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100 Things about Mike

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mike's photo is coming soon...


    1. There's nothing like a good "it's it" - preferably cappucino
    2. I briefly double majored in music composition in college
    3. I wrote a piece of music that was played by a full symphony orchestra
    4. I am related (distantly) to Joe DiMaggio
    5. I grew up in Kansas City
    6. I'm still searching for a place in Chicago that serves decent barbeque
    7. I grew up playing the pipe organ
    8. Now I'm into Brazillian guitar
    9. I take guitar lessons at the Old Town School of Folk Music
    10. I think cheap vanilla ice cream is far superior to the fancy stuff
    11. My shortest job: prep cook / dishwasher at Applebees for a day and a half
    12. My longest job: 8+ years with Accenture
    13. Toughest decision at work: deciding whether to follow a co-worker into a dark basement full of dead rats, or stay alone in the car for an hour while being stared down by thugs in the 'hood
    14. I chose the rats
    15. One year I worked in 7 states and lived in 2
    16. That year I was simultaneously a homeowner, renter, and landlord
    17. I once took a trip from Chicago to Milan...just for the weekend
    18. I know just enough French to order off a menu, or purchase an alarm clock
    19. I'm the oldest of 3
    20. My sister works for hospice
    21. My brother teaches kite surfing
    22. Yes, my last name IS Italian
    23. My dad and brother own a business making concrete...countertops...
    24. My family and I once found a corpse while vacationing at the lake
    25. I discovered a dinosaur bone at the lake too
    26. But an anthropology major said the bone more likely belongs to a cow... what does she know anyway?
    27. I learned to waterski on that lake
    28. I can slalom ski
    29. But I've never really cared for waterskiing
    30. My first computer was an Atari 400
    31. It had 2 drives: a cassette tape, and a single-sided 5 1/4" floppy
    32. My dad upgraded the memory to 48K
    33. It was awesome
    34. I wrote my first computer program in the 4th grade
    35. It went something like:
    36. 10 print "mike is cool"
    37. 20 goto 10
    38. I've never found a good use for the flyweight pattern
    39. I'm a big fan of decorators
    40. Factories are so cliche
    41. I have the cutest daughter in the world, no contest.
    42. Olives are her favorite food
    43. She gets that from me
    44. My border collie would sooner die of exhaustion than stop playing fetch
    45. She doesn't like: garbage bags, scotch tape, tape measures, brooms, rakes, shovels, vaccuum cleaners
    46. She is scared of: thunderstorms, fireworks, whistles
    47. As a result, it's impossible to watch the superbowl at home without sedating the dog
    48. I met my wife at an ice cream social on the very first day of college
    49. She noticed me after I was accidentally pelted in the face by a flying ice cream cone
    50. She married me anyway
    51. Actually, I asked her to marry me before our first date
    52. She said "maybe"
    53. My wife and I love cycling
    54. Yes, I own awkwardly tight cycling clothes
    55. But I only wear them when riding my bike... I swear....
    56. The fastest I've gone on my bike is 45 MPH down a mountain near Lake Tahoe
    57. The slowest I've gone on my bike was riding back up the mountain near Lake Tahoe
    58. 5 minutes down, and 3 hours back up
    59. I played football in high school
    60. I played in only one game
    61. The coach put me in when we were up 54 to 7
    62. In the game, I successfully tackled a runningback by tripping him by his shoe laces
    63. I also played varsity tennis in high school
    64. But I never won a single game
    65. Clearly, I'm a sports prodigy
    66. I love to snow ski
    67. But I'm convinced I will never learn to snowboard, no matter how long I try
    68. I once lost 30 pounds in 8 weeks
    69. That was 3 years ago
    70. When I lived in California
    71. Since moving back to Chicago, I've gained 20 back
    72. I've been to Bolivia, Canada, Mexico, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, and the UK
    73. I'd love to visit China or Australia next
    74. My favorite city in the US: San Francisco
    75. My least favorite: Houston - hands down. Texas is just weird.
    76. I spent 16 hours driving from Houston to Dallas escaping Hurricane Rita
    77. My wife and I have hand-made most of the furniture in our home
    78. I love woodworking, when I can find spare time
    79. I've built a desk, cabinet, countertop, jewelry box, and side tables
    80. But I can't fix a car to save my life
    81. And I'm perfectly fine with that
    82. I'm a bit of a Kronos Quartet groupie
    83. I own nearly every album
    84. I had them autograph my string quartet score
    85. I almost dropped the cellist's million-dollar cello as she autographed my score
    86. My favorite author is Jose Saramago
    87. His books make my brain hurt - in a good way
    88. Gabriel Garcia Marquez isn't bad either
    89. Favorite movie: anything by the Coen brothers
    90. And Evil Dead
    91. I'm an NPR junkie
    92. I wish the iPhone had a radio
    93. My wife has a business designing furniture and jewelry
    94. I'm glad she isn't a computer geek
    95. But I do wish she could fix her own computer
    96. My graduating class in high school was all of 34 people
    97. I drove on the Bonneville Salt Flats on my way cross-country
    98. My favorite pizza toppings: ham, pineapple, and green olives
    99. But a close runner up is ricotta cheese and sausage
    100. Vienna Beef vs Nathans? Chicago always comes out ahead...