When faced with writers block... do a list

I have been suffering from a fairly severe case of writers block these past few days, so I decided to revisit something I had started once before but never posted. As the title suggests, if you are suffering from writer's block, take an easy way out and do a list...

While surfing around the "blogosphere", I came across Childsplayx2 (a fellow twins-father-blogger whose site I visit often) and decided to borrow from one of his entries (again). It seems that CPx2 (as well as Sarah and the Goon Squad, another of my frequently-visited blogs, who is a mother of twins... are you sensing a theme here?) are intrigued by a phenomenon of people posting 100 things about themselves.

Actually, many, many people have posted an entry like this…so, call me a lemming and allow me to present to you MY list of 100 things you may not know about me. If you do... pretend that you don't... at least while you read this list.

1. I come from a large extended family.
2. I have an older brother.
3. During my senior year in high school, the coach of the speech team told me I had no talent.
4. The next 2 years I qualified for the National Community College Forensics Tournament. The year after that I qualified for the National Forensics Tournament for my 4-year university. Showed him, didn’t I? Putz.
5. I was on a forensics scholarship at my community college & the four-year university I attended. Showed him again, didn’t I? Schmuck.
6. My Bachelor’s degree is in public relations
7. My Master’s degree is in business
8. The date I was born (in July).
9. I love politics (see my other blog for more on that) and WILL run for some political office someday.
10. I love public speaking.
11. I am an adjunct professor at the local college teaching business and public speaking classes.
12. I would love to teach public speaking and business courses at the college level full time.
13. I love the writings of William Shakespeare.
14. Graduated with a 3.99/4.0 GPA from my Master’s program. I’m pretty proud of that.
15. I played the alto saxophone in grade school.
16. I hated high school.
17. I didn't attend my 10-year HS reunion.
18. I actually use elements of both my college degrees in my current job.
19. I have a short temper.
20. But I control it better than I used to.
21. I’m funny… yes I am.
22. I have a ‘thing’ for the woman in the Overstock.com commercials.
23. My wife and I are the proud parents of identical twin girls.
24. I’m a bit of a grammarian.
25. I hate tomatoes.
26. I want to go back for my Ph.D. after my wife finishes her Master’s degree.
27. I love to read.
28. My favorite books are To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Walden by Henry David Thoreau and Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters.
29. I like to smoke (good) cigars.
30. I have a fear of bridges.
31. I hate clowns. I’m not afraid of them per se, I just don’t like them and think they’re evil.
32. I’m a very good cook.
33. I firmly believe that common sense isn’t that common anymore. Read TBWA blog for more on that.
34. My ultimate vacation would be to visit my relatives in Spain with a holdover in Tahiti.
35. I’m a night owl, but can still wake up early the next morning.
36. I love coffee. I love coffee. I love coffee. I love coffee. I love coffee. Did I mention I love coffee?
37. I’m addicted to caffeine and hate to wonder what I would be like without it.
38. I firmly believe that the Walt Disney corporation is the evil empire.
39. I enjoy a good martini, but it’s not my favorite drink.
40. I play fantasy football and fantasy baseball.
41. My fantasy baseball teams suck whereas my fantasy football teams win.'
42. I love hockey… so that makes me NHL fan # 42.
43. I attended (with my brother) game four of the 2004 World Series between my St Louis Cardinals and the (now-despised & loathed) Boston Red Sox.
44. I have a fear of the Oompa Loompas from the original Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
45. I think that Transformers are more than meets the eye.
46. I hate any sports team from New York City (Why? The center of the universe does NOT revolve around you, no matter how much you think it may) but…
47. …all teams from New England are a very close second and gaining ground every year.
48. I collected beer bottles while in high school and college; I now have over 400 of them.
49. I don’t display my collection anywhere.
50. My wife and I had a class together my first semester at Eastern Illinois University in 1993; but we never met.
51. I dated the woman who sat in front of her for 2 months.
52. We ‘officially’ met each other in November 1994.
53. We started dating the end of November 1994.
54. My wife and I had been dating for only 6 months when I proposed.
55. My wife and I have been married for almost 9 years now.
56. My best friend (besides my wife) is 10 years older than I am (name withheld to protect the innocent...)
57. My middle name is Nishan, after my uncle, who was more like a grandfather. He passed away 2 years ago and I still miss him.
58. I’m right handed.
59. Before they were born, I promised each of my daughters a pony. Why?
60. The pregnancy was NOT easy. Read about it here and here.
61. I can swear like a sailor but never in front of my kids.
62. I’m probably one of the few people who can tell you that the dot over the letter 'i' is called a tittle.
63. I have a vast trove of trivia and useless knowledge in me. Because of that, people refuse to play Trivial Pursuit with me.
64. I was very sad the day the final section of Busch Stadium came crashing down.
65. I prefer Coke over Pepsi.
66. I would like to run for political office someday.
67. I hate country music.
68. I somehow make really cute offspring.
69. I think Tom Cruise needs to be slapped with a thick stick…
70. I own and occasionally wear a fedora.
71. I wasn’t a fan of football until I was 12 or 13. No idea why.
72. I have read each Harry Potter book shortly after its release.
73. If I could do another career completely unrelated to mine, I would be a psychiatrist.
74. I write poetry and had one published in my university’s poetry magazine.
75. I like and appreciate fine wine.
76. My favorite type of wine is a toss-up between merlot and cabernet sauvignon.
77. My favorite alcoholic drink is a cuba libre (rum & coke with lime for all you unknowing-types out there)
78. My favorite beer is Moosehead from Canada.
79. I’m not a huge chocolate fan.
80. I don’t think the Chicago Cubs will win a championship in my lifetime.
81. I can’t live without The Simpsons and The West Wing.
82. I once shot a man in Reno just to watch him die… no wait, that’s from Johnny Cash’s list.
83. My biggest driving pet peeve is people who simply don’t know how to drive. It’s not that hard.
84. I never pledged a fraternity… and have absolutely NO regrets about it.
85. My first car was a Pontiac Fiero.
86. I rear-ended someone in said car because I was staring at a scantily-clad woman that was jogging.
87. This occurred 2 weeks after getting a speeding ticket for driving 85 in a 55 zone.
88. I know every bit of dialog from the original Star Wars trilogy.
89. I don’t like the acting of Robin Williams.
90. I can’t stand Oprah Winfrey.
91. I’ve never felt very secure when it comes to personal finances; my wife handles them at home. But…
92. I manage (successfully I may add) a multi-million dollar annual budget at work.
93. My favorite piece of art is Nighthawks by Edward Hopper.
94. I don’t understand the popularity of reality shows.
95. I love doing crossword puzzles.
96. I love the football reporting & writing of SI.com’s Peter King.
97. I’m a huge fan of Chicago ‘radio legend’ Steve Dahl.
98. My wife and I own over 500 CD’s.
99. I think there’s a special place in hell for telemarketers
100. Life is good

And an extra one... the first thing I taught my kids to say was "d'oh!"

That's it, 101. That was difficult and does not seem to have snapped me out of my writer's block, so you may very well see another list tomorrow.