Fifty Random Cooper Facts

Here are fifty random things about me, that you may or may not have known, and may or may not have wanted to know.

1. I have been to 37 of the 50 states, missing Alaska, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Washington. I have also been to Washington, DC.
2. From the ages of 9 to 14, I had the same shoe size as age.
3. In the sixth grade lunch line, a girl elbowed me in the stomach and I fainted. For another thirty minutes or so, my vision then seemed like a television receiving a static-filled signal.
4. Around the age of twelve, I gave into peer pressure and jumped off a high ledge into the Ohio River. I gashed my foot open on a rock and scratched up my back.
5. I have a dream of becoming a published author. I would actually love to be able to write full time instead of work in computers. I also think it would be great to be a songwriter.
6. My contacts have a prescription of approximately -8.00.
7. I've been pulled over for speeding 14 times and have been given 4 tickets. I was pulled over a 15th time for a burnt out headlight.
8. I eat macaroni and cheese with ketchup.
9. I was an underachiever in high school, and slacked my way to a 2.513 GPA. I did better in college.
10. I hate all fruit except bananas, tomatoes, and olives. I hate apples and yet like applesauce; oranges are one of my least favorite, and yet I drink orange juice, but not if it has much pulp.
11. I have moved residences 7 times and lived in 4 different states. Time totaled, I have lived in Minnesota the most (Minnesota: 10 total years, Ohio: 8, Pennsylvania: 4.5, Maine: 4).
12. My biggest pet peeve is smoking. I also rather dislike long hallways.
13. I fit into each of the categories of dork, geek, and nerd.
14. I am an optimist.
15. I am pigeon toed.
16. Related to the last one, every pair of shoes I’ve bought for the past decade has been a Nike from one of their outlet stores. My body is somehow a little screwed up and my feet need good support, and I find Nike to have better support in their sneakers than most others. Also, it is not always easy to find size 14 shoes in other shoe stores.
17. I took a year of piano lessons when I was younger. I also played baritone in the school band from 6th – 12th grade. I was never very good.
18. I’ve never had a drink of alcohol. Nor have I had a cigarette or any type of drug that was not in a medication or a carbonated beverage.
19. I’ve never had a broken bone.
20. I’ve never had a cavity.
21. I can count on one hand the number of times in my life I’ve slipped a profanity.
22. I have purchased and played several collectible card games included Magic: The Gathering, Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Young Jedi, Jedi Knights, Rage, and Austin Powers. I have also played at least one game of Pokemon, X-Men, and Middle Earth. (I am also working on creating my own such card game, currently called Reclamation, based on the Bible.) I also love to play poker.
23. One day, my ten year old self and my fifteen year old brother decided to stack our small trampoline on the top of several wooden blocks, in an attempt to dunk the basketball hoop. He tried it first, and proceeded to break his wrist.
24. I’ve been to a doctor a total of two times (not including normal checkups): once for an ear infection and once for a 104 degree temperature.
25. I am a cat person, though my wife is allergic.
26. My favorite animals are large cats and sharks.
27. I almost never buy into conspiracy theories.
28. My best Scrabble word ever was “Gyration” – crossing over 2 triple words for 149 points. My best Scrabble game ever was 522 points.
29. I have only dated one woman, and I married her.
30. To clarify, I did have a “girlfriend” in high school for 3 weeks, but we never went on a date or saw each other outside of school. I was exceptionally nervous and shy.
31. By that time, I had become completely convinced that I was never going to get married.
32. Years later, I proposed to my then-girlfriend at a gazebo next to the lake in Albert Lea. The gazebo was decorated with roses and candles, and I read her a poem I am written for her.
33. I had taken out an additional student loan to pay for the ring.
34. My favorite pizza is from Pizza Hut. I love the stuffed crust.
35. I have only been to 2 other countries – Canada (which barely counts) and the Bahamas, for our honeymoon in 2006.
36. I have now built 2 of my computers instead of buying it as a system.
37. I did not vote for Barack Obama.
38. My favorite NFL team is the San Francisco 49ers, even though I’ve never been to California. My favorite ever football player is Joe Montana.
39. Geographically speaking, my favorite state is Colorado.
40. I once had a pedal snap off my bike and dig into my leg, and I still have scars from it. I have other scars from box knives and chisels, and the grill from McDonald’s.
41. I was picked on terribly in grade school. I was also punched in the face once before a little league baseball game.
42. During all of high school, I ate one cafeteria lunch. I usually had a sack lunch. I even brought a sack lunch into McDonald’s once.
43. I am somewhat lactose intolerant, yet I love milk, ice cream, and cheese. A stomach ache is worth a good bowl of ice cream.
44. When I was around 8 years old, I fell off my bike and knocked my mouth into the corner of a wooden picnic table. My two front teeth were knocked out because of it.
45. Concerning Star Wars and Lord of the Rings movies: I have gone to see them in the theater a total of 27 times.
46. The first R rated movie I saw in the theater was Air Force One.
47. I love (non-alcoholic) egg nog.
48. The first CD I ever purchased was Michael W. Smith: The First Decade.
49. The highest profile person I’ve ever met is Senator Norm Coleman, from Minnesota. Also, my father attended the University of Maine at the same time as Stephen King, and one of my former coworkers was a college roommate with Tony Romo, current quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys.
50. I worked for two months as a nursing assistant at a nursing home, working with sufferers of Alzheimers. They let me go, and several months later I started working at McDonald’s, where I met a girl named Megan. Oh, and then I married her.