It seems that I’ve been tagged.  The “meme” seems to be to disclose five things people don’t know about me.  Hmm… but if I write about them then someone will know and they won’t be things people don’t know about me…

1.  I used to play drums and percussion instruments (tympani, marimba, etc).  I played from fifth grade all the way through college.  I also did a little bit of drum set and Latin percussion work, but I always preferred marching band (despite the backaches and the heat).  I’ve played in front of audiences up to 50,000 as part of a large group (ETSU marching band at a Thanksgiving Cowboys game) and up to 1,000 solo or lead in an ensemble. 

I still find myself in a strangely restless mood in late August, and especially hearing the click-track from over at Keller High’s practice grid.  All that experience also gave me a pretty good internal metronome, so I can tell time fairly well, even without a watch.  I also have the ability to judge good percussion work from bad, although I rarely comment on it so as not to offend anyone involved.

I sometimes get the urge to take it up again, but a) I don’t have room for a drum set in the house and b) I’m sure the neighbors are glad I don’t have room for a drum set.

2.  I’ve never quite understood people who flatly deny that “paranormal” events are possible or that think everyone who experiences them is having some sort of mass delusion.  Of course, they’d probably think I was delusional, but I’ve experienced things that many would consider paranormal.  My belief is these things are all natural phenomena, but that our science isn’t advanced enough to explain them yet. 

I hope to live long enough to see some of these secrets revealed by science.

3.  Many might judge my choice of clothing as sloppy (although I prefer the term comfortable).  I especially hate tucking in shirts.  But despite that, I’m very fastidious about personal hygiene.  I wash my hands frequently, and I can’t abide someone who stinks.  I especially don’t want to be that person, so I make sure to shower every day or more often (I once showered three times in one day, after a couple of separate outside work sessions on a particularly hot day). 

4.  I very rarely drink alcohol, and when I do I usually confine it to one beer or a single drink.  I long ago recognized that drinking more than one or two drinks can quickly cause things to get out of control.  Somewhere between number 3 and number 4 all hell breaks loose and the next thing I know it’s 4:30am and I’m banging on a hotel room door wondering why I can’t get in (even though it has my number on it, dammit!) until I realize I’m in the hotel next door.  Yes, that really happened.  It was an incident involving most of a fifth of Jack black and a chunk of missing time.  The wrong door incident is the first thing I remember after about 2:00am.  Fortunately no one was in that room, though.  Some other time you’ll have to remind me to tell you about the time I got lost in a bathroom and couldn’t find my way out.

It’s much simpler to be the designated driver these days.  It keeps me out of trouble and provides opportunities for future blackmail. 

5.  Whenever I go to events or travel to a new location I almost always end up buying a hat or cap of some kind.  It’s funny in a way, in that I’ve got 20 or 30 caps on a special hanger in a closet but I have to scramble to find a cap to wear when walking the dog because I don’t want to get any of the “special” hats dirty.