benjshap’s blog

1. My full name is Benjamin Daryl Shapiro. I was born in Hillsborough, California in September of 1980. My family moved into the house I grew up in on 510 Darrell Road in 1978. My parent’s swear the fact we lived on Darrell Road had nothing to do with my middle name being Daryl. I still don’t believe them.

2. I give myself a solid 4.5 on the OCD scale. I need to have my room and desk organized how I like it. I also arrange the silverwear before eating. I’m meticulous about picking out my clothes in the morning. On the other hand, the inside of my my car is generally a mess and I don’t care what anyone else’s room or desk look like…except you Jarrod. You’re a freaking slob .

3. After reading Jeff’s hysterically emo 25 things, I thought, depending on your definition,that I’ve been in love somewhere between 1.5 and 8 times. Twice with roommates, if ya’ know what I mean.

4. I have been questioned by the Boston Police without wearing any pants.

5. I had 6 ear surgeries as a child. The men in my family have a history of male patten baldness. Because of these facts, I am very particular about who I let touch my ears or hair.

6. Lisa is my best friend from college. We met the last day of pre-freshman orientation. She asked me if I knew anyone from Rhode Island. I didn’t. She then told me that she didn’t know anyone from California. I stared blankly at her not knowing what to say. To break the silence, she asked if I wanted to be her friend. I said “ummm, yes?”. We still drunk dial each other a fair amount. Her husband Leigh is not psyched.

7. The personalities between me and my two sisters covers the gambit of possible differences. The best way I can describe how different we are is: one portfolio manager with long straight hair, one 3rd grade teacher with very curly hair, and some dude that’s just happy he still has hair.

8. Will Clark was my hero growing up. I don’t like anyone who can’t at least respect the type of ball player he was.

9. Fanatic doesn’t even describe what type of Cal fan I am. We’ve gone my entire life (x2) without winning a football or basketball conference championship. Anyone who knows me well knows one of the quickest way to piss me off is to question my fanhood or by pointing out that I didn’t actually go to Cal. One one hand, I think it shows how loyal I am. I On the other hand, think this proves I’m a touchy and stubborn SOB.

10. I lived in Texas for 2.5 years. I met some great folks but learned how truly terrible I am with moderation. Let’s just say I have been thrown (not tossed but thrown) from a mechanical bull multiple times in a night. Thanks for that CJ.

11. I had a herniated L5-S1 disc in my lower back. See # 3, #4 and #10.

12. I originally learned to play the guitar because my cousin learned to play and I wanted to have something in common with him. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done. Now all of you should sign up for the VIP list on http://www.strumschool.com. Yes, it’s a shameless plug. It’s MY 25…deal with it!

13. I decided to go to business school because I was too aimless to pick a more finite major. I went into marketing as my concentration because someone told me that they were the easiest classes with the most hot girls. I consider both of these decisions to be important and examples of my simplistic genius.

14. I’m a registered Independent because I don’t believe in the party system. If George Washington said parties were a bad idea, who am I to disagree?

15. I write songs which I think are somewhere between ok and pretty good. I rarely ever play them for people who know me b/c I’m am nervous about how they’ll think of me after. Yes, it’s a lameass cop out. I always say I’m going to play more in public but never really have.

16. I’ve been in 39 US states (West Virginia is not one of them even though I hear it’s the best Virginia). I’ve also visited, Jamaica, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Italy, London, Ireland, France, the Czech Republic and San Bruno.

17. I have a tremendous amount of state pride. California kicks ass! Anyone who doesn’t think agree is too dumb get in anyway. Seriously, we let everyone in to California. EVERYONE!!!

18. I love talking about music almost as much as I love listening to it. I also love talking sports as much or more than actually playing them. I think the moral of the story here is I just like talking.

19. I’ve never seen any of the Star Wars Movies and I don’t really care.

20. Fire hydrants will not move out of your way, no matter how much you want them too (D’oh!).

21. My prize possession is a 1968 Gibson Hummingbird. I told my roommate, “if there is ever a fire in this apartment, get my guitar out. I don’t care if you make it…just get the guitar to safety”. He lit the apartment on fire the next week. I wasn’t wearing pants at the time of the fire. I brought the guitar to safety and then got dressed.

22. In college I was known to drunk dial girls I wanted to make out with and scream Sweet Caroline (bah, bah baaaahhh) on their voice mail at the top of my lungs. The point of this thing is to prove I have very little game.

23. I give out lots of nicknames. Some of the best names in my phone are: Mrs. Buttersworth, Dummie, Barky, Naked Guy, Don’t Answer, Don’t Answer (x2), Gunternutz, Cool/Emo/Emma/Mamma, Jaraz, Plaid, Holly Dolly, Billy-Bob, Hick Daddy, Hick Mamma, Senator Morrow, Jeff of Abiline, Easy Mac, Coach Jones, Scottodisantolo, and Morick Had Sex!.

24. The show 24 is awesome. In honor of this being the 24th thing, I’m going to admit that I once added “I call my penis Jack Bauer because it can get in and out on any situation no matter how tight a squeeze” to a list of Jack-ism’s. That list has now been forwarded around the the entire internet multiple times.

25. My Favs: Bob Schneider, Walk the Line, Light Brown M&M’s (RIP), The San Francisco Giants, 1993 Red Ford Explorers, Blue Moon, Pandora, 280, 24, Golden Bears, 5, All Mixed Up, Apple, eBay, San Francisco, Florence, Shirts from London, Socks from Paris, girls with dark hair with light eyes, blue and most of all…YOUR MOM!