100 things about me.
It seems like, no matter where I go on this World Wide Web I run into someone’s “100 things you didn’t know about me” blog post. It’s like an epidemic – everyone’s got one, and those that don’t have one are just too lazy to do one. It’s as if in order to be a successful web-logger, you need to throw 100 useless pieces of information about your life onto the Internet for Google to cross-reference and bring back results like “Reggie Miller’s Ex-Wife.”
So what do I do? I do my own. I know it’s blogosphere cliché, but sometimes I just can’t help jumping into the mainstream and blogging like the teenyboppers do. Call this the “MTV Cribs” of the Internet: a worn out look into the life of people who think too highly of themselves.
So, without further adieu — 100 things about me, Corey Vilhauer:
1. I’m a young chap, at the wonderful age of 26.
2. I was born in Sioux Falls, I currently live in Sioux Falls, and I called myself a Minnesotan in between.
3. I went to school to be a teacher. It didn’t work.
4. I attended two colleges: Southwest State University and St. Cloud State University.
5. I transferred from the first to the latter, primarily to be with Kerrie and secondarily because SSU was in Marshall, Minnesota.
6. I can recognize the distinct smell of an ethanol plant.
7. I don’t have patience for closed-mindedness, which is actually pretty closed-minded towards those who are closed-minded. * rimshot! *
8. I never liked baseball until I moved away from Minnesota.
9. I never loved baseball until I read Moneyball by Michael Lewis.
10. I plan on going back to school to be a writer or journalist. I hope it works.
11. My favorite type of food is Thai.
12. My favorite movie is Fargo.
13. My second favorite movie is High Fidelity.
14. My third favorite movie is Becket.
15. My dog’s name is Becket.
16. I’ve visited the site where Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered in 1170.
17. My favorite vacation spot, in the United States, is Seattle.
18. Second was New Orleans.
19. Our honeymoon was in New Orleans.
20. I wrote about it – it’s there on your right.
21. I had beaten every Super Mario game until Super Mario 64 came out – including Mario is Missing.
22. I was in a band once. We had five different names, none of which were very good, so I’ll save you from knowing any of them.
23. I love airports
24. I’ve never understood, and probably never will, what the big deal was about The Ramones. They’re not good.
25. I read a lot.
26. I didn’t get my drivers license until shortly before I turned 17. (I didn’t have a car, so I didn’t see the point.)
27. Frankly, I hate talking about politics.
28. I do enjoy reading about it, however.
29. I have a friend that lives in Ireland, and chances are (if you’re from the States) you don’t.
30. I was once a starting forward for the Axtell Park Middle School basketball team. The B-Team, that is.
31. Without sounding too trendy, my favorite band is Modest Mouse.
32. I’ve always thought about getting a tattoo of the Modest Mouse buffalo logo, but I’ve never had the guts to do it. Or the money.
33. I liked News Radio a lot while it was still on television.
34. I’ve witnessed at least eight of my friends (or pairs of friends) get married, yet I’ve never been a groomsman (always a groom, never a groomsman?)
35. I was originally a Chicago Bulls fan, at least until Michael Jordan retired the first time. It’s been the Pacers ever since.
36. I enjoy karaoke too much.
37. Even though I “slung” video games for the first seven years of my working career, I bought more than three games a year. In fact, I bought more games before I had any sort of employee discount.
38. At one time I fancied myself a “football” fan, in the European sense of the word. I found later that I knew nothing about it; therefore I was not a very good fan.
39. However, I still consider myself a Liverpool fan, and I have two jerseys in my closet.
40. I like Carlsberg beer for this very reason
41. I really prefer either Grain Belt or Pabst, though, to give the illusion that, in some way, I’m “keeping it real.”
42. I’m a vegetarian that eats fish.
43. I’m oblivious to the allure of Vin Diesel.
44. I took Spanish for two years in high school, but can remember none of it.
45. I almost took French in college and then stopped myself before it was too late.
46. I enjoy certain Hugh Grant movies.
47. I didn’t start playing Hold ‘em poker until it was the popular thing to do…
48. …and I’m better at it than I should be.
49. Olives make me retch.
50. I don’t like “big box” bookstores like Barnes and Noble and Borders, though I’m not afraid to shop there and buy the books elsewhere.
