Half a Dozen of The Other

I've been supposed to do this meme (from Srah) for a little while now. The problem is I just don't know what to write. The premise is fairly simple: Write six random things about you. What do you not already know that I am willing to let you know? I guess, we'll find out.

1. I hate the word supper. Seriously hate it. I'm not sure if it's the double P which causes the middle portion of the word to sound like a breathy whisper regardless of the volume at which one is speaking or if it is that is sounds like something a pretentious windbag would say to ensure that you realize his meals are finer and more sophisticated than yours.

2. I love infomercials. I think that they combine complete absurdity with marketing genius. There will be more on this eventually, because I started writing a post (quite a while ago) about it that I hope I will one day have the time to finish.

3. I don't know that I've ever had a conversation with anyone that I didn't already have mentally. Before I talk to someone I think about every possible variation of their responses and what my responses would be based on that and so on and so forth. This means that conversations with a doctor are preceded by my mental version of the conversation in which the doctor tells me everything from "you're a hypochondriac" or "we all feel like that all the time" to "you have only days to live" or "you need to be committed" depending on the problem we're discussing. (Ok, maybe saying it's every conversation I have is an exaggeration, but it's going on up there pretty much non-stop.)

4. Urban legends that I heard early in life have had a lasting impact on me. It doesn't matter if I know it's not true, they have been permanently ingrained in my mind and effect how I think. Every time I am driving at night and a the lights of a car behind me become brighter (whether it is because of a change in angle or because their brights are on) I think of this. I'm not saying that I believe anybody's there; I'm just saying that story is always there at the back of my mind.



5. I hate the issues caused by effect/affect. It's not as if you can just rely on the rule that effect is the noun and affect is the verb. Nor can you assume that affect really only is used in relation to emotion. The rules get all mixed up until something affecting you can have an effect or something can effect a specific affect on a person, though that second one is a bit of a stretch. In speech, I tend to avoid the issue by essentially pronouncing them both the same way, which comes out sounding more like uh-ffect than either of them. Unfortunately, when I write, I tend to avoid the issue by writing one followed by the other then changing it back and forth until I decide to use impact, result or some other synonym as well. Can't we all just agree to make them into one word with a single spelling?



6. While many people won't even recognize his name, I think that Maurice LaMarche is one of the most talented people in the entertainment industry. The sheer number of voices he has done is overwhelming, and he manages to do both characters that require him to sound like someone else and characters that give him the freedom to create an entirely new voice. Combined with his talent for comedic timing and intonation, this makes him a memorable actor even if you never see him.

Photo Meme

Is there anyone other than me that hasn't done this yet?

The concept:

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 the html into your blog or Flickr stream.

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. What do you fear most?
12. One Word to describe you.
**************************************
My Answers:

Another Day, Another Meme

I've been tagged with a meme for the first time in I don't know how long. Oh sure, I've stolen them now and then, but no one's actually tagged me in forever. At least getting tagged by Esther gives me something to post.

What I was doing 10 years ago:

Ten years ago, I was just finishing finals and graduating from NMSU and getting ready to get married in a couple weeks.


Five things on my To-Do list today:

1. Go to work
2. Freak out about things that aren't done and need to get done
3. Try to remain calm
4. Go home
5. Try to relax and sleep so the process can start over tomorrow


Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Live wherever I want. Do whatever I want. Not have any bills.


Three of my bad habits:

1. Not keeping in contact with people, even the ones I care about
2. Obsessing over every little thing
3. Being generally lazy


Five places I've lived:

1. Huntsville, AL and surrounding area
2. Vicksburg, MI
3. Las Cruces, NM
4. Rantoul, IL
5. Portage, MI


Four jobs I've had:

1. Microbiologist
2. Graduate research assistant
3. Tutor
4. Pizza making guy at Little Caesar's


Five books I've recently read:

1. Something by Terry Pratchett
2. Something else by Terry Pratchett
3. Yet another thing by Terry Pratchett
4. Noticing a pattern in my recent reading yet? I'm sure there were other things, but I really can't think of any right now.
5. Most of The Time Traveler's Wife


Five people I'm going to tag:

I don't even know who's out there for me to tag, so if you have a blog and you're actually still reading this, consider yourself tagged.

Survey Says

Surprise. I'm out of interesting things to say again. (Fine, "interesting") Rather than come up with something to say, here's a meme that originated as an email.

