I, Shane › Shane Adams’ personal weblog

For no reason whatsoever, I was reading blogebrity Jason Kottke’s About page and as is often the case when reading Kottke, I was struck with the idea for a post of sorts. Actually, it’s more of a meme of absolutes. The inspired passage went something like this:

I prefer red wine to white, movies to films, jeans to khakis, vanilla to chocolate, Pixar to Dreamworks, the subway to taxis, nonfiction to fiction, and Safari to Firefox.

And it got me thinking…when it comes down to the either/or questions, which do you prefer?

Vanilla or Chocolate? vanilla
Dogs or Cats? dogs
Coke or Pepsi? Pepsi
The Beatles or The Rolling Stones? The Beatles
Microsoft or Apple? Apple
Nike or Adidas? Nike
Coffee or Tea? coffee
Spider-Man or Batman? Batman
Ketchup or Mustard? ketchup
Pen or Pencil? pencil
Soup or Salad? salad
Books or Magazines? magazines
Indiana Jones or James Bond? Indiana Jones
Summer or Winter? winter
New York City or Los Angeles? New York City
Google or Yahoo? Google
CNN or Fox News? CNN
Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune? Jeopardy
Mountains or Beach? mountains
Yoga or Pilates? yoga
Star Wars or Star Trek? Star Wars

The only rule is that you have to choose one. It may be close or you may not like either, but it’s my quiz…NOT YOURS. Copy and paste your responses on your blog if you are so inclined. Or just do so in the comments. It’s your preference, really.

Pass it around.

So I’m not sure about how this will work since there are many people who read this blog that I’ve actually never met IRL, but it’s such an interesting concept that I thought it would be fun. I first saw it on Rachel’s blog and then Alli did it and put her responses to comment on there, so I figured I would return the favor and answer her question, which was:

“on a scale of 1-10, how much do you hate that I am a vegetarian?”

At first, it was an 8. It was a hassle, particularly because it severely encroached on my meat-eating. You’ve always been very good about making stuff for me, but preparing food for one is a pain and I’d much rather eat together than eat separate food. Lately though, as I’m realizing that I’m healthier and my weight is coming off easier, it’s more like a 5. Do I wish you weren’t a vegetarian? Absolutely. But I understand your reasoning and I support you.

Now for the rest of you…here’s how this works.

Comment on this entry, and I will:

1. Tell you why I am friends with you.
2. Associate you with something - fandom, a song, a color, a photo, a word etc.
3. Tell you something I like about you.
4. Tell you a memory I have of you.
5. Ask something I’ve always wanted to know about you.
6. In return, you must post this to your own journal/blog.

For those of you I’ve never met, I’ll do my best.

Chimpotle

1. I read your blog because the title is absolutely genius and you are funny.
2. I associate you with the site Kissing Suzy Kolber because your shared items always appear in my Google Reader feeds.
3. I like that you were the first person to donate to my Heifer project.
4. I’ll say your favorite post of recent Yelp review of In-A-Tub. Made me laugh. Very Hard.
5. I’ve always wanted to know what you actually do all day long.

sirfwalgman

1. You’ve been a feed reader of mine since 2006 and you like poker.
2. I associate you with poker and a weird name.
3. I like that you come from nowhere to comment on my blog and I haven’t a CLUE who you are.
4. A memory I have of you was the first time I found you were reading my site. I was still using Bloglines and you could see the people subscribing to your feed. I saw you on there and I thought…who is THIS guy?
5. I’ve always wanted to know where you found my blog.

Alli, my loving beautiful wife

1. I am friends with you because you are my emotional equal. We have different interests and talents, but we communicate well and we work. Our conversations can be stupid or deep and I always love them.
2. I always have and always will associate you with Georgia O’Keeffe. I didn’t know about her before you and now I will never forget the beauty of her art.
3. If I had to pick one thing I like about you it would be how you smile with your soul and also how you encourage me to be the best version of myself.
4. Man, there are too many memories to count. One of my favorites from the past year was sitting in the sunbeam that shone through the oculus of the Pantheon in silence in Rome.
5. I have always wanted to know: “If you ever managed to meet Gwyneth Paltrow, what would you say to her?”

Jen

1. I have known you since childhood. We have gone to the same church for well over 20 years and our friendship has certainly grown in adulthood.
2. I associate you with the clarinet. You’ve played for so many years, but I’ve only recently come to appreciate just how wonderful it is and how much I wish I played an instrument.
3. I love how you parent Katie. She dotes on you and that’s totally obvious.
4. A memory that I have of you was sitting with you before church a month or two ago on that small bench in the foyer and talking. It’s one of the best one-on-one conversations I’ve ever had with you. Let’s do that again.
5. I’ve always wanted to know what it was that drew you to science.

