Filthy Blog Cootie Infection

Stogie from the great blog Saberpoint infected me with this meme. I'm, apparently, supposed to give eight facts about myself which people would not know, but are revealing of my personality. I'll probably give you a few more than eight, since I'm totally obsessed with myself.

Okey-doke.

1) I was adopted. My parents who raised me are German. I call them Mom and Dad, because they put their time and love into me, and I am grateful to them for it. My birth parents are English. I know both families, and consider myself close to both sets of parents. My birth mother is a writer and my birth father is a Salesman who turned into a "Managing Director" which is Brit-speak for a CEO. I am a salesman who has evolved into an executive and business-owner, and my wife is a painter. My birth father is EXTREMELY OPINIONATED, and THINKS HE IS RIGHT ALL THE FUCKING TIME. Does that sound familiar? For all the similarities between my birth parents and myself, I am more like my adoptive family in values. We are homebodies, and I am close to the ultimate homebody.

2) My wife is a first-generation immigrant (from the Philippines) which, in a way, I am also. In many cases, I relate to immigrants better than I relate to native citizens of the United States.

3) My wife is totally fucking beautiful, and she is one of the kindest, most generous people I have ever known.

4) I pretty much did nothing BUT music until I was thirty years old. I was a "minor-league rock star", playing clubs on the Sunset Strip and around Southern California. We had a CD out, got very limited airplay, decent reviews in major newspapers and music periodicals, but sold very, very few copies of the CD. I was dirt poor. I look back on that period of my life with a small measure of pride, for my creativity. But, for the most part, I think of it as years of complete idiocy and self-absorption.

5) I used to be heroin-chic skinny, though I have never used drugs. Now I am a relatively muscular, though thin (no fat on my body), middle-aged dude.

6) I once lived in what had been a crack-house before I moved in. It was in the ghetto of Pasadena, CA. It was literally a shack, and you could see through cracks in the walls to the outside. Druggies would come to my door all hours of the day and night looking for the guy who lived there before me. I had a pitbull then, and I used to answer the door with him on a leash. I would allow him to jump on the people and snarl. That scared them all away. One day, the poor, little black kid next door (he was about five years old) said to me, "Hey Mr., do you want to see a picture of my best friend?" I said, "Yeah," and he held up a Polaroid of a frightening looking dude in corn rows who had a gun pointed towards the camera. I asked the kid who the guy in the photo was. He said, "That's the guy who lived there before you." I often wonder whatever became of that kid.

7) I have about 100 units towards a degree in Philosophy. I quit college only 20 units from my degree, to play music. Later I went back to school and started over, getting a degree in English Literature, when I was in my 30's. I had gone back to school with the intention of becoming a Professor of Literature, but by the time I graduated, I was already making more money than my Professors, so I stuck with business. 

8) I love to garden, read poetry, listen to classical music, and jazz, and I love girly stuff like fragrances, stemware, candles, ornate candleabras, etc.

9) I used to have hair halfway down my back which was curly like Robert Plant's. In fact, I used to look a bit like Robert Plant. I would dress in d black clothing painted in iridescent blues and greens most the time. I was a VERY arty dude, and people would either love me or hate me. Now, I am about as normal looking a person as you can possibly imagine.  

10) I'm a huge basketball fan, rarely missing a Laker game, unless my wife wants to do something with the family.

11) I'm also a huge fan of Mixed-Martial Arts, which is the most brutal sport on the planet. I love watching dude's beat each other to a bloody pulp.

12) The secret to my prolific blogging is that, because of the nature of my business, I am on the phone a good deal of everyday, I read the news while I'm on hold, and every ten phone calls or so, I post something on one of the various blogs I contribute to.

13) Besides having produced an album of music, I have also written a novel, two screenplays, and quite a few short stories. Unfortunately, I've made very little money writing. The only things I've ever had published were articles in business periodicals, and music and film reviews. 

14) Now that I'm in my mid-40's, I've finally learned how to jettison resentment and anger towards people who I feel have wronged me. However, I have a very hard time forgiving myself for not living up to my own expectations. I guess that's called a mid-life crisis. 

:)

I hereby infect on Culturist John, Revere Rides Again, and Midnight Rider with this Cootie Meme.