A Meme! Six Random Things

Wren at Wrenaissance Reflections tagged me for the “Six Random Facts” meme. Having never been tagged directly for anything I'm a bit nervous: what should I wear? Should I bring a dish to pass, or a bottle of wine? I probably need a haircut.

Here are the rules for Six Random Things:

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.

Please hang in there while I think out loud: I linked back to Wren, I posted the rules. Two down, four to go, so now for the creative, openly-honest, soul-bearing part. Here goes:

1. "Isn't it ironic?"
I love people but hate gatherings. I'd rather hang out with one or two folks than attend a group function, though when forced to go to a gathering I always end up having a great time. (Quote from Randal in Clerks (bonus random thing: one of the funniest movies I've ever seen).)

2. "I'm late, I'm late!"
Given the natural order of things I would be late for everything. I conscientiously try very hard to be a bit early for events, both scheduled and unscheduled. I've (half-) jokingly referred to this as a genetic disorder as most everyone on my paternal side suffers from the same condition. Then again, it may be a learned behavior. Note to self, set up a longitudinal twin study for eventual publication. (Quote from the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.)

3. "Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends . . . "
I spent a summer working at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA as part of a show introducing audiences to various raptors and parrots. As the raptor guy I presented and handled various raptors such as American Kestrels, Barn Owls, Harris Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks, among others, culminating with Liberty, the Bald Eagle. (Quote from Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Karn Evil 9.)

4. "Pick up my guitar and play"
Much of my free time that isn't birding-oriented is spent playing guitar, almost exclusively acoustic these days. I'm not that bad when I play by myself, but put me with other musicians and you'll find out what musical arrhythmia means. What I prefer to play and what I can play are often two different sets, but their intersection keeps me happy. Most importantly, it entertains my 4-year-old daughter to no end and doesn't annoy my wife (at least, not enough that she tells me). (Quote from The Who, Won't Get Fooled Again)

5. "The elements in harmony"
Launching off of my late college career as a botanist, I started my post-college career as a botanist. Actually, as a molecular biologist. My desire was to work in a more general, ecologically broad field, but I spent my first year running gel electrophoresis on various cultivars of Brassica oleracea. I'll leave it to your Googling skills to figure out what important plant(s) I prepared for quantitative analysis. Boy, that sounds a lot more impressive than what it actually entailed! (Quote from Thomas Dolby, She Blinded Me With Science).

6. "I Want to be Like You"
One of my junior high teachers assigned an essay about who we most admired and why, and I was alone in choosing a relative rather than a celebrity. My uncle Ekkie not only has spellbinding stories from his past, such as escaping from eastern Germany as the wall was rapidly constructed, but his curiosity was insatiable, he possessed a seemingly photographic memory, a magnetic personality, and boundless energy. It's nearly three decades since I wrote that essay about him but he's still my top pick. (Quote from the King of Orangutans in the Jungle Book, here performed by Paulo Nutini.)

That said, I will tag six more people even though everyone and their dog probably already addressed this topic. To those listed below, I apologize if you've already participated and I missed it, but if you're up to it I look forward to your responses. My nominees:

• Greg at Conservation Conversations
• Owlman at The Owl Box
• Charles at the contemplative nuthatch
• deejbrown at Oak in the Seed
• Jan at Scattered Seed
• Wendy at Musings on Nature

Whew, I think I got through it all. In the immortal words of John Lennon, "I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves. I hope we passed the audition."

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