Tagged like me

OK, I got tagged, by IndigoMoonArts. My mission today is to relate seven strange or little-known facts about myself.

Now I know myself. And you think you know me from what I have written here. The fact is, though, that I don't write about parts of my life.

Reasons? They are boring. They are uninteresting. Yes, even more uninteresting than the stuff I normally write about. Some hurt a little too much to write about. They are too personal. With all the stuff I've written about, too personal?

Well, we'll see. I thought of a few things that may raise an eyebrow or two. And so ...

1. I don't drink coffee. Or beer. Don't care for the taste of either. So I don't go to coffee houses or bars. Not that I'm an abstainer. Wine is OK, and so is liquor. But I go real easy on that stuff. How easy? Last beer I had was at the "pre-draft party" around April 1. I had a little mead (honey wine) and other kinds of wine during the neopagan camp last summer. A little. Not much.

2. I've been cutting back on some kinds of food. Soda--I've cut way back on that. Milk--I drink just 1% milk now. White bread: cut that out entirely--I get rye bread with little caraway seeds or else natural grain bread. That's what we have for breakfast. In general, I avoid sweet stuff. A little candy is OK, but I don't do that often.

2. I may be involved in a lawsuit. As a plaintiff. It involves the estate of my aunt who died in January 2007. The personal representative, who is one of 11 nieces and nephews, may have taken a lot of money from the estate. We (my cousins and I) strongly suspect he has. He has been removed, and a new personal rep is being appointed. Stay tuned.

3. I have never been out of the U.S. Midwest in my life. Never have seen a mountain. Never have seen an ocean, unless you think Lake Superior counts. Furthest west: Minneapolis-St. Paul. Furthest east: Harriston, Ontario. Furthest south: the Chicago area. Furthest north: the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula in the U.P. It's not that I don't want to travel. But there just never has been enough time or money. I have been to Canada a few times; the Sault Ste. Marie area, Windsor with my son and that special trip to visit S in December 2005.

4. Never have flown in an airplane, either. Well, I'll take that back. About 20 years ago, I went up in a private plane--we flew around the county, with me taking pictures of some of the sights: the woods, the towns, the lakes. That was my only time. Commercial flights, no.

4. I met my wife on a blind date. Just after the first moon landing, in 1969. It was arranged by a high school classmate of mine with big boobs who was working with her, about a year after we graduated. We went to some park where we tried out a batting cage (I fouled off the first pitch and fanned on all the others), drove go-karts, walked along Milwaukee's Bradford Beach and then did a lot of kissing in the back seat as they drove us home. We went out the next Saturday by ourselves. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. Etc. Meanwhile, the other girl (my ex-classmate with the big boobs) broke up with her BF.

5. I love trains. I was born too late for the era of train travel, but at least I can see what it was like on many of the classic movies. I also have CDs and DVDs that featuring steam locomotives. Sometimes when I can't sleep, I put on a CD of steam locomotives roaring around. I listen, and before long I'm asleep. The stuff I put my wife through!

6. I love foreign films. Particular Akira Kurosawa's samurai films, samurai films in general and the Expressionist films (especially directed by Fritz Lang) from the post-World War I era in Germany. That's a passion that (like many of mine) I have to enjoy by myself or not at all. My dream poly lover would be someone who also loves to watch foreign films. And play around.

6. My fantasy football team, the Howlin' Wolfs (named for the classic blues singer), is undefeated and in first place seven weeks into the season. Three of the wins have been by less than two points, but a win's a win.

6. I'm a fan of cricket. Really. I understand how the game is played; in fact, I have a few cricket videos and DVDs. Want me to explain the LBW law? Or what "Bodyline" was all about? What strange thing happened in Sir Donald Bradman's final innings? Just ask me. (I got pissed during the baseball strike of 1994 and decided to learn what cricket was all about.)

7. I'm a president. For real. We have a cooperative cable TV/broadband internet corporation in town, and I have been a director for many years, as board president for the last 10 years or so. That means I get to sign the checks and preside at board meetings. We keep our rates as low as we can. Just finished a project to enhance our bandwidth and add more fiber nodes.

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Not much else to report on. The cats are getting along better, as some of you predicted. Updates later--I want to write a friend tonight; this will be a week with very little spare time, so better take care of it now.