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
- 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.
- 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.
- I drink my coffee black.
- 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).
- My father died when I was 15. I never liked him much when he was alive but I miss him now.
- 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.
- 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.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Loved reading this, Miss Paul. Random Shannon is the best Shannon.
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I´m glad you aren´t cursing me for tagging you my fellow Michigander (Kalamazoo here)! Very interesing getting to know more about you.
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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
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Love your random things. Wow, piano, that’s cool.
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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.
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@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.
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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?
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was fun to read random stuff about you..looking forward to the next post ;)
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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…
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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
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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.
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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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Thanks for doing this post! Its so fun to read and learn more about everyone out there in blogland!
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