bloggedy blog: the personal weblog of a music lover and aging punk wannabe

:: Thursday, July 20, 2006 ::

100 things about me
Now that I've passed the 100,000 visits threshold (thank you very much, gentle reader; I couldn't have done it without you), I guess I should consider myself a fairly established blogger. Which means it's time to tell you all the important things you need to know about me. Which calls for a "100 things about me" list.

I'm left-handed.
I play guitar.
Jimi Hendrix was left-handed and also played guitar.
Jimi played left-handed.
I play right-handed.
That's one of the few things I do right-handedly.
Jimi Hendrix was a much better guitarist than I'll ever be -- left, right or ambidextrous.
Other famous lefties: Paul McCartney, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, H. Ross Perot.
In 1992, when Bush I, Clinton and Perot were all running for president, we were assured of having a lefthander in the White House.
But I digress.
I do that a lot.
Because I'm easily distracted.
Anyway, my name is Andrew.
I go by "Andy" in conversation, but prefer to use "Andrew" in more formal writing, such as when I'm signing important documents or when I have a byline on an article.
I really don't know why I do that. I suppose it's because "Andrew" looks more grown up and impressive on paper than does "Andy."
On the blog, I usually go by my initials, "AC."
My middle name is Paul.
Both Andrew and Paul are the names of famous saints.
My birthday is November 1.
Which is also All Saint's Day.
Coincidence?
Of the 12 disciples, Andrew is my favorite because not only am I named after him but he also introduced people to Jesus and saw possibilities where others saw impossibilities (i.e., the story of the boy with the fishes and the loaves).
I was born in Jefferson City, the state capital of Missouri.
I now live in Rolla, Missouri.
I am employed by the University of Missouri-Rolla as director of communications.
I get to work with Tom Shipley, who is half of the folk-rock duo Brewer & Shipley, of "One Toke Over the Line Fame."
Other places I've lived: Wakefield, Massachusetts; Stoneham, Massachusetts; San Bernardino, California; Moberly, Missouri; and Columbia, Missouri.
I was born in 1960, the year of JFK, Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, and Bill Mazeroski's dramatic World Series home run.
My favorite Hitchcock movie: North by Northwest
I do not own an iPod.
Famous people born on November 1 include fellow writers Stephen Crane (The Red Badge of Courage) and Grantland Rice, pitcher (and fellow lefty) Fernando Valenzuela (same year, even), and some French king named Louis the Stammerer.
My Myers-Briggs personality profile is INTP, and it's pretty much dead on.
INTPs are supposedly "pensive, analytical folks" who are annoyingly precise about things, easy-going, and haunted by the "sense of impending failure."
Oh God, I hope you people are still reading this. I would feel like a total failure if you weren't.
I consider myself to be a Christian, although I wish there were a better word to describe myself.
Because too many people think the term "Christian" means close-minded bigot.
Is "closed-minded bigot" redundant?
My favorite beer: Dos Equis.
My favorite hard liquor drink: Bombay Sapphire gin and tonic with a lime.
I only drink gin and tonics in the summertime.
Back when I was more of a conventional Christian, I thought I wanted to write Christian books, so I did.
I wrote three of them.
None of them were really big sellers. But I'm glad I wrote them.
I love most ethnic foods, especially Chinese, Mexican and Italian.
A heaping platter of spaghetti sounds pretty good right now.
I'm the youngest of five children.
Three sisters and one brother.
Our parents are both deceased.
My father was a shoe stylist, and my mother was a very talented pianist.
Writing that made me think of this line from a wonderful movie: "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"
I don't drink soda.
But when I was a kid and lived with my grandparents, one of my favorite things to do on a weekend night would be to drink a Double Cola, eat popcorn, and listen to the St. Louis Cardinals baseball game on the radio with my grandpa.
I haven't had a Double-Cola in probably 20 years. The last one I had tasted like mule urine.
Not that I've ever actually tasted mule urine.
The last time I actually got totally shit-face drunk was in Toronto, Canada, in the summer of 2000.
Tequila shots is what did it.
I have Mexican blood flowing through my veins, so I know that I'm supposed to be able to hold my tequila. But I can't.
