Hello, I'm Will, and I'm a blogger.
Ok, so I've done some soul searching about this whole blogging thing---and read some blogs that were doing some soul searching too. And what I've been thinking is that I want to make my blog more like what I like to read in the blogs I enjoy.
In the blog world it seems like my social expectations are a little upside down from what they are in the physical world. If a person printed up a publication that featured nothing but details about themselves, pictures of themselves, and their deepest thoughts and feelings, my response would most likely be, “where do you get off?”. But I beg for those things from people who write weblogs. Talk about your self. Tell me your history. Show me pictures of you---you can show me pics of the world around you, but I really love to see pics of the person involved. I’ve never realized how ingrained it is to see a face (no matter how photogenic –or unphotogenic a person feels they are. I really feel a need to see their face).
Another thing that I really appreciate is some sort of bio/profile that brings people up to speed and puts any entry that may be up into context of a larger picture. So, In that same vein I’m posting today what I’ll be copying into the permanent profile of this weblog. This is something I’ve seen a lot around the blog world that I love reading---the “100 things about me” meme. So here it is:
1. I was born in the hills of West Virginia in the October following the official “summer of love”.
2. My parents are neither hillbillies or hippies.
3. I, also, am not a hillbilly ---although I have been accused of being a hippie.
4. My parents moved to Nebraska when I was three to the town where my mother grew up. I really don’t remember any home except here as a kid.
5. My first life changing event that I remember was when I first saw the movie Star Wars.
6. I was also in band and orchestra, played Dungeons and Dragons and read comic books, but it wasn’t as dorky as it sounds.
7. I was born with only 4 toes on my right foot.
8. It’s not something that effects me much. It's actually kind of entertaining when my kids are little the first time each them have found me barefoot and wanted to count my toes. They always end with that “now wait a minute” look on their face when the come up one short.
9. My right leg was also shorter than my left by about 3 inches growing up.
10. I had to have a raised sole on the bottom of my right shoes through grade school.
11. I had an operation in 6th grade that slowed the growth in the left leg enough for the right to catch up.
12. My right foot is still two sizes smaller than my left though, so I keep from having to buy two pairs of shoes by getting construction boots that lace up around my ankle.
13. I played trumpet in the band, and viola in the orchestra all through High School. I haven’t touched either since I started college.
14. I was best friends in High School with the girl I would make my wife.
15. I met her in a play that I was in with her in my Junior Year, her Senior Year.
16. It was a play by Arthur Miller called “The Crucible”. I played Rev. Hale and she played Mary.
17. When she came into the first rehearsal she sat right next to me. I was astounded. I couldn’t believe a girl would sit right next me, by choice, on purpose and not move as soon as an opportunity presented itself. She stayed there they whole rehearsal. I tried not to make eye contact and scare her off. But I enjoyed her fragrance the whole time. She smelled wonderful.
18. We later determined that it was her laundry detergent, not her perfume, that I found so intoxicating.
19. We hung out every spare moment in high school with her and her friend that had the identical first and last name, except my wife’s last name ended with an “s”.
20. My wife has dark brown hair, and the other girl was a blond so we referred to them as the dark one and the light one.
21. I never dated my wife-to-be in high school, but I did end up dating her friend. We all still continued to hang out together.
22. In January of my Senior year I went to Brisbane, Australia as a foreign exchange student.
23. Right before I left I earned my Eagle Scout badge from the Boy Scouts. That’s also not as dorky as it may sound.
24. My wife’s friend, the light one, talked my wife into joining the Army Reserves with her. The two of them went into basic training together where the light one found another guy, whom she eventually married (even though I still thought we were kind of dating still).
25. After I found out that she had another guy, I started getting romantic with a girl in Australia that I had been hanging around with.
26. When I got back in Jan 1987 I worked for a screen printing business and hung out with my wife-to-be a lot. She was back in town from training and all of our other friends were either in school still or out of town.
27. We ended up finding a college together and attending the same school that fall. We also ended up both being Theater Majors together.
28. We kind of started to get romantic, but unofficially because I was still kind of a thing with the girl in Australia.
29. The girl from Australia came to the U.S. in my freshman year at school to see how we still felt about each other, and to possiblly get engaged.