Brother Jake

1. I am friends with you because you are my brother, my business partner, and my buddy. You make me laugh and you interrupt my days with random six degrees challenges.
2. I associate you with poker. You may be better than me, but the last time we were heads up, I won. So I still have scoreboard.
3. I like after 27 (almost 28!) years of living with you, being annoyed by you, fighting with you, ignoring you, that you haven’t held a grudge against me for the way I mistreated you as a little brother and you and I are now best friends.
4. Our 21st birthdays. Even though they occurred 3 years and 3 months apart and I remember them for very different reasons, they were both memorable because of you. Your multi-national rendition of Happy Birthday made me laugh harder than just about anything I’ve ever laughed at in my life.
5. I’ve always wanted to know what your favorite songs of all-time are. Perhaps non-311…

Brian D

1. I am friends with you because your brother told me I should be friends with you. We like the same stuff. We’re both nerds. We both blog. If we lived in the same city, we’d hang out.
2. I associate you with two things: curling and Washington DC
3. I like your commitment to a financially secure future. It seems like a really boring thing to like about someone, but we need more people like you that are vigilant about their finances and don’t rely on Washington politicians to bail them out of the debt they put themselves in.
4. A memory that I have of you is really around the first time that we started reading each other’s blogs. I remember that I just started one day and you started one day and there was no introduction. We just kind of became friends from the start.
5. I’ve always wanted to know who exactly where you work. I for some reason think that you work for the State Department and can’t tell me. But I wanted to ask.

KC Sponge

1. I am internet friends with you because you linked to me before you’d even commented. That was cool.
2. I associate you with blogger meetups, even though I have never been to one.
3. See the reason I’m internet friends with you. I remember reading your post about my blog and thinking…wow…this is pretty cool. You also contributed to my Heifer project, which is pretty cool.
4. My memory of you involves the YouTube video you posted of the kids you teach hip hop to. That was sweet.
5. I’ve always wanted to know what kind of law you plan on practicing. And can you get me out of my ticket I got a couple months ago?

Laura

1. My friendship with you goes back to Graceland, but really took root after we got married and were attending the Olathe congregation (with it’s incredible new website) on a regular basis.
2. I associate you with singing in church. When I was growing up, my dad’s voice was the only voice I could ever distinguish when hymns were being sung. With him being gone so much, I’ve found that I can hear you. And that makes me happy.
3. I like that you and I have matching computers now. Wonder Twin Macbooks UNITE!
4. Provocative. Shane. Need I say more?
5. I’ve always wanted to know what your favorite movie of all-time is.

Mike D

1. I am friends with you because when we were 17 and you were 18, your volleyball team took it easy on us at a tournament and we spent some time together in Iowa playing ball and being nuts.
2. I associate you with Chicago. No matter how long you live here, I will always associate you with the Windy City.
3. I like that you came to my wife’s art show. And I like your volleyball swing. I always have. You have the single best volleyball swing that I’ve had the fortune of playing with.
4. FFB. Thanks for that. You suck.
5. I’ve always wanted to know what it was like being Mr. Mom.

Christy

1. I was initially friends with you because we lived in the same neighborhood and thus went to the same schools, etc. I think we became better friends through theater and I reconnected with you thanks to Heidi’s blog
2. I associate you with…duh…YOGA. I am determined to come to one of your classes once you start teaching again, but I am completely terrified.
3. I like that I have known you for over 20 years, but my first memory of you is similar to my last one. You’ve always had a strong sense of self and I think that’s really cool.
4. The last time I saw you was when you came to Alli’s art show. That meant so much to her and so it meant a lot to me. Your appreciation of my wife’s art is something I will absolutely always remember.
5. I’ve always wanted to know what your favorite theater role you played was.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be the President. I had a path all lined up…law school, senator, president. Apparently, it would have been a pretty good choice. Better than Emaw at least…

Yes 76%
No 24%

Appetizer
What is your middle name? Would you change any of your names if you could? If so, what would you like to be called?

Matthew. One of the authors of the gospels. I used to want to change my first name, to something more normal like Scott or John, but after learning I was named after a movie, it got a lot cooler…

Soup
If you were a fashion designer, which fabrics, colors, and styles would you probably use the most?

When I was in high school and into college, I worked at Abercrombie & Fitch because I loved their clothes (be gentle). These days, I think I’ve found my style. I like bold colors and denim. I don’t know what I’d call it…Hollywood Casual, maybe? Cool t-shirts under a blazer with jeans, sneakers…that sort of thing. Too bad I have to work in corporate where I can’t wear jeans every day (like I used to).

Salad
What is your least favorite chore, and why?

I don’t mind chores all that much, but I’m kind of lazy and don’t do them a whole lot. I like the mindlessness of doing laundry - the folding and sorting. But I’m weird like that. I have to have stuff folded a certain way. It must come from my long (3-month) career at Abercrombie.

Main Course
What is something that really frightens you, and can you trace it back to an event in your life?

Vampires. I’ve since gotten over it, but when I was a kid, I actually had to see a therapist. I was 11 years old when The Lost Boys came out and I started having nightmares about how all my friends were going to turn into vampires and wanted me to become a part of their freaky vampire cult.

