#25 random things

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So, that happened... 

i'd be really grateful if you watched it <3 

I don't read Real Simple magazine. O.K., maybe occasionally if Francie leaves a copy lying around the house and I can’t find anything else… but that’s more of a skim than a read. Anyway, when I mentioned to Christine that I was considering writing this week’s commentary about our cultural obsession with lists, she suggested I check out this month’s Real Simple. A quick skim proved her point. Page 8 has the Simple List. Page 35 asks readers to name the top three things on their lifelong to-do list. Page 67 suggests eight ways to mix this season’s brights (super lemon and vibrant green with a hint of slate gray is the new black in my opinion, but, hey, I’m just a skimmer). The point is that lists are everywhere. David Letterman has been entertaining viewers for over 25 years with his Top 10 lists. We rank order lists of sports teams, MBA programs and even breakfast tacos. A quick Google search can produce everything from the the Top Ten Worst Products Ever to the Top 15 Offensive Odors (body and foot odor edge out hydrogen sulphide for the top spot in case you’re wondering). Even The Alcalde, the alumni magazine here at the University of Texas, has a popular feature called My List in which alums are encouraged to submit a list of the 10 works that most influenced their lives. It seems we just can’t get enough lists. My theory is that lists are popular because of our appetite for instant gratification. Unlike my sometimes painfully long commentaries, lists eliminate the fluff and details and get right to the point – just the facts. Lists shape our opinions and influence our decisions. I bet every college-bound high school junior or senior has looked at the latest U.S. News & World Report list of top colleges. How often have you referred to the “best of” issues of the Austin Chronicle or Texas Monthly to pick a restaurant? Travel guides are now full of “must-do” activities for even the most obscure destinations. The latest entry into the world of lists is the “25 Random Things About You” request that is appearing on nearly everyone’s Facebook page these days. Not that this is new. I recall getting a similar request on email quite a few years ago. The difference with Facebook is the pressure you can now put on friends to reciprocate with personal and sometimes sordid details about their lives that will be visible to a large group of people. I ignored the initial requests, but must admit I enjoyed reading other people air their dirty laundry and reveal their deepest secrets. O.K., that may be a stretch but I was surprised at how open people were in these lists. I learned new things about people I thought I knew very well. I laughed aloud at some of the inside jokes that I knew only a handful of people would get. I was surprised at how well this exercise allowed people to reflect on what is truly important. I was happy to see that most people don’t take themselves too seriously. Yesterday, one of my best friends from college described his feelings when he lost his father a few months ago. It was his list, coupled with similar openness from several dear friends, that finally convinced me to reciprocate, so here goes. 1) I sincerely love what I do. I am very fortunate to have found my true calling. Even if I won the lottery, I would probably continue with the TEMBA program. I should have realized that education was my passion a long time ago. My wife, my parents, my in-laws and sister-in-laws are all educators, so the apple didn’t fall very far from the tree. 2) My father was my high school principal. I know, it probably sounds like a nightmare, but it was actually pretty cool. I even worked in his office my junior and senior year. Many of the philosophies and practices I attempt to bring to TEMBA, I learned from him. 3) John F. Kennedy and I shared an office…well, sort of. When I worked in D.C. immediately after undergrad, I shared an office with five other people in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill. That same office just happened to be the personal office of JFK when he was in the Senate in the 1950s. I still have a picture of a youthful Jack & Jackie standing almost exactly where my desk would be nearly 35 years later. 4) My most cherished material possession is a baseball glove. When I was six or seven, my dad gave me a left-handed Spalding baseball glove – a Cleon Jones model no less. To this day, it remains the only baseball glove I have ever used. It became even more special when my son Ben started using it a few years ago. He still does. 5) Speaking of baseball, I threw out the first pitch at a Cubs game….o.k., it was the Iowa Cubs versus the Memphis Redbirds, but it was still pretty cool. When I lived in Memphis, I petitioned the state historical commission for a marker to commemorate the site of an old ballpark that had hosted Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and countless other Hall of Famers. It was also the site of one of Elvis Presley’s first live performances. The Memphis Redbirds, the AAA affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, joined in the effort and asked me to throw out the first pitch on the day the historical marker was unveiled. In case you’re wondering, it was low and outside. 6) And the third thing related to baseball, I was there- about fifteen rows behind the dugout - when the Boston Red Sox broke the 86-year-old Curse of the Bambino by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 4 of the 2004 World Series. I’ll never forget it. 7) I run 50 to 60 miles per week. I don’t know what I would do without running. It’s my time to think, reflect and explore. If I’m not on the trail, I run random routes across town, rarely running the same route more than once. 8) I was immediately attracted to Francie. It took a few months before I "grew on her" (her words, not mine). 9) I drink way too much coffee. I’m guessing at least 72 ounces a day. Seriously. 10) I love pickles and even drink the juice once the jar is empty. I thought this was rather unique until I saw another friend list the exact same thing a few days ago…though she apparently drinks her pickle juice from a wine glass. I’m not that refined. 11) I have eaten blowfish testicles along with other organs and parts (considered a delicacy in Japan) and bull testicles aka Rocky Mountain Oysters (probably not considered a delicacy anywhere). If a medical study ever suggests that massive amounts of coffee coupled with some pickle juice and animal testicles is the key to long life, then I’m in great shape. 12) Speaking of a long life, I want to live to be 104. I don’t really recall how I settled on that number, but I have publicly stated that to a number of friends and fully expect to get there. I even plan on celebrating my 104th birthday with a night out on the town in Paris. Seriously, I’ve actually thought about that. How’s that for random. 13) I regret not inviting Scott Sills to my 13th birthday party. Scott and I were best friends and neighbors growing up, but drifted apart a little during those adolescent years. Kids this age can be cruel, something I now see first-hand as my kids approach the teenage years. Scott probably doesn’t even remember this snub today, but I know what I did was cruel and wrong. Today, Scott is literally one of the world’s leading experts on infertility and has helped countless couples realize their dreams of parenthood. I am proud to call him my friend. 14) I still miss my dog Benford. I didn’t have pets when I was growing up, so Benford, an ornery dachshund named after a Texas basketball player, was the first. He was appropriately born on our wedding day and survived pancreatitis, a bad back and an attack from an overzealous Great Dane to live to be nearly sixteen years old. We have two dachshunds now, but none will ever replace Benford. 15) I have never been hospitalized. Sure, I’ve been to the emergency room on many occasions, but have never been officially admitted and assigned a room. 16) My son Sam is the bravest person I know. Sam was born with a heart defect – a small hole that we all hoped would close up on its own. It didn’t and in the summer of 2007 he had open-heart surgery to patch the hole. He was well aware of the risks and the process, yet didn’t show any fear and handled everything much better than I probably would have. By the fall, he was playing flag football again and later led his basketball team in scoring. 17) If I had to pick one book that has influenced the way I think it would be The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs. It changed the way I look at neighborhoods and cities and the impact architecture, planning and density can have on a city’s vibrancy and energy. 18) I apparently look a lot like a guy in town named Phil. At least three times in the last few weeks (all while running), I have received a warm wave or smile followed by the standard, “oh, I thought you were someone else.” Maybe Phil would like to help out with some 6th grade homework. 19) My first car was a 1983 light-blue Ford Mustang with t-tops. It made road trips to New York, Key West, New Orleans and almost every university campus in the SEC. I drove it into the ground. In its final months, you would have to start the engine about ten minutes before it would engage into drive and actually move forward. 20) I inadvertently have a collection of snow globes in my office. I say inadvertently because I don’t collect them. In fact, I don’t like knick-knacks at all. I received one featuring the Dallas skyline from the Texas MBA at DFW Class of 2007 (which I was honored to receive) and, next thing you know, they’re all over the place. Let me repeat, I don’t collect snow globes. Tessa, are you listening? 21) I once co-owned a coin-operated laundry. If anyone ever tells you there is such a thing as an “absentee-owner” business, run as fast as you can. 22) I don’t use an alarm clock. I simply look at the clock when I go to bed and decide when I want to get up. I usually awake at that exact time, but never more than 1 or 2 minutes off. 23) When I write my goals down for a particular year, I assign a word that is representative of what I want to accomplish. This year’s word is “push.” 24) I love to write. One of this year’s goals is to complete the outline and write the first few chapters of a novel I have been thinking about for some time now. It’s about a soon-to-be-elected Congressman’s haunting childhood memory of a deliberate hit-and-run and his determination to right this wrong, even if it costs him his political career. 25) O.K., I do occasionally read Real Simple. There, I said it.

