Passing along 25 things

If you're one of the 47 people in the U.S. not yet touched by the "25 things" Facebook meme, you might not have seen lists like this one yet. Although (as I mentioned in point #1) I usually don't participate in chain letters, pyramid schemes or the like, I found myself quite interested in reading these lists prepared by my friends. It seemed only neighbor;y to reciprocate.

Here's my list, entitled "25 (not quite) random things about Howard Weaver":

1. I eschew all Facebook gimmmicks – nudges, pokes, gifts of beer – but found myself strangely fascinated by this one, and so responded.
2. Before I became a vegetarian about 12 years ago, liver and onions was one of my favorite meals; Barb cooked it for me the first time she asked me over to dinner thirty-some years ago.
3. At 58, I have lived longer than did my mom (46), dad (52) or younger brother (54).
4. I live downtown in Sacramento and most days I walk more than I bike, bike more than I drive. And I feel righteous about it.
5. There were 20 years between by BA and my Masters degrees.
6. For years I longed to live overseas, and when I finally did I couldn’t wait to get back.
7. I like this country better the farther west I get.
8. I have been to far too many civic luncheons in my life, and will be perfectly happy if I never go to another.
9. Now that I have enough frequent flyer miles to go pretty much anywhere, what I wand to do most is stay home. (I expect this to change over time).
10. I once held a handful of gunpowder and lit it to see what would happen.
11. I am not fond of cats, and don’t feel the least bit guilty about that.
12. I hope I don’t have to choose, but I believe I’d rather have my hearing than any other sense.
13. I sometimes got turned around and lost in Anchorage, where I lived for 40+ years. Anywhere else, it’s a sure thing.
14. I hate to talk on the telephone.
15. I got my first Macintosh computer for Christmas, 1985 (thanks, Barb) and have never been without at least one one ever since.
16. One of the smartest things I ever did was to stop drinking alcohol 23 years ago. (See number 3, above).
17. Despite number 16, I got my share. Unlike Bill Clinton, I inhaled. Like George W., “when I was young and foolish, I was young and foolish.”
18. I have always had a smart mouth. I’d estimate 95% of the times I got punished at home, that was the root cause.
19. On our first date, I took Barbara Hodgin to a drive-in theater in Anchorage in November. And she married me anyhow.
20. Despite plenty of mistakes, I wouldn’t willingly change places with anybody. If I had to, I’d want to be Barbara’s second husband. (Hat tip to Winston Churchill).
21. I once wrote part of a Pulitzer-winning series by lantern light during a power outage in Anchorage.
22. When I tell people I have a lot of brain-damaged cousins in texas, they think I’m kidding.
23. I went to a fundamentalist church three times a week until I was in my mid-teens and married a Mormon girl when I was 19, but have been making up for all that ever since.
24. I’ve been known to sit in the dark and chant by myself.
25. I can’t decide if I am a realist who wants to be an idealist, or an idealist who wants to be a realist. On my best days, I think I’m both.