My T.O. buddy James tagged me for some sort of “8 Things” meme. These things go around every so often, and I don’t believe I’ve ever responded to such a tag. But hey, I’m low on original content today, so here I go — and I’ll even tie my eight thematically to each item of James’ list. Eight things you don’t know about me:

1. I not only like visiting obscure countries — I love them. I have an unusual affection for both Uruguay and Zambia. Every few months, I scout out Uruguayan real estate online. (So cheap!) In a related matter, I have a real affection for the Mercosur nations.

2. I used to speak French quite well, in part because it was spoken almost as often as English in my house when I was young. (We lived for a time with my great-grandmother, who spoke only Cajun French.) I even got a scholarship to judge a French-language film festival in Quebec when I was in high school. But when I tried to learn Spanish, it immediately sucked all French out of my brain. Now, when I try to speak French, it switches into Spanish mid-sentence. God help me if I follow through on my threat to learn Portuguese.

3. I have cheated twice on my driver’s license exams. My left eye sees supernaturally well (almost 20/10); my right eye sees okay. But those eye-test machines that show different images to each eye and expect your brain to stitch them together — they freak my mind out. So I’ve used a little creative eye positioning.

4. Before I was a writing/journalism/history geek, I was a math/science geek. My early teachers swore I was going to be a scientist.

5. As a child, I had a pet guinea pig named Digger. He was a good pig.

6. The first concert I ever attended was Kenny Rogers in Baton Rouge. I was about 7. Truly, you gotta know when to hold ‘em. Know when to fold ‘em. Know when to walk away. Know when to run.

7. I once played what I will refer to as deep rhythm guitar in a band with some of my Dallas Morning News colleagues. I am not a good guitar player. But I will be taking guitar lessons with Mission of Burma’s Roger Miller this fall. (Really!)

8. I made an illegal border crossing into Zimbabwe once. About which nothing more will be said.

16 July 2007

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