7 Things About Me

Ken Mueller (@kmueller62) of the excellent blog I Threw a Brick through a Window, tagged me with the current "meme of the week," which means I am now bound by the unbreakable laws of the Blogosphere to respond in kind. A tip of the cap to you, Ken -- spending the afternoon putting this post together has allowed me to nicely avoid doing laundry and vacuuming the house. You know, I really need to hire a maid...

Anyhoo, this is how the game is played:
1. Link your original tagger(s) and leave a comment on this blog posting when you’ve “memed."
2. List these rules on your blog.
3. Share seven facts about yourself in the post - some random, some weird.
4. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
5. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs and/or Twitter.

That's the simple part. Now, let's see if I can actually come up with seven interesting/unusual/random/bizarre things about myself...

1. I Don't Drive. I do not now have, nor have I ever had, a Driver's License. Of course, the first question everyone asks me is, "Why not?" (Well, actually, that's the second question they ask. The first is usually "Are you f---'n nuts?!?") And the thing is, I don't have a good answer as to why. I just have never driven. There's no physical handicap, legal decree, or bizarre phobia that stops me. It just has never been high on my priority list. I walk a lot, and long walks don't bother me. If walking is out of the question, there is public transportation, taxi service, or sharing rides with friends...and yes, I always offer to contribute a few bucks for gas!

2. My First Television Appearance. Had you lived in Lancaster circa 1971/1972, you might have seen the four- or five-year-old version of me smiling at you from the set of Percy Platypus and Friends, a Saturday morning kids' show broadcast from WGAL. The show had a 15-year run here ending in 1974, and one of the recurring segments was celebrating the birthdays of kids in the audience. I just spoke with my Mom about this, and neither she nor I can pinpoint the date, but somewhere in a dusty old scrapbook there is evidence of this; when we find it, I will post it!

3. Green Eggs & Ham. Like most high schools, ours held an annual talent show. It was filled each year with the typical acts: dancers, musicians, the usual ho-hum stuff. Being a staunch anti-conformist even back then, I entered the talent show one year with an act where all I did was read Green Eggs and Ham aloud. This was not a recital of the book - I memorized nothing. Had the book in front of me, and read it. Mind you, every act had to pass an audition to get into the talent show, meaning that someone else was cut in favor of my reading a children's book to the audience. Ah, the subversion! I dare say it was the hit of the show - people still talk about it today. Some years later, when Rev. Jesse Jackson read Green Eggs and Ham on SNL, I got phone calls from old high school friends saying, "Hey, he stole your act!"

4. Johnny Thunders Bought Me a Beer. About a year before his death, legendary New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders came to Richmond, VA as a solo act. At the time, I was Music Director for the University of Richmond's radio station, WDCE, and got a call from Johnny's manager asking if we would like to interview him on air while he was in town. Wound up having to pick him up from the hotel and bring him to the station, and then give him a ride to the club where he was playing. So, a friend and I wound up hanging out with Johnny Thunders for the better part of an afternoon and evening, and drinking on his tab. Had a standing invitation to come see him play in NYC, but unfortunately Johnny passed away roughly ten months later, reportedly from a drug overdose.

5. Wanna Get Under My Skin? Be Late. The surest way to aggravate me is to not be somewhere at the time you said you would be there. In my work, if a meeting is scheduled for 3:00, I expect everyone to be there at 3:00 - not 3:05 or 3:10. Same thing in my social life. If I'm meeting someone for dinner, I expect her to be on time. Early is even better, but if I have to wait, my annoyance and irritation grows exponentially with each passing minute!

6. The First Non-Kiddie Record I Ever Owned was "Mrs. Robinson" by Simon & Garfunkel, bought for me by my parents when I was very young because I loved the "coo-coo-ca-choo" part. The first non-kiddie record I ever specifically asked for was Terry Jacks' "Seasons in the Sun," which I played to the point of driving everyone batty. I was a child of the '70s...

7. I Don't Believe in Radon. I think the radon gas scare is one of the greatest money-making scams of all time. Someone came up with the idea of saying, "There is this gas, and you can't see it, smell it, or detect it, but it will kill you! Luckily, I can detect it, and for a price I will tell you if it is in your house or not. Then, for a second fee, I will remove it from your home. Finally, for a third fee, I'll test again to make sure it is gone." How can you argue? You don't want to die, so you give someone your money to detect and remove something that you can't even tell if it was there or not to start with! Yeah, you're not scamming me with that one...

OK, now it's my turn to tag 7 fellow bloggers. Also, this gives me a chance to suggest to my readers that they also read these folks' blogs:

Gayle
Greg
Ethan
Gil
Alan
Daniel
You - yeah you, you who are reading this! Guess what? Tag - you're it!