Wednesday, July 15, 2009

A Meme

Meme-
NOUN:
A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another.

ETYMOLOGY:
Shortening (modeled on gene), of mimeme from Greek mimma, something imitated, from mimeisthai, to imitate.

The other day I my pal G-Man over at at the The Pickle tagged me with this. Thanks a lot G-Man, I really needed this. Just Kidding. This is a great opportunity for my readers to get to know me.

This is the first time I've been tagged with a meme in all the time that I've been blogging. This particular meme asks me to share 8 random "factoids" about myself then tag five others with the meme.

In G-Man's response to the meme he addressed the following 8 factoids:

1.) Home
2.) Dogs
3.) Fears
4.) Pet Peeves
5.) Movies
6.) Hobbies
7.) Odd Food Preferences
8.) Political Concerns

I thought this a good list of topics and decided to plagiarize it and issue my own set of responses. So here goes:


HOME


I grew up in a suburb of Dallas, TX but spent as much time out in the country, which is never very far in Texas, mostly smoking pot or drinking with my friends. After high school I enlisted in the Army and did that old thing for a while. After the Army I went back to cooking and eventually became a chef. Cooking eventually brought me to northeastern Oregon. An injury that makes it difficult for me to stand for long periods of time led me to software development, where I met G-Man. My wife says he is a bad influence on me but likes him anyway for some reason that I have yet to fathom. Home means two things to me, where your from, and family. I now live in a small town in Oregon with my wife and two children, but I really miss Dallas, even though it is Hell's sauna.


DOGS

I love animals very much. I like most animals more than people, and would step over an injured person to help an injured animal without a hint of guilt. I have been in several arguments and a few fights with people who abuse their animals. I currently have four cats. I have not had a dog in some years due to dogs and the lifestyle of being a cook do not mesh real well. Dogs need lots of attention, and chefs just spend to much time away from home to properly take care of a dog. Being a pet lover, I won't keep a pet that I do not time to properly care for, it just wouldn't have been fair to the dog. Now that I spend more time a home and have bought a house with a fenced yard, I have been considering getting a puppy. I really love Siberian Huskies, German Shepherds, and Labs, but if I could choose any dog it would be Malamute or a Blue Merle Australian Shepherd.


FEARS

I have several fears, but I refuse to surrender to them. The biggest fear that plagues me is being unable to protect my family.


PET PEEVES

I have many pet peeves. I hate slow/bad drivers. It is the vertical peddle on the right, learn to use it and watch where you are going. I loath inefficiency and people who waste my time. Time is the only currency one truly has, and someone who wants "just a moment of your time" is quite possibly one of the greatest criminals of all. When those people waste what time I have I always feel that they have stolen from me and are killing me by inches. Lastly I can't stand stupid people who want everything handed to them. You have a brain use it. This really gets me in trouble at work because once I have provided the tools to find the answer, I give very short shift to lazy people who are to dumb to think for themselves to work out a problem and expect me to spoon feed it to them.


MOVIES

I like many kinds of movies. Anything with explosions or makes me laugh. I think The Three Stooges are comic genius, and therefore think that the Lethal Weapon series could quite possibly be the perfect form of entertainment. I will even watch the occasional chic-flick with the wife, and even find some of them to be entertaining. Anything by, or with, Kevin Smith.


HOBBIES

I enjoy many hobbies. I like to read, a lot, play on my computer, blog and DIY home repair. The most relaxing of all my hobbies is yard work. I know it is hot and sweaty stuff, but I love to work in my yard. The real pity here is I have the black thumb. I can kill just about anything that used to be green. I like astronomy, electronics, and tinkering about the house, I just wish I was better with that stuff. I am truely fascinated by history and politics.


ODD FOOD PREFERENCES

I enjoy many types of food. I love sushi but despise most cooked fish, go figure. Having been a chef, I will try almost anything including many things, that while delicious, would make most Americans yak just from the thought of eating it.


POLITICAL CONCERNS

Well I am a staunch conservative on many issues. I despise most libs for their inability to think, and for what the Kool-Aid drinkers are doing to my country. Like G-Man, "I see a nation that is growing more and more divided. The chasm between us is growing wider and deeper and nothing seems to bridge the gap. There was a time when being Americans united us as a folk enough that the disagreements remained at the very least congenial. These days the traded barbs are growing less and less civil as time passes and I fear it is only a matter of time until it truly comes to blows. It also seems as though there is no real party to represent the people any more. Both of the political parties represent only their own vested interests. For example, neither party would dare consider tackling term limits, true election fraud prevention or limits on lobbying no matter how much popular support there is for such things. It seems like the parties are fomenting this loss of congeniality to divert attention away from the fact that both of them are pulling more and more of the power out of the hands of "we the people" and consolidating it in theirs."

So that folks is my response to my meme. As a part of this meme I must pass the torch along to five unwitting recipients. I choose to pass it on to any reader who wants to answer, and invite them to send me the link. I will be happy to post a link here.


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