1. I was roping and branding calves when I was 16 and got bucked off by the mare I was riding. I landed behind her and she kicked me in the face. The scar is a reminder of the good and bad things about rural life.

2. I’ve always wanted to write a novel, but I’ve never had the discipline to finish more than a few chapters. I would start writing with a good idea, but once my enthusiasm waned I just

3. My birth certificate lists my home town as Acampo and my father’s occupation as “Laborer.” Good thing I had humble beginnings or I might aspire to bigger things.

4. My first concert was The Police and Santana at Cal Expo. I also saw Milli Vanilli and Young MC a few years later at Cal Expo. (Highs and lows.)

5. I played football at Galt High School and was the smallest guy on the team. I love football, but was never any good. Thank goodness I found soccer as an adult!

6. I ran a marathon when I turned 40. Well, perhaps it should be said I ran a half-marathon and ran/walked/limped the second half. I trained by working out on a Stairmaster and playing soccer. I don’t recommend that training regimen.

7. Our son’s middle name is San Sebastian. He’s named for a beautiful little beach town on the Bay of Biscay in northern Spain. My wife and I stayed there for a few days during our honeymoon. My son's name is Atticus San Sebastian Cotulla - quite a burden.

8. I’ve run with the bulls in Pamplona. There is nothing as exhilarating as dodging fast moving cattle while dodging drunken Spaniards!

9. To join my high school paper, I had to take a typing class. The ability to type fast has been a big asset in nearly every job I’ve had. Viva QWERTY!

10. My favorite book is Spartacus by Howard Fast. I’ve read Catcher in the Rye a couple of times and I just can't see the magic. The novel that had the biggest impact on me was The World According to Garp, by John Irving, which I read as a teenager.

11. I’ve been a vegetarian since I turned 29. But I eat my mom’s turkey dinner each Thanksgiving.

12. When I was nine our house was robbed three times. Eventually, I guess there was nothing left to come back for.

13. I’ve loved and followed the Washington Redskins since I was a youngster. I don’t have any tattoos, but if I was tempted, it would be a Redskins emblem.

14. In the last five years, the greatest technological advance to impact my daily life has been Tivo.

15. I played Dungeons and Dragons regularly as a teenager. I still have a box with D&D books and 20-sided dice in the basement.

16. In 2006, I was driving to the office around 4 a.m. and a speeding car flashed through the intersection in front of me and collided with a van in the opposite lane. As I called 911 and jumped out to help, the car started burning. The unconscious driver was pinned and I couldn’t pull him out of the broken window or the jammed door. The fire was already burning in the interior and the driver was consumed within a minute. I now carry a fire extinguisher in the trunk of my car and hope I’m not so helpless.

17. I’ve read the Wall Street Journal nearly every day for fifteen years.

18. My favorite soccer team is Liverpool. Someday I will attend one of their home games at Anfield, hopefully before Stephen Gerrard retires.

19. I love to play computer games. I began on a Radio Shack TRS 80, then an HP Vectra with 286 processor, then an IBM PC, and I’ve built my own computers since then.

20. I was in 4-H for many years as a kid. I raised beef cattle, dairy cattle, horses, and dogs. It has always struck me as strange that 4-H’ers handle livestock while wearing an all-white uniform.

21. I play golf about once a year and I’m truly awful. My clubs gather dust in our basement.

22. The first car I bought was a dented, beat up, lime green Ford Ranchero. It was hideous. The first new car I bought was a VW Jetta. It was lovely.

23. I had the world’s greatest dog when I was a teenager. He was an Australian Shepherd mix named Collins. He was smart, playful, worked cattle, fetched for hours, jumped for Frisbees, and was a great friend. I’ll never get another dog, because no dog can ever measure up.

24. For eight years I coached a girls’ soccer team called the Land Park Senators. It was one of the most rewarding & invigorating things I’ve ever done as the girls moved from first grade to high school. Most of those little girls are turning 21 this year. Now I coach my son's team.

25. My first presidential vote was for Jesse Jackson. My last one was for Barack Obama.

 

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