30. My wife to be knew all about this the whole time and I had asked her to be my best man (best person? Whatever).
31. She later told me that even though she said yes, that she doesn’t know if she could have gone through with it. She thinks she would have been in the bathroom the whole time throwing up.
32. However, when the Australian girl arrived for her visit, she told me that she had been seeing another guy back in Australia.
33. We agreed to enjoy the visit together and then just be friends when she departed again for Australia.
34. My wife-to-be and I started dating officially shortly after that.
35. The following year she went to her annual 2 week Army Reserve Training in the desert area of Colorado and there was a tornado that nearly killed people. I was at home in a panic watching reports on the news about the Reserve locals that were effected.
36. My wife was fine as it turned out, but I decided that night that I would ask that girl to marry me as soon as she got home.
37. I was worried that her father wouldn’t approve because we were so young (22 and 23), so I had the prepared elaborate explanations and justifications as to why this was reasonable. When I was finally able to get a moment with him and ask him if I could marry his daughter, he just looked at me and put a bear hug around my neck. I took that as a yes.
38. I proposed to her, ring in hand, in the parking lot on the base as I was picking her up from summer training that following week.
39. That was July and we were married on October 28th.
40. The following Feburary we found out that we were going to be parents as well.
41. We continued college classes and participation in college Theater Productions all through the pregnancy.
42. In October 1990, we were at the movies to see the 25th Anniversary release of Disney’s “Fantasia” when my wife’s water broke.
43. I later talked the movie theater into giving us the movie poster that was hanging for that showing and hung it in our daughter’s nursery.
44. We graduated from college that following spring, both with a BFA in Theater.
45. When I was in 7th grade I attended a movie that caused me to put Christ at the center point of my life.
46. Ever since I have been extremely spiritual but never particularly denominationally affiliated. A bit of a mutt in that respect.
47. After graduation I felt called to attend a college in Va. Beach that I had never previously know of till a college professor happened on information and passed it on to me.
48. We moved to Va. Beach, Virginia that summer where I attended Regent University.
49. I majored in Theater with an emphasis in directing, scriptwriting (mainly for children) and unconventional theater styles.
50. I have a belief that I took a right turn when I should have gone left with my choice in majors ---I believe I should have changed to the film program but stayed with what I thought was a safer path in Theater.
51. Although I have had amazing experiences in the theater that I treasure, I no longer do theater anymore.
52. During my degree program I did an internship with a professional marionette puppetry company.
53. For my final project I directed an adaptation of the story “The Clown of God” in which Tony Hale (now co-star of the T.V. series “Arrested Development”) played opposite my wife.
54. I graduated in 1991 and moved back to Nebraska with hopes of starting a theater company.
55. We directed several projects out of pocket while I was working another job until we decided that this wasn’t going to pan out.
56. I have worked since then in road construction, managed a Blockbuster Video, sold computers retail, worked customer service for our area’s Baby Bell, and taught speech courses at an area community college. I now do bank transfer processing for an internet company.
57. In that time I also became a father another 3 times (all boys 3, 6 and 9).
58. None of them were planned. I cried each time I found out because I knew I was going to love them so much that I would hate how much I wasn’t able to give them because I didn’t think I could provide.
59. All of my kids are happy and healthy and have never lacked. God has always provided. We have a very wonderful family all together.
60. I would never go back to any place in my life although I have enjoyed every part. I just wouldn’t want to give up anything I have now to go back to any point in my life.
61. I grew a beard while I was in Australia and have only shaved it twice since then.
62. I started growing it right back after each time that I shaved it.
63. Both times were for acting roles.
64. The first time was for a role where I played an extra in a scene in an ABC after school special.
65. I wound up on the cutting room floor.
66. I have several hobbies that rotate between movies, books, chess, DV film making, and Macintosh computers.
67. My most passionate hobby is with the Mac (as if you didn’t know that).
68. For a while I was able to make wedding video’s for money using digital video---but then it was taking too much time away from my family to edit so I stopped.
69. I still do wedding videos for relatives as wedding presents.
70. Thanks to Apple, now I can do all my hobbies at once. I play chess, watch movies, surf book stores and buy music, and edit video and photos all on my powerbook. (I love convergence.)
71. I attend a small church locally that I chose because of the warmth of the people rather than by denomination.
72. We’re known around town as the “Biker church”. That’s because we have a strong Christian biker population in our group. There’s more leather and denim there on a Sunday morning than you’ll find in many churches. More tattoos, too.
