25 Random Things About Me.....ugh

I'm not big on the chain letter sorts of things, so I'll spare my group of friends the tagging, but since I've been thinking about this, it's been very difficult to come up with 25 things most people do NOT know about me so I've really had to reach deep here but there's a few that aren't so deep.

1. The 23 on my license plates, email addresses and blogs is in honor of Ted Simmons, NOT Ryne Sandberg or Michael Jordan as most people think. The Ted Simmons story is an entirely different blog post that I'll do on February 23rd, 2009 (see, I'll get you to return if you care)
2. I threw shot-put in High School (poorly), but I had some delusional thought that I could run 200-meter hurdles and was allowed to, ONCE! Thanks Ernie Stark for that humbling moment, you handled it perfectly and taught me a valuable lesson.
3. New Year's Eve, 1999, I spent alone, at home. It was a down time in my life and sort of sad. Hell of a way to come into the new millennium.
4. I honestly am really really shy. Amongst totally new crowds of people I stay quiet for a long time until I can figure out who is who and how I will fit in.
5. I was a state-ranked wrestler in the 155 lb. weight class in 8th grade. If it weren't for chicken pox, I would have probably placed in the top 5 at the state championships.
6. Yes, from the age of 24-26 I had a pony tail. A LONG one down to the middle of my back. It was when I worked as a music agent and it carried over for the first three months at Millward Brown.
   
7. I got deeply involved in a pyramid/MLM scheme in 1989. Lost a BOAT LOAD of money ($30K+). It set the foundation of how I manage my finances very tightly to this very day. It wasn't fun getting sued for all the bad debt I incurred.
   
8. There IS photographic evidence of me, at the age of 8, wearing Green Bay Packers pajamas. eeeechhhhhhhhhhh. We can blame my MOTHER for that one.
   
9. I was thrown out of a 6th Grade football game (versus Lace School) for a flagrant personal foul. After their center snapped the ball, I pounded him on the back of the helmet 'cuz he kept his head down.
10. First teacher crush: Miss Coradetti, 5th grade. Smokin' hot.
11. I always have and always will admire Pete Rose for how he played the game of baseball. I modeled my playing style after his in Little League (even wore #14). Unfortunately I also had his HAIRCUT for awhile. Say no to bowl!
12. I first learned how to program in BASIC in 1982 on a Radio Shack TRS-80. I've stayed close to computers ever since. Shout out to all my peeps down in I.T. as it's why I "get" you guys.
13. I, as most Marquette alums pre-'94, will NEVER refer to us as the G*ld*n E*gl*s. We are Marquette and we're the Warriors, at least that's what it says on the 1977 NCAA Championship Trophy!
14. I played Sancho Panza in a grade school performance of Don Quixote de La Mancha (Kyle Berndtsen was Don). From that I got to go back stage and meet Richard Kiley who was playing Don at the time!
15. My list of nicknames is endless: HighCicero, Sissy, Buffy, Duey, Dinky, Bruno, The Brain, etc. but Duey just stuck. Given to me Freshman year at MU by Scott Wagner (next door neighbor in McCormick Hall)
16. I met my wife online (most of you knew that) but once we met, the parts of our lives that crossed over at times was ridiculous. My parents live in a subdivision her Uncle developed, we BOTH knew Vince Ligouri and had the same opinion, we both attended Catholic High Schools and Universities (not the same ones) and were amazed that there were people we knew in common. There WAS some sort of fate working at that point and I couldn't be happier in my life that it was.
17. I was so convinced we were having a girl that when the Ultrasound tech said we were having a boy, I cried like nobody's business.
    
18. I inherited two fun traits from my Grandpa LoCicero, but didn't KNOW I did until after he passed when I was 22: LOVING hot, spicy food and an unbelievably accurate eye/hand when shooting a weapon. I'm careful not to mix the two but there was a time when I had a Lamb Vindaloo in Banbury, and the next morning it felt like I shot my head off.
19. Yes, I did go out on the road with Blue Oyster Cult in 1991. It was their first tour (very small venues) back after their long absence. It was a ton of fun for the five dates I was there. My job: make sure they were happy with the diet sodas, vegetarian meals, and bottled water backstage and hand their manager the payment for the night before they hit the stage.
20. I'm a chronic insomniac. It started in my mid 20's and has continued ever since.
21. If I could live anywhere else in the world, it would be in Southwest London down towards the end of the Northern Line. Lovely, hard-working folks and my beloved AFC Wimbledon.
22. I pay very close attention to the subtle changes that happen on a weekly basis with our son, Aidan. I've had too many people say that "it goes very fast" and they are VERY correct. Each new change in his life just warms my heart and makes me appreciate his presence in my life just that much more.
23. If tomorrow, someone told me that my job was over and to pack up my stuff, I'd would to set up a company to help "older" folks learn how to use technology be it computers, mobile phones, web cameras, digital cameras/picture frames. The joy with which I've seen my parents use these various things lets me know that there's an entire world we can open up for folks like them. My parents just did their first web cam call with us on Saturday and the fact that they can see their grandson when they miss him so much, just is the BEST.
24. I will still hold out hope for the rest of my life that the Chicago Cubs will finally win another World Series. You can make fun of me until you're red in the face, but I'll never be forced to give up that hope.
25. I know I probably don't say it enough to her, but I thank the Lord everyday that my wife and I met and that I love her more than anything. She challenges me and strengthens my belief in myself and what I can get accomplished. Although I know I drive her crazy more times that I should, I would move mountains and seas to ensure that she was happy in life and I am so blessed for our family and our lives.