Personal Inventory

Assembled piecemeal from various sources

I am 28 years old. Usually, I fall under the LEO astrological sign, although every once and a while in a newspaper column, I turn out to be a CANCER. Apparently, there's some variation and uncertainty in astrology: Who knew?

I am 6 and 3.75 inches tall. This is based on my own measurement this morning. Margin of error +/- 0.5 inches. This is just tall enough that most push-bars on public doors are not comfortable to use. I cannot extend my arms to open it in front of me without first leaning forward slightly. Most doorknobs are at the level of my hand at my side.

I weigh 240 pounds. A quick visit to a Body/Mass calculator gives me a BMI of 29.4, at the high end of the overweight category. Probably should address this, for continued personal health. The good news that there is plenty of junk to trim from my diet.

I have always considered that I have dark blond hair. However, I was assured by someone who cared much too deeply about the topic that in no way do I have blond hair. I instead have light brown hair. If the veracity of this claim is proved, it may spark a life changing re-evaluation of myself. Or it could just make me say, "Okay."

I have green eyes today. Not intense green, but colored enough to make me surprised. Often, my eyes are a dark amalgam of brown, green, and yellow. I suppose we'd call that "hazel," where many people's eye color is lumped together. Half my family has blue eyes, half brown. I suppose I'm in the middle.

I was recently fitted for a pair of shoes (which took not one but TWO trips to my home trying to be delivered) so I can say that I am currently wearing a size 14 shoe. Friends, rejoice. I finally have a pair of black shoes that is not 1) more-than-slightly green with age, 2) intended for a tuxedo, or 3) actually a pair of bedroom slippers.

I have a cartoonishly large head. My hat size is at least 7 7/8, which on most hat size lists is the end. Of course, I've only ever owned one hat, which was a wool cap I bought in Ireland. The reason I bought it was because I tried it on from the "accidentally oversized" table and it fit. I wore it until it fell to pieces. When I go back, I'll buy another.

I have no tattoos. I dislike needles immensely, so if I actually needed to get a tattoo, I would require some kind of sedation. Part of the ritual is being a man and grunting through the pain while chewing on a piece of rawhide leather, so if I can't do it right, best not do it at all. When I was last in the hospital three or four years ago, I was hooked up to a heart monitor. When they came to take a blood sample, my heartbeat increased audibly (thanks to the beeping monitor). The nurse laughed and commented how I must really not like needles. Since I was trying to be "cool" at the time, I felt offended that my mind was being read by a machine. Darn lie detectors!

I have never broken any bones. I don't feel compelled to knock on wood because of admitting this, because I'm fairly sure it will happen at some point in my lifetime.

I have a false tooth. My front right (from my point of view) maxillary central incisor (#51, for all you dentists out there) is almost totally a ceramic appliance. It is not removable, so I won't be able to intimidate little children with it. If I am cremated, it will be the only substantial piece of me left. So if my ashes are ever scattered to the wind, this tooth will fall straight to the ground, which makes me laugh.

Ten Years Ago -- I was in the first couple of weeks of starting my undergraduate work at DePaul University. My journal entries don't really detail much of it, since I was still focused backwards on things that happened in high school. Being in a new environment with plenty to do during the day, I tended to slip back into reminiscing at night, when it was quiet and I finally slowed down. And what did I reminisce about from high school? The girls I liked, and whether or not they had stupid boyfriends. I'm sure I was the first person to ever commit that to paper.

Note: The spell check tried to correct DePaul to "deafly" and BMI to "BMW," alterations that I think would make a more entertaining entry.