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< ? 100 Things # >

A hundred things you might want to know about me...or not.

1. I was born on 12 July 1971, at 1:38 p.m. (CDT).
2. I was born in Chicago, Illinois.
3. That makes me a Cancer with a Pisces moon and a Libra rising.
4. As a result, I am extremely moody, bordering on empathic, yet very compassionate.
5. I am an INFJ.
6. I share my birthday with my paternal grandmother, who still claims that I was her best birthday present ever.
7. When I was nine, my father moved my family to Iowa where I lived for the next nine years, growing up and learning about life.
8. Iowa's a nice place to grow up, but I wouldn't want to live there.
9. I knew that I was gay when I was ten, but didn't know the word for it until I was twelve.
10. When I was six, I remember being attracted to my friend's dad and his beefy legs and bare feet.
11. I was born gay; it was not a choice, or at least not a choice I made after I was born. But if it had been a choice, and if it weren't so popular to be gay right now, I would probably choose to be gay. I love it.
12. I have never had sex with a woman and probably never will.
13. After I (barely) graduated from high school, I joined the navy to "find myself" (oh, please), and to get some direction for my life.
14. There was a flowering plant / bush / tree outside of my barracks window at navy boot camp that smelled really good.
15. I frequently smell that flower (I think it's a jasmine of some kind), and it brings back good memories of boot camp. Really. (I loved boot camp.)
16. I went to Monterey after boot camp to study Arabic at the Defense Language Institute.
17. While I was at DLI, I met more gay and lesbian service-folk than I did straights. Hmmm, imagine that.
18. After I came out to my roommate (and after we had sex), I met the best group of friends I had ever had...all gay sailors and one gay marine who bore a striking resemblance to Gerald McRaney.
19. I was also part of two witch hunts, or queer hunts as we called them. I managed to escape from both of them unscathed. Believe it or not, the controversy was exhilarating. Guess it would make sense for a queer to love any kind of drama.
20. I was only in the navy for nineteen months. I let the cat out of the bag and they kicked my ass to the curb. It wasn't painful at all.
21. Before I was discharged, I worked in the administrative office of the navy command at DLI, for the commanding officer.
22. He wrote me a letter of commendation for my work "above and beyond the call of duty" as an honorary yeoman and proclaimed his own disappointment with the policy of discrimination in the military.
23. I also found out that I was granted submarine duty in Rota, Spain.
24. My discharge is perhaps the only regret in my life. I probably would have loved to be a careerist in the navy.
25. After I was discharged, I stayed in Monterey.
26. I fell in love with the ocean and vowed never to live away from the sea again.
27. I lived there for eight years.
28. I met Harry on Garrapata Beach, south of Carmel, on 13 September 1993.
29. I was cruising him. I had seen him before at Monterey's then only gay bar and liked his salt-and-pepper hair and mustache. Damn he was so cute!
30. We've been more or less together as friends, foes, and fuckbuddies ever since.
31. In 1998, I left Monterey to attend San Francisco State University as a French major. I never graduated. Hey, life happens.
32. Je parle français depuis dix-huit ans.
33. I love it.
34. I have been to France twice.
35. I wish I could understand and speak every language on Earth, including the dead ones.
36. I love computers.
37. I have a brand new 20″ Core 2 Duo iMac, on which I've installed Windows XP using Boot Camp.
38. It is the most stable computer I have ever had; that goes for Windows, too.
39. I can finally play World of Warcraft.
40. I'm really good at learning new programs quickly.
41. I type seventy words per minute...on a good day.
42. My last name is Lithuanian, and according to a Lithuanian heritage society in Chicago, upon arrival in America, one of my paternal ancestors probably changed the spelling of my name from its original spelling, as its current form is an aberration of the original. So from Bernotas it became Barnotes. It would have been much easier to pronounce if he had left it alone. It's three syllables, please.
43. Since I've lived in California, fewer people mispronounce my name, instead putting a Latin flavor on it. I don't mind as long as they get the three syllables, please.
