Q1: What do you drink?

A: Hot tea. I just never liked the taste of coffee. Julie doesn’t, either. We keep it in the house for guests, but I can’t get past the first sip, so I’ve never had a cup of coffee ever.

Q1 cont.: What do you usually take in your hot tea?

A: Honey and a little bit of vanilla flavoring and cream. There’s a cream that you can buy in a blue container called International Delight, and it’s vanilla-flavored cream. It is strong. It is great.

Q2: What’s your favorite book?

A: Probably Benjamin Franklin’s “Poor Richard’s Almanac.” Humor, truth, wisdom… Actually, right now, I’m reading a series of books that I’m really enjoying. The definitive works on John Adams, Ben Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson… I’ve got and read every book written by Jimmy Buffet. He’s a pretty good writer, actually. Most people don’t know that.

Q3: If you could go back to a moment in time would you, and what would it be?

A: That’d be a tough choice between three things. Probably going back to coaching little league with my sons would be pretty cool. I didn’t appreciate it enough at the time. But my days here were great. And I loved high school, growing up in Louisville in high school in a carefree, less risky era or time.

Q4: What size shoe do you wear?

A: Eight. I don’t want to hear any small feet jokes. No munchkin feet jokes. I got little feet. Little feet, little hands. (Herald respectfully reserves comments.)

Q5: What sport did you play as a kid?

A: Baseball. Actually, as a kid, I played Little League baseball. But as a high schooler, I ran track and cross country, just because I was about as big around as that chair leg when I graduated. I was only 130 pounds when I graduated.

Q6: When you used to get in trouble as a kid, how did you get punished?

A: Grounded, probably. But I was the youngest of three kids, and frankly, I didn’t get in trouble much because I watched my brother and sister get in so dag-gone much trouble that I was usually able to dodge it and avoid it. Didn’t mean I didn’t deserve it. I just learned from observation.

Q7: If a tree falls, and no one’s there to hear it, does it make a sound?

A: Absolutely because it’s the law of physics. It doesn’t matter if anyone’s there to hear it or not. Whether there are ears to hear it is irrelevant. Of course when a tree falls, it makes a sound.

Q8: What is the make and model of the car you drive now? How much does it cost to fill up your car?

A: It is a Buick Enclave, I guess a 2008 model… Oooh. Sixty bucks. Yeah. Although, this lease is about a year old, and had I known then what I know now, I probably would have gotten a hybrid of some sort. My next lease will probably be a hybrid.

Q9: What CD is in your car right now?

A: Van Morrison

Q10: What’s your favorite boy band?

A: Eagles.

Q11: What celebrity did you have a crush on growing up?

A: Olivia Newton John, maybe.

Q12: What was the last movie you paid to see?

A: It’s tough this time of year, but we rent movies at home from time to time. The last movie I paid to see would have been (39 second pause while Ransdell racks his brain to remember the last time he went to the movies)…the latest Indiana Jones movie.

Q13: What’s your adult beverage of choice?

A: Beer would be a Michelob Ultra. Depending on time of year, summer would be gin and tonic, otherwise bourbon and water. Not that I really drink that much.

Q14: Do you prefer Shawn Johnson or Nastia Liukin? Why?

A: Shawn Johnson. She is just a darling little thing. I shouldn’t say this. She reminds me of one of the three chipmunks. (Imitating Dave from The Chipmunks) Alvin! She’s probably not as athletic, but I was really glad she won a gold medal, finally, on her last event.

Q15: What’s you favorite ice cream?

A: Probably anything vanilla with something chocolate or crunchy in it.

Q16: What’s your nickname among people who know you best?

A: Woah. Rabbit.

Q16 cont.: Where does that come from?

A: That just goes back to college. Long story.

Q17: How many speeding tickets have you had?

A: Over my 40 years of driving, probably a dozen.

Q18: Which reality TV show would you like to appear on? Why?

A: You know, I would get a kick out of one of the Survivor contests. I just think I could compete. I think it would be pretty cool.

Q18 cont.: What do you think you would bring to the table?

A: I feel like I could bring some athleticism, mostly with the physical things. Plus, there’s some strategy involved. I think that I could bring, assuming that my competition was relatively similar in age, a competitive spirit.

Q19: What are your household chores?

A: I do most of the repair things, like when something breaks or changing light bulbs, stuff like that. I really enjoy working in the yard – landscape things. And we’re fortunate. We have help, but we do new plants or transplanting plants. I take care of the fish pond.

Q20: What movie makes you cry?

A: Well, I’m a sap. It doesn’t take much. I can cry on an emotional, family…something that makes me think, “That could be me in a tragic or a tearful situation.” It doesn’t take much to get me to tear up.

Q21: What do you think is the most manly thing you do – a 10 being wrestling bears?

A: Being such a manly man, I don’t know that I do many manly men kind of things. You know, I stretch pretty aggressively every morning. But most of my time is tied up in doing university things. (Herald says stretching aggressively is equal to yoga and pilates. We give it a .5 on the manly scale.)

Q22: When did you give the sex talk to your sons?

A: Oh, geez. I don’t think I ever did that. Manly men don’t get into that with sons. They learn that on their own. Maybe a few, “now be smart,” kinds of suggestions, but I don’t think we ever had that conversation. Mainly because I trusted them. They knew what was right and what was wrong.

Q23: What happened to your thumb?

A: Melanoma. A Melanoma spot about 14 or 15 years ago. A melanoma spot under my thumb nail, and I kept letting it go, thinking it was a fungus. I just didn’t know what it was, and by the time I got it properly diagnosed, I was immediately going into hand surgery. They had to have my thumb removed.

Q24: What is the centennial statue?

A: A piece of symbolic art – continuous, never-ending, bold. I think it symbolizes the university at the close of the centennial, the statement that the university is connected, bold, never-ending, continuous. (Yet again, Herald representatives reserve our comments on what we think it is.)

Q25: What do your pajamas look like?

A: I do have a pair of red plaid, but I’m usually just wearing boxers.

Ransdell also added that he always carries a buckeye around for luck. He suggested that everyone else do the same, grabbing one from the bowl of buckeyes on the side table in his office.