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So, Barry and Logtar both have challenges to list out 24 interesting and/or unusual things about yourself. I did 100 Things About Me about 1100 posts ago, so I guess it might be time for a return visit. I will try my best to not repeat anything I said about myself there in this list. - I worked for a minor league baseball team when I was in high school and college. It was the Prince Williams Cannons and at the time it was a farm-team for the Yankees. I used to sell souveniers and got to interact with some of the big-name players of today back when they were minor leaguers (and by interact I mean, go "Sure," when they wanted to steal a copy of Baseball Weekly so they could see their name in it).
- During one of my summers there, I dressed up as the mascot, Boomer the Cannon Ball. I'd love to tell you this was to bring joy to the small children and enjoy the sense of fun of being Boomer the Cannon Ball. But it was all about getting to hang out with the Diamond Girls who served as the entorage for Boomer.
- Speaking of summer jobs, I also worked at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA. I worked there three summers. I worked mainly in the Octoberfest area which meant I had to wear these silly outfit that looked like it had suspenders and lederhosen. I've since burned all pictures that could be used as evidence.
- I also worked for a few weeks near the Roman Rapids ride. It was in the Italy section and the outfit for this was, shockingly enough, far worse than the one for Oktoberfest. I came home in it and my family couldn't stop laughing at it. Even the dog was embarrassed for me.
- I've watched a lot less TV this summer. In fact, I'm about a week behind on Dead Zone and two weeks behind on The 4400. Only show I'm really keeping up with is Rescue Me. OK, and the new Doctor Who but that ended last week.
- I actually bought all three season of The Greatest American Hero on DVD. I used to love that show and the nostalgia value drove me to it. It's aged fairly well, though funnily enough at one point Ralph and Bill are driving somewhere and Ralph makes Bill stop so Ralph can use the phone. I went--but why doesn't he just use his cell phone and then went--idiot, they didn't have cell phones when this was filmed. And then I felt old.
- I've been to two nude beaches in my life. Both trips were not planned as "Hey, let's go to a nude beach."
- The first one came while living in California. The church youth group had gone camping and we decide to go to the beach. So we drove up to one that was a state beach and then went for a walk. Unknown to us, when the state beach ended and it became private, it was also a nude beach.
- The second one was while visiting Hawaii. My dad and I were on the Big Island touring and decided to find the black sand beaches. We found the state run black sand beach and it was, well, underwhelming. It was nothing like the images you see in movies or on postcards. So, we decided we'd follow the map to the other one. Well, it was not as well marked but we eventually found it based on all the cars parked near it. We had climb down some rocks to is and found it out it was the clothing optional beach. And that Ugly Naked Guy from Friends had brought the whole ugly naked family for a day out. We didn't stay long.
- And before you ask, no I didn't participate in the clothing optional part at either beach. For one thing, the experience in California was with the youth group and a girl I desparately had a crush on the time was with us....so yeah, not a good idea.
- Moving around, I found it interesting what books were read at what age level and how that differed. I read a lot of interesting books that may or may not necessarily still be accepted classics of literature. For example, Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy.
- Becuase of that, I've had to read some of the bigger literature books on my own. Several include To Kill A Mockingbird and Catcher in the Rye.
- I still think Seinfeld is the funniest show ever made, though my rewatching of NewsRadio on DVD has given it some strong competition. That show was genius...
- I make a really good banana pudding. Man, can you tell I'm hungry as I type this?
- I wear glasses. I had contacts for a while but wasn't a big fan of them. Painful experience with one getting stuck up in my eye, under the eyelid might be part of it.
- I haven't done a flip off a diving board since I was 13 years old. Why you ask? Last time I did one, I got 3/4s of the way around and suddenly went straight out and did a back flop. It still stings. (Yeah, I'm a wimp...so sue me).
- That said, I do enjoy diving off a diving board. But I haven't done it in a while as it seems a lot of pools these days don't have a diving area. How can kids these days learn to do a killer cannonball without the diving area?
- I can be a bit shy and self consious when it comes to meeting new people. But hopefully that ice breaks quickly.
- This can lead to a second issue, which is, if I meet a woman, iniatiting the first phone call. I tend to overanalyze every last detail--is it a good time to call? is it too late? what should I say? wil there be awkward silence? (Neurotic much?)
- This lead to hilarty recently in which I was given a phone number (actually several (and by several, I mean, more than one phone number for one person...I didn't want everyone to get the idea that I'm Fonzie or something)) and told I could and should call. I did a few rounds of the Stuart Smally speech ("I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and doggone, it people like me.") and then dialed. It rang once, twice and then I'm thinking--great, what kind of message should I leave when I get the machine. Then, she picks up and I ask if may please speak to her, promptly getting hung up on. I sit there and stare at the phone in disbelief that it says "Call Disconnected" and think--huh, what the hell just happened here. So, I waited a few, called back and was able to quickly get in that who I was and then found out telemarketers were calling and becuase it took a second for my phone to connect and I asked politely to speak to her, she assumed I was a telemarketer and hung up on me. Much hiliarity ensued and then everything went well. It's a unique way to break the ice, but hey, it worked.
- I'm very verbose apparently since everyone else's list like this is only about half a page.
- I have all of "Best of Both Worlds, Part 1" memorized. It's pretty scary.
- At my funeral, I want three songs played--Amazing Grace, The Dance and Rocky Top. (Morbid, yes. But then again, I have to tell as many of y'all as possible so you'll remember in your time of grief. What do you mean you won't come?!?)
- Being Uncle Michael is still the coolest thing in the universe. OK, it's not new but you know what, I don't care...
I honestly thought it'd be easier to come up with 24 things than this. Of course, I did challenge myself to not list things about TV shows I like (too much) so that may be part of it. So, thanks for reading. I'm supposed to tag six people to pick up the torch, but you know so many people have already done it, I'd hate to re-tag someone and then be publically mocked. So if you want to play, consider yourself tagged.
posted by Michael Hickerson at 7/18/2006 12:13:00 PM |
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