Confessions of a Six Figure Professional Blogger

25 [More] Random Things About Dave

June 19, 2009 | Feature, Personal

Back in March, I did a post entitled 25 Random Things You Probably Didn’t Know About David Risley. It was a lot of fun to write and people seemed to enjoy it. Since I like to take occasional turns into other topics (plus, its Friday :) ), I’d thought I’d extend that list of 25.

  1. I scored a 1280 on my SATs in high school. Couldn’t care less.
  2. I originally started online because of an article in Yahoo Internet Life about how to make a website in 20 minutes or less. That article served as the spark that led to what I do today for a living.
  3. I didn’t go to prom in high school. Mainly because I was a loner at the time.
  4. One of my favorite foods is sushi. We actually make it at home sometimes now. It is ironic, too, because I used to have sushi in that list of foods I hated.
  5. If you think I’m famous or a guru, then I am. If you don’t, then I’m not. Fair? :)
  6. When I was in high school, I used to wear the stupidest looking green flannel, long sleeve shirt over top a t-shirt. Did I mention I wore that EVERY DAY? Yeah, like I said before, I was weird.
  7. My favorite ice cream flavor is chocolate mint.
  8. I have never done any drugs worse than Tylenol. The one time I tried a cigarette I practically hacked up a lung.
  9. I do like to smoke the occasional cigar. I’m not particular about brand. I don’t really get cigar aficionados… I mean, when you get right down to it, all these cigars are mostly the same as far as I’m concerned. It is an invented subject. Same with wines.
  10. I don’t like to dance. Mostly because I completely suck at it and feel like a moron.
  11. On a related note, I don’t like dance clubs either. I don’t understand what is so fun about music so loud you can’t hear yourself think and lights flashing around.
  12. As much as it is politically incorrect, I don’t like American cars (for the most part). I’m partial to Honda, and generally think Japanese cars are better built. But, hey, I’m no mechanic.
  13. I have never been in a car accident.
  14. I am not allergic to anything that I know of.
  15. I was born in Tampa and I still live in the Tampa Bay area. I have all my life. It seems I’m a rare breed. And, the thing is that I stay here because I really like it here, not because I’m afraid to live somewhere else.
  16. My ideal lifestyle would be a tropical, island atmosphere near the water. That’s where I want to live. Nice and laid back. My wife, being from Russia, likes the cold and snow and I say “not gonna happen”.
  17. I absolutely despise the corporate 9-5 lifestyle and I truly don’t understand people who aspire to nothing more.
  18. I took having my first kid in stride. The things which people say make them nervous didn’t make me nervous.
  19. The fastest I’ve ever been in a car is about 95 mph.
  20. When people write me long emails to point out a typo in a blog post, my first reaction is that that person is very petty.
  21. I like to sleep with a fan on. Little random noises in the room when I’m trying to sleep keep me up. I either need “white noise” or total silence.
  22. I generally avoid the news media these days because I think they are a cancer on the ass of society that has metastasized and is taking everybody down with them.
  23. I like So You Think You Can Dance. There, I said it.
  24. I think people who think mankind is the only life in the universe are frickin idiots.
  25. I think science is nothing but a religion of materialism. Many scientists are equally as close-minded as the religious people they demonize. In reality, science is just another of man’s attempts to figure out the world and is on no greater or lesser footing than religion when it comes to figuring it out.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

  1. 25 Random Things You Probably Didn’t Know About David Risley
  2. Dave is Hitched and Lovin’ It
  3. Calamari with Dave
  4. Personal News Made Public – Baby Dave
  5. It Is About Lifestyle Design (Part One)

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  • Loved this idea David!

    You have inspired to me make my own list for future use and it has been great fun making it.

    Thanks for all your great work
  • @Roman

    I agree with you mostly. I am a lifelong atheist and get very annoyed when people insist that science demonizes religion or that religion answers any questions. I assume we are on the same page on that one: religion provides no real answers to anuything.

    But it can provide comfort.

    While I think it would be a better world without religion, I also think that if those beliefs make people happy, then I'm happy for them. If having those beliefs makes them a better person, I'm happy for that also (while of course understanding that there is absolutely no need for any such belief to be happy or to be a better person!).

    So, yeah, you are "right". But you are also wrong. Whatever Dave's beliefs are, we both know that he gets nothing real from them. But he does get something from the very act of believing and we can't deny that. Fantasy? Yes, absolutely. But fantasy can help us get through a nasty world, can't it?
  • #25 took me by surprise. For some reason I did not think that you could think that. I only know you from this blog and with that information I made some assumptions about what you believe. #25 blew that picture out of the water.

    Science is a method used to discover and test phenomena of the universe. As far as I know it is the only method that works if your want to find out something about the universe. The proof is the automobile, man on the moon, atom bomb, the success of your blog.

    Just wondering what methods besides the scientific method do you find out truths about your blog? In other words how do you find out what works and what does not work on your blog? Do you go talk to a priest? Do you do look into your soul and seek answers? Do you listen to the trees and the wind? Or do you use some form of the scientific method of making a hypothesis and then testing it?
  • Very enjoyable read, however when you get right down to it all cigars and all wines are NOT the same! Would you rather have a Parodi and a bottle of Boone's Farm or a Davidoff Gran Cru with a Chateau Lafite Rothschild Bordeaux? Sorry to hear about the Prom.
  • David,

    thanks for sharing another great post. Just reading through the list causes me to recall many of my own life's experiences.

    I did the corporate thing (#17) for many years, leaving that scene in 2003. No regrets and I've only looked back to smile about not being in that rat race anymore.

    This is a cool way to allow readers to peek inside of one's personality.
  • Rick H
    Dave,
    Move to Kansas, with all the rain we have been having you can have the Island setting, in the winter you wife will be happy with the snow and ice.

    Both situations satisfied!

    Rick
  • #15. I'm originally from a VERY small town in Central Florida (so small that if I said the name you'd only have to guess 200 times to get it right) so I guess we're members of a much larger club than is perceived. I left Florida for a year in my early 20's and haven't wanted to since (I'm 51 now). Married 18 years to another native Floridian, Okeechobee is his home town. Who, coincidentally, shares #21 (white noise) with you. Even in winter the fan stays on at night. #22- hear hear! And, #25 I'm standing up applauding.
  • Ray D
    I also didn't go to my high school prom and for the same reason. Regarding number 24, you should read The Privileged Planet.
  • brian
    I can relate to a lot of these especially the prom. the thing is I think I am still a loner....lol
  • Walt
    Know me or not there is a 50-50 chance I will make a bad comment. If I make a comment about the point that we are the only planet with life on it in the universe on a blog where 2 out of 7 people point out that there must be life out there somewhere would make about a 28.6% probability of disagreement or have I just failed to take into account that there isn’t enough comments available for me to make such a claim and be possibly as much as 99.999% wrong?
  • don't do drugs*

    Ahem.
  • Uhm, wow.

    There has to be some kind of psychological thing to why green flannel shirts are awesome to loner high-school kids who don't like to dance, do drugs, hate corporate lifestyle, focus on monetization rather than becoming a blogging "rockstar", loving tropical islands, like to sleep with the fan on, don't like American cars and... pretty much everything else you mentioned.

    And yes, people who think we're alone in the universe need to study ... math or something.

    I'm kind of freaked out right now. This is a cool idea... I'll probably make a post pretty soon that's similar. A great way to build a relationship with readers. Hehe.
  • Number 9 is my favorite. I agree about the "invented subject" idea. I've always wondered what these aficianados were talking about, all cigars seem basically the same to me too.

    Cool list!
  • I find it funny that you don't like to dance, you don't like dance clubs, yet you like to watch "so you think you can dance". :) Go figure.
  • Les
    Atta boy Tony!

    And I thought I was racking up the miles with a measly 26 years on the clock!
  • Tony Lawrence
    I also feel like a goop on the dance floor.

    However, my wife loves to dance so I get up and do my best every time. I don't care what people think of my clumsy, un-rhythmic clumsiness: I love my wife and if she wants to dance, then dammit I'm dancing.

    42 years married this July. Maybe that has something to do with it.
  • It's good to know that you are as human as we are. Same here, dreaded the so-called employee 9-5 J.O.B life. Soo boring! :p
  • Les
    Number 17 strikes a chord with me. Thanks for sharing. Maybe I'll muster up my list one day. Like most guys I'll use your "I can't dance" excuses.
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