Five Things Most People Don’t Know About Me
Now I’m no stranger to blogging and readers here are no stranger to me. So a lot of folks know that:
I had a brief but hugely rewarding friendship with Dizzy Gillespie
I played the saxophone on the Gerry Raferty hit song Baker Street
I was in an emergency landing in a plane in the desert
I can not see the difference between red and green*
…among other things that I have shared that, just like everyone else, make me different.
But I still have a few doozies up my sleeve for blogging droughts. Or at least I did, until I was tagged by Anna.
1. When I was a kid, our family used to get Christmas cards -
from Kurt Waldheim
It’s a long story, but the Secretary General of the UN used to greet our seasons. At the time I was more impressed that he used to be an actual stormtrooper. But then I found it wasn’t the kind of stormtrooper I thought. These aren’t the cards you’re looking for.
2. My fingers all curve into the middle
So if you look at my left hand from the top, the pinky curves right and the index finger curves left. Only the middle one is straight. My right hand is the exact opposite.
3. I hate cucumber
It tastes of chewy water with a twist of something like nothing else on earth, thank god. And it stinks.
4. I can blow out air indefinitely
Non-stop that is. Someone once bet me I couldn’t hold a note on the saxophone for a whole minute. I took the challenge and held it for fourty five. At the time I wish I had known about spread betting. It’s called circular breathing and it doesn’t come in handy at all.
5. I very nearly joined the Army
I went to Sandhurst military academy for tests when I was 16, I came first in physical training out of a group of fifty candidates and I was all set. I changed my mind almost literally at the last minute, on the day of the medical and I didn’t become a soldier.
I am tagging Sam, Writer’s Moll, *, Salvadore Vincent and Sooz.
*
Wouldn’t it be interesting if all of these facts could be connected in one story?
They can’t, by the way.
January 7th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
I played the saxophone on the Gerry Raferty hit song Baker Street
*sigh*
So shockingly misleading.
January 8th, 2007 at 8:24 am
What? I did.
http://www.thisisthis.org/2006/08/26/true-or-false-explanations/
Good spot Katy.
January 8th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
45 seconds?! I could blow my own trumpet for hours.
January 8th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
It appears you are one of those genetically disposed to tasting cucumber. Apparently, there are three kinds of tasters in the world. The first, a large category of folks who think cucumber tastes of nothing, only water, and are incredulous at people who don’t like it. “What? How can you not like cucumber? It doesn’t taste of anything! Only water!” Then there are those who think it tastes of something, but something not altogether unpalatable, like a mildly flavoured vegetable that can be consumed without taking your taste buds hostage for hours. And then, this is this, there’s the likes of your good self, who taste something overwhelmingly rancid and have to make retching noises and scrunch up their eyes after they eat a lettuce leaf that once spent a few dull moments in the company of a tiny, weeny piece of cucumber. Congratulations! This is your special power - cucumber tasting.
January 8th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Minutes, Sam. Fourty five minutes.
January 8th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
‘im indoors (Phil) can’t stand them either. He can tell if I’ve cut his tomato (why does that sound rude?) with the same knife I used to cut my cucumber. He feels vindicated that it’s a genetic thing.
January 8th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Bugger me.
January 8th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
Two things:
1. My fingers do that too, though my middle finger on each hand leans too, so on the left hand, the fingers are basically: / / \ \ and a thumb.
2. Forty-five MINUTES on one note? Good grief. I’m very glad I’m not your neighbour.
February 9th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
Oh, Christ alive — how did I miss this tagging? Oh I know, I went on hols on 8 Jan and I guess I didn’t scroll back far enough on my return. Sorry, Cliff (if you even read this); I’ll get on to it over the weekend. What a klutz!
February 27th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
I hate cucumbers too.
They taste like something that does not taste good.
February 27th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
My mom tried to get me to eat some cucumber before I could have the rest of my dinner. I said, “No dinner for me, thank you.” Mom said I would have to eat the cuc tomorrow. Yuck.
A Poem About Not Liking Cucumber
Give your cucs to the ducks
‘Cause when I smell such yucks
That makes me pukes.