I have seen these lists before (they’ve been around for years) and was sometimes tempted to do one, but knew it would be a bear of a job. But then Shari did one on the 1st, “Roy” got his done by the 2nd, and Sean turned his in on the 3rd, and I kind of figured, why not jump on the bandwagon. Paul, you’re next.

1. I was born in Mountain View, CA, but grew up initially in Cupertino, not far from the future site of Apple Computer headquarters.
2. Half of my left ear was bitten off by a Saint Bernard when I was seven years old; plastic surgeons reattached the ear, but skin grafts left scars behind my ear and on my abdomen (don’t ask me why the latter, I don’t know).
3. During childhood, I wanted to be an astronomer; I owned two telescopes, including an 8-inch reflector.
4. As a child, my favorite color was yellow, but now it is green (preferably dark green).
5. As a child, I was a birdwatcher and a member of the National Audubon Society.
6. The first movie I ever saw was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
7. I was a huge Star Wars fan when I was a kid and saw the movie more than 18 times in theaters.
8. I was voted “Most Creative” in high school.
9. I was badly bullied in school, and once even had to transfer to another school due to the problem.
10. When I was 13, I burned my retina in my right eye looking at the sun too long (it’s a small spot and doesn’t appear unless I look only with that eye).
11. I was quite non-social in high school, from being both socially shy and more than a bit goofy.
12. In high school and early college, I used to paint and do other creative stuff; not so much any more.
13. To this day, I hate going to discos or dance clubs (especially because of the sound levels).
14. During high school, I worked part-time at Green Library at Stanford University, and as a Stanford worker, was able to submit several political cartoons to the Stanford Daily newspaper.
15. My favorite candy is See’s (a West-coast chocolatier), and in high school, I used to scarf down about a pound a week.
16. I began studying Japanese language in college partially because of an interest in Japan, and partially because a Japanese major did not involve Math.
17. My usual part-time work during college was in movie theaters, which didn’t pay well, but gave me lots of free time between shows and got me free tickets to any movie theater in the area.
18. I once sued an employer (a shady movie theater operator) for unpaid overtime in small claims court; I won the case and successfully had the money (about $600) removed from their bank account by a deputy sheriff.
19. My first trip overseas was to Japan in 1983 when I was 19 years old.
20. I was the president of the Japanese Club in college, which is to say that I was the least non-motivated of three people in showing Japanese movies to the local community (but it looks good on my resume).
21. During college, I shared a car with my brother: a tiny, underpowered Datsun L1200 which actually made us money because people kept rear-ending the car and the insurance paid more than we spent on repairs.
22. My most serious traffic accident was when an 80-year-old man ran a stop sign in a giant Cadillac and I broadsided him; the Caddy was only slightly dented, but the Datsun L1200 was totaled.
23. I first went to live and work in Japan in 1985.
24. I have lived in Japan for a total of fifteen and a half years; the first two of those years I lived in Toyama (a countryside area on the Japan Sea coast), and the other 13 1/2 years have been in Tokyo.
25. I have lived in five different apartments while in Tokyo (in Asagaya, Tachikawa, Koganei, Nakano, and Inagi).
26. I have climbed Mt. Fuji to see the sunrise three times.
27. My first job in Japan was with a local branch of the YMCA, where I was cheated out of 70,000 yen of earnings.
28. I decided to pursue a college career in Japan when I saw the job possibilities while I was in Toyama.
29. I studied and got a special drivers license for small motorcycles (up to 125 cc) while in Toyama, and toured the mid-Honshu region on a Honda motorcycle.
30. I have an A.A. and B.A. in Japanese, and an M.A. in English (concentration in TESOL).
31. I presently work as a professor in an American college in Tokyo.
32. Two points which are very obvious to anyone who reads this blog: I am an avid Mac user and a liberal Democrat.
33. When I go to eat sushi, I only order tuna (maguro or toro).
34. I have recently started birdwatching again (also obvious to blog readers).
35. I enjoy digital photography and digital movie editing.
36. I love the smell of coffee but not the taste.
37. Since August 2, 2003, I have blogged every day (1192 days to this date), making this my most persistent hobby.
38. I am a pack rat, but once every year or two manage to get myself to throw out large amounts of stuff.
39. I don’t like living in small, crowded apartments, even if it means a long commute to avoid them.
40. I am not a great fan of classic literature, and have not read very much.
41. I hate loudspeaker trucks (common in Japan, even not during elections).
42. My favorite drink is root beer; my favorite snack is sunflower seeds, though the salt is too much for my tongue if I eat too many.
43. I am mildly diabetic (type 2); when I found out in January this year, it was after a junk food binge and period of inactivity that made my doctor believe I was about to keel over because of my blood sugar levels (I had an A1C of 9.9; it’s now hovering around a healthy 5.3).
44. For the last two years, I have been immobilized by illnesses at Christmastime; two years ago, it was a serious nosebleed, and last year, it was a broken foot; everyone is wondering what it will be this year.
45. My musical tastes include classic rock and movie soundtracks, which predominate the 3500 or so tracks I have on iTunes.
46. I have a fairly good musical sense, but cannot play any instrument or even sing very well.
47. With very few exceptions, I don’t like horror movies.
48. Before buying any expensive items, I try to make myself wait for two weeks to protect myself from impulse buying.
49. My Japanese language skills have reached a plateau where everyday conversation is possible but it would take a lot of effort to improve.
50. I have ideas for writing several stories, possibly books, but never get around to writing them.
51. I hate entertainment based upon the humiliation or exposure of others.
52. I love Akira Kurosawa films, especially his earlier funnier ones; my favorite movie is The Seven Samurai.
53. It’s hard for me to start new habits or try new things; it’s also hard for me to get started on projects, though once I get started, it’s hard to stop me.
54. I have a horseshoe (conjoined) kidney.
