Getting Personal: 25 Things About Ryan Lester

I was tagged by CK to share 25 things about me. Here goes.

1.  I am 33 with a wonderful wife and two adorable kids. 

2.  It was love at first sight for me and my wife.  My sister set us up.  We met at a party at my house and have never looked back.

3.  I am very shy unless I’m drinking, in which case I won’t stop talking. 

4.  My favorite beer is Guinness.

5.  I once won a Super Bowl Party chugging contest at a bar in Syracuse.  The beer was Cave Creek Chili Beer.  I swallowed the pepper.  The guy demanded a rematch and I destroyed him mainly because we switched to a normal beer and my mouth was on fire.

6.  Although I am not a good singer, I enjoy the occasional Karaoke.

7.  I’m a pretty good dancer, which at times mortifies my wife because she does not like to dance.

8.  I love to fish, but do not like to eat them.

9.  Speaking of fishing, I’m afraid to touch fish.  Even Sunfish.

10.  Basketball used to be my favorite sport.  I was pretty good at it when I was younger.  I hit six threes in the fourth quarter one game en route to a career high 26 points.  Larry Bird is my favorite player.

11.  Even though football is now my favorite sport, the Red Sox are my favorite team.  I once posed a question on my Sporting News blog whether I would trade the three Patriots Super Bowl titles to keep the 2004 Red Sox World Series title.  I said “Yes”.

12.  I have a goal of visiting all 50 states with my wife and having adult fun in each of them.  We are 38% done.

13.  I once got separated from my buddies on the way to the bar after we had been drinking and ended up sharing a pizza and a pitcher of beer with a panhandler.

14.  I have had numerous nicknames over the years:  Big Dog, Bigs, Baby Bigs, Red Dog, Jock Dog, Sporto, Animal, Conquistador, Tank, Flyin’ Ryan, Private Ryan, and many others that I’m leaving out.

15.  In the 8th grade I got kicked out of class for talking on the first day of school.

16.  My Spanish teacher used to take my book away from me during class because I wouldn’t stop doing my homework during class.

17.  As a kid I used to give my piano teacher a plate of cookies to distract him.  He would eat the cookies and feed them to my dogs.  I hated piano, though I still remember a few songs.

18.  My first concert was Billy Joel in the Carrier Dome.  The last concert I went to was Kid Rock.  I went with my wife who was pregnant with our first son.  I think that’s why he’s so wild.

19.  My wife is a heavy sleeper while I am a light sleeper so I am the one that gets up with the kids.  I complain about it at times to my wife, but I actually love the special time with my kids.   

20.  In college I great my hair out so long that I could put my bangs in my mouth.  The sides and back were shaved but the top was long.  I always wore a hat though.

21.  If you go way back in my family tree I have ties to the Hatfields or the McCoys.  I can’t remember which one.

22.  It took me six tries to get my Driver’s License.  I should have passed the first time, and nerves got me the rest of the times.  One of them my brother went in to use the bathroom.  I moved the car up without him and I failed on the spot.  My brother was PISSED.

23.  My favorite movie ever is Stand by Me.

24.  The Beatles are my favorite band, though I like pretty much anything from old school rap to blues to alternative to pop.  I even can tolerate a little country from time to time.  I don’t do Jazz though.

25.  Once during Hell Week of my fraternity I fell asleep in a class that had about eight students.

I’m tagging newcomer McSpazz.