44. I stopped correcting people, however. I figure, if you can't remember how to say it right after a couple of times of hearing me say it, you either don't care to know how it's pronounced or you simply can't form complete sentences on your own. In fact, sometimes it's easier for me to mispronounce it intentionally. Go figure.
45. I am a typical American mutt.
46. The rest of me is Scottish, Irish, and Polish.
47. I have green eyes.
48. I am left-handed.
49. If I were a redhead, I'd be a witch. I have brown hair. Too bad. That would have been really fun.
50. I love listening to rain hitting the roof. It's soothing and comforting. It makes me feel safe.
51. I never thought I would live to see the year 2000.
52. When I first created my blog, I swore that I wouldn't include one of these lists. I usually think they're too corny. I don't know what changed my mind.
53. My blogger code is: B9 d+ t+ k s- u-- f-- i-- o++ x e l c+
54. My bear code is: B5 c- d-- e+ f g- k q r+ s++ w
55. I finally grew a goatee.
56. I wonder why I waited so long.
57. I love to bake.
58. Cookies and cakes are my favorites.
59. I want to attend the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco to learn the skills of being a baker.
60. I would love to have my own bakery somewhere.
61. I can't stand coffee, but I can drink Coca-Cola (never Pepsi) until comes out of my veins.
62. I'm five foot nine inches tall and about 200 pounds. I carry it well.
63. I love to swim.
64. I love dogs: big fuzzy, furry dogs that slobber all over you and love you back.
65. I am not a cat person, which is fine because I'm allergic to them anyway.
66. I love the ocean...or did I already say that?
67. I would love to sail around the world for the hell of it.
68. I love music.
69. I don't think I could live without music.
70. Most, if not 95%, of the music that I have is by female artists.
71. I love books.
72. My mother taught me how to read when I was three. It kept me out of her hair while she was taking care of my newborn sister.
73. Before I started kindergarten, I used to read to my friends whose mothers asked my mother if their kids had to learn how to read before starting kindergarten. My mother said, "no, it's just something he does."
74. I take being able to read for granted.
75. I am amazed that illiteracy exists in any part of the world.
76. I believe in freedom and equality for all people, everywhere, and I can't stand racism, homophobia, or any other form of ignorance.
77. I believe in reincarnation, but sometimes can't stand the thought of having to come back to Earth someday to continue learning what I'm supposed to learn.
78. After many years of deliberation, I don't believe in the death penalty. It is not for us to decide who lives or dies. Let karma do its work.
79. I would love to be regressed to a past life experience.
80. I must have been women in my past lives. There's no other explanation for my adoration of shoes and hats and handbags.
81. I want my own house with lots of land so I can plant flowers and vegetables and my own herb garden.
82. I want my own house with lots of land so I can have a really big swimming pool, too.
83. I love England.
84. I have been there only three times, but I love it and can't wait to go back.
85. I have never broken a bone in my body...except for my little toes which we all supposedly break many times more than we realize.
86. I don't know if I believe that.
87. I think the human body is an amazing creation.
88. I dream in color.
89. I remember most of my dreams and have stopped trying to analyze them. It doesn't work, and besides, I treat them as my own private home movies that only I can enjoy anyway.
90. I love Grace Kelly.
91. I think she's one of the most beautiful women who ever lived.
92. And Princess Diana, too.
93. I cried like a baby when I watched Princess Diana's funeral.
94. If I could have one superpower, I would want to be able to fly.
95. If I could have one more, I would want to be able to move things with my mind.
96. Normally, I am a pretty well-grounded individual with an over-active imagination that I usually know how to keep in check.
97. I do not own a suit or a tie.
98. I'm easy-going, casual, and love to walk around barefoot, especially on the beach.
99. In a perfect world, we would all be barefoot, all the time, everywhere.
100. In an alternate-dimension perfect world, our shoes and belts would be cut from the same piece of leather.