Hello, I'm Brian. I'm a web designer and I currently live in lovely downtown Phoenix, Arizona with my cat Elliott who is, let's just admit it, pretty damned adorable.
I promise I'm not a crazy cat person.
I first began blogging in 2001 after a friend of mine suggested I check out her family's blog to which I replied, "Uh... what's a blog?" A couple days later, I started a blog on Blogger. I moved over to my own domain in March of 2006.
Over the years, my blog has had many different looks. You can check them out here. In Fall 2007, I launched the current design to allowed me some flexibility to change out the banner every once and a while. "Every once and a while," turned out to be monthly, because I'm kind of compulsive at times.
Below is a list of random facts I wrote about myself in 2004. I'm not sure how much of it still applies.
1. I do own a cheap blue guitar.
2. My father wanted to name me after him, which would have made me a Junior.
My mother wanted to name me Wyatt. They hated each other's choice so they
settled on naming me after actor Brian
Keith. They never told me exactly why they did this or even indicated
that they were fond of him. (I think I would have preferred Wyatt, but at
some point I would have figured out I could write my name as "Y@" and
that would have certified me as a dork.)
3. When I was 13, I saw the The
Secret of NIMH and wanted to change my name to Nicodemus. My parents
didn't really go for this one either.
4. I don't collect anything, however I do buy a lot of funky looking spiral
notebooks. Far more than I will ever have a need for.
5. I have a 3/4" scar on the back of my left hand approximately one inch
below my knuckles. I got it in high school from a stray wire from a spiral
notebook. This has no correlation to my collection of spiral notebooks.
6. No one notices the scar on my left hand but me, or at least no one has ever
asked me about it.
7. People often comment that I have soft hands. I always joke that it's
because I avoid hard work at all costs.
8. I have a Bachelor's degree in Music Theory and Composition, however never
studied with a composer during college. I didn't realize what a limitation
this was until I met students from other colleges who did study with composers.
9. When people ask me why I stopped composing, I tell them it's because I lost
the passion to write. They never seem understand this so I try to explain,
but I don't think there is anything I can say to sufficiently make anyone
understand why or how it felt.
10. Writing music was absolutely exhilarating for me, yet it was also very
frustrating. My greatest problem was I could never get the music that I
heard in my head onto the page. When I wrote it down, the music was
different. Not necessarily bad, but not as grand or complex as it was in
the orchestra in my mind. I'm not certain if any amount of training
could have helped me overcome this problem.
11. I hate labels and price tags. Even more, I hate the residue left
behind when you remove a label or price tag from something. I use Goo
Gone to remove it. This stuff is amazing. You barely need
any at all. I've had the same bottle for about 8 years and I still have
1/4 left.
12. I read more magazines than I do books.
I feel embarrassed to admit that.
13. I listened to Swamp Ophelia by the Indigo Girls on the way to my
mother's house and back on the day I came out to her.
14. I promise I'm not a lesbian, but most of my friends are.
15. When I make mistakes, I find it hard to forgive myself.
16. I tend to talk to myself a lot. Not so much holding a conversation
with myself, but kind of rehearsing a conversation I am going to have or want to
have.
17. I prefer to have the roll of toilet paper going over the top of the roll.
I have been known to take out the roll and put it back the way I like it in
other people's bathrooms.
18. I have an odd habit of buying things I don't need. Not frivolous
spending, but buying things that will need replacing but that I already have.
The main culprits are toothbrushes and deodorant. On the other hand, there
are certain things that I inexplicably always forget to buy when I run out of
them such as toilet paper.
19. I love iced tea as much as most people love coffee. I've been known to
dine in restaurants not because I liked their food but rather because they serve
kick ass iced tea. (Yes, there is such a thing as kick ass iced tea.)
20. I hate coffee.
21. I had never been to Arizona when I moved here in 1997. I drove through
the night from Oklahoma and arrived on a Saturday morning in August. Little did I know, August is not the best time of year to move to Phoenix.
