Tag 'im and Bag 'im

The problem with doing this is that I'm following in the footsteps of two people who understand how to make judicious use of words. When you talk as much as I do, it gets tough to remember what all you have and have not said. So for all I know, each of these six items may be a re-tread for any or all of you.

1) Of all the things I think it'd be coolest to learn, #1, hands-down, no competition, is how to speak Basque. I mean, how often do you get a chance to learn a language...
a) that seems to have emerged from out of thin air;
b) spoken by only 0.016% of the people on Earth;
c) that shares its name with an item of lingerie;
d) the cradle of which is the home of some of the world's greatest cheese?

2) As a junior and senior in H.S., my not-so-"guilty" pleasures ('cause, really, c'mon--almost everyone else was listening to that junk then, too) were boy-band songs...to the point that my little bro. (once) and some of my buddies (several times) and I could do pretty much the entirety of the dance from N*Sync's "Bye, Bye, Bye" music video...and did so, at prom and the winter ball.

3) When I was about 9 or 10 I stole a book from my mom's purse called "Black Wind," by F. Paul Wilson. Several of the main characters are Japanese, and whenever authors write about Southeast Asians they are contractually obligated to focus on their stoicism/impassivity/imperturbability, etc. (Sort of like those who write on Africa, right Ry? Do you still have that link I sent your way? I think I oughta add that in here...) That, and how contemplative and in tune with nature the requisite old Japanese gardener is, and how they can be moved to tears by the beauty of a flower blooming. So, anyway, I spent the next three months trying to be contemplative and moved by nature (FAIL!) as well as impassive and stoic in the face of pain (C- or D+). In my most vivid memory of the latter, we were sitting in the living room of our house in El Salvador, kerosene lamp burning (the electricity being rationed because of the civil war), as my dad removed a splinter from my hand. I tried SO hard to be stoic and impassive, and I don't think anyone even noticed that I didn't scream my bloody head off...which I think was the catalyst for my saying, "Well, screw it. If no one's gonna notice, this ain't worth the effort."

4) Anna knows this, but y'all probably don't: We were sitting in that first year honors colloquium (or whatever that silly thing was) at Alma, listening to the Mongolian GoatVet (that's how I always pictured her title in my mind...I think she was a guest of Dr. Bonhage-Freund) speak about something or other, when I looked over at Anna. She was sitting to my left, a row in front and about 4 seats down, looking FOIIIIINNNNE with her highlighted California-girl hair, etc. etc....and for no apparent reason whatsoever, I had a sense of absolute assurance that she was The One. (Or would be until Barack showed up on scene :-P ) 'Course, I didn't have the cojones to put a move on her or anything, and it took another semester-plus before we started exploring a relationship, but still. I *knew* right then.

5) I have about 350 books in my bookcase back home (one of the biggest moments in my life was my 13th birthday, when my allowance kicked up to $6/week and I could finally afford a new trade paperback every week), most of which I've read 2-3 times. The goofy thing is that among the number are nearly every Xanth novel and the vast majority (probably on the order of 85-90%) of the DragonLance novels that had been published by the time I graduated from high school. (I've fallen off the wagon a bit since then...they just keep crankin' those out!) This explains why I've read so few of the Great Books -- I was busy filling my mind with fluff. [On a related note, my first job ever was working for Waldenbooks at the King of Prussia mall. I think I earned something like $3,000 after taxes but never saw more than $1200, because I blew the rest on books.]

6) My favorite dessert I've ever eaten was at the Grey Rock restaurant in Green Lake, WI. Goat-cheese cheesecake! Mmmmm...it was aMAZing.

Tagged: Lovebug