Eight Random Facts
I've been tagged by IT Catholic Mom to do the following meme. It's taken me forever to get to it, but here it is:
Here are the rules. (1) Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves. (2) People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (3) At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. (4) Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
Fact one: I'm currently listening to Discworld by Terry Pratchett on MP3. The reason I included this is that so much of the book surrounds the number eight, which is reflected in the number of random facts.
Fact two: I look for patterns and numbers everywhere I go. Primarily they are 42's, but I also seek out 1138's (as in THX1138, George Lucas' first film which he and his buddy Steven Speilberg reference in most of their films) . I look for birthdays and numeric references to letters. Look hard enough, and you'll notice that 42 is in every Pixar movie somewhere, and also in the sequences of numbers presented in "Lost" and "Donnie Darko".
Fact three: I am completely a type-B personality. That is, unless you get me in the driver's seat. A magical transformation occurs and I'm suddenly type-A, prompting my wife to utter, "WHO...ARE...YOU?" when I am faced with an unpleasant driving situation.
Fact four: People generally cannot tell I was raised on Long Island by my accent. I lost my accent during four years of radio shows at college. Listening to my tapes, I could hear the accent, and it didn't fit in with what I heard from the other DJ's. I wasn't aware that what I worked on for the radio show would carry over into daily life, but I've been OK with that as I moved about the country. Still, if I've had a few to drink or am angry, it comes back out. I've been pegged for Poughkeepsie (quite accurately based on where I lost the LI accent) and Canada (I say "eh", and have picked up a slightly Canuck "ya" from friends on the ships).
Fact five: I am addicted to online socialization. There's no word shy of that which fits. It started with "CB" on CompuServe in 1983 (actually, it goes back to the less-technical pen-pals I had as a teen). It led into a brief stint on AOL chat rooms. Then to IRC. At this point, Second Life is my compulsion. There are two reasons for this. One is that I cannot get out to social venues much at this stage in life, and the other is that people like me frequent these places, so there is commonality. Of course, this blog is yet another outlet of this addiction, although it's suffered at the hands of SL and an exaggerated commute lately.
Fact six: In the early 1980's, I was given the nickname "ET". When the film first came out, I went to visit my pen-pals in upstate New York. Young teens, themselves, they had a very different view of my hometown than was reality (i.e. - "how can a little guy like you survive without a gang?"). One of them made the comment, "Wow, it's like you're all alone in a whole different world?" One thing led to another, and my fate was sealed. My first car, a Ford Torino Elite, was named "Eliot", and hanging from its rearview mirror was a plushy ET figure from a carnival. In college, I argued lightheartedly with a friend (another Eric) whose last name began with "T" as to who truly owned the nickname. It was never resolved.
Fact seven: I am not easily embarrassed. At work once, a friend got a botched up haircut and fixed it by buzzing his whole head with a #3 guard. My boss asked, "How much to get that buzzcut on purpose?" I suggested $100. He dropped 5 $20's on the table. I did it and got the money. My haircutter jokingly asked numerous times if I wanted that haircut again. At animation school, for some reason, I landed on 7 of the 12 students' demo reels interacting with CG robots. they said it was because they liked my acting. I attribute it to simply being willing to let loose in front of a recording device.
Fact eight: I require very little external stimulus. I can simply think for hours. When I left Florida for California, I had bunches of CD's in the car and an audiobook on MP3. Three days later, the Police best-of CD was still in its wrapper, and I'd only made it halfway through the 8-hour audio book. I listened to The Jam repeatedly and took in what passed by my windows. I don't really recall boredom the entire way. On our first driving trips, Michelle was worried about how I'd handle being on the road. Once I learned not to drink iced tea on the road (20 minutes between potty breaks?? no way!), we established a very zen mode of travel. Our kids have inherited this trait, thank God!
OK... eight other people... I'm going to start with my newest blogging friend, Karys, who was looking for a reason to restart blogging. Next, three others with whom I've been blogging buddies longest... Aynde, Cara, and Christy. Then, I'll move to friends from Second Life (of whom, Karys is one)... Rosa, Jaycatt, and Johan (who ASKED for contact and who might kill me for giving it in this form haha). I'm even going to go out on a limb and ask Dolmere to join in (fellow second-lifer and fellow poster of randomly found 42's!). Kinda hard to come up with eight people when your circles have already been tagged. :)
Here are the rules. (1) Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves. (2) People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (3) At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. (4) Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
Fact one: I'm currently listening to Discworld by Terry Pratchett on MP3. The reason I included this is that so much of the book surrounds the number eight, which is reflected in the number of random facts.