About 15 miles before I crossed the city limits, I hit a wall of heat I had
never felt before. Did I mention the car I was driving had no
air-conditioning and the driver's side window didn't roll down? Yeah.
It wasn't the best first impression.
22. A few months later, I bought a used car with air-conditioning. The A/C
crapped out a few years later and for two or three summers, I drove around
without A/C. I am still amazed that I have adapted to the summer heat.
Don't get me wrong, it's completely miserable, but I no longer feel like I'm
going to die or spontaneously combust at any moment.
23. After that
car was destroyed, I got a new car with ice
cold A/C. I'm back to being wimpy and can't imagine not having A/C.
24. Air-conditioning is a very big deal here in the desert.
25. Every pair of shoes I own are Skechers, except one and they are very Skechers-eque
however I can't remember the last time I wore them. (They probably feel
like the neglected step child.) I'm not sure how or when I became a
complete whore to the Skechers company, but I don't intend to stop anytime soon.
26. I carry a small APS camera with me everywhere I go, but rarely take pictures
with it. Oh, it comes in handy sometimes: a birthday dinner and no one
brought a camera, etc. but it usually just sits in my messenger bag unused.
In fact, I usually process incomplete rolls because I get tired of waiting for
me to finish the rolls.
27. I usually refer to my messenger bag as my man purse. I keep my wallet,
camera, checkbook, PDA, lip balm and a bunch of other stuff in it.
It might as well have tampons in it.
28. Apparently I go to the gayest
gym in the valley. There is a reason they call it Sally's. The
first time I went there, I parked next to a club kid in a sporty Mitsubishi.
His license plate said MADONNA. Case closed.
29. I believe there is a time and place for everything. I get annoyed with
people who don't respect that boundary.
30. I associate certain songs with certain people. This can sometimes lead
me to hate certain songs, but usually there are good memories associated with
them.
31. I talk to my cat like he's a person and can understand me.
32. He talks back, but I rarely know what he's trying to tell me.
33. I tend to obsess about things that are out of my control.
34. I hate, hate, hate going to the gym.
35. I daydream all the time. Probably more than I should.
36. I have very vivid, bizarre dreams. I usually remember them in great detail.
I occasionally write about them.
37. Sometimes my dreams have celebrity cameos.
38. In college, I read I,
Tina way too many times.
39. Although I have never been formally diagnosed, I think I have slight OCD.
(Emphasis on slight.)
40. I started wearing glasses when I was 6. I started wearing contacts
when I was 16. Today I usually wear my glasses and rarely wear my contacts.
41. I don't eat red meat.
42. Okay, that's a lie. I do have a hamburger maybe once a year and I pay the
price dearly for it. However since the last incident, I don't think it will be
anytime soon when I have another.
43. My all-time favorite email I've received was only one sentence: "I SAY
TO FUCK YOURSELF BECAUSE CHRISTINA IS PREETIER THAN YOU'LL EVER BE."
44. I have been known to burn bridges.
45. I don't have cable, satellite or anything, but that's okay. I feel like I
watch way too much TV with only eight channel to choose from.
46. I don't give a shit that I ended a sentence in a preposition.
47. I have a very wild imagination.
48. Two things have been said about me. I have both dripping sarcasm and wit as
dry as a bone.
49. I don't understand materialism and the value of having things. I find more
value in people.
50. Music feeds my soul.
51. I truly believe belly shirts don't look good on people with bellies.
52. You will never see me in a belly shirt.
53. I used to be quite outdoorsy. Now I'm pretty indoorsy. I don't think that's
good.
54. I watch less television than I used to. I do think that is a good thing.
55. I've been known to say dorky rhyming things like "awesome blossom"
and "later gator".
56. I don't wear a watch. I also don't wear necklaces, bracelets, rings and have
no piercing. Basically I am unornamented.