73. I have never really felt I quite fit into the conventional church culture because of my appearance and the way I integrate with culture.
74. I finally found a voice that most closely resembles my spiritual outlook in Relevant Magazine (http://www.relevantmagazine.com/).
75. In college I grew my hair out down to the middle of my back.
76. I cut it to get the job managing at Blockbuster.
77. After a few years short, I’m growing it back again.
78. I have my ears pierced 6 times.
79. I got four in my left ear when I was in Australia, the other two I got to celebrate my 35th birthday.
80. I still wear them daily.
81. I wear jeans and grey sweatshirts (or t-shirts depending on the weather) almost every day.
82. I still have my class ring from high school.
83. I listen to the same music that my kids do---and I like to listen to it loud (but only when the mom is gone).
84. We listen to everything from hard rock, to techno, to pop and hip-hop, to classical and musicals.
85. My daughter thinks I’m cool.
86. We talk about everything together.
87. My oldest boy likes to play sports and still wants to play catch with me in the side yard even though I suck.
88. My 6 year old thinks I’m a tree to climb and swing from.
89. My youngest finally figured out that this man that shows up at bedtime during the week is called Daddy. I think he’s starting to like me.
90. Every Tuesday I’m at the iTunes music store looking for my free downloads.
91. I drive a Kia Rio. It was the first car I ever bought from a lot and it was brand new off the showroom floor.
92. My dream car is a Mini Cooper S.
93. My office is painted purple.
94. We live in a house that I rent from my parents.
95. I’ve never owned real estate.
96. I have one brother that lives 3 hours away and is a High School band instructor.
97. I still have a teddy bear that I received as a gift years ago---it’s dressed in Harley leathers.
98. I have always had women as good friends---more women than men.
99. I have a great deal of black in my life, because I like the color. Given the choice, I’ll choose the black one. My mother considered counseling for me when I was very young because the black was my favorite crayon. She thought I may depressed.
100. I won an iPod ----it hasn’t arrived yet.
In the blog world it seems like my social expectations are a little upside down from what they are in the physical world. If a person printed up a publication that featured nothing but details about themselves, pictures of themselves, and their deepest thoughts and feelings, my response would most likely be, “where do you get off?”. But I beg for those things from people who write weblogs. Talk about your self. Tell me your history. Show me pictures of you---you can show me pics of the world around you, but I really love to see pics of the person involved. I’ve never realized how ingrained it is to see a face (no matter how photogenic –or unphotogenic a person feels they are. I really feel a need to see their face).
Another thing that I really appreciate is some sort of bio/profile that brings people up to speed and puts any entry that may be up into context of a larger picture. So, In that same vein I’m posting today what I’ll be copying into the permanent profile of this weblog. This is something I’ve seen a lot around the blog world that I love reading---the “100 things about me” meme. So here it is:
1. I was born in the hills of West Virginia in the October following the official “summer of love”.
2. My parents are neither hillbillies or hippies.
3. I, also, am not a hillbilly ---although I have been accused of being a hippie.
4. My parents moved to Nebraska when I was three to the town where my mother grew up. I really don’t remember any home except here as a kid.
5. My first life changing event that I remember was when I first saw the movie Star Wars.
6. I was also in band and orchestra, played Dungeons and Dragons and read comic books, but it wasn’t as dorky as it sounds.
7. I was born with only 4 toes on my right foot.
8. It’s not something that effects me much. It's actually kind of entertaining when my kids are little the first time each them have found me barefoot and wanted to count my toes. They always end with that “now wait a minute” look on their face when the come up one short.
9. My right leg was also shorter than my left by about 3 inches growing up.
10. I had to have a raised sole on the bottom of my right shoes through grade school.
11. I had an operation in 6th grade that slowed the growth in the left leg enough for the right to catch up.
12. My right foot is still two sizes smaller than my left though, so I keep from having to buy two pairs of shoes by getting construction boots that lace up around my ankle.
13. I played trumpet in the band, and viola in the orchestra all through High School. I haven’t touched either since I started college.