Welcome to the new edition of "getting to know your friends". OK, here's what you're supposed to do: (try not to be lame and spoil the fun!) Just copy (do not forward) this entire e-mail and paste into a new e-mail that you can send. Change all the answers so that they apply to you.
Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you. Some of you may get this several times that means you have lots of friends. (Or, you know, some sort of similar rules that apply to blogs instead.)

1. What is your occupation? I am a quality control microbiologist, but don't let that title fool you, I spend most of my day sitting in a chair, staring at a computer and complaining that everyone is stupid but me.

2. What color are your socks right now? Given that it isn't the weekend, you can pretty much be sure that they are black.

3. What are you listening to right now? The clicking of my keyboard as I type.

4. Can you drive a stick? Yes, but I haven't in many years.

5. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Seriously? That's the question? Let's see...How about brown; it's useful but no one really gets too excited about it.

6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Someone at work, about work. I don't even remember who anymore.


7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Well, considering that I am supposed to send this to that person as well as a bunch of other friends, it would be fairly rude and spiteful to say "no," wouldn't it? Fortunately, for the sake of our marriage, the answer is yes.

8. How old are you today? 11,468 days. Sure I could have told you that I was 31, but the question asked about today, so I figured it wanted specifics.

9. Favorite drink? Coke Zero.

10. What is your favorite sport to watch? College football.

11. Have you ever dyed your hair? I don't think so. Maybe I did for a Halloween costume when I was younger, but I can't remember ever dying my hair.

12. Pets? 2 dogs, but if you read this blog very often you already know that.

13. Favorite food? Oh yeah, ask the fat guy what his favorite food is. That's not a question that will take weeks or even months to answer. I don't have one favorite food. It varies from one day to the next.

14. What was the last movie you saw? I guess it was probably No Reservations.

15. Favorite day of the year? That's a tough one. I'd have to say April 25th, because it's not too hot and not too cold. All you need is a light jacket.

16. What was your favorite toy as a child? Hard to choose just one. Let's just narrow it down to G.I. Joe and Star Wars action figures.

17. What is your favorite: fall or spring? Fall.

18. Hugs or kisses? Kisses. Hugs are the ones with white chocolate swirls.

19. Cherries or Blueberries? Cherries. I don't like blueberries too much unless they are in a pie.

20. Do you want your friends to email you back? If by email you mean post this on their blog, sure go ahead, but I'm not exactly going to be disappointed if no one does.

21. Who is most likely to respond? Whoever wants to update their blog, but is out of ideas or energy to post anything more interesting than this.

22. Who is least likely to respond? People with recently updated blogs.

23. Living arrangement? I live in a house with my wife and two dogs. (Is this getting repetitive or is it just me?)

24. When was the last time you cried? About 5 questions ago when I realized that I still had a long way to go to finish this quiz.

25. What is on the floor of your closet? Some clothing and a dog bed, I think.

26. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this? I'm sorry was this originally written in some other language? It looks like someone wrote it and then used Babelfish to translate it through about 5 different languages before returning to English.

27. What did you do last night? Watched The Simpsons then went to bed on time to try to prevent myself from getting sick (or more sick or sicker).

28. Favorite smell? Cookies baking.

29. What inspires you? I'm not sure which bothers me more: that I can't come up with a funny answer to this question or that I can't come up with a serious one.

30. What are you afraid of? Many things, but most of all failing the people who are important to me.

31. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? As long as you make the burger well, it's good no matter which you choose, but if I were to pick only one, I'd go with a green chile cheeseburger.

32. Favorite dog breed? Norwegian Lundehund (Ok, I've never even seen one of these in person, and I don't have a favorite breed. I just wanted to show of that I know about a dog that has six toes and was bred to hunt puffins.)

33. Number of keys on your key ring? 3

34. How many years at your current job? 6

35. Favorite day of the week? Saturday.

36. How many states have you lived in? 4: Alabama, New Mexico, Illinois, Michigan. I also was in school in Tennessee for a while but didn't technically live there.

37. What are you doing this weekend? It's Monday. How can I possibly be expected to know what I'll do this weekend?

38. Ever driven a motorcycle or heavy machinery? Not a motorcycle, but I did learn to drive in a full-sized conversion van. Does that count as heavy machinery?

