From karindira via jens fire:
It's a meme!

* Post 3 things you've done that you don't think anybody else on your friends list has done.
* See if anybody responds with "I've done that." If they have- add another!(2.b., 2.c., etc...)
* Encourage your friends paste this into their own journal to see what unique things they've done.

1. Met Alice Cooper, then drove and sold one of his cars for a lot of money.
2. Drove a car at 162 miles per hour for one mile with witnesses to the event (unfortunately, not the right kind of witnesses to make the record books).
3. Had the opportunity to train for the 1980 Olympics (swimming), the one we boycotted...but I'm not bitter!

Rereading these, it's apparent I'm not too much into girly-type things, ya think?

Recently, although not that recently it would seem, I was tagged by Carissa to participate in a game. Here are the rules for the game:

- Link to the person who tagged you.

- Leave a comment on their blog so that their readers can visit yours.

- Post these rules on your blog.

- Share the seven (7) most famous or infamous people you have met. Or (seven) 7 weird things about yourself. Or list your (seven) 7 favorite writing websites. Or a combination of all of the above. Lots of choices!

- Tag seven (7) random people at the end of your post.

- Include links to their blogs if possible.

- Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I'm going to go with a combination of the above for my Seven Things because I think it’d be more interesting that way. Besides, who wants to be a total name-dropper?

For Famous People, I’m going with a car-theme here because I’m currently working on something about cars.

1. Famous People – I drove fancy cars for six years for the Barrett-Jackson car auction and many times, talked to Craig Jackson. In the car world, he’s huge but he talks to LOTS of people and I am certain would never remember a single lowly driver from nearly twenty years ago. I hope to change that some day.

2. Famous People – At one of the car auctions, I met Vincent Furnier, a.k.a. Alice Cooper, shook his hand (and undoubtedly said something silly and stupid) and then drove his car up onto the auction block to be sold. He was selling it to help pay for his comeback tour in the late ‘80’s which was successful.

3. Famous People – During the same auction in the same year, I met Peter Billingsley, of the movie, The Christmas Story fame. I didn’t say anything to him because at the time, he was bawling out another driver. Needless to say, Mr. Billingsly was a little less than professional.

4. Famous People – A couple of years ago, I met, shook hands with, talked to, accepted money from and was talked into picking up dinner for (from Ruth's Chris’ Steakhouse) Bill Goldberg. I got a hug afterward. He was a nice guy and all, but didn’t smell all that great.

5. Weird Thing about Myself – I absolutely can’t stand to leave stickers on my produce. I peel them off as soon as possible after buying any. It probably comes from something a produce manager told me at my first grocery store job – the stickers can cause the produce to spoil faster underneath and it used to be that produce managers told their employees to put the stickers on bruised spots to cover them up. Don’t know if it’s still true or not. Odd habits die hard.

6. Weird Thing about Myself – I prefer to stand than sit. I guess I’m still afraid my ass will widen if I sit too much like my mother always told me it would. As a related side note, when I do sit, I prefer hard chairs opposed to soft, cushy ones. Therefore, in my mind, cushy chairs equals a cushy ass whereas a hard chair equates to…well, you know.

7. Favorite Writing Website – I have a number of sites I frequent but because I haven’t seen this one mentioned elsewhere and because I do like it so, I’ll name Duotrope, the writer’s database for thousands of current markets for short fiction, poetry and novels and collections. I appreciate all the hard work that goes into making Duotrope and hope to start supporting it via donations soon (as soon as I make my first sale, I hope!).

Seven People to tag for this game:

1. Ha! Carissa, Kami, and Yeff have already done this! And Steve just won't play. Sorry, I don’t have seven people to tag back. Guess that’s why I don’t get tagged too often, huh? It was fun though, but hey! If you are reading this and haven't played, please do and have fun!

It's a great beginning to 2008. Today, a small, local newspaper published a story featuring several writer friends and myself in regards to participating in National Novel Writing Month, and it's front page. If you don't live in or around Southwestern Washington State to be able to pick up a hard copy, view part of the article here.

(Note to Jay , Mr. Follett, and Chris: Books in hand shown in article photo -- I never meant to be a suck up.)

New Year's Eve was wonderfully spent in Seattle at the Westin Hotel, North Tower overlooking the Space Needle. Did the news report a fireworks glitch? Funny, we didn't notice. We were in awe and now, we're home. Back to work and writing.

And lastly, per a meme posted on Jay Lake's blog and one I found interesting. I'm not a big meme fan generally but this one was different. This list is based on an exercise developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. The exercise developers ask that if you participate in this blog game, you acknowledge their copyright. Hopefully, this and my linkage covers it.

To participate in this blog meme, copy and paste the below list into your blog, and bold the items that are true for you. If you don't have a blog, feel free to post your responses in the comments.

Father went to college
Father finished college
Mother went to college
Mother finished college
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
Were read children's books by a parent
Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
Went to a private high school
Went to summer camp
Had a private tutor before you turned 18
Family vacations involved staying at hotels
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
There was original art in your house when you were a child
Had a phone in your room before you turned 18
You and your family lived in a single family house
Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left
You had your own room as a child
Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
Had your own TV in your room in High School
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
Went on a cruise with your family
Went on more than one cruise with your family
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family