14. I was best friends in High School with the girl I would make my wife.
15. I met her in a play that I was in with her in my Junior Year, her Senior Year.
16. It was a play by Arthur Miller called “The Crucible”. I played Rev. Hale and she played Mary.
17. When she came into the first rehearsal she sat right next to me. I was astounded. I couldn’t believe a girl would sit right next me, by choice, on purpose and not move as soon as an opportunity presented itself. She stayed there they whole rehearsal. I tried not to make eye contact and scare her off. But I enjoyed her fragrance the whole time. She smelled wonderful.
18. We later determined that it was her laundry detergent, not her perfume, that I found so intoxicating.
19. We hung out every spare moment in high school with her and her friend that had the identical first and last name, except my wife’s last name ended with an “s”.
20. My wife has dark brown hair, and the other girl was a blond so we referred to them as the dark one and the light one.
21. I never dated my wife-to-be in high school, but I did end up dating her friend. We all still continued to hang out together.
22. In January of my Senior year I went to Brisbane, Australia as a foreign exchange student.
23. Right before I left I earned my Eagle Scout badge from the Boy Scouts. That’s also not as dorky as it may sound.
24. My wife’s friend, the light one, talked my wife into joining the Army Reserves with her. The two of them went into basic training together where the light one found another guy, whom she eventually married (even though I still thought we were kind of dating still).
25. After I found out that she had another guy, I started getting romantic with a girl in Australia that I had been hanging around with.
26. When I got back in Jan 1987 I worked for a screen printing business and hung out with my wife-to-be a lot. She was back in town from training and all of our other friends were either in school still or out of town.
27. We ended up finding a college together and attending the same school that fall. We also ended up both being Theater Majors together.
28. We kind of started to get romantic, but unofficially because I was still kind of a thing with the girl in Australia.
29. The girl from Australia came to the U.S. in my freshman year at school to see how we still felt about each other, and to possiblly get engaged.
30. My wife to be knew all about this the whole time and I had asked her to be my best man (best person? Whatever).
31. She later told me that even though she said yes, that she doesn’t know if she could have gone through with it. She thinks she would have been in the bathroom the whole time throwing up.
32. However, when the Australian girl arrived for her visit, she told me that she had been seeing another guy back in Australia.
33. We agreed to enjoy the visit together and then just be friends when she departed again for Australia.
34. My wife-to-be and I started dating officially shortly after that.
35. The following year she went to her annual 2 week Army Reserve Training in the desert area of Colorado and there was a tornado that nearly killed people. I was at home in a panic watching reports on the news about the Reserve locals that were effected.
36. My wife was fine as it turned out, but I decided that night that I would ask that girl to marry me as soon as she got home.
37. I was worried that her father wouldn’t approve because we were so young (22 and 23), so I had the prepared elaborate explanations and justifications as to why this was reasonable. When I was finally able to get a moment with him and ask him if I could marry his daughter, he just looked at me and put a bear hug around my neck. I took that as a yes.
38. I proposed to her, ring in hand, in the parking lot on the base as I was picking her up from summer training that following week.
39. That was July and we were married on October 28th.
40. The following Feburary we found out that we were going to be parents as well.
41. We continued college classes and participation in college Theater Productions all through the pregnancy.
42. In October 1990, we were at the movies to see the 25th Anniversary release of Disney’s “Fantasia” when my wife’s water broke.
43. I later talked the movie theater into giving us the movie poster that was hanging for that showing and hung it in our daughter’s nursery.
44. We graduated from college that following spring, both with a BFA in Theater.
45. When I was in 7th grade I attended a movie that caused me to put Christ at the center point of my life.
46. Ever since I have been extremely spiritual but never particularly denominationally affiliated. A bit of a mutt in that respect.
47. After graduation I felt called to attend a college in Va. Beach that I had never previously know of till a college professor happened on information and passed it on to me.
48. We moved to Va. Beach, Virginia that summer where I attended Regent University.
49. I majored in Theater with an emphasis in directing, scriptwriting (mainly for children) and unconventional theater styles.
50. I have a belief that I took a right turn when I should have gone left with my choice in majors ---I believe I should have changed to the film program but stayed with what I thought was a safer path in Theater.
51. Although I have had amazing experiences in the theater that I treasure, I no longer do theater anymore.
52. During my degree program I did an internship with a professional marionette puppetry company.
53. For my final project I directed an adaptation of the story “The Clown of God” in which Tony Hale (now co-star of the T.V. series “Arrested Development”) played opposite my wife.
