Thursday, January 29, 2009

The Changing of Sunlight to Moonlight

I haven't done a meme in a long time; this is one that I did that is popping up all over Facebook like meth labs in the hills of Kentucky. And is about as addictive. So, here's 25 Things About Me:

-I met my wife on a blind date in January 1987 and we were married that October.

-I have been knocked unconscious a lot, including every job I ever had (except the last one, where I passed out, and the current one, which the meter is still running on).

-I was the first person to win a Letterman Scholarship at Ball State for scriptwriting. When I stood up to accept the award, being a young smartass at the time, I thanked the Smith-Corona typewriter company and the creator of White-Out.

-I was given tickets to the Letterman show as part of the scholarship and my wife and I went to see the show in 1988. The studio was smaller than you would think. The guests that night were Isiah Thomas, Chris Elliot and Terrence Trent D'Arby.

-Much to the chagrin of practically everyone I talk to about it, I always read the last chapter of a book before I start it. And no I did not get that idea from Billy Crystal in "When Harry Met Sally."

-I have been involved with Big Brothers/Big Sisters since 1987 and have had three Little Brothers. The one I have now is 13 and the first one I had is now, unbelievably, 34.

-As an adjunct faculty at Ball State University I was the advisor for a student group that produced a minority public affairs program. I am still proud that they named their annual Outstanding Leadership Award after me.

-I was flattered to see that the short films "The Hook" and "The B-Team" both have characters named after me.

-I was the Ball State Daily News Freshman Writer of the Year in 1985. I had not yet learned to type and wrote all my stories in longhand.

-My nickname in high school was "Ace."

-I have never learned to play Solitaire and don't understand a lick of it.

-I also could not blow a bubble with a gun to my head.

-The very first movie I ever remember seeing is "The Barefoot Executive." The first movie I saw when we got HBO as a kid was "The Last Remake of Beau Geste." The first R- rated movie I saw was "Alien."

-My favorite comic book character growing up was, for whatever reason lost in the dustbins of history, the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick. I used to call him "Pot Head Flash" before I knew the subtle connotations there, as he wore a winged Mercury helmet. It is still my favorite superpower.

-When I was a kid, there were three measures of coolness: seeing Star Wars at least 13 times, being able to go see the R rated version of Saturday Night Fever instead of the PG version, and being able to stay up all night watching Sammy Terry. I only could do one of these.

-In general I do not like to watch a movie over again, nor do I like to start watching a movie if I miss the beginning.

-I listen to ELO's "Out of the Blue" and The 5th Dimension "Greatest Hits on Earth" over and over when I need inspiration.

-I have probably read "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller more times than any other book.

-I loved "The Prisoner" TV series so much I never watched the last episode because I never wanted it to end.

-I have walked on the Great Wall of China and stood in Tianenmen Square a year before it took on a new meaning.

-The first record I bought for myself was "Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd from a garage sale across the street--it still hand the stickers in it. The first one given to me was a .45 of "King Tut" by Steve Martin by my friend Todd Merickel in 7th grade. The last 8-Track I bought was "Wings Greatest Hits." The first cassette I owned was Tom Petty 'Hard Promises." I played it with the 8-track adapter. The first CD I owned was "Ten" by Pearl Jam.

-To my secret shame, the first rock concert I went to see was Adam Ant, with The Romantics as the opening act, at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

-Like most teenagers in the early 80s, I was briefly in a punk band. It was called The Johnnies.-

-With a friend, I hosted my own cable access show in Muncie, Indiana, called Back Issue. It was about comic book collecting, and we produced around 75 episodes circa 1997-2000.

-I have always drawn my own comics, made my own zines, shot my own movies on Super-8 and video. I now know this is called DIY but we used to call it being a nerd.

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