(Face)Book of Lists.

I joined Facebook almost a year ago, but really have only been actively participating on it within the last two months. This activity came about after I had received three messages from old friends, none of which I'd heard from since my college days. Those three contacts have since spread into hundreds of old friends and acquaintances...from high school, college, extended family and various work-related businesses.

It seems that everyone my age has decided to sign onto Facebook. It's akin to salmon swimming upstream to spawn, or the Swallows returning to Capistrano. Perhaps we're all just feeling that we're sliding into the last half of our lives, and are interested to know how old friends are fairing on their rides.

One of the unintended consequences of being a member of Facebook is that I've received literally hundreds of 'list requests' from fellow members. These request basically consist of a friend sharing with you their - say - Top 10 favorite movies, or their Top 15 favorite albums. The idea being that you will learn something about your friend...and, of course, they want you to reciprocate. It's as if all your friends now think of themselves as self-appointed James Liptons, and wanted to get to know the real me.

Well, if you share such aspirations, let me share with you now one such list that I actually responded to:

25 RANDOM THINGS ABOUT ME:

25.) I tend to be a fairly impatient person. It’s my worst trait, but I’m working on it.

24.) If I see something that needs to be done I all too often jump right in with both feet and take on the task myself. That’s lead to countless great (and a few really stupid) adventures.

23.) Usually when people ask where I’m from I say, “Georgia.” That said, I’m actually from Chicago, Illinois. By the time I turned 14, my family had moved five times (Chicago, Cherry Hill, NJ; Tustin, CA; St. Charles, IL; Dunwoody, GA). Georgia is where I truly grew up. It’s where I went to high school and college, it’s where my parents, most of my siblings and my oldest friends live.

22.) If I could live anywhere in the U.S., I’d love a big house on the coast, somewhere South of Charleston, SC, and North of the Georgia/Florida border. If I could live anywhere in the world, it’d be in the middle of a vineyard in the French appellation of Bandol.

21.) My wife and I were born on the same day - November 4th, yet seven years apart. As I’ve a twin sister, it means that I’ve always shared my birthday with a woman.

20.) The best birthday present I have ever received was when I was seven years old. I didn’t actually receive this present until I was 36.

19.) We have a Bulldog named “VIVI” (pronounced “viv-vee”). Her daddy was UGA VI, and her brother is UGA VII. As much as I love her, I am much more inclined to have an Airedale as a pet. But my boys love UGA, and you can’t say, “no thanks” to Sonny Seiler.

18.) I’ve four siblings…three older brothers and a sister. Of the five of us, I’m the one with the most gray hair. I attribute this fact that I’m the only one who started their own business.

17.) I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. I could go for months on end without something sweet…but if there’s a cheese course on the menu, lookout!

16.) I lived on a houseboat for nearly three years. Winters on a houseboat really helps to clarify who your real friends are.

15.) For most of my youth I planned to make my living as a Naval Aviator. Then I had the opportunity to learn first-hand that there was very little flying involved. I still love to fly, but I’m glad I didn’t choose that as my career path.

14.) And, while I like the career path I choose; namely, the wine business, I cannot abide the level of pretentiousness and entitlement that pervades the industry. Far too many of my contemporaries have entered the wine business for lifestyle, not livelihood.

13.) I’ve been to my share of Tailhook Association conventions, and you shouldn’t believe everything you’ve read about them.

12.) When I was younger, I was somewhat obsessed with Star Wars…so much so, that I actually saw it over 70 times when it came out in 1977. I never knew that being a geek would serve me so well…until I became the father of two young boys.

11.) I have an amazingly large head, literally speaking.

10.) For someone who has made his living speaking in front of large audiences, I really don’t like public speaking all that much.

9.) Before I can begin to cook the family dinner, I need to ensure the dishwasher is empty. In this way, I can clean as I cook. Some people would call this obsessive behavior. I prefer to call it ‘being organized’.

8.) But I know it IS obsessive behavior.

7.) Every serious relationship that I have had with any woman prior to Amie has ended with that woman eventually becoming a lawyer. I don’t know what that means, but there you have it.

6.) I have two scars on the top of my right hand. These are the result of accidentally putting my hand into a mechanical box sealer while working at my father’s aerosol business.

5.) I’ve had the good fortune to play golf on some of the world’s greatest courses. Every time I’m golfing, I think to myself, “Why don’t I play golf more often?” It’s only when I enter the receipts for green fees, cart rental and the bar tab into my checkbook that I remember why.

4.) If granted the opportunity to start a new career, and money were no object, I’d be hard pressed to choose between being a writer or the curator of a real good aviation museum.

3.) If I could change one thing about me physically, it would be to cure myself of allergies. Cosmetic dental work would be a close second.

2.) I really don’t understand the attraction of horror movies. The idea of spending good money to get the crap scared out of you makes no sense. To me, movies should either make you laugh or make you think.

1.) In my wife I’ve found the embodiment of true happiness, commitment, and unconditional love. I try each day to prove worthy of her.

There. Do you feel that you know me any better?