The one and the only Tom Lucas put me up for the Liebster Award.  First and foremost, if you aren’t following Tom Lucas or reading his book yet, get with the program and head over to www.readtomlucas.com.  Second, and something other than foremost, thank you for the nod, kind sir.  I am really thrilled that you included me in a list of really cool blogs and hope you accept my most sincere gratitude.

Oh really? Me? I had no idea. Here are 11 long winded things about me!

Let me first tell you a little bit about this blogging award, it is for blogs with less than 200 followers and has four steps:

1. List 11 things about yourself.

2. Answer the nominator’s 11 questions.

3. Choose up to 11 nominees with less than 200 followers and ask them your own questions.

4. Inform them of the awesomeness.

Let’s start with 11 things about me:

1. I hate ketchup.  I despise the fact that it is spelled catsup in some circles.  Heinz found 47 ways to gross me out.  The entire concept is just wrong, vinegar and smashed tomatoes.  Really?  Actually the thought of it is making me wish I only had to list 10 things.  I also hate episodes that end with “to-be-continued.”  Really?
2. I’m addicted to loyalty programs and the “status” that comes along with them.  There is just something about watching points accrue.  It’s kind of like getting those bonus spins in Vegas on the Monopoly slot machine.  Perhaps I need to consider loyalty points anonymous (do they have a dedicated premier line?).
3. I brought Insanity, the workout dvd series, to Cambodia and I’m afraid I started a little bit of a home fitness craze in Seam Reap.
4. I’m blessed with an amazing family and group of friends.  Honestly, it’s kind of unfair.
5. My wife encouraged me to take a creative writing class the week after I was made redundant by my old law firm (now several years ago).  I was crushed by the entire thing, until I realized that there was a passion burning inside of me that I had really never knew existed.  Now I have a group of writing friends that span several countries, a blog with almost 200 followers and nearly 200 posts, and a mostly complete Novel.  I also have carpal tunnel.
6. I used to write the score of every single Kings game on the back of a Pee-Chee folder.
   

   I heard Pee Chee folded.

7. I used Priceline.com during the very early years to buy a last minute flight to Paris.  I traveled alone and had no hotel or plans to speak of other than to meet my buddy in Barcelona about a week or two later.  I landed and took the RER from the airport to Champs-Elysees and found hordes of people lining the street.  I climbed a tree and within minutes watched Lance Armstrong drink champagne as he crossed the finish-line.  Looking back it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but it was a pivotal moment in my life.  I took a leap of faith, in myself, and was rewarded handsomely.
8. When I was a little guy, I refused to go up into the WorldTrade Center blaming it on a fear of heights.  My dad chilled with me at the bottom while the rest of the family went up.  We probably had ice-cream and went for a nice walk.  I now look back on it and realize heights was really never an issue for me (sky-diving made that clear enough), all I really wanted was some alone time with the coolest dad on the planet (I was one of eight kids).  And I got it.
9. I went to elementary school with Cherry from Punky Brewster.
10. My finger was trapped in a gumball machine and the fire department had to come bail me out.  That is a great story.
11.  Part of me still believes in Santa.  Not the tooth-fairy, talk about Shenanigans when it comes to that broad.  If there was really a tooth-fairy, we’d all be like the guys on Moonshiners, because I think that would be something we just couldn’t  get enough of.  But Santa, once a year, that is something I can buy into.  Bring it on Mr. Clause.

(to-be-continued)

Categories: Confession, Creative Writing

Tags: blogging awards, creative writing, Insanity, inspiration, Lance Armstrong, Liebster Award, life, Pee-Chee, Read Tom Lucas, writing