1. My life’s priorities are family, endurance sports and business.
2. My kids are my greatest creation. I had some help.
3. My wife is my greatest choice.
4. My wife doesn’t really like me, at least 95% of the time. The other 5% is when she’s drinking margaritas. I’m not kidding.
5. My wife does seem to love me, which makes up for the whole 95% thing.
6. I’ve “done it” with two women. I wasn’t very good at first with either and the relationship with the woman that’s not my wife didn’t last long. Thanks to my thorough studies on the internets, I’m now super awesome at it and in 2013 when I get to do it again it’s gonna be spectacular.
7. I’m seriously considering removing that last one because I think it may cause a divorce.
8. Divorce used to be something for old people. When we got married divorce became an unpleasant concept. Now that we have kids it’s become an unacceptable concept. More than a happy marriage, I want to be around my kids on a daily basis. Luckily I get both for the time being. Compromise is easier when you have two compelling reasons. Which isn't to say we wouldn't be happy without them.
9. I’m big on balance. I like to train hard for months and then focus on business for months. In business I like to balance sales with product development. In sales I like to balance long cycle sales and cold calling. Ups and downs make for better scenery.
10. I haven’t consumed any alcohol in about two years. I’ve never been anything close to an alcoholic but I did overdo it the last time I drank and ended up in the hospital. Vive le Stupidfest.
11. When Heather, Jodi and I go out drinking it is my official job to hold Jodi’s hair when she pukes. I’ve held it in bushes, in the back of cars, on the side of the road and behind the bar. The most dramatic was her pulling me into an absolutely packed women’s restroom at a buckhead restaurant during dinner service.
12. I get migraine headaches. Which are miserable. On average they last 28 hours.
13. If given a button to cure me of migraine headaches I wouldn’t push it. After a headache I have a profound appreciation for life and usually find a burst of creativity.
14. Headaches prevent me from becoming an alcoholic. I get severe headaches when I drink a little or a lot. There’s only a very specific middle ground where I don’t get a headache and I only rarely find it. This has made drinking not worth the trouble. And that’s lucky given the next one.
15. I have an addictive personality. I’ll listen to the same song for weeks at a time. I’ll eat the same meal morning, noon and night for weeks. I’ll do the same workout over and over again. Etc. Etc.
16. I’ve learned to get out of addictive cycles by riding it hard all the way to the end. Instead of fighting the urge to listen to Avril Lavigne I’ll just burn my man card, hit repeat and wait it out. When it’s over, it’s over quickly and I move on.
17. It looks like I take a lot of risks… skydiving, rock climbing, entrepreneurship, ironman, ultrarunning… but I really don’t. Most of the time spent in those activities is preparation. By the time you step onto the rock face you’re pretty safe. Processes that reduce risk fascinate me.
18. Throughout much of my life I was totally embarrassed about my skinny body, particularly my legs. When I found triathlon/running my weight became an advantage. Even losing ten pounds and looking sickly didn’t bother me… as long as I was faster.
19. Hate needles. Pass out.
20. Acne has always been a concern. I use Neutrogena 2.5% benzoyl peroxide cream at night and a prescription cleocin antibiotic solution in the morning.
21. I was once convinced that my acne was 100% psychosomatic, in my head. Early in my college years I theorized that if I didn’t see it I wouldn’t obsess about it and it’d go away. I didn’t look at myself in a mirror for six months. It only made me obsess more. Ask Dominic… I think I mentioned it to him once… but he was probably drunk.
22. One of my biggest regrets so far was not speaking at my grandfather’s funeral. I think it hurt my grandmother and my Uncle Robert’s feelings and I’ve always wished I could go back and fix it.
23. I was arrested for shoplifting razor blades on a dare in Hagerstown, MD. I didn’t even shave yet. The other guys managed to David Copperfield their loot before the cops searched them and they got off scott free. I’m not allowed to enter the Hagerstown County Market for the rest of my life. The other time I was arrested it was for shooting bottlerockets out of a vw microbus in Waynesboro, PA. I blame Dixon completely for not hiding them when the cops showed up. In theory that’s all been expunged from my permanent record. As long as I don’t tell anybody, it never happened. Oh, crap, internets.
24. After close to a decade of blogging I’m still trying to figure it out.
25. These are the best of times. These are the worst of times. Kids, wife, triathlon, friends and business wins are the best. Financial stress caused by the business is the worst, absolutely crushing. It’s a striking contrast and I look forward to smoother sailing some day.

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