2012 UPDATE: My clothes are actually now hung up and folded into the new dressers I got that came with my new and not-as-comfortable-as-my-toshak, bed. :) 19) In my junior year of high school, I had a calendar where I would write down what I wore everyday so that I didn't repeat an outfit twice in a month. 20) Even though I have anger problems, I've never been in a physical fight with anyone except my sisters, Runa and Sufia; and my cousin Neelam. Those weren't even real fights though because we never punched, we just pulled hair and scratched each others faces. 21) When my friend Keek and I were in Al-Qalam (our all-girls Muslim private school), we went to this event called the League of Islamic Schools of America fundraiser, and there were 4 gel pens at the registration table. At the time, gel pens were the ish, so we each took two of them and nobody ever found out. Until this day we still talk about it and feel bad. 22) I used to go to Darul Hijrah for Arabic and Quran classes, and one day we had a new teacher and she was being a %$@ to me, no joke! So I kept saying "Shut up stupid!" really loud to her and when I got home my parents put a hot pepper in my mouth and wouldn't let me drink water until I said I was sorry and I wouldn't do it again. Afghans. Sheesh. 23) One time our friends Amara and Sarah and their family were over, and all the girls got locked into our room and no matter HOW HARD my dad and their dad tried they couldn't open it so we had to climb out of our window and down a ladder. I felt so bad ass. 24) I was trying to catch Mustafa (my little brother) one day because he did something to piss me off and I hit my foot against the wall really hard and I kept telling my mom that I thought my toe was broken, but she didn't believe me until we came home from someones house one night and I took my shoe off and my pinky toe was purple and swollen. I got to stay home from school for like a week while being pampered by my mom because she felt bad that she didn't believe me. 25) If you counted up all the times in my life that I've been absent from high school, it would probably be over 200 days. That's almost a whole school year. Yup that's me! Hope you learned something new kids :)