Fact two: I look for patterns and numbers everywhere I go. Primarily they are 42's, but I also seek out 1138's (as in THX1138, George Lucas' first film which he and his buddy Steven Speilberg reference in most of their films) . I look for birthdays and numeric references to letters. Look hard enough, and you'll notice that 42 is in every Pixar movie somewhere, and also in the sequences of numbers presented in "Lost" and "Donnie Darko".
Fact three: I am completely a type-B personality. That is, unless you get me in the driver's seat. A magical transformation occurs and I'm suddenly type-A, prompting my wife to utter, "WHO...ARE...YOU?" when I am faced with an unpleasant driving situation.
Fact four: People generally cannot tell I was raised on Long Island by my accent. I lost my accent during four years of radio shows at college. Listening to my tapes, I could hear the accent, and it didn't fit in with what I heard from the other DJ's. I wasn't aware that what I worked on for the radio show would carry over into daily life, but I've been OK with that as I moved about the country. Still, if I've had a few to drink or am angry, it comes back out. I've been pegged for Poughkeepsie (quite accurately based on where I lost the LI accent) and Canada (I say "eh", and have picked up a slightly Canuck "ya" from friends on the ships).
Fact five: I am addicted to online socialization. There's no word shy of that which fits. It started with "CB" on CompuServe in 1983 (actually, it goes back to the less-technical pen-pals I had as a teen). It led into a brief stint on AOL chat rooms. Then to IRC. At this point, Second Life is my compulsion. There are two reasons for this. One is that I cannot get out to social venues much at this stage in life, and the other is that people like me frequent these places, so there is commonality. Of course, this blog is yet another outlet of this addiction, although it's suffered at the hands of SL and an exaggerated commute lately.
Fact six: In the early 1980's, I was given the nickname "ET". When the film first came out, I went to visit my pen-pals in upstate New York. Young teens, themselves, they had a very different view of my hometown than was reality (i.e. - "how can a little guy like you survive without a gang?"). One of them made the comment, "Wow, it's like you're all alone in a whole different world?" One thing led to another, and my fate was sealed. My first car, a Ford Torino Elite, was named "Eliot", and hanging from its rearview mirror was a plushy ET figure from a carnival. In college, I argued lightheartedly with a friend (another Eric) whose last name began with "T" as to who truly owned the nickname. It was never resolved.
Fact seven: I am not easily embarrassed. At work once, a friend got a botched up haircut and fixed it by buzzing his whole head with a #3 guard. My boss asked, "How much to get that buzzcut on purpose?" I suggested $100. He dropped 5 $20's on the table. I did it and got the money. My haircutter jokingly asked numerous times if I wanted that haircut again. At animation school, for some reason, I landed on 7 of the 12 students' demo reels interacting with CG robots. they said it was because they liked my acting. I attribute it to simply being willing to let loose in front of a recording device.
Fact eight: I require very little external stimulus. I can simply think for hours. When I left Florida for California, I had bunches of CD's in the car and an audiobook on MP3. Three days later, the Police best-of CD was still in its wrapper, and I'd only made it halfway through the 8-hour audio book. I listened to The Jam repeatedly and took in what passed by my windows. I don't really recall boredom the entire way. On our first driving trips, Michelle was worried about how I'd handle being on the road. Once I learned not to drink iced tea on the road (20 minutes between potty breaks?? no way!), we established a very zen mode of travel. Our kids have inherited this trait, thank God!
OK... eight other people... I'm going to start with my newest blogging friend, Karys, who was looking for a reason to restart blogging. Next, three others with whom I've been blogging buddies longest... Aynde, Cara, and Christy. Then, I'll move to friends from Second Life (of whom, Karys is one)... Rosa, Jaycatt, and Johan (who ASKED for contact and who might kill me for giving it in this form haha). I'm even going to go out on a limb and ask Dolmere to join in (fellow second-lifer and fellow poster of randomly found 42's!). Kinda hard to come up with eight people when your circles have already been tagged. :)
OK... time to walk away from the keyboard before the urge to socialize online overtakes me once again!
posted by Eric at 14:37
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