55. When alone, I am a night owl, often staying up until three or four in the morning; around others, I conform to their sleep schedules fairly easily.
56. I no longer even miss newspapers or magazines.
57. With very few exceptions (e.g., butterflies), I absolutely hate insects.
58. Every few years I experience an ocular migraine.
59. I hate wearing neckties, and avoid doing so at every opportunity.
60. I wear clothes more for functionality rather than style; as an example, I don’t wear suspenders because they look good (they often draw ridicule, in fact), I wear them because on my body type, a belt doesn’t do the trick.
61. I have a terrible memory for faces and names, not that my memory in other respects is stellar.
62. In my younger days, I used to be frightfully nervous about speaking before groups; teaching cured me of that.
63. While taking care of me one time when I was about ten, my grandmother gave me a hit off her cigarette; I took a puff but (wisely) did not inhale. That was my one and only experience with using tobacco, and I despise the stuff today.
64. I have well over 500 VHS tapes in my apartment, mostly aggregates of tapes sent by my father over the years (he used to record all the favorite shows my brother and I liked and sent them to Japan); as I now have most of the media on my DVD collection and never watch the VHS tapes anyway, they are all headed for the trash.
65. I have trouble reading almost all political fiction; even when I agree with it, it tends to come across as simplistic and too heavy-handed.
66. I could care less about people’s sexual activities and preferences; I care more about how they treat other people.
67. I don’t wear hats or caps, but will if someone asks me and I feel like it.
68. I try not to collect things because I never do anything with them.
69. I love small gadgets but ironically have very few of them.
70. I love having a view out my apartment window.
71. I hate entering text information using only a numeric keypad.
72. The white-collar job I would least want to have would be selling something I don’t like; after that, any repetitive, mindless task.
73. I have been bumped up to business class twice, to first class never.
74. With the exception of a trip when I was an infant, I have never been anywhere in the continental U.S. save for the three West Coast states (although I have traveled extensively in Japan and have visited China, Korea, Spain, and Hawaii).
75. When I was younger, people thought I was a lot older than I was; now, people think I am a bit younger than I am.
76. I hunt-and-peck pretty quickly, and can’t touch-type.
77. I am an agnostic with leanings toward deism; there are, however, some religious concepts that I confidently disbelieve in, such as the existence of hell, god having human form, or that the Bible is the literal word of god.
78. I save my favorite part of the meal for last on my plate so I can enjoy it at the end, and hate it when people assume I don’t like that part and grab it without asking.
79. Dave Barry once wrote about excruciatingly embarrassing moments in life that pop unwanted into your consciousness at random times; that happens to me a lot.
80. My experience with non-prescription drugs is limited to relatively sparse and sporadic alcohol consumption and two attempts at smoking marijuana as a teenager.
81. I sweat way too easily.
82. If I receive really bad service, I usually forsake the company involved, at least for a few years’ time and sometimes longer.
83. When I leave my apartment, I usually have to come back up half a flight of stairs and make sure that I really did lock the door.
84. You know how most people in Asia seem to be able to squat and have their heels touch the ground? I can’t do that.
85. I can be calm and patient about a lot of big things, but accumulated small stuff gets to me, as does anyone who I can see is purposefully trying to scam me.
86. I have a very low opinion of people who want to widely distribute their work but are too lazy to provide proper documentation.
87. I like chocolate and I like nuts, but not together.
88. I have no tattoos.
89. If you’re still reading this list, you’ve earned the right to know that I have bathroom shyness; happy?.
90. I have passed the age where I can go a night without sleep and not fall asleep during the middle of the next day.
91. If I had to get a car, any car, cost notwithstanding, I think I’d like a Prius.
92. I love time travel stories, but there are too many where a guy crushes a bug and it turns out to be him in the end, so don’t do that one again.
93. My favorite food is bacon, if you can legitimately call it “food.”
94. During a three-month period early in college, I developed a case of persistent hives–on the soles of my feet.
95. An eating weakness: if it’s in the house and I want to eat it, it gets eaten.
96. My first year in Japan, I hosted a half-hour infomercial for a local technical college, and later did radio ad voice-overs and even a modeling job for a car commercial on TV.
97. I have trouble listening to radio; there are too many commercials, like TV, but with TV you can see visually when to turn the sound back on.
98. I have big feet. I shall allow you to deduce the rest.
99. When I write, I tend not to do drafts, but rather write everything in one chunk, and then proofread; this is a habit from pre-word-processor times when I had to type essays on an old-style typewriter.
100. I’m a sucker for science fiction.

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I found that it’s more interesting reading other people’s lists after you have done your own, since you then have a much better understanding of what is involved. While the ones written by this local cluster of blogs have been very good, the ones I found searching the Internet (you get desperate for inspiration (not stealing!) after 70 or 80 list items) were spotty, and all too often lazy–like cutting up one item into three or four, or making comments on list items into list items themselves (good example of that here). Had I done that, I probably would have twice as many items on my list. It’s hard to keep off the list anything which would be a near-universal experience for people of your age (I have one or two in there I guess), and make the list only consist of things that distinguish you from others. The personal history and experiences are a good source of material, but only last so long.

One interesting point: a lot of people mention The Matrix in their lists. Weird. Another note: if I did intend to steal anyone’s list items, the one I would most likely steal would be, “There! Are! Four! Lights!” Though you have to be somewhat of a Star Trek fan to get that one.