11 posts tagged “me”

Show us something that's ridiculously cute.

All the cuteness is on the left. I was just fortunate to be included in the photo.

This is one of my darling nieces. She's the youngest, and I think she broke all past family records of cuteness per square inch (or centimeter as this photo was taken in Germany).

Show us a Polaroid picture.

For the record: I'm still this cute. Maybe cuter.

Somebody really needs to clean this window.

OK. I was tagged by Kitty and Een, so ...

1. I was horribly shy about dating in high school and college. My first kiss didn't come until I was 18. I was on my first college break and had gotten together with a high school friend. We had gone out to dinner and were back at my mom's place sitting on the floor of my bedroom. She gave me puppy-dog eyes, told me throughout high school she always wondered what it would be like to kiss me, and then (literally) tackled me.

2. I have (or at least had) the home phone number for John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin. I was doing an interview with him about five years ago. They just gave me his phone number and told me to call. His wife answered the phone, and they were both very nice. Sort of the most down-to-earth people.

3. I used to direct a theater company that based it's work on dreams and dream-like plays. It was a collaboration with a psychologist who focused on dream work.

4. In my mid-20s, I wrote an hour-long monologue titled "Blood, Masturbation, and the Vampyre's Creed." I performed it at the Minnesota Fringe Festival in 1996, and the title guaranteed me an audience. Even given the opportunity, I couldn't muster the angst to perform it again, but I am kind of proud of it.

5. I used to be a professional stilt dancer. (Everyone asks me what that means, but I think it's pretty obvious: People used to pay me to put on stilts and dance.)

6. My first rock concert was Pat Benetar with Billy Squire opening. It was outdoors. I went with my older (by one year) brother. It was outdoors, and no bottles, cans, or coolers were allowed. At the time, my friend had a still. We made close to pure alcohol, used hypodermic needles to inject it into oranges, and brought the oranges to the show. (My mother couldn't figure out why we wanted oranges.)

7. I'm secretly jealous of people who dated a lot in their early 20s, fell in love and married in their late 20s/early 30s, had kids in their mid-30s, and made it work.

8. Before working full-time in interactive, I was a full-time music and arts journalist. I still write for magazines, but it's part time. One of my areas of specialty is Nordic folk music.

9. I've written liner notes for three albums by three very different artists: singer-songwriter Stan Ridgway, composer John Howell Morrison, and the Swedish folk-thrash group Hoven Droven. I've also written program notes for The Philadelphia Orchestra, and was the informal critic in resident for a the Intergalactic Contemporary Ensemble, and amazing, flexible chamber orchestra.

10. I grew up in NJ, near NYC. Went to school at VA Tech. Spent my 20s working at theatres up and down the East Coast. I've been in Minneapolis since October 1988, but have to admit that it's wearing thin. Currently job hunting my way out of Minnesota, and hoping to do so before it frays my nerves too much.

Bonus Fact: I was a hippie artist with hair well below my shoulders. (I've also had my head shaved.)

OK. Is there anybody left to tag? I'll go with Caryn, Deborah, Heather, Not Barbie, djchall, Laurel The Person, Megan, Kelev T. Cat, §abba, and Jenny. (If you've already been tagged, you are, of course, excused.)

Update: Deborah did this better than I did. See her 10 Facts About Bill.

I was interviewed today, along with author Stu Wolfe, as part of a digital storytelling project. I don't particularly like Stu as a person, but he's a good writer and we used to work together closely.

Show us your sunglasses.

Show us something you cannot leave home without.
Submitted by Quornflour

Can't leave home without my face — even when it has a sour expression.

Gentle Readers,

I know you've all been waiting anxiously to see how my glasses saga turned out. Come of you have no doubt lost sleep over this. Well, I'm happy to report that I did turn the second pair into sun glasses per the original plan, and here they are:

Yes. It's been a day of introspection. The office was closed due to snow, but I was still there, at least from noon to 6 p.m. The end result, with nobody to bother me, I was able to catch up on email. I also nailed down some deals with printers. But I, by no means, feel caught up.

So, I'm changing careers. I'm going to be a dog, and I would love one of you to adopt me.

I do everything you want a dog to do:

• Sleep on the foot of your bed
• Remain unswayingly faithful
• Lick your ear while your trying to sleep
• Go for walks
• Lie around in a sun beam
• Remind you that you are loved after a bad day.
• Bark at people trying to break into your home (and hide under the bed if the actually come in)
  

I have other qualities that other dogs don't have. I ...

• Cook
• Pick out a bottle of wine
  
• Walk myself
• Drive and run errands
• Handle assorted tasks that require opposable thumbs.
• Use a bathroom
• Refrain from humping your friends legs
• Watch kids and other pets
• Tell people trying to break into your home to "get the fuck out before I call the police."
• Give good back and foot rubs (show me a spaniel that can pull that off)

If you're busy, I can also entertain myself for hours with my favorite dog toy, a MacBook Pro.

Interested? Let me know. (Serious inquiries only.)