100+ things about me

1. I can wiggle my ears (without touching them of course).
2. My upper and lower teeth don't touch in front so when I bite down, there's a gap about the width of my pinky.
3. I sleep flat on my back with a pillow underneath my legs (it's good for your back), with my arms on my chest. Some have observed that while sleeping I resemble a mummy.
4. My name was initially going to be Dale but it was changed to Daniel while I was still in the hospital.
5. I can walk on my hands.
6. I rarely chew gum.
7. The movie "Gremlins" scared me as a kid.
8. I usually walk fast, and have unknowingly left people behind until they pointed it out to me.
9. I wear a size 11 1/2 shoe.
10. When I hear a song I like, I can listen to it over and over without tiring of it. I will usually sing along if no one else is around.
11. I loved to climb trees when I was a kid.
12. I like to play sports of all kinds.
13. I don't remember anything about my maternal grandfather before his stroke. He died of Alzheimer's.
14. My best childhood friend was a few years younger than me.
15. I have read "How to Win Friends and Influence People" at least five seven times.
16. I sleep silently.
17. I write with my left hand and throw with my right hand.
18. I went on a date with a girl that was engaged (but not to me).
19. I've eaten lamb brain.
20. I had a paper route as a kid.
21. Skateboarding was my activity of choice in junior high school.
22. I would like to write a book someday.
23. I lived in Spain for two years.
24. There is a dark patch of hair on the back of my head and when people cut my hair they invariably point it out.
25. I like to go fishing as long as I don't catch anything.
26. I won 4th place in a spelling bee in 6th grade without studying. I went out on the word 'baboon', spelling it 'babboon.'
27. When I first watched "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" in the theater I had to use the bathroom, but didn't because I wanted to watch the movie. In retrospect, I should have gone.
28. Everyone called me Daniel until some friends at school began using Dan and the name stuck. Most of my immediate family still calls me Daniel.
29. I learned to drive a stick-shift in my grandfather's car while he was sick in a nursing home. I asked his permission first.
30. My uncle is good friends with John Irving.
31. I was offered a free tattoo for my 21st birthday. I declined.
32. I wore the same calculator watch for six years.
33. I can juggle five balls.
34. I can whistle five different ways.
35. I have had a web site since December 1994.
36. I can barely remember my paternal grandmother.
37. As a child I loved to read Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
38. There is always music playing in the car when I'm driving.
39. I didn't get chicken pox even though 4 of my siblings had it while I was living at home.
40. I was voted most dependable for senior superlatives in high school.
41. I like the smell of gasoline.
42. I slept in a sleeping bag on top of my bed until my freshman year of high school.
43. I have a scar on the middle of my forehead from when my older brother hit me with a rock that was intended for someone else.
44. I was Charlie Brown in the play "You're A Good Man Charlie Brown"
45. In elementary school I participated in gymnastics, on the rings, the parallel bars and the floor. I was never that impressive on the vault.
46. I had always wanted to go to Disney World but when I finally went it was a disappointment.
47. I read "That was Then, This is Now" when I was a young teenager and cried at the end.
48. I like ketchup or tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches.
49. I liked to hide under the couch as a kid.
50. I have gone to multiple Red Sox games at Fenway Park.
51. I was paired up with my senior prom date by my high school physics teacher. We had a great time.
52. When I bought my first motorcycle, the dealer followed me home on the bike and we were both pulled over for speeding.
53. I like the feeling of being up early in the morning.
54. My family only moved once during my childhood, when I was in the middle of third grade.
55. I'm not mentioning things I've never done in this list, because until I'm dead, I still might do them.
56. The first car I bought was a 1991 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo.
57. I used to run around the neighborhood in my bathing suit during summer thunderstorms.
58. I don't like cola.
59. I woke up at 5am every morning for all four years of high school.
60. I sold my 300ZX on Ebay.
61. A friend and I formed an a cappella singing group in high school called the Harmon Es and sang "The Star Spangled Banner" for that year's graduation.
