Breaching The Fourth Wall

I don't normally do personal posts, mainly because I hate having to self-examine that much. However, Daniel Levesque, the Raving Conservative, tagged me with a blog survey that I will attempt to answer.

(Year-end financial accounting leaves one with little more than cream of wheat for brains by the end of the day. I need a fluff post!)

Five Odd or Unexpected Things About Samurai Sam

1. The first unexpected thing about me is that I grew up a conservative Evangelical Christian. I attended a Pentacostal church in Byron, IL for most of my formative years and attended the Lake Williamsen Christian Center camp in Carlinville, IL for 5 straight years. I had intended at one time to go to Northwestern Bible College to potentially become a minister. This background is what I think gives me a unique perspective on the issues that are important to conservative Christians. On a sort-of celebrity note, I attended church with Republican Congressman Don Manzullo, though that was before he held office in Washington. Small world...

2. An odd thing about me is that, even as an adult, I have a completely over-blown addiction to video games. I have actually been given a written warning at a previous job for goofing off, even though I certainly know better. Before I had kids, it was not unusual for me to sit down and play a good RPG for hours, neglecting both food and drink. I've also been known, if I have a new game I really like, to get up a few hours early for work (about 3:00 AM) to get some gaming in before work.

3. Another odd thing about is that, in addition to a video game addiction, I also have a plethora of "geek" hobbies. In high school, I was the Dungeon Master for our local Dungeons & Dragons campaign. I also collect trading card games and have thousands of cards on storage currently in my basement. I tend to read several books at a time and one of them is always high fantasy or science fiction (I'm currently reading The City of Golden Shadows by Tad Williams). Blogging probably qualifies as well.

4. My wife, Gifted-1 here, will testify that I have some very odd aversions to certain foods; mainly condiments. I cannot or will not eat mustard, sour cream, ranch dressing, nacho cheese, wasabi or, really, any kind of condiment except ketchup, which I consume in mass quantities. I get physically ill from malted milk balls and actually, on one of our first dates, nearly spit one all over Gifted-1 in the parking lot of a frozen custard joint in DeKalb, IL.

5. Finally, I have an odd tendency to break into song or dance at any time or place, rarely even at work. Especially around my kids, I make up songs to sing them all the time. In the interest of full disclosure, I have to confess also that my dad did the same thing when we were kids. If we get some good dance music rockin' on the stereo, I can be found doing all sorts of Mighty Whitey dances. Gifted-1 nearly dies of embarrassment, even if no one's around.

Well, enough about me. Feel free, any of you, to leave some odd or unexpected things about yourselves in the comments. We're all friends here and we won't be laughing at you; we'll be laughing near you.

Oh, and I have tagged five other bloggers that I've never visited before with this. Undoubtedly one of them is wondering, even now: "Who the hell is Samurai Sam and why did he send me this weird survey?" I'm building bridges... Anyway, time for bed!