1. What are your favorite ways to relax and unwind?

Watching movies in my home theater, playing Quake III: Arena online, and general internet entertainment like Boxerjam and the Hoyle games at Flipside.

2. What do you do the moment you get home from work/school/errands?

Typically check my email, watch a little TV and go to bed.

3. What are your favorite aromatherapeutic smells?

I love this Tangerine incense I got from Pier One. I really like citrusy smells and stay away from musky and evergreen smells.

4. Do you feel more relaxed with a group of friends or hanging out by yourself?

Definitely with friends. I enjoy few things as much as having a room full of friends drinking and talking.

5. What is something that you feel is relaxing but most people don't?

Loud music. I find cranking up my stereo with a CD from KISS very soothing and relaxing. Recently I've also found a kind of Zen in doing yardwork and mowing the lawn.

1. Would you say that you're good at keeping in touch with people?

Yes, I think I'm very good.

2. Which communication method do you usually prefer/use: e-mail, telephone, snail mail, blog comments, or meeting in person? Why?

It really depends on the friend. I have some friends that Instant Messaging works great with and some that I email periodically. Then I have those friends where phone calls work best.

3. Do you have an instant messenger program? How many? Why/why not? How often do you use it?

Technically I use one, Trillian, but Trillian actually handles connections to AOL Instant Messaging, Microsoft Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, and ICQ all at once for me. It's a little slice of programming heaven. I IM people everyday.

4. Do most of your close friends live nearby or far away?

My closest friend lives with me, but she's my wife :) Other than that I have no close friends near me. I have a lot of acquaintences, a few of which I would like to become closer with. I will admit that it has been very hard on me to go from having all my close friends in the same town to having them be plane trips away.

5. Are you an "out of sight, out of mind" person, or do you believe that "distance makes the heart grow fonder"?

I think about each one of my close friends everyday. I even think about friends that I haven't seen since high school regularly. However, I'm not very fond of trying to keep in contact with people whose inability to reciprocate makes me feel like they actually aren't interested in being friends. I've gone through that a lot recently with people who have come back into my life and then dropped contact. To me there is no excuse in the world for that kind of rudeness. How hard is it to at least write a note to say your thinking about someone, but don't have the time for a lengthy letter.

I spent this weekend reading all of the Harry Potter books. I read books 2, 3, and 4 over three days. I didn't read book one since I have seen the movie a dozen times or so, but now I've decided that I've got to go back and read it as well. I'm all ready (and a bit obsessed) for The Chamber of Secrets to come to theaters Nov. 15. Of course, yesterday there was a blurb in the UK news on Yahoo! that there is still no word from JK Rowling on when book five will be done. I can't imagine the pressure she must feel now that the series has become so popular.

In other news my mom should be coming for her holiday visit Nov. 7 and I am going to Vegas for my 35th birthday around the same time. My hope is to see Star Wars: Episode 2 - "Attack of the Clones" in IMAX while there. It's pretty awesome that they are going to release it in IMAX. This should make-up for the fact that I only saw it once in the theaters. It's the first Star Wars movie I have ever only seen once, even though it is currently my second favorite of the series.

1. What was/is your favorite subject in school? Why?

Drama. It was the only place at my high school where I didn't feel like a complete outcast. We were all treated with respect and as individuals.

2. Who was your favorite teacher? Why?

My high school Drama teacher Patricia Guerney (probably spelled that wrong). She was kooky and free spirited and had a wonderful imagination.

3. What is your favorite memory of school?

There are so many. I have favourite moments from almost every grade and I'm not going to list them all out. To be honest there isn't a single memory that stands out.

4. What was your favorite recess game?

I was really good at tether ball.

5. What did you hate most about school?

By far the teachers. In high school I only had 2 teachers I felt I could trust and who actually encouraged me to be me. Everyone else played favorites based on money or which church the students belonged to. I did have great elementary school teachers. Only my 1st and 4th grade teachers seemed unusually strict.

1. What is your biggest pet peeve? Why?

I'm not to fond of people who use swear words as a part of their daily vocabulary. I find it very insulting to me and very ignorant of them. I don't mind them when they are used to add emphasis or to show the extermity of a situation, but there are enough words in the dictionary to prevent them being needed as standard conversation tools.

2. What irritating habits do you have?

I'm private about it, but I hate having a crusty nose so I tend to pick it. I can't believe I just wrote that. I think a lot of people also find it irritating that I'm not the greatest listener.

3. Have you tried to change the irritating habits or just let them be?

The nose thing I try to make sure I do privately. I have been making a concious effort for a couple of years to become a better listener.

4. What grosses you out more than anything else? Why?

I have three small kids so it takes a lot to gross me out. Still when one of my kids projectile vomits I find myself very queasy.

5. What one thing can you never see yourself doing that other people do?

The first thing that comes to mind is eating lamb. I can understand eating a full grown adult animal, but the idea of intentionaly eating a baby is not something I can get past.