A copy of my “25 Things” meme that’s been making the rounds through Facebook.

• Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.
• (To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

1.    My birthday is July 12.  I have worked a 16-hour day on my birthday every year for the past 13 years.
2.    I hate when my soup and hot chocolate/tea is burning hot. I heat them up to “warm enough” before consuming.
3.    A character in many of my stories is an accomplished writer.  He has written the following books: “H2Whoa: 101 Fun Things to do with Water,” “Swallowcaust: Lack of Food in Concentration Camps,” “Fat Fatties and the Fat Fatties Who Love Them,” and “Nun of Your Business: Discrimination Among Entrepreneurial Clergy.”
4.    I hope to one day write the aforementioned books.
5.    I briefly considered joining the US Air Force in 2000.  Instead, I took a placement test for the US Census Bureau even though I had no intentions of working for them, and this single event launched me on a path that led to me having an M.Ed., wife, and job as Director of a Summer Camp. Seriously.
6.    When we were younger, the only time my brother and I were guaranteed to get along was when we were playing video games. Now, 22+ years later, we still play video games together thanks to XBox and the internet.
7.    I love driving to work every day so I can listen to Preston and Steve. When they go to commercial, I turn on the buffoons on 610 WIP and, when they annoy me too much, I turn to NPR.
8.    I still have every letter and Western Union I ever received during my 19 summers at Golden Slipper Camp.
9.    I love organizing information.   Give me Excel and some information and I am set for the evening.
10.    I love social media and the internet.  I write in two blogs, plus I manage 11 different websites!
11.    I think Scrubs is the greatest show in the history of television.  The writing is sharp, funny, and emotionally investing.
12.    I have participated in several fantasy football leagues, but the SFFL (Slipper Fantasy Football League) is my favorite.  I have been in this league with virtually the same people since 1996. I won one championship and lost two in my first five years in the league.  In the eight years since, I have not even qualified for the playoffs.
13.    My Arcadia roommate and I made a ton of short films that played constantly on the campus’ closed circuit TV.  From time to time, a stranger on campus would talk to me and make reference to a video I was in, or act like I was one of the characters.  I even had a stalker who asked me to be her date to the Spring Cotillion based on these videos.  I also had another roommate tell me that she hated our videos when she was sober, but there was nothing better to watch when drunk.
14.    Some of the best videos we created are not available.  Either the footage has been lost or the stories exist only in our heads or on paper.  One day, Clam Chowder and Harry Doobs…
15.    My brother and I always wanted a little sister.  I also wanted a twin brother.
16.    I described my earliest memory to my mother once.  She looked at me like I was crazy.  She later explained that I had described something that happened when I was 8 months old. I am not making this up.
17.    I often have realistic dreams of minor events that later come true.  I have not yet had a dream where I see the outcome of the Super Bowl or any other future event from which I could make a profit.
18.    I believe I have been reincarnated.  I can identify at least two of my former lives from memories and knowledge of events that I should not otherwise have.  The first time I was in Washington, D.C., I recognized a statue of a lesser-known individual from the mid-1770s.  My friend, Allison, crossed the street and was stunned when the nameplate on the statue confirmed the individual’s identity.
19.    I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease when I was 12 and did not walk for a while because of the pain.  I received physical therapy to help me relearn the natural motion of walking. For a while afterwards, walking required conscious effort and I still walk funny whenever I think about the action of walking itself.
20.    I have always been a pitcher in baseball, but in 1993 I started pitching submarine-style.  This is because I had severe tendonitis in my throwing elbow that kept me awake every night.  I did not want to give up my role as a pitcher, so I did not tell my coach.  One day, the pain was so severe while I was warming up that I started throwing submarine-style because it did not hurt.  I was deadly accurate with this delivery, and I had a lot of movement on the pitches.  The other team made fun of my pitching motion, but I was dominant and shut them down.  I have pitched submarine-style since that day, even though my elbow feels 100% fine.
21.    I love classic rock.  I also love cheesy pop songs, most of which are one-hit wonders.  Thank you, Led Zeppelin, The Police, Billy Joel, Baha Men, A-Teens, Hanson, and LFO.
22.    LFO is the greatest boy band ever. No contest.
23.    I am addicted to the Internet.
24.    I am an exceptional speller, and can recall almost any word I have ever seen or read. If I could go back in time and talk to myself at thirteen, I would encourage me to enter a spelling bee so I could destroy the competition.  I would also tell me to save a lot of money and bet on the Phillies winning the 2008 World Series.
25.    I used to have a bad habit where I calculated the syllables of every word I said by grinding my jaw.  It was probably borderline OCD because it started disrupting my sanity and sleep.  It took a lot of effort to break this habit.