As a blogger for U of M Dearborn, we are given precious few actual "assignments"; mostly we are instructed to get blog posts up and to try to be interesting. Since I routinely fail the second, I feel like it is my duty to take the rare assigned topic seriously—well, as seriously as I take anything. With that, here are ten random Jer facts:
- I swear incessantly. Please realize that, when I say this, I mean it in the most literal sense...there is an almost unceasing barrage of obscenity that issues forth from my mouth all day and night. I reign it in pretty well when teaching and even better here, but my writing often feels "naked" without benefit of a few choice expletives.
- I am insect phobic. Okay,maybe not phobic per se, but I have embarassed myself numerous times by fleeing from spiders. Once, while roofing, I ran right off the edge fleeing two large, lazy bumblebees.
- I have no sense of my own limitations. I keep piling on stuff to do until I am at the point of near constant exhaustion, caffeine up, and plow forward. Last semester culminated in the ungainly pile that included blogging for school, 17 credit hours worth of finals and final projects, giving finals to my classes, putting on a massive open source convention that started the same day as my wedding (for which I was the logistics manager), starting a mid-summer convention, and a host of other minor things; so when I was suddenly confronted with health issues, everything came very close to collapse. It should be noted, however, that I have never been one to learn from my mistakes—this year's pile of stuff is just as large, and growing every day!
- I don't sleep. Okay, that's a mild exaggeration, but factually speaking, I get around 4 or 5 hours per night most week nights, and around 8 on weekends. It seems that no matter what time I set my alarm for, or how much I desire a chance to sleep in, I am up and moving no later than 8am (and generally closer to 7 than 8). This does help, though, getting all of the things done that I pile on.
- I am a caffeine junkie. No hyperbole. I consume an amount of caffeine that would choke a fair sized Shetland pony. I got Monster to sponsor a couple of events I have done because my entire existence is fueled by the energy drink. My Calc 1 summer class was an exercise in balancing Monster, Red Bull, 5 hour energy shots, and caffeine pills in an effort to stay awake. My favorite cold Starbucks drink is an oh-so-dirty iced chai latte, made oh-so-dirty by virtue of the added 6 shots of espresso. My favorite hot drink is a purple-eye, which is a big coffee full of enough shots of espresso that it is less "coffee" than raw caffeine.
- I secretly love school. I remember in high school (which doesn't SEEM so long ago, but the calendar tells a different tale) HATING school with a fiery passion. So much did I deplore the notion of school that I joined the Army during the Gulf War rather than continue my education. Today, I love it! The people, the courses, the chance to learn and apply new skills, it is all fun to me. Don't get me wrong, I have the same issues with lackluster 'educators' that read me slides and grading that is more miss than hit on the hit-or-miss scale; but generally speaking, I am loving school. (Which, I suppose, is good since it seems like I'll be going forever.)
- I have traveled quite a bit in my adult life. Between being in the Army and not being strongly rooted anywhere, I have lived in quite a few places over the last 15 years: upstate NY (where I grew up), VA, SC, GA, MI, and South Korea. I have also spent a ton of time running all over the continent for work, and have been in over 40 states, much of Canada, and a bit of Mexico. I would one day love to visit Hawaii and Alaska.
- I am omnipresent on the Internet. Between my laptop, my smaller sub-notebook and my smart phones, I am never very far from the Internet; and I have made my mark all over the web. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, GMail, LiveJournal, my own website, a podcast, YouTube, and countless others, I'm sure. Also, I can honestly say that I haven't been away from my email for more than 3 days straight in over 5 years. One of these days, when I take a break from all of my responsibilities, I am going on a connectivity vacation in which I am completely off the grid for at least seven consecutive days. I will probably immediately lose my mind.
- I am currently writing a book. For years, people have told me that I should compile a book of the various humorous experiences that have happened during the course of my life. For the past several months I have been doing exactly that. My hope is to self-publish a book of anecdotes from my life before the end of the semester. (Because clearly I don't have enough to do)
- I suffer from severe stage fright. Despite the fact that I frequently lecture at various organizations, speak in front of people on a routine basis, and teach in front of classrooms for a living, public speaking is one of my big fears. Getting up in front of a group of people is a nerve-wracking experience that never diminishes in its ability to instill terror in my heart, a tremor in my hands, and thoughts fluttering at light-speed through my mind. I never hold onto paper when public speaking because the motion would betray my shaking.
My soul thus bared (at least slightly), I hope you get a better feel for who this 'Jer' guy is. Until later...
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