51. I actually like Fat Tire beer, and I don’t just drink it because it’s “cool.”
52. I’ve interviewed for teaching jobs in three states – and was never hired.
53. Aside from teaching jobs, however, I’ve never been denied a job I’ve interviewed for.
54. I had over 50 cover letters on file from teaching jobs that never bothered to even send a rejection letter.
55. If I could have dinner with five dead authors (and watch how this takes up five spots!) they would be: Geoffrey Chaucer
56. Aldous Huxley
57. Winston Churchill (which is kind of cheating, I know, but he is an author.)
58. Arthur Conan Doyle
59. Mark Twain
60. I secretly enjoy “Prairie Home Companion.”
61. I talk about sports too much.
62. I used to watch professional wrestling. A lot.
63. I actually created my own professional wrestling simulation league and included all of my friends.
64. My favorite wrestler was Chris Benoit.
65. I don’t get visual art.
66. The first real concert I ever went to was Metallica at the Sioux Falls Arena.
67. In saying this, I don’t count my first Sioux Empire Fair concert: The Monkees and Herman’s Hermits.
68. The first professional sports game I ever attended (that I remember) was a Chicago Bulls game (at the Target Center against the expansion Minnesota Timberwolves.)
69. However, I do know that I went to numerous Cincinnati Reds games when I was very young.
70. I used to tell people I was from a small Canadian city that I had made up. Many believed it.
71. This spawned one of my friends’ band name: Three Sisters, Manitoba.
72. I’ve created three websites in the past. None still exist.
73. It took me a long time, but I have finally come to the conclusion that Bill Murray is the greatest comedic mind of our generation.
74. I’ve been to England and France, but I had never stepped foot in North Dakota until two weeks ago.
75. I’ve never been in a car accident.
76. I have, though, been in two bicycling accidents.
77. One of these bike accidents left me with a scar on my chin that my beard won’t grow over.
78. I have no respect for certain types of media: tabloids…
79. …Fox News…
80. …and reality shows on cable.
81. I believe in brand loyalty.
82. For example: Sirius over XM
83. I vote Democrat, though I did vote for Nader.
84. I’ve only voted for one winning President: Bill Clinton, in 1996.
85. I was 18 when I first remember seeing Star Wars, though I’m sure I saw it as a child.
86. I used to have problems with my eye, requiring me to wear an eye patch to help ease the problems. I don’t remember what the problem was, but I remember the patch.
87. I spent every summer for many years in Jackson, Wyoming, and I don’t care how touristy it has become – I still love it.
88. I believe radio is better than cable.
89. I think Nick Hornby books make the best movies.
90. I still contend that giving college players money to play college sports is pretty stupid, so it should never be considered. Please – don’t give me the “athletes should be paid because they bring money into the school,” or the “interns are paid when they train for their jobs.” First of all, interns are paid very little – and they’re actually working, not playing a game. Second, the universities are making money on the bookworms too by hyping their school’s testing scores and alumnus – you’re no different just because you’re an athlete. If you’re good, you’ll get yours soon enough. I hardly think the life of a college athlete is that hard.
91. Sometimes I get worked up over miniscule things.
92. I buy my clothes on the clearance racks of expensive stores.
93. My first car was a Volkswagen Beetle.
94. My first CD was the Wayne’s World soundtrack.
95. I’m a cherry-cola drinker
96. I’ve only worked in the food business once, and it was a sub shop in the bar district.
97. I hated that job at the time, but I look back fondly at it now.
98. My favorite part of London was the subway.
99. I don’t understand poetry very well.
100. This post took seven days to complete (off and on).
Whew! That was a hell of a way to waste valuable web-area.
In doing this, I actually did a bit of research. I perused a variety of “100 things about me” lists in an effort to understand the purpose and validity of such lists. I’ve realized, however, that these ‘100 things about me’ pages are nothing more than a cry for attention. Hey! Look at me! Look how cool and different I am! It’s like getting an e-mail with 100 questions that you’re supposed to send to all of your friends — you try to put the most original and cool answers you can in an effort to create a mystique around your personality.
As you can see, I bought the whole idea.
Hey! Look at me!