39. What's your full name? Look, you either know it or don't by now, so we'll end here.

Pieces of Eight

So, I was tagged with this meme and have been having a hard time with it. I'm supposed to tell you 8 random things about me, and then tag eight of you to do the same. Easy, right? Yeah, like I can come up with 8 things that might be interesting about me that I'm willing to tell you, but haven't told you yet. (Actually, have I done this meme already? I feel like I have at some point.)

1. I'm currently very disappointed that I missed seeing the Sci-Fi original movie Ice Spiders. I saw commercials for it, and had intended to watch or record it, but forgot all about it until it was too late.

2. I've actually thought a lot about quitting this blog or at least taking a break from it. In fact, I even wrote a post 3 months ago about taking a break, but I never posted it.

3. I love the new version of Doctor Who and am anxiously awaiting the beginning of Season 3 next month. (For those of us in the US, that is. I realize that Season 3 will be finished in the UK before I get to see the premiere.)

4. While a decent case could be made for Tiger Woods, I believe that the most dominant (in his own sport) single athlete in the world today is Takeru Kobayashi, yet recently someone broke his most famous world record. Finally, the guy is getting some competition. So if you don't think I'll be watching and blogging when they go head to head on July 4th, you are greatly mistaken.

5. I could spend hours at a time on Wikipedia, starting with one thing that I want to look up, and then just moving to article after article linked in the text.

6. I am slightly (and embarrassingly) addicted to the new Southern Style Chicken Sandwich at McDonalds. I realize that this a a horrible thing to admit, but there it is.

7. I'm having a hard time with this one. I've already filled out #8, but I can't think of what to have for the next to last one. I've come up with a few, but then I keep deciding that they are better as a full post instead. Ok, here it is: I like to quote lyrics from a song in normal conversation whenever possible and act as if nothing is unusual. You can do this with movie or television quotes as well, but since lyrics are so out of context when they are parted from music, it takes a while for people to realize what I'm doing. This works best if you can make them fit the context (at least at first) of the conversation (ex. "Her parents were not there for her. They just pretty much ignored her when she was growing up." "So, daddy didn't pay attention...to the fact that mommy didn't care?") But it also works for confusing people with completely random fake conversations. ("How was your day?" "I hurt myself today." "Oh no, how?" "To see if I still feel." "What? Are you ok?" "I focus on the pain, the only thing that's real." "What are you talking about? Oh. You're doing it again, aren't you?")

8. Since Pluto was downgraded from planet to "dwarf planet named after Mickey's dog", I've been wondering how to change the song I learned in elementary school that helped me remember the order of the planets in our solar system. You remember "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizza-pies" (or Pies or Pizzas, depending on the version) don't you? Well, it can't just end at the educated mother serving nine. There has to be something. The best I'm come up with so far is "...Just Served Us Naan," but I'm not sure that naan is exactly accessible enough to make it useful rather than confusing to elementary school kids. "Nachos", maybe?

Ok, now to tag eight of you. The problem here is that if I were to tag eight people, I'd have to tag all of you that read this blog and then find a couple of random people to bring the total up. So, I guess you can all consider yourselves tagged (if you want, or just ignore it if you don't).

Take 5

Ms. Q... Trixie... She of the ever-changing name and site posted a meme recently in which she answered 5 questions that someone asked her. In addition to this, she graciously sent along 5 questions for me to answer. Being the industrious lazy person that I am, I immediately complained that they were too hard and would require me to think. Nevertheless, I have come up with answers to them and will post them for your reading enjoyment time wasting.

1. If you could trade your mad trivia skills for another skill that you currently do not possess, would you? If so what might that skill be?

First of all, please notice that she is starting off by recognizing my skills. Other readers/commenters, please take note.

I wonder, does this skill have to be real? Can I make things appear out of thin air (like money)? I guess that would be a superpower not a skill, so I'll stick to real things.

Would I give up my trivial ability for another ability? I have to say probably not, because it is part of what defines me as me. If I had to and was able to choose my replacement skill, it would probably be writing. I have always wanted to be able to write creatively and take people to different places and times with my words. Instead, I'm stuck with bad jokes and pop culture references. But hey, it got you here reading this.