54. I graduated in 1991 and moved back to Nebraska with hopes of starting a theater company.
55. We directed several projects out of pocket while I was working another job until we decided that this wasn’t going to pan out.
56. I have worked since then in road construction, managed a Blockbuster Video, sold computers retail, worked customer service for our area’s Baby Bell, and taught speech courses at an area community college. I now do bank transfer processing for an internet company.
57. In that time I also became a father another 3 times (all boys 3, 6 and 9).
58. None of them were planned. I cried each time I found out because I knew I was going to love them so much that I would hate how much I wasn’t able to give them because I didn’t think I could provide.
59. All of my kids are happy and healthy and have never lacked. God has always provided. We have a very wonderful family all together.
60. I would never go back to any place in my life although I have enjoyed every part. I just wouldn’t want to give up anything I have now to go back to any point in my life.
61. I grew a beard while I was in Australia and have only shaved it twice since then.
62. I started growing it right back after each time that I shaved it.
63. Both times were for acting roles.
64. The first time was for a role where I played an extra in a scene in an ABC after school special.
65. I wound up on the cutting room floor.
66. I have several hobbies that rotate between movies, books, chess, DV film making, and Macintosh computers.
67. My most passionate hobby is with the Mac (as if you didn’t know that).
68. For a while I was able to make wedding video’s for money using digital video---but then it was taking too much time away from my family to edit so I stopped.
69. I still do wedding videos for relatives as wedding presents.
70. Thanks to Apple, now I can do all my hobbies at once. I play chess, watch movies, surf book stores and buy music, and edit video and photos all on my powerbook. (I love convergence.)
71. I attend a small church locally that I chose because of the warmth of the people rather than by denomination.
72. We’re known around town as the “Biker church”. That’s because we have a strong Christian biker population in our group. There’s more leather and denim there on a Sunday morning than you’ll find in many churches. More tattoos, too.
73. I have never really felt I quite fit into the conventional church culture because of my appearance and the way I integrate with culture.
74. I finally found a voice that most closely resembles my spiritual outlook in Relevant Magazine (http://www.relevantmagazine.com/).
75. In college I grew my hair out down to the middle of my back.
76. I cut it to get the job managing at Blockbuster.
77. After a few years short, I’m growing it back again.
78. I have my ears pierced 6 times.
79. I got four in my left ear when I was in Australia, the other two I got to celebrate my 35th birthday.
80. I still wear them daily.
81. I wear jeans and grey sweatshirts (or t-shirts depending on the weather) almost every day.
82. I still have my class ring from high school.
83. I listen to the same music that my kids do---and I like to listen to it loud (but only when the mom is gone).
84. We listen to everything from hard rock, to techno, to pop and hip-hop, to classical and musicals.
85. My daughter thinks I’m cool.
86. We talk about everything together.
87. My oldest boy likes to play sports and still wants to play catch with me in the side yard even though I suck.
88. My 6 year old thinks I’m a tree to climb and swing from.
89. My youngest finally figured out that this man that shows up at bedtime during the week is called Daddy. I think he’s starting to like me.
90. Every Tuesday I’m at the iTunes music store looking for my free downloads.
91. I drive a Kia Rio. It was the first car I ever bought from a lot and it was brand new off the showroom floor.
92. My dream car is a Mini Cooper S.
93. My office is painted purple.
94. We live in a house that I rent from my parents.
95. I’ve never owned real estate.
96. I have one brother that lives 3 hours away and is a High School band instructor.
97. I still have a teddy bear that I received as a gift years ago---it’s dressed in Harley leathers.
98. I have always had women as good friends---more women than men.
99. I have a great deal of black in my life, because I like the color. Given the choice, I’ll choose the black one. My mother considered counseling for me when I was very young because the black was my favorite crayon. She thought I may depressed.
100. I won an iPod ----it hasn’t arrived yet.
posted by Will at 4:38 PM
4 Comments:
Number 85 made me happy. I thought I was going to cry because you mentioned that. I don't know why it effected me so much, though. Go figure.
. . . this was wonderful . . . what was the movie you saw in 7th grade that changed your life? :) K
I'm definitely inspired. I want to write the story of my life in 100 points or less now too. Thanks so much for blogging. I really love what you write.
No. 22 is the comment I can appreciate the most. You became part of our family that year - Cathy and I still consider you our adopted brother. You are welcome back here any time!!!!!
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