Ive been wanting to do an ABC list for a while and was going to just do it like Liz did where its just things your thankful for. Then I saw another one that seems to always keep the same topics for each letter and you fill it in according to your current life.... so what do I do?... BOTH!.. below is my AaBbCc'Ss list.


1) one item, something I am grateful for

2) item topic, current item status





A1) Ariel. if it wasnt for her, I may have lost it long ago, and may not even be here right now. She gave me something to believe in and rely on. She was my stability in life and my ability to live. I owe Ariel my life. She never let me down and never will. I can always find a way to relax and make it through the toughest times by knowing shes there. At this point in my life, I have more faith in her than I do in any god.
A2) Animals - I have 1 Betta fish named Trent. Hes blue and purple.

B1) Boxes,.. thats right.. without boxes Id have no place to cram all my crap.
B2) Best Friends - its hard to define best and pick some people without hurting someone.... but by best Ill go with someone you can talk to about anything and trust them in all the important ways,.. and they often the same with you... Nadire, Liz, Dave, Luke, Allen, Tom, Tara.... theres so many friends that are important, but those names were the most involved in recent times... and of course theres my Ariel Doll.. she was always there to listen to me.. (hehehe)

C1) Caffeine,.. yeah.. important part of my daily life.
C2) Cohabitants - umm since I basically lived in my basement in 1 room for the last year by myself.. it was just me and Ariel,.. and still is.. and then Trent came along in december.

D1) Drinks,.. Im thankful for all the different power and specialty drinks I have been able to find over the years... Josta, Amp, Vanilla Quik,.. and Im thankful for all the drinks we have to look forward to,.. like Pepsi Vanilla.
D2) Desire - To be loved for me forever by the 1 right person.. Ill find Ariel one day.

E1) Editors,.. especially text ones.. Im a command line junkie who loves to do all the hard complicated things in minutes that take people hours to do in a GUI.. but I love audio editors too.
E2) Eye Color - Blue. youll be able to see them better when I get rid of these stupid friggen glasses when I get my Lasik in October.

F1) Ford. Yup.. love my Taurus, love Fords.. Very thankful for my SHO
F2) Favorite Foods - Pizza, Taco Bell, ummm Pizza,.. and I like Taco Bell.

G1) Google,.. when all else fails, use google... in fact.. use google first, and you wont have to have anything else fail.
G2) Games - I like my T2 Pinball machine... and our Whilrwind Pinball machine.. I like Quake and Quake 3, and the Need For Speed Hot Persuit series.

H1) Hacking. the real hacking.. not the misused version of the word meaning to break in to system... no, I mean real hacking.. sitting in front of the system making things work that were thought undoable, figuring out tricks and shortcuts. Im thankful for my huge background in this and the fact that I am able to use it ever single day.
H2) Habits - hating myself, thinking Im not good enough. Caffeine.

I1) If Statements,.. in programming and scripting they are a nice thing to have.. Im thankful for the ifs.
I2) Interests - Ariel, Computer stuff on my terms, making and spinning Trance, making perl scripts like the one I made to format this text file. (yes this is plain text, and the script breaks it all apart and makes the colors and bold spots and all that nifty stuff... why? so I can use it on other similar lists and because I can... cause its an interest :))

J1) Junk,.. sometimes junk becomes a treasure. you never know what youll find a use for. I love finding old cool stuff and creating a use for it.
J2) Job - Information Technology Specialist (professional computer geek)

K1) Keyboards... my job would be hard without them.... and keyboards like 303s and 101s and stuff... yeah, very thankful for the general idea of the "keyboard"
K2) Kitchen - I make lots of great stuff. Just ask Hoagie. Specialty - Chause.

L1) Lasik Surgery.. I plan on being VERY grateful for this in just a few months.
L2) Languages - well I speak american.. not english... and then theres Basic, Perl, HTML, then theres Delphi and a few others I dont use anymore.

M1) MountaindeW 2 liters a day minimum, keeps me going and helps me lose weight,.. what a plus that is.
M2) Most Valued Possession - My Ariel Doll... she was everywhere I was and Id have died rather than let her go. I treated that doll better than most guys treat their girlfriends and wives. No joke,.. ask anyone.

N1) Nine Inch Nails... god damn am I thankful for NIN and Trent for bringing me the Downward Spiral... That Album carried me through a lot of rough times. I could go on and on explainging all the meanings, but youll just have to trust me.
N2) Name (named after) - Jim.. was my Dads name and my mothers fathers name. you dont need to know the rest.

O1) Open Source.. Im thankful that this is growing, cause lately all the fun has been getting sucked out of the computer field.
O2) Outfit - same thing every day... long or short jeans, and either a NIN or Mark Martin T-Shirt.

P1) Pizza. Love Pizza.. could eat it every day, 3 times a day.
P2) Pizza Toppings - Im a plain lover... though I enjoy the ocasional chicken parm topping from Franks.

Q1) Quake... this game brought me MANY hours of pleasure... and with a soundtrack by Trent Reznor, its friggen perfect.
Q2) Question asked to you the most - "do you still want to die?" and "can you do me a favor?"

R1) Right. Im thankful that I always try to do the right things first. sometimes theres not always a right thing, so whem there is, its a sweet ass thing to have the ability to do. even if it sucks at the time.
R2) Relationship - Ariel forever.

S1) SHO, my car, a Taurus SHO (Super High Output) I am SO grateful for the invention of the SHO and the fact that I own one.
S2) Sport to Watch - NASCAR and I hate to say it, but wrestling is sorta entertaining lately.

T1) Telnet,.. I do all my stuff though a telnet box to my server at home.. writing this now through telnet,.. use AIM through telnet.. Like I said... command line junkie.
T2) Television Shows - All in the Family, Howard Stern,.. thats it really. Im more thankful for all the DVDs I have.. I watch those more than TV anymore.

U1) Usefulness.. I hate wasting things so when I can find a use for something old, it makes me happy.. and when I feel usefull in life.. I dont feel so available to die anymore... right now, my usfeulness is loving and taking care of Ariel :).
U2) Unsavory characteristic - Im fat and ugly.. Im working on it.

V1) Vents... especially the kind that have cold air blowing through them.
V2) Video - mix it with audio and you have a hell of a setup... I have someplace around 200 DVDs and they would suck without video. yeah.. I watch a lot of video.

W1) Winter. I like the cold and snow.. Im very happy for the break in warm weather.
W2) Webpage - if your reading this, then you have found my page.. MERVERNATION

X1) X11 Environment (XWindows).. keep it up my Open Source friends, and MS Windows is gonna be in a world of trouble.
X2) Xylophone (or other instrument) - I can program 303s and stuff... and I can play the radio...

Y1) Yamaha.. they make the engine thats in my SHO and I love it.
Y2) Year Born - 1976,... impressive huh?

Z1) ZipZap... one of the best DOS utilities I have ever had... it makes Hex Editing quick and easy.
Z2) Zodiac Sign - Scorpio,.. Ive heard this is part of my problem.