2. If you could only eat one kind of food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Oh, wow. Do you know how painful this question is for me? Off the top of my head I can think of 10 different things that I would want (actually, I had to eliminate and combine some of them to get it to only 10). In fact, let's list them, rank them and give some reasons why. In descending order, which I reserve the right to revise at any point depending on my mood:

• Chocolate: Really, it's chocolate, so I shouldn't have to explain this. The down side is that eating only chocolate would be kind of difficult after a while, so it can't go higher on the list.
• Potatoes: Ok, they aren't really that exceptional on their own, but they are quite versatile. You can start off with baked potatoes and after that, there are all sorts of options: Boil 'em, mash 'em, put 'em in a stew.
• Cookies: I decided to only include one dessert baked good, and it was a tough choice.
• Mexican food: I know this is not "one food," but this is my blog, so I say it's acceptable and there's nothing you can do about it.
• Steak: Mmm...beef
• Ice Cream: The only problem here is that if it gets really cold, I may not be in the mood for ice cream. (Ok, to most of you that may seem reasonable, but to anyone who is around me much, that's the funniest thing I've ever written, because I'm always in the mood for ice cream.)
• Barbecued Pork: Whether it's ribs or pulled pork, I love it and could easily eat it all the time. Besides, with all the different types, it would take a while to get bored.
• Bread: While man cannot live by bread alone, I'm not so sure this man could live without bread.
• Broccoli: Ok, this is a complete lie. I just wanted to put some sort of vegetable up here toward the top of the list.
• Cheese: How can you not love cheese? Cheeses cover a wide range of flavors, both sweet and savory. Combine that with the myriad of styles, textures and other options and cheese is not only delicious but never boring.

3. Here's an oldie but goodie! The Five People (Dead/Alive/Real/Fictitious) you would invite to dinner. Please elaborate on your answers.

All right, I'm going to skip over the obvious cop out answers here and not use anyone I could possibly actually have dinner with (wife, family, friends, etc.), because it will make this more interesting and probably a lot more like the intent of the question. Like my answer(s) for food, I reserve the right to change my mind completely at any point.

At first, I had a problem getting a full 5 on the list, but once I got going, I had a hard time limiting it to 5 people, so I'm going to stick with mostly pop culture-ish people so that the list doesn't get out of control too quickly.

• Damon Lindelof or Carlton Cuse, because I could try to bribe them and if that didn't work, I'd resort to threatening (i.e. withholding dessert) to get them to tell me all about what's going on on Lost.

• Alton Brown, because he's a nerd like me, he loves food, and his shows are full of more pop culture references than my blog posts (and that's a lot).

• Akira Kurosawa, because like him, I make mad films. Okay, I don't make films, but if I did, they'd have a samurai.

• The Brain (of "Pinky and the..." fame), because how cool would it be to meet a genetically altered mouse who is trying to take over the world?

• Sergio Leone, because we can have an interesting discussion on the Revisionist Western as the modern equivalent of the morality play. Also, we can talk with Kurosawa about what he thought of Leone remaking Yojimbo as A Fistfull of Dollars and share a laugh at the expense of the Bruce Willis remake, Last Man Standing.

• Just missing the cut: Matt Groening, Clint Eastwood, Rick Bayless (wait, are these guests or can I have one of them make the food, because if that's the case, Rick is so in), George Lucas, Malcolm Gladwell (I can't imagine a boring conversation with him, maybe I should bump him up to the top 5), Chow Yun Fat (circa 1989), Bill Cosby...ok, I've got to stop.

4. If watching TV paid as well as being a microbiologist, would you switch careers?

It's tempting to say, "Yes, absolutely," but no matter what you do for a living, it is still work. I'm going to say no for two reasons: (1) If I watched TV as a career, it would stop being something to do for enjoyment. Everything I see would be critiqued and written about even if it were only in my head. (2) While I can argue the other side of this and even agree with that argument, I would not feel that I am contributing anything. In my current job, I can feel (deluding myself or not) that I am doing something that is in some way useful.

5. Do you drive the same way to work every day or do you take alternate routes? (I take different ones almost every day. I like to mix it up!)

I live less than 2 miles from work, so I don't have much opportunity to change things. I tend to have two routes that I take. One takes me by Melissa's work, so that I can drop her off, and the other, which I use on days she has off, goes directly to my work. In all honesty, even if the trip to work was longer and there were multiple ways to go, I'd still take the same route all the time. I'm just boring like that.

