25 Random Things

It seems like the whole world is on Facebook now but I know there are a few stragglers and so this post is for the three people worldwide who aren't already my "friends" on Facebook. The latest fad on Facebook is for people to write a note for their profile listing 25 random facts about themselves. Because 25 is actually quite a lot, the lists can be pretty interesting, getting past the mundane. I think the fad is fading now. Evidence of this is that I've jumped on board and written my own list. Here it is . . .

1. I can’t dance or sing and I’m rhythmically dysfunctional. I really wish I could sing.

2. I used to be very competitive and emotional about sports until about halfway through college, when I realized that it just made me look stupid. Since then, sometimes when I’d played a game and I was ahead, I would semi-subconsciously let the other side catch up to make it more interesting. This did not make me popular with my teammates, but I think they chalked it up to incompetence.

3. I love watching small college basketball, especially teams where I know some of the players and in a gym filled with rabid fans.

4. I refused to watch Survivor when it was introduced on TV and said it was trash programming. A sign of the coming apocalypse. I’ve watched every season since then. I’m also a faithful Amazing Race viewer.

5. I love Disney World. My favorite vacations have been to Disney World and Disneyland, especially in 2002 when our family met Jeff and Karen Parish and their family down in Florida for a week. A few weeks ago, I won a trip for four to Disney World for later this year.

6. I never have kept track but I’ve spent time on at least 70 college campuses and have held jobs at five.

7. I am lousy at video games and just don’t get the point.

8. I don’t like dogs. Or cats. Or really any animals within five feet of me, as a general rule.

9. The two most memorable trips of my life probably were the three weeks I spent in Asia unsuccessfully trying to recruit students and our two weeks in China when we adopted our daughter, MelodyJoy.

10. I once broke up with a girl partly because she had thick ankles. I’m shallow, so sue me. My wife has great ankles.

11. I shave my head every other day and dye my beard at least once a week. However, since I’ve lost my job, these grooming habits have fallen by the wayside a bit. I started buzzing my hair short in 2000 because I never wanted to get close to comb over status and then started shaving my head in 2003 because even buzzing it was too much hassle for me.

12. I was a huge Oakland A’s fan in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Sadly, we moved away from the Bay Area just before the A’s went to three straight World Series. I also was a big Oakland Raiders fan but find them kind of embarrassing now.

13. I’m kind of a germaphobe. It really grosses me out when people use the bathroom and don’t wash their hands afterwards.

14. I had a serious crush on Olivia Newton-John when I was in high school. There are some girls I asked out largely because they resembled her. This is not necessarily a bad thing. I’m shallow, so sue me. Olivia Newton-John does not have great ankles.

15. I’m named after my grandfathers, J. Palmer Muntz and William Hayden. I didn’t like being named Palmer when I was young because kids called me Palm Tree or Pomegranate. I didn’t know what a pomegranate was and thought it was a dirty word. I kind of like my name now and I do know what a pomegranate is.

16. My nickname in junior high was Spider.

17. Pet Peeve #1 – College graduates who say, “I’m an alumni of __________ College.” No, you’re not. You’re an alumnus or an alumna. If you don’t know what is correct, just say “I’m an alum” and you’ll be safe.

18. Pet Peeve #2 - Okay, guys, is it really that hard to put the seat up? And put it back down when you’re done? It’s just polite.

19. When I was a kid, my Grandpa Muntz sent us money every year so that our family could either go to the circus or the Ice Capades. Someday I’d like to do the same for my grandchildren.

20. I started collecting quotations of various types back in eighth grade and now have a Word document 125 pages long full of them.

21. When I visited Mexico City in 1983, I spoke broken English. I have no idea why.

22. I’ve never broken a bone. Unless you count the time I broke my sister’s finger.

23. I watch professional wrestling when no one’s looking. I’ve seen Andre the Giant, Jake the Snake and The Ultimate Warrior wrestle in person. In the Francis Asbury Wrestling Alliance, I was The Palminator.

24. I decided to write a personal mission statement last year: I am a Christ-follower who seeks to glorify God by caring for my family, by elevating Christian higher education, by serving others through connecting them to resources that help them achieve their goals, and by acting with compassion and integrity.

25. More than anything I’m grateful for God’s patience and grace. I don’t deserve either one.