31 Things About Me

Today is my birthday. My life has been an amazing adventure so far, and I enter this next year of my life with a greater awareness of how blessed I am than ever before. This past year was, without a doubt, the most difficult year of my life. From intense personal loss that resulted in pain beyond anything I had imagined and upheaval in every area of my life, to major financial straits for my employer that has increased the stress and decreased the enjoyment of my job, to watching some of the dearest people in my life deal with startling and devastating news, the past year is one to which I am glad to say goodbye.

But, having spent so much of the past year down in the valley rather than up on the mountain, I have been able to view my life from a perspective I had not given much consideration before. And it is here in the valley that I have realized that my life is filled and overflowing with friends and family who love me!

Perhaps this is such a simple concept that I ought to have learned it many years ago, but it was not until this year that it began to sink in that there are people who, when they think about me, that emotion of love wells up within them and stirs them to act in good ways towards me. It seems perfectly natural to act in unselfish and self-sacrificing ways towards those who I love: my parents, my brother, my grandmother, numerous dear friends in Chicago and elsewhere. But to actually think and ponder on the fact that many of those people, when they think about me(!), something moves them from a place deep inside, and they give to my life without thought of getting anything in return. What did I do to deserve even one of these people in my life, and yet I have not one, but many, who act toward me with this type of love.

So, to those of you reading this who are dear to me (and I hope I have lived in such a way that you already know who you are), thank you for helping me through this past year. I hope that, as I find myself daily gaining ground and ascending out of the deep valley, I will have opportunities in the coming year to show the same love to you that you have shown to me. It is my hope and prayer that we will share that love in circumstances where both are experiencing celebration and comfort. But, should you find yourself down in that valley, here's someone who has spent a lot of time there recently, and I am glad to go back with you and come alongside and show you the way back out again.

Recently I shared this video of Savage Garden's song "Crash and Burn" with a friend going through difficult circumstances. It has been one of the most significant songs in my life, and, on today my birthday, I post it here as a promise to my loved ones in the year to come (note especially the various quotes on the screen throughout the video and the beautiful, heart-moving sign language at the end).

And finally, here is my 31st birthday "31 Things About Me" list (done in the style of the popular '50 Things About Me' lists). Prepare to be fascinated.

1. I was 13 years old before I saw snow fall from the sky.
2. This month (July 2006) begins my 25th year of playing the piano.
3. If I had been a girl, my name would be "Amelia Elizabeth" (its meaning is almost the same as my given male name).
4. Every male in my generation on my dad's side of the family is gay.
5. One month to the day before my 28th birthday, I did several things for the first time....I went to a bar for the first time (Spin was the first...gay or straight), I drank alcohol for the first time, and I danced for the first time (yes, I had a sheltered life to that point).
6. I have lost 50 pounds since January 2005 (from 215 to 165).
   
7. On my 21st birthday, I flew to Africa for the first time.
8. While living in Africa, I have eaten numerous unusual delicacies, including monkey, termites, and dog.
9. I am an ordained (though not currently practicing) minister.
10. I have visited and photographed the gravesites of over 1,000 notable historic figures.
11. I have never had sex with a woman (haven't even gone so far as to kiss a woman sexually, for that matter).
12. As that likely indicates, I am undoubtedly a Kinsey 6.
    
13. I was salutatorian of my high school graduating class. Of course we only had 25 students, so it's not as impressive as it may sound.
14. I have never had a broken bone nor sprained anything in my life; however, I have had several significant head injuries (yes, that does explain a lot, I know).
15. One of my head injuries left me with partial hearing loss in my left ear. But I'm too stubborn to wear a hearing aid.
16. I love reading, and I am always in the middle of 5 or 6 books at a time.
17. In the realm of fiction, I love classic literature, and my favorite authors are William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens.
18. In the realm of non-fiction, I love reading about US presidential history (have a large bookcase filled with presidential books).
19. My interest in presidential history extends to my travels: I have visited the gravesite of every deceased US president and all but 3 of the deceased vice-presidents. I have also visited over 130 homes that presidents lived in and all of the presidential libraries save one.
20. When I began my freshman year of college, I was one of only three students in the entire men's dormitory to have a personal computer at school (it was a top-of-the-line 386 computer....so impressive...lol).
21. I am a hopeless romantic.
22. During my seventh grade year of school, I played safety on my junior high school's football team. That was the last time I played on an organized athletic team (though I was statistician for both my high school and college soccer teams).
23. O17
24. I am the only member of my immediate family who has traveled outside of the United States (with the exceptions of visits to Niagara Falls, Canada, and Tijuana, Mexico).
25. I used to be obssessed with Garfield when I was in high school. Seriously, my entire bedroom (walls and ceiling) was covered with Garfield posters. But then I discovered porn.
26. I like porn. It keeps me out of trouble.
27. If I could choose any occupation in the world, I would be a US Senator.
28. I have physically hit another person only one time in my life (when someone my age and twice the size of my brother was beating up my brother).
29. People often describe me as even-tempered or laid back.
30. This post is taking a whole lot longer than I expected.
31. My motivation for starting and maintaining this blog is that one of my life goals is to write a book and have it published by a major publishing company. So I thought that, since my current job does not include much writing, this blog can be a good way to force me to write consistently and to be creative on a daily basis.