Tagged 'n' bagged.

As one of the contributors to GvD, Jason Hughes tagged me a while ago to do this and Priscilla just tagged me with it on Saturday. I know I've done similar posts before but here goes again:

Yes! It's a dream come true (no it isn't, if truth be told) and here are da rules: 1. You MUST post these rules at the beginning of your post. (okay) 2. Those tagged must give up eight secrets that most of us bloggers don't know squat about. (sounds fair since that's the purpose of this thing) 3. At the conclusion of your post, you have to name 8 other people you are tagging and link to their sites. (sorry, no can do compadre - see below) 4. If you don't follow these rules those of us who did will hunt you down and beat you, but in a nice way. ;) (make my day boy-o.)

8 more things about me that you may not know, though I wouldn't necessarily call them weird:

1. I have no musical talent whatsoever (and don't want any). I was forcibly made to learn to play the trumpet and coronet as a ute, but could never catch on to NOT being able to puff out my cheeks. One Sunday, I left the thing in a storage closet at church, told my parents I couldn't/wouldn't learn how to play anymore and have never picked up a brass instrument since. I'm still traumatized by it to some (admittedly very small) degree, and that was more than 25 years ago.

2. From 1973-1988, I spent my summers at The Salvation Army's Camp Wonderland in Sharon, MA. My family went there at first because my mom's boss was the Camp Director and she had to work there because dats where da boss man was. From 1982-1988 I worked there myself. For the most part, I've got fond memories of the place. In the spring of '89, I convinced a college friend to apply for work there during the summer, telling him I was going to work there too, but then I didn't. He did though and had a good time.

3. I was a virgin until I was almost 22 years old. To this day I've only been sexually intimate with one woman: my ex-wife (girlfriend at that period in history.)

4. I turned 22 while I was working in Budapest, Hungary for The Salvation Army's Summer Service Corps. That's the only birthday I've celebrated while outside the continental US.

5. Normally I hate to go shopping for pretty much anything, especially for clothes. When I get depressed, though I like to shop and spend money (hello credit card bills!)

6. I had never been admitted to a hospital for any reason nor had any surgery at all until I had my kidney stone surgeries in the fall of 2005 at age 36.

7. I've worn glasses since the summer before I started 6th grade. During this time, I've had all kinds of frames made from plastic and metal. As long as they make them, I'll never change from the style of glasses I wear now. When it comes to glasses, minimalism is always best.

8. I was facial hair-less until my daughter was born in 1997, when I grew my moustache. I grew the Fu-Manchu style beard after my Russian woman debacle in 2005. It would take some pretty hard convincing by an extremely attractive woman to ever get me to shave them completely away. I think I look better (and older) with them than without them.

9. I'm not proud of the fact that I used to be quite the little thief as a ute. I worked at a store in my hometown called Paperama (which since has corporately gone out of business) that had no security system whatsoever. I made myself quit that job for fear I might get caught shoplifting.

10. It was at Paperama that I tried smoking for the first time. There was always a pack of cigarettes and a lighter on the table in the employees break room. One day I lit up a cigarette, took two puffs, gagged uncontrollably and thought to myself, "How in the world can anyone enjoy this nasty, gross, disgusting habit?" I've never picked up a cigarette since, or had any desire to start. Plus, I'm super sensitive to secondhand smoke.


There you go. I even added two bonus things, 'cuz you're special. I'm not tagging anyone, since everyone I know on blogger has done this at least once, maybe twice, possibly thrice.