It's #100!!!!

I promised you something special for my 100th post, and I hope this doesn't disappoint. First, what's a celebration without a few fireworks?

OK so I'm starting with a bang. Uh, what about the content? Er, yeah, guess I gotta write something. OK you all know I'm a meme freak, so what better way to celebrate than a 10X10 meme. So here goes...
Type your summary here


10 ways my blogging has evolved
- New, custom format (thank you Hackosphere!)
- Expandable posts (Update - got them to work at 4AM!)
- I'm not afraid of changing/editing my blog code now
- People are reading and commenting
- I'm reading and commenting more on others' blogs
- More frinds on my blogroll
- Music Mondays
- Flash Fiction Fridays
- Writing for 3 other blogs now - here, here, and here
- I'm become an addict!

10 things about me
- My birthday is the 4th of July, and I turned 10 on the Bicentennial
- I'm passably fluent in 2 languages, speak bits and pieces of 3 more, and can say "hello" in about 10 additional ones
- I've been married to the same wonderful woman, Mrs. jtj3, for 16 years now.
- I'm only 5'4" but my height doesn't bother me.
- My friends call me "gadget guy" because I am a gadget freak.
- I can be scatterbrained.
- I love deeply.
- I get hurt easily.
- I can act like a 6-year-old if I don't get my way.
- I'm living my dream life right now.

10 things about my family
- I have a brother who is 9 years older than me and a sister 8 years older.
- I have no living grandparents.
- I have no cousins, aunts, or uncles--my parents were both only children.
- I have 3 nephews, 1 niece, and 1 step-nephew, and 1 step-niece. I enjoy being their uncle/step uncle.
- All 3 kids graduated from the same high school but I'm the only one to be in the same school district from K-12.
- All 3 of us didn't really like each other much we patched things up when I was in my 30s.
- When you throw in extended family, our clan extends--literally--from coast to coast. Hard to do when there's only 10 of us total.
- My dad died a little over 4 years ago and I still think of him almost every day.
- I have no living grandparents any more.
- "James" (my first name) goes back 5 generations as a first name on my dad's side.

10 things I like
- Listening to country music
- Baby animals, especially puppies and kitties
- Sunsets
- Making people smile
- Writing
- Hot coffee on a cold morning!
- Weekends
- Long drives, except in winter
- Woodworking
- Photography

10 dislikes
- Body odor
- Cranky people
- Big problems with no good answer
- Losing touch with friends for no good reason
- Too much stuff to do, too little time
- Clear-air turbulence
- Being bored
- Being embarassed
- Dishonesty
- People who act like victims and don't take control of their own circumstances

10 favorite foods
- Steak
- Cheeseburger and fries
- Pasta
- Pizza with sausage, onions, and green peppers
- Cheese of almost any kind
- Sweet potatoes
- Dark chocolate
- Coffee
- Bread (again, almost any kind)
- Hummus

10 CDs I'd take to a desert island
- The White Stripes by The White Stripes
- Tutu by Miles Davis
- My Town by Montgomery Gentry
- Careless Love by Madeline Peyroux
- The Nature of Things by Bruce BecVar
- For the Last Time: Live From The Astrodome by George Strait
- Passion by Peter Gabriel
- Any recording of Mozart's Requiem Mass
- Live: Live Those Songs Again by Kenny Chesney
- Permanent Vacation by Aerosmith

10 best blogs I read
- Snowelf
- Sue
- SuchSimplePleasures
- My nephew Ryan
- Penelope
- Tim Wilson's excellent running blog
- Confessions of a Runner
- Running Jayhawk

10 favorite moments in my life so far...
- Spending the summer of 1982 as an exchange student in Patras, Greece.
- Seeing the Matterhorn (1987).
- Marrying my best friend on September 28, 1991.
- Seeing Frank Sinatra live in concert (1994).
- Seeing the White Sox score 5 runs off one hit--July 5, 1995. The Yankees walked 4 batters (scoring one), then John Kruk hit a grand-slam home run.
- Doing my first (and only, so far!) tandem parachute jump on my 30th birthday (July 4 1996).
- Working and living for 3 months in Tokyo during 1996.
- Seeing the 2003 All-Star Game at U.S. Cellular Field (formerly Comiskey).
- Being promoted at work to my "dream role".
- Running the Chicago Half Marathon in 2006.

10 things to do before I die
- Write a book
- Build a Shaker-style tall clock (something similar to what you see in the link) using only hand tools.
- Visit all 50 states of the US by the time I turn 50
- Visit at least 50 countries by the time I turn 50
- Run a marathon
- Visit all 7 continents
- Become fluent in French, German, and Japanese
- Learn to play an instrument
- Climb the Great Wall of China (as Chairman Mao said, "Bú dào Chángchéng fēi hao hàn," roughly meaning "You're not a real man if you haven't climbed the Great Wall".)
- Ride a motorcycle
- Fly around the world


That, my friends, is #100. Thank you SO MUCH for being my blog friends and for reading and commenting on what I do here. My life is much richer for having met all of you, and for discovering this wonderful world of blogging. Y'all are awesome.

Oh yeah, one last thing--Music Mondays will return on their regularly scheduled timetable next week.

More later...