Shortly after I had posted the current meme-about-town ("seven weird or random things about yourself") over on the quilt blog, I got hit with it again from L&TM5K vice-dork fingerstothebone. Unwilling to accept the quilt blog weird or random things about myself, fingers further stipulated that I needed to come up with seven fresh, never-before-revealed items, which was tricky. I am running out of even remotely interesting nuggets of self-revelation. But my motto is, Anything For the Readers. So here goes:
Did I say remotely interesting? Maybe I overstated my case....1. I didn't learn to drive until I was 22. A lushly bearded college graduate, I was a decided anomaly in my driver's ed class.
2. Similarly, I was in graduate school when I smoked my first cigarette.
3. The following things make me inexplicably but acutely uncomfortable: people dressed as Santa Claus, eating meals in someone else's home, collars that are a different color than the shirt, girly hearts-and-lace crap, and belly dancing.
4. I am fascinated by air safety protocols and air crash investigation. I've studied this in some depth. For most airline crashes you could name, I can tell you what went wrong and why, and what has been done to keep it from happening again. This odd interest has actually helped, rather than exacerbated, my fear of flying.
5. I know how to play one of these:
6. I worked for a while as a clerk in the bras department of a department store chain. It was just paperwork, but still very educational.
7. Putting myself through college by working the graveyard shift at a convenience store, I began a turbulant life-long relationship with diet cola. At present, I generally consume two 44-ounce portions of this beverage a day.
The Reading List
Well, how do you follow up Lolita? Well, I made a list of eight possibilities off of the list last week, then flipped three pennies to randomly pick one of them. And here it is:
If I remember right, Boo's class -- 7th grade? 8th grade? -- is reading Huckleberry Finn right now too. I'm just hoping my book report won't be the worst in the class. Boo says the book is "hilarious." Hope so!Song of the Day
...is the Mountain Goats' "Dance Music." Your choice of versions!
The studio track, whimsically animated by some nut with sock puppets....
Or this live track.
Thanks, YouTube!
Brass, bras, Boo, bass. Very odd effects from playing two goats at (nearly) once.
ReplyDeleteHey! I played baritone horn, too! Two years of marching band (the first two years on clarinet -- yes, I am a geek)
ReplyDeletei concur with boo's assessment of huck. you should enjoy it.
ReplyDeletediet coke is the bomb dot com.
You've never read Huck Finn? I say this not in a sneering, incredulous voice, but one of mild surprise. You're American, you read a lot, you write well and appear educated... so it seems odd to me that at your advanced old age you'd miss probably the best-known American novel.
ReplyDeleteYay for Huck Finn - I've been waiting. I hope it lives up to the hype for you.
ReplyDeleteIf my calculations are correct, that's the equivalent of 7 and 1/3 cans of diet cola a day. That is a lot of diet cola.
ReplyDelete@karma: Never a good idea to play two goats at once. Sooner or later, they will catch on.
ReplyDelete@la gringissima: I'm still waiting for the fine day that I find one at a garage sale for $20.
@d: My only attempt to read Twain has been "The Innocents Abroad," which is like Mrs. ChuckDaddy's favorite book or something. I have found it unbelievably tedious on both attempts. So, I do not approach Mr. Clemens with a great deal of optimism.
You are correct about Diet Coke.
@Chance: I've got holes, bro. BIG holes. That's why I need a reading list.
@rebel: I hope so too. But I'm nervous.
@dan: It is! But, it's important to consider that I only drink fountain diet cola, which is considerably watered-down; cans of cola feel like cola concentrate to me. Also, I put a lot of ice in the cup. So I figure it's no more than a six-pack a day. And hell, I had a room-mate in grad school who drank twice that in Natural Light.
I'd say your "seven weird or random things about yourself" list is pretty generous. You could split hairs and call it a list of 13 or so. Perhaps fingerstothebone owes you six.
ReplyDeleteAnd I predict you will like Huckleberry Finn, one of very few novels I have read more than once. I believe I have read it four times! It's part morality tale, part adventure epic, part high comedy. And that ain't the half of it.
See, I told you your fan base would appreciate all that you share. I didn't learn how to drive until in my 20's either. Didn't need to...until I had to go for a job interview. Got my license, and drove up the next day from Corvallis for my interview. We'll have to see about curing you of your inexplicable fear of belly dancing.
ReplyDeleteNO!!! PLEASE, NOT THE BELLY DANCING!!!
ReplyDeleteHeh, heh, heh . . . belly dancing!
ReplyDeleteOk, you've never read huck finn? I'd never heard the mountain goats. Loved that song - especially with sock puppets!!
I am seriously digging that band. The sock puppet's hair is cute. Big thanks for introducing me to that band.
ReplyDeleteOh You are reading Huck Finn! I am teaching it to 10th graders. They are a bit old for it as compared to my time too, but oh well. We've had some discussion of the N word usage. Nobody is taking offense as the rapper DMX uses it and in a more derogatory fashion than Twain does. They need to be read through chapter 12 by the 31st. That is enough to tell how it is going to go. We shall see.
I hope you find it entertaining.