62. I was a soprano in my junior high school choir.
63. I sang a solo in the county choral society's performance of Elijah at age 13.
64. While dancing to the melodious sounds of "Little Toot" I leapt in the air and ripped a hole in my pants. I was deeply saddened when my family laughed and wouldn't let anyone see the hole unless they showed me a rip in their clothes. I think I was five.
65. I scored 100% on my written test to get my driver's license. I got a 95% on the driving test because I stayed in the right lane to turn left on a one way street.
66. Some neighborhood kids asked me if I was a homo sapien or a homosexual when I was five. I didn't know what they meant, and refused to respond, guessing that they would make fun of me if I answered.
67. I once yanked the emergency brake at 30mph in a snowstorm to see what would happen. The car fishtailed, sliding to the side of the road and I continued driving without incident.
68. I used to drive out to the ocean to think or relax.
69. In gym class we played crab soccer and I unintentionally kicked a kid in the head. He was known for being a bully. I scuttled away and he never found me.
70. A fellow student required 11 stitches after I accidentally hit him with a field hockey stick. He moved the ball during my swing to make a goal and the stick caught him right in the forehead. We remained friends.
71. I can get along with almost anyone if I put my mind to it.
72. I leave both the toilet seat and the cover down.
73. The only detention I got in high school was in English class. Another student and I raced across the room, except I was going to sharpen my pencil and he was getting some paper so the race was pointless. We both got detentions.
74. I did better on the verbal section on the SATs but on the ACTs I did better in math.
75. In little league baseball my positions included pitcher, second base, shortstop and all three outfield positions.
76. My blood type is O positive.
77. I tend to be a jack-of-all-trades, master of none.
78. I lived 10 miles from the ocean but am not a fan of seafood.
79. I had a pet hermit crab who died when he left his shell to find a bigger one. I didn't know I was supposed to provide a bigger one for him. At least I think it was a "he."
80. I once memorized the locations of all 50 US states in one day for a test and got 100%. We were given a blank map and had to write the name of each state in the appropriate location.
81. I'd like to sing in a barber shop quartet.
82. I played Blaster Master all the way through without dying when a friend asked to see the final scene.
83. I took piano lessons when I was younger but quit within a year or two. I wish I hadn't quit.
84. I have dabbled with the harmonica, guitar and drums.
85. I had a pet parakeet. It laid an egg and for a few confused minutes I thought it had somehow fornicated with a wild bird that had come in through the window. I soon learned that birds can lay unfertilized eggs.
86. I took four years of French in high school.
87. I always made my own lunch for school. As a result, I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich almost every day from elementary through junior high.
88. There are times when I'm so engrossed in an activity that eating or sleeping are chores. The activity often involves computers.
89. I was an avid coin collector and attended two conferences in Colorado Springs, Colorado thanks to scholarships provided by the ANA.
90. When someone would ask what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said an animal scientist. I don't think I really knew what I wanted to do, but having an answer kept the adults happy.
91. I've always been able to interact easily with people older than myself. For example, I was swimming at a friend's house and visited with his mother for most of the afternoon.
92. I participated in a lasagna bake-off with some friends and our lasagna was voted best-tasting.
93. I have spent over 100 hours playing X-Pilot.
94. On a whim I swung on a rope swing from a rowboat while fully clothed. My push off the boat made it float just out of my reach, leaving me hanging on the rope for a minute or two. I tried running on top of the water to get over to the boat but that just made waves and pushed the boat even farther away. I couldn't think of a way to get back into the boat without getting wet, so I let go and swam over. For several years afterwards I maintained the reason I had returned home drenched was because a large fish pulled me into the water.
95. I love talking about relationships and human interaction.
96. I had a fascination with briefcases, until I finally got one and realized they weren't all that exciting.
97. I read every single Hardy Boys book I could get my hands on in the public and school libraries.
98. I prefer the toilet paper to roll off the top
99. I like to make people laugh.
100. I find excessive use of exclamation marks annoying.
101. When I'm tasked with something repetitive or monotonous I find the most efficient way to complete it, often testing different strategies to speed up the process.

Updated Oct 25, 2016