to think about it.
13. My friends and I used to play hide and seek at my buddy’s farm…well into our college years.
14. It’s been years since I have not had facial hair of some sort.
15. I absolutely loved working at the Pizza Shack. I became friends with my wife there.
16. I am most comfortable in a T-shirt, jeans and flip flops.
17. If I had to eat one thing for the rest of my life, it would be cheeseburgers. Toasted bun, mayo, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, monterey jack cheese, farm-raised ground beef, mayo, toasted bun.
18. My immediate family is all musically inclined. I am not. Although I really wish I could play guitar. I don’t have the patience to learn.
19. I am flipping awesome at self portrait photography.
20. Winter is my favorite season. BY FAR. I love snow. We haven’t had nearly enough this year.
21. I have sprained each of my ankles a half-dozen times each because of volleyball. Although my first ankle sprain ever (and the worst one by far) was incurred during a pickup basketball game at a birthday party.
22. I hate wearing suits, but if I looked like Don Draper in a suit, I’d wear one every single day.
23. My least favorite place in the world to be is a hospital.
24. I took the LSAT but did not apply to any law schools. I would have gotten in to most of them based on my score.
25. I want to design at least one typeface before I die.

What do you think?

For no reason whatsoever, I was reading blogebrity Jason Kottke’s About page and as is often the case when reading Kottke, I was struck with the idea for a post of sorts. Actually, it’s more of a meme of absolutes. The inspired passage went something like this:

I prefer red wine to white, movies to films, jeans to khakis, vanilla to chocolate, Pixar to Dreamworks, the subway to taxis, nonfiction to fiction, and Safari to Firefox.

And it got me thinking…when it comes down to the either/or questions, which do you prefer?

Vanilla or Chocolate? vanilla
Dogs or Cats? dogs
Coke or Pepsi? Pepsi
The Beatles or The Rolling Stones? The Beatles
Microsoft or Apple? Apple
Nike or Adidas? Nike
Coffee or Tea? coffee
Spider-Man or Batman? Batman
Ketchup or Mustard? ketchup
Pen or Pencil? pencil
Soup or Salad? salad
Books or Magazines? magazines
Indiana Jones or James Bond? Indiana Jones
Summer or Winter? winter
New York City or Los Angeles? New York City
Google or Yahoo? Google
CNN or Fox News? CNN
Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune? Jeopardy
Mountains or Beach? mountains
Yoga or Pilates? yoga
Star Wars or Star Trek? Star Wars

The only rule is that you have to choose one. It may be close or you may not like either, but it’s my quiz…NOT YOURS. Copy and paste your responses on your blog if you are so inclined. Or just do so in the comments. It’s your preference, really.

Pass it around.

I originally saw this at Average Jane’s blog, and Logtar and Bea have both done it. Now, it’s my turn.

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11.  One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name – Or online handle.

Your turn. Alli even did one over at Today’s Favorites.

What Does Your Taste in Music Say About You?

Your musical tastes are intense and rebellious. You are intelligent… but in a very unconventional way. You are curious about the world. You love doing something new. In fact, you enjoy taking risks and doing things most people would shy away from.

You are very physical. It’s likely that you’re athletic, but not into team sports. You have the soul of an artist. Beauty and harmony are important to you.

I’m not sure if I agree with all of this, but it’s pretty on point.

via Emaw

Appetizer
Name something you would categorize as weird.

My dog. More funny than anything, but he can be very weird. He ate a couch once and has color dilutional alopecia. He’s still way awesomer than your dog.

Soup
What color was the last piece of food you ate?

Red – A red LifeSaver. Is that food?

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy being alone?

4. I enjoy my alone time, but I thrive around people, particularly my wife.

Main Course
Fill in the blank: I will _________ vote for ___________ in _______.

Never…Hillary Clinton…this or any other life time.

Dessert
Describe your sleeping habits.

I can’t sleep on my stomach…maybe it’s too big or whatever…I just can’t do it. We share our bed with a 90-lb. mutt who likes to stretch out, so sometimes sleeping means contorting your body around something that smells like corn chips.

See also: Logtar