Getting to know each other...

Hi!

My cousin Rachel posted these questions on Facebook recently. Other friends have done it, too. Rather than post my answers on FB, I figured I'd create a more visual response. Enjoy!

Thanks,
Matt

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1. What time did you get up this morning? Just before 5am, thanks to him:



2. How do you like your steak? Like this:



This is medium-rare with garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt, white pepper, and ground mustard generously rubbed in prior to cooking.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? This one:



I saw it with Brandi the weekend it came out! We've read all seven books aloud to each other and would have seen the first movie the night before it's official release, but Joshua had other plans. He was born that night...

4. What is your favorite TV show? I can't narrow it down to one. I like "True Blood," "Hung," "The Office," "The Daily Show," "The Colbert Report," and "Monk." The list would be really long if I were to include shows that are no longer on the air...

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? That's a really tough one. I could live happily in San Jose, Costa Rica. Ditto for Shanghai, China. As long as Brandi and the kids are with me, everywhere would be an adventure.

6. What did you have for breakfast? Coffee, V8, and half of an English muffin with peanut butter.

7. What is your favorite cuisine? That's as hard as asking me where I'd like to live! I don't really have a favorite...

8. What foods do you dislike? Cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts.

9. What is your favorite place to eat? Here, my home:



See #2, no restaurant can match that!

10. What is your favorite salad dressing? It depends, though I often go with a balsamic vinaigrette or a light Italian.

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? I drive a 1999 Jeep Cherokee Sport. It is pictured above.

12. What are your favorite clothes? Assuming this means "clothes to wear," cut-off pants from a martial arts uniform and a t-shirt.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? I'd like to be in Rapid City, SD tonight because that's where Brandi and the kids are.

14. Is a cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? That depends on whether I'm emptying it or filling it. When I'm filling it, it's better to have an empty cup. When I'm emptying it, it's better to have a full cup...

15. Where would you want to retire? No one place. It's tough to beat central Arizona in March. It's tough to beat New England in October. Both places can really suck at other times of the year, though. I will state that Florida will NEVER be the answer for ANY time of year for me...

16. What is your favorite time of day? Any time I can take it easy. This doesn't occur often.

17. Where were you born? Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut.

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? The highlights of any sport can be interesting, but watching games live (any game at any level) can be pretty boring. I got lucky at this year's Fiesta Bowl, though...

19. Who do you think will not tag you back? n/a

20. Person you expect to tag you back first? n/a

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this? n/a

22. Are you a bird watcher? It depends on what your definition of "bird" is.

23. Are you a morning person or a night person? It depends on the previous night or morning. I can be both...

24. Do you have any pets? Yes, many. Please see this post for details.

25. Any new and exciting news that you'd like to share? No.

26. What did you want to be when you were little? I wanted to be an inventor. I have two patents, so I kind of made it... One is a Delay Locked Loop, the other is a High Speed Serial-Deserializer Receiver.

27. What is your best childhood memory? Getting to leave school early to go to Disney World with my family. I was called to the office over the intercom and got to make a big deal out of leaving... It was really, really cool.

28. Are you a cat or dog person? See #24.

29. Are you married? Yes, since October 17, 1998...



30. Do you always wear your seat belt? Yes. Always. On December 27, 1984 four of my friends were in what is now just referred to as "the accident." It changed our neighborhood forever.

31. Have you ever been in a car accident? Yes, several. Relatively low speed and I always walked away...

32. Do you have any pet peeves? Ignorance and hypocrisy.

33. What is your favorite pizza topping? Garlic, preferably at Modern Apizza in New Haven.

34. What is your favorite flower? I really don't have one, because it's all in how they're presented...



35. What is your favorite ice cream? This is easy: Mud Pie Mojo from Cold Stone Creamery.



36. What is your favorite fast food restaurant? It depends. Fast food is something I try to avoid, but am occasionally forced to succumb. When that happens, it's usually Wendy's or Taco Bell, sometimes Whataburger or In-N-Out Burger, but NEVER McDonald's or Burger King. I'll drink McDonald's coffee, but won't eat their food... For the record, I don't consider Subway to be "fast food."

37. How many times did you fail your drivers test? Zero. I'm an excellent driver.

38. From whom did you get your last email? No idea. I get several hundred per day. See #40 for how I deal with this.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? I'm not likely to do this at any store, but there are several at which I could easily drop a few grand without much trouble. The Apple Store and Williams-Sonoma come to mind...

40. Have you done anything spontaneous lately? Not really. I'm a plan-ahead kind of guy. This is my favorite book:



41. Do you like your job? Most of the time, though I'm always looking for other opportunities. Here is my CV.

42. Do you like broccoli? Yes, when it's cooked properly, preferably with steak! See #2.

43. What was your favorite vacation? The month I spent in England in 1993 was nice; I visited London, Paris, and Rome. The two months I spent on a road trip with Brandi and Joshua in 2003 was also nice; Joshua had spent 10% of his life on that trip by the time we got home. The aforementioned Disney World trip was great, too. However, I'd have to say the best was a trip to Mexico with Brandi, the kids, and my parents in August of 2006: