I DO HAVE A WEAKNESS FOR MAKING LISTS: I have two sisters-in-law, and both of 'em blog. One is here. The other is here. Both are kind of nutso in their own way, which is to say well worth checking out and knowing and whatnot. (It's my contention that it's a Hess male tradition to marry nutjob chicks we can't live without. You could also make the case that only a nutjob chick would marry one of us. One thing is for certain: Hess men don't marry milquetoasts. We marry the fiery ones. God help us.)

Anyhoo, one of my in-law sis types posted one of those list things, where you have to make a list of three things across a bunch of categories, and then she said she wanted me to do it, too. She tapped me, or tagged me, or whatever the hip web lingo is. And so...

three things that scare me:

1. death
2. lightning
3. death by lightning

three people who make me laugh:

1. chrissy cramer mulligan
2. rob gorrell
3. brad schrepferman

three things i love:

1. my entire extended nutjob family
2. seeing raw joy on my sons' faces
3. my multifaceted wife

three things i hate/severely dislike:

1. negativity
2.
3.

three things i don’t understand:

1. tools and building stuff
2. directions and maps
3. girls

three things on my desk:

1. in-room dining menu
2. the Austin-American Statesman
3. My Cingular 8125 phone

three things i’m doing right now:

1. getting ready to eat my room-service oatmeal
2. trying to decide whether to wear the white shirt today or the loud one
3. perching on the precipice of flatulence

three things i want to do before i die:

1. see my kids happy and healthy and established
2. write a novel
3. find peace with my mortality

three things i can do:

1. present in front of a group
2. write
3. find or make fun

three things i can’t do:

1. build stuff
2. use good penmanship
3. watch ER or other bloody medical dramas

three things i think you should listen to:

1. The Legendary Jim Ruiz Group, OH BROTHER WHERE ART THOU
2. The Aluminum Group, WONDER BOY PLUS
3. Spandau Ballet, "True"

three things you should never listen to:

1. that Blake guy from American Idol
2. forwarded emails
3. Barbara Streisand

three things i’d like to learn:

1. how to write a novel
2. how to really play guitar
3. how to golf

three favourite foods:

1. sushi
2. a loaded veggie burger from George's or Little Louie's
3. french fries

three shows i watched as a kid:

1. mary tyler moore
2. happy days
3. emergency

three things i regret:

1. being such a tough kid to parent
2. not going to my wife's grandmother's funeral
3. meandering through college in a haze of booze and girls

three people i tag:

1. laurel
2. stevie
3. casey