Morning Meme

I have nothing better to do while waiting for oatmeal to cook this morning, so I present to you a meme, stolen without any sort of remorse from Esther.

1. The phone rings. Who are you hoping it is? Ed McMahon letting me know that I won the Publisher's Clearinghouse American Family Publishing Sweepstakes that I never entered.

2. When shopping at the grocery store, do you return your cart? Almost always. The exception is the Wal-Mart parking lot, because they don't have cart return places other than all the way up by the doors to the store.

3. In a social setting, are you more of a talker or a listener? Do I know everyone? Am I comfortable around them? Am I heavily medicated? If the answers to these questions are not all yes, I'm much more of a hide in a corner kinda guy.

4. If abandoned alone in the wilderness, would you survive? At first, I'd be afraid. I'd be petrified...long story short, yes, I would survive.

5. Do you like horses? Well, they are quite pretty animals, but they smell bad, and you can't (or, at least, I won't) eat them. I can take 'em or leave 'em.

6. Did you ever go to camp as a kid? I went to Boy Scout camp every summer. Yes, I was in the Boy Scouts. I'm an Eagle Scout. Did I not tell you that? Well, I have now. I also went to YMCA summer camp once and hated it.

7. What was your favorite board game as a kid? I'm not sure. Clue, maybe.

8. If a sexy person was pursuing you, but you knew he/she was taken what would you do? Why do you know something I don't? Who is it? Is it Angelina Jolie? It is, isn't it?

9. Are you judgmental? No, I'm not. Man, you're awfully nosy.

10. Would you date someone with different religious beliefs? Melissa won't let me date anyone no matter what religious beliefs they have.

11. Are you continuing your education? Only if someone wishes to pay me my full salary and pay for school and even then I don't think I really want to.

12. Do you know how to shoot a gun? You can't prove that. I don't know what you're talking about.

13. If your house was on fire, what’s the first thing you’d grab? A fire extinguisher?

14. How often do you read books? As much as I can. I almost always have at least one I'm reading.

15. Do you think more about the past, present or future? I think about them all. The past: "I can't believe I did something so stupid." The present: "You know, this thing I'm doing right now may actually be fairly stupid." The future: "What stupid thing am I going to do next?"

16. What is your favorite children’s book? I'd have to say the Velveteen Rabbit, because I like rabbits and I like cheese. OK, seriously, I have no idea how to answer this one.

17. How tall are you? 6’3", or approximately as high as I am wide.

18. Where is your ideal house located? I'm not sure. I don't think I've found it yet.

19. Last person you talked to? Melissa to say, "The oatmeal is done."

20. When was the last time you were at the Olive Garden? It's been a while. Mostly because the last time I was there we decided not to go back because the service and food were so bad.

21. What are your keys on your key chain for? Front door, back door, back door deadbolt. I don't have a key to the car, it's magic.

22. What did you do last night? The same thing I do every night, Pinky, try to take over the world. (So far, no success.)

23. Where is your current pain? My neck. Do you want a list of all the people causing that pain?

24. Do you like mustard? Yes, yellow mustard and brown mustard and honey mustard and Dijon mustard and especially stone ground mustard.

25. Did you like your mom and dad? Did I like them? Are you implying that I don't like them anymore? Yes, I did and I do. So there.

26. How long does it take you to shower? Am I awake? If I'm fully awake, it can be quick, otherwise, I might stand there for a while hoping that the hot water will wake me.

27. What movie do you want to see right now? El Laberinto del Fauno. Sure I could have just said, Pan's Labyrinth, but it wouldn't have sounded nearly as pretentious.

28. Do you put lotion on your dog or cats? As furry as our dogs are, I can't imagine that being a good idea. Besides, I won't put lotion on myself, why would I put it on the dogs?

29. What did you do for New Year’s? I'm not completely sure, but I believe it involved sitting around in front of the TV.

30. Do you think The Grudge was scary? Scary as in because I saw it and the movie scared me? No, I haven't seen it. Scary as in "It's scary that they keep remaking films from other countries and putting people like Sarah Michelle Gellar in them?" Yes.

31. Do you own a camera phone? No, but Melissa does. Do you use it?Anytime there's something funny.

32. What's the last letter of your middle name? G

33. Who did you vote for on American Idol? I voted once on the show, for Kelly Clarkson. Now, I don't even watch anything past the awful auditions shows.

