December 9, 2008...8:57 pm

7 random and weird things about me

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PR and marketing recruiter and social media goddess, Lindsay Olson, tagged me to be the next in line for this blog meme that says I need to outline seven random and weird things about myself for you to read.

So, here it goes.

7 Random and Weird Things About Me

  1. I had two imaginary friends as a child. Their names were Amy and Jacken. I don’t know where I heard the name Jacken before, that’s just what I came up with when I was somewhere between age two and three. They stopped hanging out with me sometime around kindergarten. Go figure.
  2. I have a fantastic memory for odd things. I can recite the quadratic formula on command and I remember events that happened before my second birthday, but I can never remember where I put my keys.
  3. I drink my coffee black.
  4. When I was 20 years old, I sold everything I owned (including my Star Wars toys) and moved to Denver for almost two years. I am closer to the friends I met there than I am with anyone I grew up with here (in Detroit).
  5. My father died when I was 15. I never liked him much when he was alive but I miss him now.
  6. Both sides of my family are from Whitfield County Georgia. This means I grew up visiting every summer so I can fake a decent southern accent and I’m comforted by smells and sounds I associate with the South and with my granny: bacon grease, magnolias, honeysuckles and old southern gospel music played on crackly sounding AM radio stations.
  7. All through my childhood and adolescence I played piano and electronic keyboards competitively. At one time I could play Aram Khachaturian’s Tocatta and Chopin’s Polonaise in A major Opus 40 No. 2. I also programmed my keyboard so I could play Queen’s entire Bohemian Rhapsody: an elaborate production that required several tempo changes and foot pedals programmed with cymbal crashes and other percussive sounds.

P.S. Aram Khachaturian’s Tocatta, is also a treat to watch — when I see this now, I can’t believe my fingers used to be able to do this:

Now, in accordance with the 7-Random-and-Weird-Things-About-Me meme, I must tag 7 more people to participate in the next round.

I’m tagging:

Ken Burbary

Kellye Crane

Mike Davis

Dave Mullen

Amber Naslund

Jon Burg

Maggie McDonald

Here are the rules I followed as established by Lindsay:

Here are the rules for my fellow bloggers:

  • Link your original tagger(s), and list these rules on your blog.
  • Share seven facts about yourself in the post – some random, some weird.
  • Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
  • Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs and/or Twitter.

I know this is a bit of a departure from my usual subject matter and I generally loathe writing about myself, but this has actually been fun. I hope it’s been enjoyable for others who read this, too.

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21 Comments

  • Loved reading this, Miss Paul. Random Shannon is the best Shannon.

    Reply
  • I´m glad you aren´t cursing me for tagging you my fellow Michigander (Kalamazoo here)! Very interesing getting to know more about you.

  • I love this idea. Cool to know these wacky things about you. The entire Bohemian Rhapsody? That’s nuts!

    What made you stop playing the piano/keyboard after having achieved so high level of skill?

    @isfan

  • Love your random things. Wow, piano, that’s cool.

    Reply
  • Shannon…. I love your post and your random things. My father died when I was 16 so I know how hard that can be!

    My Mom made me play the piano. I was terrible.

    Reply
  • @Emily – It always makes me smile when you make an appearance in my corner of the interwebs. :-)

    @Lindsay – I would never curse you. K-zoo rocks! In fact I think it was Jeremy Pepper who once told me you were a fellow Michigander. I’m so glad you tagged him, too.

    @nastyhockey – It’s difficult to say. I got very rusty during my (almost) 2-year stint in Denver because I didn’t have a piano at home. There was also a situation with a “borrowed” keyboard (I should tell you that I’m also a little too trusting sometimes). I also realized at some point that very serious study of music theory and composition made me hate music. I just wanted to rock out. Usually I don’t really miss it, but I do miss being able to tune the other stuff-of-life out by just focusing on playing a tricky phrase over and over again until I got it right.

    @Rosy – Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it.

    @magsmac – Wow, I never would have known that we have that in common. It was such a hard thing to go through at that time. I really believe that it changed who I was, or at least who I thought I was. In my estimation, it’s a strange and powerful influence our parents have on our sense of identity. Sorry about the piano – lots of people were made to play. I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with it, too, but there was a time when I couldn’t imagine myself NOT being a musician.

  • Tim (@Twalk) Walker

    Coincidence: my mom grew up outside of Rome, Georgia — not far at all from your folks’ roots.

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  • Shannon, those were some very interesting things you wrote about. What part of Detroit, or the Detroit area, did you grow up in?

  • was fun to read random stuff about you..looking forward to the next post ;)

  • I’m sorry to hear of your dad’s death, Shannon. And magsmac.

    My dad died, suddenly, 13 years ago. So, I, too, can relate…

  • You rock, Shannon :-) Amazingly charming personality – and a musical genius, too! But why did you stop playing? According to Malcolm Gladwell (and many other folks), “genius” is more a matter of “deliberate practice” than anything else!

    Thanks a lot to Amber Naslund: I found you through her blog post and I’m your #1 fan now :-)

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  • I LOVE your seven things! Especially since I drink my coffee black and have an affinity for all things Star Wars (which has carried over to my son in spades). It’s also cool that you spent a summer in Russia (per your comment on my “7 things” post).

    Rock on!

    Aaron | @astrout

  • i don’t believe “i drink my coffee black” should be considered a weird thing. What’s interesting is how Malcom Gladwell (http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html) talks about everyone wants dark coffee, at least that’s what they say. Though in reality people like sugared down coffee.

    I guess it’s a gray area.

    I would never consider myself a “coffee drinker”. But when someone makes a pot of coffee and offers me some I never opt to put sugar or cream in. That takes too much effort. It’s the same with a hamburger, usually I skip the ketchup because it’s one more step between deliciousness and my mouth.

    But the tide always turns when I’m at… say a Biggby’s (www.biggby.com) [even though there isn't one with in several dozen miles of Marquette].

    When at such a fine commercialized establishment I always opt for the sweetest, creamiest drink available with chocolate, caramel, vanilla, hazelnut, or all of them together.

    I guess in this era where a large percentage of people drink coffee on a daily basis, it’s a matter of preference.

    I think what would make it weird is drinking coffee considering different demographics. Surely older generations (who didn’t have SBUX) probably drink more black coffee.

    Hmmmm, I think I’ll head to Babycakes and get myself a choco-chip muffin and some coffee.

    Reply
  • I feel the same about my father. I don’t like him very much at all (and don’t speak to him, either), but I worry that I’ll miss him when he dies.

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