Tag...I'm It

Okay, fine. A certain radical individual just challenged several of us blogger dudes and dudettes to a game of tag. List seven interesting things about myself, then ask seven more people to do the same. I don't usually like forwarding things like this to unsuspecting victims, but I'm willing to post it here. I'll get my revenge on little Miss Radical later (revenge is a dish best served cold). This isn't easy, as I don't think it's up to me to decide what's interesting about myself. So I'll just list them as seven things you don't know about me:

1. I once won a national cow chip throwing contest. I was the last person to throw, and managed to hurl a dried piece of cow turd over 50 yards (my secret: while everyone else threw their cow chip like a baseball, I found a flat piece and threw it like a Frisbee).

2. In 1984, I spent my summer vacation working as a security rover at the ABC studio in Hollywood during the L.A. Olympics. I escorted guests to the set for their on air interviews, and managed to meet every U.S. gold medal winner as well as many other celebrities.

3. As a teenager, I once came perilously close to drowning. I was trapped under large raft for several minutes and after I could no longer hold my breath I started to sink to the bottom of the lake. As I was sinking, I managed to grab the last rung of the raft's ladder and pull myself up. Even though I can remember it like it was yesterday, I've never been fearful of going back in the water. My favorite activity is scuba diving.

4. Until about four years ago, I suffered from severe insomnia. I just couldn't shut down my brain. I finally put a bed in my basement and slept downstairs so I couldn't see the sun coming up. I'm better now, and I actually sleep in a bedroom.

5. I held my first job at 12 years old, working three to four days a week during the summer for my father's lawn care business.

6. My father might be the only father to ever be disappointed that his son went to college. He wanted me to take over his lawn care business. I never wanted to see another lawn mower as long as I lived. He got over his disappointment, but I never got over my hatred of lawn mowers.

7. I hate talking on the phone, even with my closest friends. If you call me, get to your point. I don't even have a land line. My cell phone is my only phone. If you want to chat, meet me in person. We can talk all day.