8 Things About Me

Well, since I’ve been tagged twice, I suppose I ought to get off my duff and write up eight things you might not know about me (and given how much I give away on the podcast, this is a tougher assignment than you might imagine):

1. I’ve only been out of the Eastern time zone once, and that was just an hour layover in Nashville on the way to Florida. I’ve never left the country, either.

2. I went to my first concert at age fifteen, and it was H.O.R.D.E. ’94 at what was then called the Garden State Arts Center. That concert was memorable for two reasons: One, the opening band was the Dave Matthews Band, and there were maybe 50 people in the audience at the time, none of whom had heard of the band before. Two, it cemented my complete and utter dislike for the Allman Brothers Band.

3. My eighth grade class trip was to Boston. I actually opted out because the trip was essentially voluntary and I didn’t want my parents to have to pay for it when I had no interest at the time in seeing Boston or any of the other New England sites (which included tickets to a Red Sox game, by the way). It actually caused quite a bit of controversy at the school, and the next year, the trip was made mandatory.

4. I can’t whistle. But I can snap my fingers like nobody’s business.

5. I have a picture in our living room of me holding the 2004 World Series trophy. Apparently there were some ties between the company I used to work for and the Red Sox, and they arranged to bring the trophy to the office for one day and give everyone the opportunity to take a picture with it. No friends or family, though; just employees. And they only picture they gave was a 5×7, though they provided the digital image, so I had it blown up at Costco for a couple of dollars.

6. I never learned how to ride a bike, and not for lack of trying. I just could never get the hang of it.

7. My first unofficial date with Maureen involved walking into Waltham center to visit a thrift ship to buy a skirt. The skirt was for me, actually; I was enrolled in a BS three-dimensional art class and I needed the fabric for one of my projects; it was cheaper to buy clothes and cut them up than go to a crafts store. In retrospect, I probably could have done without; the class was such that as long as you turned in something, you were guaranteed to pass; I think that was the only A+ I earned in college.

8. I don’t like the Beatles. In fact, there’s very little music recorded before 1980 that I enjoy. I guess I’m more of a 21st century digital boy.

And now, to keep the tag thingie going, I’ll tag: Maureen, CJ, Dan, Alyssa, and Shelly.