Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Meme-ories Are Made Of This

I haven’t responded to a meme for a long time but today I’m making an exception by answering one sent to me by lovely Lucy Fishwife.

Basically I have to list 6 random things about myself – preferably things that you don’t already know – and then pass the meme on to 6 other lucky-lucky bloggers. While I think about who to infect with the meme disease here are 6 interesting (I hope) but little known facts about yours truly.

1) I’m a “published” poet. Kind of. I’ve had about 30 poems published over the years in various poetry journals and anthologies. Sadly I’ve never had a collection published or won any major poetry competitions which would have blasted my name before the addled sight of the UK literati. Out of the 30 published I was only ever properly paid for one: £10 for a poem called “Love” that was published in top-notch poetry mag The Rialto. I briefly considered framing the cheque but the law of economics took over and I cashed it.

2) I was at school for much of my younger life with fellow blogger Tris and we still maintain regular contact. He is quite simply and quite honestly my oldest friend. An initial acquaintance and then a friendship which dates back approximately 30 years. I’m very proud of this.

3) I had a childhood crush on Charlie’s Angels. All of them. But primarily it was Cheryl Ladd who floated my boyhood prepubescent boat. This is odd as she is blonde and with very few exceptions I go for brunettes. I have a wonderful wife (brunette) who thankfully feels unthreatened by this early blonde obsession and bought me the boxed set of Charlie’s Angels for my birthday last year. It’s crass, it’s dated, it’s so unbelievably 1970’s (even though it was filmed in the 80’s) but Cheryl Ladd has still got “it”. Though she has now been usurped in my affections by Keeley Hawes. Gotta move with the times, right? (Yes my search to find something previously unknown and interesting to say about myself is becoming desperate.)

4) One of my most vivid school memories is of the school playing field being covered in daddy-long-legs at the end of September / beginning of October (back when the seasons worked properly). One kid in a year below me made the mistake of charging towards the seething mass screaming out loud. One disoriented daddy-long-legs – evidently its bearings lost or fancying a kamikaze-style last act – promptly flew into the boy’s open mouth. Folks, it really is possible for a human being to turn bright green.

5) I have never in my entire life eaten steak. I don’t know why. I don’t have anything against red meat (though I’d hate to see my own going underneath Gordon Ramsay’s knife). I’ve just never ordered or desired a steak. Does this mean I am not a real man?

6) I used to write stories as a young boy where I was a superhero called Donny Osmond (look, I saw an Osmond cartoon once and it made an impression, OK?) and I had a gang of superhero friends who ranged (unsurprisingly) from the lovely ladies of Charlie’s Angels, the good guys from Star Wars, Logan and Jessica from Logan’s Run and for some weird reason Abba. I still have the stories – all hand written in little exercise books – beneath the bed. One memorable scene features my grandparents flying X-Wing fighters to blow up a humungous enemy star ship piloted by the evil Witchy Woo Hoo. It is my life’s ambition to make it available in all good books shops.


OK. Now for the tagging part. With apologies I’m tagging Tris, Inchy, Kaz, Brother Tobias, Kate and Amanda though please don’t feel you have to.

And lastly – the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. Write six random things about yourself
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them
5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Good luck and God speed.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah glad to see you squeezed Keeley in there somewhere. I have been tagged for this meme too and must get my act together and do it tomorrow if I can.

The sad thing is that I have run out of secrets.

I am amazed that you have never eaten steak. I love a good steak - rare or tartare is best.

Steve said...

Hi Gina, Keeley is always good for a quick squeeze I feel... ;-)

I must admit I couldn't think of many eath shattering secrets at all. I think I'm a bit too normal. Hardly much of an epitaph is it?

As for the steak... who knows? Maybe a resolution next year will see me gnashing my molars on some choice tartare next time I go out for a posh meal? ;-)

MommyHeadache said...

LMAO...Donny Osmond...so you were a superhero with unfeasibly square and large and white teeth?

Steve said...

Hey it works for Tom Cruise... And Bugs Bunny.

Inchy said...

Done

Inchy said...

Steak is SOOOO overrated.
Gimme a nice bit of fish or chicken any day.

justme said...

LOL!

skatey katie said...

ummmm, memes:
i get ridiculous stage fright and avoid memes like the plague. i think it's linked to my crazy idea that rules (like capital letters and not starting a sentence with a conjunction)) are for other peeps, not moi...

but i will divulge:
i'm a medium rare steak girl, myself. and it has to be rump steak.

with mushroom sauce and a mouthful of creamy mashed potatoes and asparagus on the side. or a big plate or asparagus to go with.

we have about two weeks left here of seasonal asparagus and i am buying it all.

love your collection of superhero stories under the bed. we have Bulldog's teenage poems stashed under ours. i love that X

MOTHER OF MANY said...

will we be able to read one of your poems?

The Sagittarian said...

Well, considering how interesting you are I can't believe you haven't found the right hat yet!! Slacker. As for the "tag"..I'll get onto it the moment I get back from Invercargill. Its a long weekend here and my older brother is having his 50th birthday party down there. Which is fair enuf cos that's where he lives!

The Sagittarian said...

Oh. And as a committed meat eater, and the industry I work in, I am staggered that you have never had steak! I'd be speechless but haven't a clue how to be.

Steve said...

Inchy: I must admit I always favour chicken too. If I go for red meat it's usually minced and in something Italian (like Monica Bellucci).

Justme: glad to have supplied some midweek entertainment!

Kate: I have to say the mash sounds more appealing! Yeah, I've got loads of pre-adulthood writing under the bed - probably the best place for much of it! ;-)

Ally: I have published some on line before (if you follow this link and scroll down, you'll find some. As for the famous Love poem - I'll try and dig it out and publish it, though I'm sure it will feel very dated to me now.

Amanda: I await with baited your breath for your response... and will try and fix my meat eating deficiencies as quickly as possible!

KAZ said...

I liked Farrah Fawcett meself. But have you seen her now after the surgery that didn't quite work out?
I've been tagged twice this week.
Leave it with me (as they say)

Steve said...

I always found Farrah Fawcett too... I don't know, boney and toothy. Inconsequential. There was no depth to her character whereas Cheryl Ladd was a bit more like the "girl-next-door"... if you happened to be living in California that is.

Looking forward to seeing what your responses will be.

s. said...

good to know you
thanks for sharing

Steve said...

Cheers Sukhada - thanks for visiting!

Lucy Fishwife said...

Bravo mon vieux! Memes rule. I had a horrible daddy-long-legs experience when I was about 7 - my dad was staying with us (early divorce) and made spaghetti for dinner - as he was stirring olive oil into the spag a daddy-long-legs flew into the light fixture overhead and promptly fell dead into the bowl, to be dismembered by my oblivious father. He managed to distribute legs and wings throughout the spaghetti. It didn't put me off spaghetti but it still makes me feel ill to think of it...

Steve said...

Lucy, there's nothing wrong with a little extra protein (and crunch) and I'm sure there's precious little fat on a daddy-long-legs. If the credit crunch starts to bite some more I may be down the bottom of the garden with a net more often... I wonder if you can sautee beetles in butter?