25 things about Denny Ross

Recently, notes including 25 random things about yourself have been all the rage on facebook. I conformed to the masses and did one on myself, but I feel like my dad deserves one as well. He is such a character that I would be doing you a disservice if I didn't include 25 random tidbits about Dennis Edward Ross.

1. He went to school in Miami to be a marine biologist, came back to go to school at SIUE, owned a bowling alley, and is now a carpenter.
2. He is one of the few people I know who have catch phrases worthy of repeating (e.g. "Hey, hey now we're cooking," "hey, baby you/we/he/she/I be stylin")
3. He curses a lot when my friends around. I think to look cool.
4. He is a subscriber to American Snowmobiler and National Geographic Adventures.
5. His favorite shirt is a denim House of Blues shirt that he wears all the time with jeans.
6. He has recently become obsessed with buying vests (down, sweater, fleece, you name it) and shows them off to me when I come. He has asked me on numerous occasions if he looks good in vest. Yes, Denny. Of course.
7. He loves our dog, Loki, more than I will ever know. That is his favorite child. Even though she is hell on four legs, he still thinks she can do no wrong. She goes with him EVERYWHERE and sleeps outside his door every night, but on most nights she sleeps in my parents room because my dad will plead that he won't be able to sleep otherwise.
8. He is obsessed with eBay and is always getting weird packages. He buys "cat eyes" on a monthly basis.
9. Instead of listening to the radio, he likes to listen to his iPod on headphones in the car.
10. He's been known to keep a journal.
11. When we have a cleaning day he keeps a towel in his pocket and dances around shaking his butt to make the towel sway.
12. He brags about his dancing skills, but really he only has about 3 moves.
13. He is obsessed with lucky charms. My mom once commented that she is always finding good luck charms in his pockets when she does the laundry. Just a few months ago, he gave me an Indian choker that he had sought out on eBay that he claimed was VERY lucky.
14. He got married in a peach tuxedo and a Burt Reynolds mustache.
15. When we are driving home from dinner, he likes to do what my mom calls fart torture and will pass gas and lock the windows.
16. We call him the Rolodex of jokes because he has a joke for every occasion and every subject.
17. He is shorter than both my mom and me.
18. He laughs at all of my jokes.
19. When my brother and I used to sleep really late, he would come in our rooms with a blow horn. Thank goodness that thing pooped out.
20. He loves to karaoke. I have a vivid memory of going to a karaoke place with my parents when I was younger and my dad sang Great Balls of Fire and Strokin' (his number one favorite karaoke song in which he likes to freestyle and say stuff like "Mark be strokin' in the bathroom, Jeff be strokin' all the time, Mike was strokin' last night). He and I once sang "Summer Nights" from Grease and got a standing ovation.
21. He wishes he was Italian because he is always trying to act Italian.
22. He is the only non-Asian in the house and has no problem constantly cracking Asian jokes.
23. One time when my brother was in high school, he threw a big fit because his friend and he thought that a Ouji board was real. My dad told them to prove it to him, but they got mad at him because he proceeded to stand up and say "If this is real strike me down right now!" and laughed.
24. My first day of freshman year of high school I was hysterically crying and threatening never to go back and my parents were trying to console me. My dad disappeared and came back with a hat that he probably had gotten free somewhere and said "here, babe. I want you to have this." He desperately tries to do anything to make me feel better any time I'm sad.
25. That man never is without a smile on his face. Seriously.

I hope anyone who is reading this and knows Denny gets a good laugh.
V