My last name, Careaga, is a Basque name that supposedly means "lime house."
Except that the Basques do not have a "C" in their alphabet, so originally the name was spelled Kareaga, which is kind of cool.
Dyann, my wife, and I have been married for almost 21 years.
She is my soul mate, my best friend, and I love her very much.
She's a preacher's kid, which means she can be pretty ornery at times.
We still attend the same church her father pastors, Salem Faith Assembly Church in Salem, Missouri.
I created our church's website about eight years ago, and haven't updated it in about five years.
If you go to that site, you'll see that we have services at 6:30 p.m. on Sundays. That's a lie. We stopped Sunday evening services about a year ago, but I haven't taken the time to update the website.
My favorite pizza: pepperoni and mushrooms.
Favorite ice cream: mint chocolate chip.
Favorite movie (comedy): Raising Arizona
Favorite movie (drama): The Godfather: Part II
Favorite bands: the Clash, Talking Heads, Ramones, Lucinda Williams, Tom Petty, the Who, White Stripes, and a lot of others.
A quote I live by: "It is easier to beg forgiveness than to ask permission."
Favorite book of the Bible: Ecclesiastes.
Favorite Bible verse: "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21
Closest brush with greatness: June 1984, Columbia, Missouri. We're throwing a bachelor party for a roommate and it's after midnight when we run out of beer, so we call a guy who lives down the street and happens to own a club called the Blue Note, which at that time was in an old warehouse out on Rangeline Road and Business Loop 63 (not where it is today), to ask him to bring us a keg after the night's show. He asks if we mind if he brings the band with him. "Sure, no problem," we say. The band is REM, and they jam for us, playing my acoustic guitar and my roommate's sister's mandolin.
I also once had dinner with famed Chicago newspaperman Mike Royko while in college.
I usually dress in khakis at work.
Favorite fiction: The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien; Catch 22, by Joseph Heller; A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole; One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey; all of Flannery O'Connor's works; Geronimo Rex, by Barry Hannah; most of Eudora Welty's short stories.
Last movie I saw: The da Vinci Code. It was a yawner.
I read the first of the Left Behind apocalyptic novels, but none of the others.
After reading it, I felt ashamed for Christian fiction and wondered where Flannery O'Connor was when we needed her.
I love puns.
Favorite joke about a philosopher: Rene Descartes walks into a bar. Bartender asks if he'd like a drink. "I think not," Descartes replies, and -- poof! -- he disappears.
Moberly High School, Class of '78.
Our motto: "Beer is illegal, sex is great! We're the class of '78!"
I was a high school loser, never made it with the ladies.
I had one girlfriend in high school, but she just used me to get to the prom.
My first car: a 1964 Dodge Dart, metallic sky blue, with a straight-six motor and push-button transition. Talk about a babe magnet.
Current car: 2002 Chrysler Sebring convertible, white with black ragtop.
My ideal dinner would be: New England clam chowder followed by a thick prime rib (medium rare) with horseradish and Yorkshire pudding, and for dessert, a slice of chocolate cheesecake from A Slice of Pie (a local establishment).
Favorite snacks: nachos or chips with guacamole.
Favorite candies: Sweet Tarts, Hot Tamales, Lemon Heads. But not all at once.
I shouldn't eat candy, because I have the dreaded Type II Diabetes. I was diagnosed six years ago, made some drastic lifestyle changes, but sometimes I backslide and eat bad stuff.
One of my nieces once told me I look like Eric Estrada.
I try to exercise regularly, but don't life weights as much as I should.
Most of my exercise is cardiovascular -- running (typically on a treadmill these days) or using one of those elliptical machines.
I prefer running, but lately because of the heat I've been swimming in my pool at home instead.
Yes, we have a pool in our back yard.
I don't get this whole spinning thing. It makes my thighs hurt.
Oh, crap! I just realized I'm almost at the end of my list and I haven't really told you all the really important things you should all know about me. I never even got to tell you that I'm an aging punk wannabe.
That sense of impending failure I was telling you about? I can feel it.

Tags: 100 things, lists, blogging

:: Andrew 18:19 + ::
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