Trivia

Some things about Mark you may not know:

He’s broken his spine three times.
He can milk a cow and is a farmer at heart (his grandpa owned a dairy)
He’s a certified stock car race driver
For years he had a parachuting license
He took lessons on every instrument in a symphonic orchestra
He went to seminary with intentions of becoming a preacher
He’s part of a team who still holds the world’s record for the fastest 100 mile run
Since the day they were introduced, he has owned a Disneyland Season Pass
He has dined with three US Presidents (Carter, Reagan and George W)
He briefly trained with one of the top chefs in the world
Like most of the men on his mom’s side, he has a bald spot on both his shins
He has played the tuba (as well as other instruments) professionally
He was voted “Biggest Nose” in High School
He was voted “Best Bumm” in college
He had a Class A Driver’s License for years
He is allergic to parsley and cilantro
He has memorized several books of the Bible
He was once set up on a date with a Saudi Arabian Prince’s daughter
He had the privilege of playing “Hail to the Chief” for Ronald Regan during his 1984 campaign
He has the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever
He loves to cook, especially bake
He lived briefly in Douglas City, California, population 69
He is by nature lazy and a procrastinator but forces himself to work every day
He has been injured in three major earthquakes
His secret desire was always to be a dancer, but he never had the body for it
He has three college degrees but has really never needed them
With his wife, he witnessed two spectacular geological events: 1) The largest Aurora Borealis in a hundred years, and 2) The largest volcanic eruption in Hawaii in the last 40 years. Both were AWESOME!!!
He cannot watch a Symphony or an Opera live without crying
He has a passion for the underdog and the homeless and volunteers at the Rescue Mission
He met Michael Jackson in Vegas where they played carnival games and ate cotton candy… while hoards of people watched
He has had the same stuffed animal in his car since he was 16 years old
He has not had fast food from a chain or a soda in over twenty years
His favorite job was being a DJ at a disco/skating rink in the Bay Area in the 80’s
He broke his leg the day before his first acting performance in Junior High School and had to play Benjamin Franklin in a full leg cast
His first suit was a brown corduroy suit with wood buttons made by Levi’s
He is highly dyslexic, has ADD and cant read well at all
His favorite food is warm sourdough bread with fresh creamery butter
His favorite cartoon growing up was a Japanese import called “Marine Boy” (It followed “Speed Racer” and “Kimba the White Lion”).
He has a huge DVD/Blu-Ray collection, up to 3,000 at one point
His faith in God is the most important thing in his life
And finally… the weirdest experience of Mark’s life revolves around a recurring dream he used to have. In it Mark’s family and another anonymous family were vacationing when a volcano suddenly erupts and sends lava racing their way. Since their car wouldn’t start, the other family jumped into Mark’s family’s car to escape. But, the lava was too fast. Just as they were about to be buried by scalding magma Mark tries to wake up but he is sent back to the beginning of the dream. He then has the exact same dream, frame for frame, two more times and he finally wakes up after the third. He had the same exact dream, over and over, for nearly 20 years. What makes it so weird is that in his early-20’s Mark was doing a play in San Francisco when he suddenly saw the real girl (from his dreams) backstage. They had never met before and yet he recognized her instantly. It gets even weirder! Mark invited her out after the show and mentioned the dream. She turned pale white and said she had had the same exact dream repeatedly since childhood as well. She was able to describe Mark’s whole family and their car perfectly, even though they grew up hundreds of miles apart and didn’t know each other. She knew every detail of the dream, picture for picture. Just days later Mark moved to Los Angeles. He saw her once after that, several years later, but it was always too weird for both of them. Mark never had the dream again after that night. He still gets the heebie jeebiies thinking about it.