"Not it!"

Sorry, just used to saying that as fast I can when a game of tag is on.

Ok, so we all know the rules. Let's get this over with (except for the part where I'm tagging others...no thanks).

The first list I typed up was too serious, long, and weird. I've discarded it so as to not let everyone in on the (random) fact that I'm holding on to my mental health by a thread.

8 random facts/habits:

1. I really liked the Spice Girls. I didn't think any of them were attractive at all (even Beck's wife) and I thought their videos were hilariously awful (especially the one in the desert where they appear to be fighting some kind of battle with deadly frisbees). But, I loved just about all of their singles (especially "Two Become One" and "Say You'll Be There").

2. I have a serious aversion to light, especially indoors. Even now, I am sitting on my couch typing this and there is not a single light on in the three rooms I can see. I do everything with as little light as possible. In my office, I open the blinds and that's it. My wife often makes "batcave" jokes. She's the one who reminded me of this random fact, btw. In related news, Batman is, without compare, my favorite superhero.

3. It seems that I love my cats inordinately. Whenever I'm out of town, it's embarrassing to admit how much I miss them. All three of them sleep with me/on me every night. When there were only two of them, I once put them in a suitcase and snuck them into a bed and breakfast, effectively ruining my second wedding anniversary.

4. I love the drums. When I was little I used to set up my mom's tupperware all around me and play drums to her old Beatles 45's. When I was being wheeled out of the hosptial after my last colonoscopy, still partly under the anesthetic (I don't remember this), I was playing air drums. Every week these days, when in need of a distraction at work, I'll go into the sanctuary, plug in my ipod, and play the drums. I'm getting better.

5. I am almost always cold and very often sick. My Uncle Bo loves to remind my dad (his brother) of why I am (in his opinion) like this. When I was a junior in high school, while my dad was building the house he and my mom still live in, we lived in a crappy "rent house" across the street from Bo. It was winter and my room had no heat. I slept every night in insulated coveralls, an electric blanket, and a wool hat. I was constantly sick and it really does seem I've been that way since. Bo called the house (and still does) "the ammonia hole" though, of course, he means "pneumonia hole."

6. I hit puberty later than may be thought possible. I was 5'3" and around 100lbs in the 10th grade (which should have been 11th grade, but I did 8th grade twice for the very reasons I am here discussing). My parents were worried about it. Took me to the doctor. Thought about giving me hormone shots or something like that. They never did. Let me convey the hilarity of this season in my life with two anecdotes: a) One time when I was playing Ninja Turtles (like actually pretending to be one in a little felt mask that I had made), I busted in on one of my friends making out with a girl. They were both my age. b) Terrance Brooks, an African-American friend of mine in 8+ (that's my second 8th grade), used to pick at me by saying in a congratulatory manner, "Myles, yo hair growin'!" He didn't know that I knew very well he wasn't talking about the hair on my head. He also didn't know that he was too early with his joke.

7. I look forward to telling some whippersnapper when I'm an old fart the story of how I once watched Greg Maddux beat Roger Clemens from the owner's suite in Houston. By then, few will be able to doubt that these two guys were the greatest two pitchers to ever play the game.

8. I am the opposite of claustrophobic. But, maybe that's not right because I'm not afraid of space. I just prefer to be in womb-like situations. My first office was tiny and the only one that I have liked. The rest have been too big. Even now, when I really need to work well, I go over into this little nook/corner to work. It would take too long to describe the pleasure of sleeping in my bed as a kid after my mom and dad gave me this tent that hooked on to my mattress. I used to make little forts and sleep in my closet. I would rather live in a smaller house than the one I live in now.