Because of it, I didn’t think I would be able to get through The Historian, but I absolutely loved that book.

Dessert
Where are you sitting right now? Name 3 things you can see at this moment.

In a cubicle. iPod nano. Monitor (duh!). Medal of Awesomeness.

Read the Chimps answers here. And The D’s.

Let the celebrating commence!

I expect to see at least 10 comments in here before the end of the day.

I really liked Brian’s post about his favorites of 2006, so I thought I would drop mine onto the internets.

Favorite Book: This is a tough one. I’ve read more books this year than in any year past. If I wanted to seem all intellectual and whatnot, I’d say that The Tipping Point was my favorite read. And truthfully, it was my favorite non-fiction read of the year. Great writing and a fascinating book. However, I would probably say that my favorite book of the year was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Call me cheesy or whatever, but after reading all 6 Harry Potter books this year, I finally see what the big deal is. While I held high acclaim for several books this year (I had about 8 that scored higher than 9 out of 10 on my scale, including The Historian, which I called “the best book I’ve read in the last 5 years”), I can’t think of a single book outside of the fifth in the Harry Potter series that I enjoyed more.

Favorite Movie: OK, so the year’s not yet over, but I’m going to need to categorize my favorite movies…

Favorite Comedy: There were not a lot of terribly funny movies out there this year. Out of the few, I had a great time watching both The Devil Wears Prada and Little Miss Sunshine. Very different movies, but both were a lot of fun. However, my favorite comedy of the year was Stranger than Fiction. Honorable mentions for Clerks 2 and Thank You for Smoking.

Favorite Drama: Another tough one. I would like to retract my earlier statement that Leonardo di Caprio did not deserve two Best Actor nominations. After seeing Blood Diamond, I realized that he deserved every bit of them. Blood Diamond is excellent as was The Departed. I would give a slight edge to The Departed only because Jack Nicholson is so awesome in it.

Favorite Action: Casino Royale. Hands down.

Favorite Animated: Cars. Pixar does what only Pixar can do.

Favorite TV Sitcom: The Office is my clear choice here, but it is followed closely by How I Met Your Mother, which Alli and I have dubbed “the new Friends”.

Favorite TV Drama: Lost has really lost a lot of steam. Even at the top of its game, I don’t think I would enjoy it more than I am enjoying Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip these days.

Favorite TV Reality: Top Chef. Always Top Chef.

Favorite TV New: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Perhaps my favorite show on TV right now. Honorable mention for the late Six Degrees.

Favorite Album: Either St. Elsewhere by Gnarls Barkley or Continuum by John Mayer.

Favorite Event: Changing jobs. It was really hard to leave PSI, but it’s been a great experience so far. I’m really liking my new position. Also, the Chiefs making the playoffs is up there.

Favorite Home Improvement Project: I would probably say the tiling project if Alli and I hadn’t decided to make our bedroom a priority. We just got a bed, nightstands, new lamps, and drapes. Totally changes it (although we haven’t gotten the bed yet). Now we just need a new mattress.

Favorite Trip: VEGAS BABY.

Favorite Poker Night: Coming back from being desperately short-stacked to winning in the longest heads-up match against Darin at Jason’s house.

Favorite Restaurant: Pizza Shack. Would have been Chipotle if not for an AWESOME 30th birthday outing.

Favorite Present: Easily my painting.

That should be all for now. Here’s to a great 2007.

Thank the Lord it’s November. That means that the worst of all holidays is over.

I loathe Halloween.

All year long we teach children that you should never take candy from strangers, yet one night every year, we throw that rule out the window and encourage them to walk around unsupervised ASKING for candy from strangers. It doesn’t teach kids anything and dentists’ offices across the country are filled with requests to fill cavities on this sugar-filled holiday.

Alli and I are pretty lame (by society’s standards) when it comes to this holiday. We never buy candy. We shut off our lights. Or we leave. The first year we were in our house, we bought candy and waited anxiously to give it out.

We had TWO trick-or-treaters. TWO.

So we ended up eating all the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups we had bought and watched TV. Those Peanut Butter Cups went straight to my gut and I don’t know if it has ever recovered.

These days, we don’t buy candy anymore. Some call us ‘Scrooge’, we don’t really care. We won’t apologize for our disdain for this manufactured “holiday” and you won’t see us celebrating it anytime soon.

What amazed me was this: I went to CVS Pharmacy to pick up some medicine for Alli and they were putting out the Christmas stuff. That’s just nuts.

But at least the crappy orange and black stuff is being put away.

I saw this meme on kottke.org (who saw it on River Damp), but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Go here and look through random quotes until you find five that you think reflect who you are or what you believe.

Here are mine:

• If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things. (Rene Descartes)
• Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. (Abraham Lincoln)
• The secret of happiness is not in what one likes to do, but what in one has to do. (James M. Barrie)
• Last words are for people who haven’t said anything in life. (Karl Marx)
• Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get–only what you are expecting to give–which is everything. (Katharine Hepburn)

What are yours?