Feed me

100+ Things

  1. My name is Daniel Ross-Jones.
  2. Many people call me Durge.
  3. Durge comes from my initials DRJ.
  4. Not as many people call me Durge anymore as they once did.
  5. My middle name is not Ross.
  6. I rarely use my middle name.
  7. I don’t like my middle name at all.
  8. I was born on December 16.
  9. I was born in suburban Minneapolis.
  10. I grew up in a small town on Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range.
  11. I have a younger sister who was adopted by my family from India.
  12. Even though I’d never tell her, she’s one of my heroes.
  13. 2003 marked the year I graduated from high school.
  14. Partying like it’s 1999 took on a whole new meaning because we moved from my hometown to a northwest suburb of the Twin Cities.
  15. Minnesota will be forever home to me.
  16. I lived in Southeastern Wisconsin for five years; first in Kenosha for undergrad, then in Milwaukee.
  17. I fell in love with Wisconsin and would enjoy living there again.
  18. My alma maters include Anoka-Ramsey Community College and Carthage College.
  19. I wish I could go back to college.
  20. Carthage awarded me a B.A. in communication.
  21. I am now working on my Master’s of Divinity degree at McCormick Theological Seminary.
  22. I currently live in Chicago.
  23. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted to live in Chicago.
  24. For the most part, the city has met or exceeded my expectations.
  25. My biggest grammatical pet peeve is the improper use of apostrophes.
  26. My biggest psychological fear is not being a part of a community of people.
  27. My biggest irrational fear is of needles, knives and other sharp objects.
  28. A close second, however, is heights.
  29. But I’m also afraid of blood and guts, bugs, rodents and Republicans.
  30. OK the last one above is a fear on a different level.
  31. My favorite color is hunter green.
  32. I really like any bold color, though, such as maroon or royal blue.
  33. My favorite restaurant is Chipotle.
  34. My favorite food ethnicities are Mexican and Italian.
  35. I don’t like French, German or Japanese food.
  36. Everyday I try to drink at least eight glasses of water — or two Nalgene bottles.
  37. Most days I succeed.
  38. I also enjoy flavored waters and soft drinks.
  39. I try to limit my intake of pop and soda.
  40. I don’t like chocolate.
  41. I’m caffeine sensitive, so soft drinks and chocolate frequently give me headaches and make me dizzy.
  42. But hot chocolate and Bailey’s on an autumn day merits an exception to the above rules.
  43. While they were figuring out the caffeine sensitivity, I undertook a battery of brain tests.
  44. I have a piece of paper that certifies my brain functions correctly.
  45. I’m gay; and also happy.
  46. When I have time and money, I travel.
  47. I love to travel a lot.
  48. I have been to four continents, including nine countries.
  49. I have been to every U.S. state except Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, Main, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah or Wyoming.
  50. I have only been to one U.S. territory: the District of Columbia.
  51. I have been to Manitoba, Ottawa and Quebec in Canada.
  52. I have never been to Mexico.
  53. When flying on a turbo prop from Nashville to Chicago, I was seated in first class.
  54. I was seated in first class again on a flight from Albany, N.Y., to Chicago.
  55. My favorite city in the world is Auckland, New Zealand.
  56. Someday I want to live in Auckland.
  57. London is my favorite European city.
  58. Toronto and Chicago are tied as my favorite major North American cities.
  59. My best friend’s name is Aaron and he is an independent political consultant.
  60. My created family includes two sons, Bryan and David; two daughters, Betsy and Nicole; a sister, Liz; a crazy aunt, Madeline; and a wife, Janine.
  61. Bryan studied abroad in Australia during 2006.
  62. I told him I was determined to find a way to visit him while abroad.
  63. I made it down under on less than $2,000 — all-inclusive of airfare, accommodations, meals and extras — in December 2006.
  64. My created family is important to me in a much different way than my biological family.
  65. My biological family includes my dad and mom, my sister, and a handful of extended people.
  66. My parents have been married for over 25 years.
  67. My dad is originally from Texas and, as a result, has erratic southern speech patterns.
  68. My mom, like myself, grew up on da Range.
  69. I would take a bullet for the people that I listed above.
  70. For two years I worked as a communicator for a local jurisdiction of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
  71. I grew up in the ELCA, but am a member of Plymouth Church and the United Church of Christ.
  72. You can read about my discernment to ordained ministry.
  73. You can also read my statement of faith.
  74. Religion and spirituality plays an important role in my life.
  75. That doesn’t mean they have to play an important role in anyone else’s.
  76. My favorite number is 27.
  77. It really doesn’t have any association with anything.
  78. My car is a 2006 Chevrolet Aveo.
  79. I named him Wilbur.
  80. He gets me around.
  81. Wilbur’s great for an urban dweller, too; parallel parking is a charm.
  82. My music tastes range from punk rock to classical, from rap to folk.
  83. I’ve even opened up to opera and country.
  84. I am a brother in Delta Upsilon International Fraternity.
  85. This is something very important to me.
  86. My experience didn’t include Animal House-esque activities.
  87. I didn’t think I would ever join a fraternity.
  88. Except for Aaron, all of my close male friends from college are DUs.
  89. It was when I realized that fact that I decided to join.
  90. I’m still very involved in the alumni chapter.
  91. I currently serve on the Alumni Board of Trustees and as Communications Chair.
  92. I don’t like beer.
  93. Its strange, because I spent so much time living in Wisconsin — particularly in Milwaukee.
  94. I’m a complete Apple geek.
  95. Google is like a god.
  96. I wish Google and Apple partnered on more things.
  97. Goople, or Agle, the combination of Apple and Google, would be orgasmic.
  98. My addiction to travel (see 46-58) trumps my addiction to technology, however.
  99. I am a compulsive debtor.
  100. For a period of time, I attended support meetings.
  101. I realized I used shopping and spending money to replace genuine relationships with others and to maintain a false impression of myself.
  102. While I was in high school, I protested against excessive consumption.
  103. This was hugely hypocritical of me, since I worked and spent a lot of money on useless crap at Target.
  104. I thought I had to impress people with money and things to make friends.
  105. I still spend more money than I really need to.
  106. Because of this experience, I am completely transparent about my finances and money.
  107. Sometimes people are made uncomfortable and feel that I share too much about money.
  108. I think mainstream American culture’s secretiveness surrounding money is a major obstacle and hurts more people than it helps.
  109. I don’t pretend I have all the answers or everything figured out.
  110. Even if I did have those things, I still wouldn’t.