57. One of my favorite books is The Accidental Tourist.
58. At one time in my life, I joked my four basic food groups were nicotine,
caffeine, sugar and chocolate. Now I don't smoke or drink soda and I've cut way
back on sugar. I think my current four basic food groups are water, prescription
medication, vitamins and supplements.
59. I don't remember exactly when I quit smoking. I figured out the less I
concentrated on the act of quitting the easier it became to quit.
60. I suck at learning languages.
61. I love to people watch.
62. I love gray, overcast, cool days which are rare in the Valley of the Sun.
63. I am a bit pee shy.
64. My favorite blaxploitation movie is Disco Godfather.
65. I love that the word blaxploitation is in the dictionary.
66. I'm not much of a joiner.
67. I'm extremely cynical, but in a good way.
68. I've only had surgery once in my life to have my appendix removed. After the
surgeon removed it, they discovered I never had appendicitis, only the symptoms
that accompany it.
69. For two years I worked a night job from 10 pm until the sun came up. It was
one of the most miserable experiences of my life.
70. Despite myself, I am becoming a Morning Person.
71. I love movies about girls who learn a lesson and superheroes.
72. I also love movies made in Australia.
73. I don't toss around words like "blessed" lightly. I feel truly
blessed to have certain people in my life and consider their friendships true
gifts.
74. I'd be happy if I could only wear jeans the rest of my life.
75. I believe everyone has a story to tell.
76. I sleep with my feet sticking out from under the covers.
77. The room has to be pretty cool for me to fall asleep.
78. I too am a hot
sleeper. Sometimes, I think my body reaches such high thermal nuclear
temperatures, surely I must glow in my sleep.
79. I hate when The Cat wants to sleep in my room at night. I'm glad he usually
sleeps with The Roommate.
80. On the other hand, I'm addicted to watching him sleep. He's just so darn
cute.
81. I love shopping in thrift shops.
82. I prefer quite evenings at home to a night at the bars.
83. I didn't get my driver's license until I was 20. The only reason I got it
was for identification so merchants would accept my checks.
84. I believe everyone has the power to change their life, sometimes you just
need some help.
85. I have never eaten sushi. I hope to change that one day.
86. When I was in high school and college, I had an extremely sarcastic tone of
voice. So much, that in college, any time I was telling someone something
serious or honest, I would have to raise my hand while doing so, just so they'd
know I was being sincere.
87. I love office supplies but hate offices.
88. I think one day I will finally take the plunge and become a vegetarian.
89. I am interested in tattoos and what they say about a person, but don't think
I could ever commit to getting one.
90. I wonder what that says about me.
91. If I could trade jobs with anyone, it would be Steve
Hartman. I have no desire to be on TV or be a journalist, but I love asking
people questions and finding something interesting about them.
92. The first song I taught myself to play on guitar was Shawn Colvin's Round of
Blues.
93. I spend too much money on magazines and magazine subscriptions, however I
don't plan on stopping anytime soon.
94. When I was in high school, many strangers mistook me for much older than I
was. In fact, the first time I bought beer as a minor, I was in such disbelief
that I was actually going to get away with it that I wanted to say, "Do you
have any idea how old I am?"
95. Luckily now many people mistake me for younger, but not much. I wonder how
much longer I can pull that off.
96. As a boy, I had the biggest crush on Shaun Cassidy. I wanted to be
the third Hardy Boy. In fact, I remember my parents gave me a t-shirt with a
glittery iron on of his face. I wore it all the time and was really sad when I
out grew it. I wish I still had it.
97. I only have two things from my childhood. A teddy bear who probably wishes
he was euthanized (Poor thing!) and a little toy Shazam car.
98. I am very fortunate to have an abundance of friends. So many, that most
don't know each other. I dream of one day bringing them all together so I can
have all the people I love under on roof, even for just one evening.
99. I believe the best is yet to come.
100. I like to make lists.
