Thursday, November 6, 2008

Six Random Facts About Me

Here is the second "meme" that Fancy Schmancy tagged me with last week. Happy reading!

MEME 2 -- Six Random or Weird Things About Me

The assignment:

Share 6/7 random/weird things about yourself. Tag 6/7 other bloggers, link to them, put a comment on their blog letting them know they've been tagged.

As with yesterday's meme, I'm not tagging anyone, but if I have any readers who haven't done this meme and would like to participate, please feel welcome to participate and to comment and let me know you've done so.

The disclaimer:

The assignment didn't say they had to be interesting. Just random or weird.

The answer:

1. When I was in college, I worked at the CIA for two summers, through their summer intern program (available to persons who have a parent who works there). It required filling out a huge application form, including lots of personal questions, so that I could obtain a "Secret" level government clearance. Then they actually conducted face to face interviews with people who knew me – including my college roommate and others who lived in my college dorm. I didn’t know these interviews were going to be part of the process, so I hadn’t warned anyone that the CIA might contact them. Imagine my roommate’s surprise when, on the weekend I had gone "home" to visit my family, a CIA Agent knocked at our dorm room door and asked her lots of questions about me. I was hired either in spite of, or perhaps because of, whatever my roommate said about me.... She never would tell me what they asked or what she said.

2. When I was a kid, my friends all loved the "Road Runner" and laughed uproariously whenever he foiled the Coyote yet again. I always felt sorry for the Coyote, who was constantly spending all that money on expensive and shabby contraptions from that worthless "Acme" company and was always unable to catch that annoying-as-hell Road Runner ("Beep! Beep!"). Do you think I lacked a sense of humor, or did anyone else feel that way, too?

3. When I was in the 5th grade, I won the school spelling bee and represented my school in the regional spelling bee. I’ll post about that experience some other time. For now, I'll just say that I should have won the regional spelling bee (but didn’t) and I am still an awesome speller. (humble, too... but not bitter about it... oh no, not bitter at all....)

4. Instead of a "best man" at our wedding, we had a "best woman." She was (and is) a very good friend of my husband’s. He has known her since he was in high school. Her husband and both of their kids were also in the wedding party.

5. I used to run the office football pool (for 9 years). These days, I couldn’t tell you who’s in first place or last place in the NFL.

6. I had about 2 seconds of fame when I was one of many "Deadheads" featured in a made-for-television Grateful Dead documentary sometime in the early 1990's, answering the question "what is your favorite line from a Dead song?" (Answer, "Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile"). I can't even remember what station or company made the documentary (Discovery Channel, maybe?) but my former college roommate (the one who answered questions for the CIA) sent me a videotape of it. No, not a DVD, a videotape. You know, the kind we played on a VHS machine back in the last century? Someday I'll dig it out of the closet and see if I can figure out a way to post a clip from it on YouTube and/or share it here with you all.

Thanks for reading and, if you like, consider yourself "tagged."

6 comments:

Dr Zibbs said...

That's pretty cool about the CIA. As for the Dead tape, there are so many Dead fan website I'm sure you can get it for free online somewhere. I have a friend that's a major Dead Head. I'll ask him.

LegalMist said...

Thanks, Dr. Z. I actually looked online, but with so little to go on (can't remember the title or the company that made the show), had no luck finding it. I think once I find the videotape w/the title, I'll be able to go online and find it. I wouldn't be surprised if there were already a YouTube clip showing the portion I'm in, since there were lots of other Deadheads in there, too.

LegalMist said...

And, holy cow, were you really up at 4:51 a.m. commenting on my blog?!? Don't you have anything better to do than read this drivel at 4:51 a.m.?

Fancy Schmancy said...

I got a cheap vcr/dvr-w comb at the Wall Marts. Once you record the tape onto a dvd, you should be able to put it into your computer's dvr drive (if you have one) and upload it.

I wonder if we ever met each other at one of the shows?

I don't think you lacked a sense of humor at all. I liked the road runner better than the coyote, and always wondered why he didn't just take the money he spent at Acme and buy himself some food.

P.S. Just in case you're still in the CIA, I swear Fancy Schmancy is my real name.

LegalMist said...

No, I'm not still working at the CIA. I'm a lawyer. Really.

Then again, some people think that's even worse.

Re: Dead shows, they played so many places, for so many years, for so many Deadheads... it's possible, but probably not likely, that we've met. Unless you were hanging out in the same part of the U.S.... I went to shows mostly in the Virginia/DC/Maryland area (Hampton, Richmond, Roanoke, Merriweather Post Pavilion -- lovely outdoor venue -- Capital Centre, RFK Stadium (with Dylan & Tom Petty)), with one foray to North Carolina (Halloween 1985), a few in Oakland (including a fantastic New Year's Eve show there), a few in Phoenix (including one for which my husband managed to get front row seats at the venue formerly known as Desert Sky Pavilion!), and a few in Las Vegas (Dave Matthews Band opened; this was where the gal was selling the "organic peanut butter ganja gooballs" that I commented about on your blog).

Then Jerry died, and that was that.

Dale said...

I hated the Road Runner and could never figure out why my father laughed uproariously every time it was on.