Meme Time Is Here

Since Mikey decided to tag me with this meme (a week ago), I suppose I have to post something now. The meme is simple, list 5 things about myself that you don't know. The problem I have is what am I willing to tell you that I haven't already? I guess we'll find out.

1. When I was in grad school, there were several occasions where I spent a good bit of time in a dark room to expose and develop x-ray film for Southern blots. It turns out that if you leave all alone in a pitch black room for a while, my mind starts deciding all sorts of things. Things like that there was another person in the room and if I was still enough and listened closely I could here them, or that there was a crazy killer rampaging through the halls killing everyone else and he wouldn't find me as long as I didn't make any noise. I never believed these things, they were just thoughts that popped into my head for a moment before being pushed out by logic, but I take them as evidence that my mind is broken and shouldn't be allowed too much time on its own. (As an aside, I found out after working in the dark for a while one day that if you pull out one of the cardboard spacers that are between the pieces of x-ray film and try to expose and develop it, it doesn't work too well.)

2. When I was young, I hated school so much that I would often play sick so that I could stay home. I refused to lie about how sick I was, so I would occasionally gag myself with my finger so that I would throw up and then I could say that I had thrown up and not have to lie. You have to love that logic: I won't lie and say I threw up when I didn't, but it's perfectly ok to ignore the fact that it was self-induced.

3. If I'm not good at something, I tend to try to be funny instead. For example, observe these Christmas cookies from 2001. I can make the cookies just fine, but when it comes time to decorate them, my attempts at nice looking cookies end up looking like 3rd grade art projects (I apologize to any third graders who are offended by being compared to me.), so I decided to be humorous. That's how I end up with stocking cookies turned into gold-toe dress socks,



and gingerbread men in prison jumpsuits



or gingerbread men wearing wife-beaters (complete with tattoos).



I figure that if I'm goofy enough no one will be paying attention to the fact that I'm not very good.

4. I don't write this blog to become popular (which is good, because I'd be a complete failure), but when I see year end blog awards, I kind of wish I could have as many people interested in what I have to say as they do.

5. I have a tendency to get songs stuck in my head, like just about everyone else. The main difference is that when a song is stuck in my head I tend to sing it to the dogs, complete with new, dog-centric lyrics. Sure the lyrics are repetitive and I'm a complete dope, but how many of your pets have songs about them? That's what I thought.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to baking Christmas cookies. (What? Have I not told you that I'm always running late? I guess I should have made that #6.)

Rockin' Around The Christmas Meme

This was emailed to me by a coworker, and I figured that it would make a nice meme for the blog. So here you go, 18 questions to help us get to know each other around Christmas.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Yes, of course.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? In my family Santa didn't wrap presents, he just put ribbons on them to indicate which of the three kids the presents were for.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? When I was growing up, colored and preferably blinking. Now, white.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope.

5. When do you put your decorations up? Whatever time is convenient after Thanksgiving.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert): Take your pick: Turkey, Stuffing/Dressing, Green Bean Casserole, pretty much everything.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Waking up to find the presents Santa had placed my color of ribbon on, and then sitting around and watching as everyone takes turns opening gifts.

8. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? One gift only, but only for the kids. Fortunately, I haven't matured enough to not qualify as a kid anymore.

9. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? We jokingly call our tree the Hanukkah tree because we decorate it with silver and blue ornaments and white lights.

10. Snow! Love it or Dread it? On Christmas? Sure why not. The rest of the time...I could probably do without it.

11. Can you ice skate? No, but I can fall quite well.

12. Do you remember your favorite gift as a child? Hmm...this is probably a toss up between a Nintendo and a Chemistry set, or maybe that Star Wars transport vehicle...Hmm, video games, Star Wars and science, I started as a nerd pretty early.

13. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? It's all about family...and food.

14. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Ok, this is hard. I don't think I can choose between pumpkin and pecan pie.

15. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Whenever it is time to give out gifts, the young kids get to "play Santa" and distribute all the packages. They always have as much fun being the one to hand gifts to people as they do opening gifts...ok, almost as much.

16. What tops your tree? Santa, who looks more comfortable than he should considering how that tree branch is holding him up.

17. What is your favorite Christmas Song? The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole

18. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum: As long as it's a peppermint one.

Now it's your turn.