Memes about Me

I rarely participate in chain letters (and I do recall getting one or two physical letters before the internet was popular) or mass e-mails and the like (they still arrive in my in box on a daily basis), and I usually avoid the temptation to conform to the popular meme-of-the-day.

But some of them are fun and serve a purpose. So here are my answers to the two recent Meme games I’ve been invited to. First up, 4 THINGS Meme:

N.B. Being the nonconformist that I am, I choose to ignore the limitation or suggestion of only 4 answers to each prompt.

Some Jobs I have had in my life: Marketing Consultant for Electronic Arts, Founder of a highly successful treasure hunting forum, President of the Colorado Junior Classical League, Technical Consultant for a major Lawfirm, Real Estate Agent, Student Representative to the CO State Senate Subcommittee on Gifted and Talented Education, Financial Manager of La Casa Italiana at Stanford University, Alumni Co-Chair of the Youth Advisory Board of the Young American’s Bank, Congress Captain of the Speech and Debate Team at Cherry Creek High School, Border Collie Breeder

Some Places I have lived in my life: Denver, Colorado => Cherry Hills Village, Colorado => Stanford University, CA => Palo Alto, CA => Back to Colorado

Some Movies I’ve watched more than once: The Devil’s Advocate, Dune, The Usual Suspects, The Boondock Saints, Graveyard of the Fireflies, Crash, Traffic, Patton, LOTR, Gattaca, Closely Watched Trains, Krull, The Bunny Picnic


Some TV Shows I watch: House, Battlestar Galactica, Nip/Tuck, Deadwood, Rome, Firefly, Cowboy Bebop, Sopranos (early seasons), SeaQuest DSV, Fraggle Rock, 24, Monk, Family Guy, South Park, The Shield, LOST (only in marathons, constant cliff hangers are annoying)

Some Places I Have Been:

States:
Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island

Countries:
Canada, USA, Mexico, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Vatican City, Israel, Egypt

Some of My Favorite Foods: Ravioli, Steamed Chinese Dumplings, Macaroni and Cheese, Stuffed Cabbage, Pumpkin Pie, Spinach and Artichoke dip, Baked Brie, Lo Mein, Prime Rib

Some Places I’d rather be right now: On a ranch in Southern Spain, Outside a warm hut near the arctic circle where I could observe the Aurora Borealis, In the market in Ancient Rome with a pocket full of coin, One thousand years in the future.

Some Things I am looking forward to this year: Competing with my dogs and training my puppies, Getting a new Jeep, Watching Pacific Life go down in flames in the court case I am assisting with and all of the clients getting their money back and then some, The end to election coverage on the news which has been going on for way too long, the return of the final season of Battlestar Galactica, The Deadwood Movies, Keeping up with the puppies and their new families.

Next is the 7 THINGS Meme, for which I’ve been tagged by Fay at the Country Livin’ Blog.

1. I was born a month premature by Caesarian section. I feel that this justifies me to be a few minutes late to just about every appointment so the cosmos stays in balance. I am never early and rarely on time. Despite being tiny and blue at birth, my head maintained its lovely shape from being spared passage through the birth canal. My parents were told to put me in the window with the houseplants upon taking me home from the hospital to keep my bilirubin levels in check. I’ve been in the 95%+ percentile in height and weight ever since.

2. I was voted “Most Likely To Be Sober” by my Freshman dorm, and I’m proud to say that I deserved it. I have no moral or religious hang ups about drugs, I just think they are incredibly stupid and I hate not being in control of all of my faculties. I’m in no way a prohibitionist and will have a drink if the occasion suits it, and I’d even advocate for the mass legalization and regulation (read: sin tax) of numerous other common drugs besides cigarettes and alcohol. I see no reason why the US should be sustaining every country from Mexico on south with an illegal drug business that we could replicate cheaper, safer, and more economically right here at home.

I’ve never tried anything harder than Tequila, nor will I and I find smoking of any kind rather disgusting.

3. I have really good relative pitch, which means that I can whistle or sing most songs in tune but off key. Given a few minutes and a harmonica I could probably transcribe and play most common songs using my own notation, but it’s likely that it won’t be in the same key as the original.

Despite years and years of lessons I don’t read music well at all, but I can memorize the notes and the styling for a whole concert with little effort if only I can hear someone else play the notes first. The notes on the page only make sense if I can associate it with sounds. I can’t sight read worth anything and to this day can’t tell you how the mathematics work out, despite playing the Saxaphone since middle school, the recorder since elementary school, and winning the State Math Contest. I am mediocre at improvisational jazz on the saxophone but excellent at impromptu speech.

4. If I had to pick a designer dog, I’d probably go with a Bordernese, a cross between a Border Collie and a Bernese Mountain Dog. Although larger, dumber, and thicker boned than a Border Collie, I rather like the Bernese and I’ve admired the handful of Bordernese dogs I’ve met in public. There’s something altogether appealing about really big dogs and no other big breed really complements a Border Collie as much as a Bernese Mountain Dog.

Not only do their colorings match, but the Bernese temperament is a good counter to the Border Collie, and the Border Collie certainly improves the elements of the Bernese that I’d find lacking.

5. Normally, I speak in the tenor range and so fast and have to remind myself to slow down. While I sound clear in my own head, recordings usually come out garbled and some people have a hard time following. Other fast talkers have no problems keeping up.

When I debate I speak very loud and in a pitch an octave lower than my normal voice. This trait earned my circle of friends in my Freshman dorm the title of “the loud talkers” as we’d keep the RA up during our late night philosophy fests.

When I speak in public, I rarely have the same problem with pitch or speed and sound like a news caster. This is common among Coloradoans as we have little to no accent. I find that not having a strong accent makes me susceptible to local accents and I’ll often pick one up if I’m visiting somewhere for a few days.

6. I can juggle while riding a bicycle. I learned to juggle because I was always an over achiever and eager to please. This landed me in trouble when the middle school drama teacher asked me if I could juggle and I said yes even though I didn’t know the first thing about it. She cast me in the school play that was opening in 2 days as a jester, so I had to learn fast.

As a child I was always jealous of a kid who used to ride his bike down my street with no hands. I could never figure it out. Then in college, when I was on a bike more the first week than I had been in the decade prior, I finally figured out the secret to riding with no hands. Of course I had to combine the two, although no one was there to film my amazing feat.

7. I was a driver in the longest Presidential motorcade in history.

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