Into the Fire

Well, since I didn’t have a blog post for Tuesday anyway . . . this is “it”.

First, these are the rules:
1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1.I started biting my fingernails during the worst year of my life: 7th grade, and I haven’t stopped since.

2.I’ve loved horses since before I could talk, I think, and I was born and raised in the city of Seattle.

3.I rode my first horse at the age of 4 in Montana, and he ran off with me. My parents nearly passed out, but I loved it and was disappointed when the guide on a beautiful white horse had to chase me down to get my horse stopped.

4.I offered to give Santa Claus a dollar to help him buy me a horse for Christmas.

5.I used to drive my Mom’s Le Mans convertible down I-5 to the racetrack (horse racing) at 100 mph at 4 AM many moons ago. (Thank the Lord, Mom and Dad are with Jesus now.)

6.I went to Europe just after my 20th birthday to chase down a British actor, but he got married to a ditzy starlet in the states before I arrived. I did manage to meet his manager and finally on the day before I left for home got to see the actor when he came in the door of his manager’s office. He said good morning to me.

7.I had my nose broken by a line drive to the face with a softball when I was pitching in a pickup game with racetrackers.

8.I sucked my thumb beyond, well, a long time. (So did my niece, and so did my second son.)

Well, I don’t think I know 8 people who haven’t been tagged yet. But I think we should get the men in on this, so Mark Harbeson, you’re elected. How about J. Mark Bertrand? And Stephen Parolini?

Due to technical reasons beyond our control, Stephen Parolini, editor and author, was gracious enough to give his 8 things but couldn’t post them. I have his permission to post them here!

Here are 8 random facts/habits of Steve’s.

1. I always wipe the rim of my coffee cup so there are no little droplets of liquid there between sips. Probably some OCD-Lite thing.

2. My artistic skills are severely lacking, but I not only won a contest to get an original illustration on the cover of my college yearbook, I’ve illustrated a book published in the CBA. It’s probably important to note that there were only three entrants in the yearbook contest and that my illustration, even though it was the least worst, was too embarrassing to use on the cover so they hid it on an inside page; and that the book I illustrated was Taming a Liger, which only demanded drawing skills on the level of Napoleon Dynamite. It was pretty much the best work I’d ever done…

3. I wrote a screenplay (and composed an original score) for an independent film about a dozen years ago. We filmed the thing, but ran out of money and couldn’t get a distributor to pony up the finishing money so it never was released. (I’m working on a new movie, though, and this promises to be much better.)

4. I got my four-year degree (BA in Christian studies…a pre-seminary degree, though I didn’t go on to seminary) in three years.

5. While in college I was in a band that was invited to play in the “pre-show” at the Icthus Christian music festival in Wilmore, KY. I should note here that I was in the band because I was the only person they knew who owned a synthesizer and everyone thought a synthesizer would make the band that much cooler.

6. I wrote a book that has sold more than 150,000 copies, but you’d have to get out a magnifying glass to discover this. It was a works-for-hire project for Thomas Nelson – Checklist for Life. They just released a condensed version of the book (the original released in 2002) and I saw it on the new books table at B&N just yesterday. And, no, I don’t own the copyright so the royalties aren’t mine. I am thankful that I get a “bonus” royalty, though. A kind (and unusually generous) gesture from the packaging company who owns the series. Buy the book…or just send me 12.5 cents and pretend you did.

7. When I was nine, my parents finally caved and bought us a dog – a mutt with beagle tendencies. I named her “Winnie the Pooch,” but cute as that was, it was really a smokescreen to hide the fact that I really was naming her after my secret (meaning: she didn’t know) fifth-grade love, Winifred (Winnie) Watkins.

8. I have a love/hate relationship with licorice Altoids.

Alright, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Blogosphere: This is my one and ONLY participation in a Tagfest. Got it?? But thanks for thinkin’ of me.