Tagged!

Jennifer just tagged me with a "Five Things You Didn't Know About Me" quiz, which I'm finding difficult, I must admit, since after nearly five years of blogging, it's rapidly becoming the case that the only stuff that you don't know about me is stuff I don't want to blog about. But anyhoo, here's some stuff:

1. Apropos of a recent dustup of sorts in the Buffalo Prefecture of Blogistan, I must admit that -- sigh! -- I have not shopped the Elmwood Strip in more than five years. Probably even longer than that. Why? I genuinely don't know, other than that there always seems to be something that I'd rather do more. I always wanted to, and still do; every time I was at Childrens Hospital for one of Little Quinn's procedures or visits, I'd think, "Man, I gotta get to Elmwood one of these days." And still, there Elmwood sits, unvisited by me. (A couple of other embarrassing admissions for this Buffalonian: until two years ago, I'd never eaten at Mighty Taco, and I still have not been to a Louie's.)

2. Had The Daughter been a boy, her name would have been Quinn.

3. My first musical instrument was the French horn, which I played for a year before switching to the cornet and later the trumpet. (The cornet is actually a trumpet whose pipes are more conical in nature than the normal trumpet's.) I didn't take practicing seriously at all for two years, -- from fifth grade until about halfway through seventh -- when I suddenly realized that (a) I sucked, (b) I was tired of sucking, (c) if my parents weren't going to let me quit band (I'm still embarrassed to this day that I actually asked my father if I could quit) then I'd just as well not suck, and (d) it would be cool to not suck.

4. I used to be a pretty good swimmer (probably still am, as it's not a skill one forgets), enough so that my high school's swim team coach used to repeatedly ask me to join the team. Why didn't I? Because I was Young, and therefore Stupid.

5. My love of overalls has nothing at all to do with the fact that I went to college in Iowa. In fact, I was in my junior year of college before I wore them out there. (And as soon as I did, any number of native Iowan college mates of mine started asking me if I was trying to become "an official Iowan".)

Now, I suppose I should tag some people. I usually don't tag people on these kinds of things, but hey, why not? So: Roger, Lynda, John, and...hmmmm...Shamus? You're all up. Or not.