Oh my! I got tagged! I can't believe it!

Good morning boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, others and others, friends, relations, and aliens visitors from beyond the event horizon:

Oh gosh... My "friend" Erosarts was kind enough to tag me in a mad rush to fill his quota of ten people who have never been tagged with the current ten things about me virus that's going around, and, just so that I don't get knighted Sir Party Pooper around here on DA, I guess I'll have to go along with it, to an extent. You'll see.

And so, they say, these are the rules:

The Rules:
1.Post these rules.
2.Each person tagged must post ten things about themselves in their journal.
3.At the end you must tag 10 people and post their icons in this journal.
4.Go to their page and send a message that you have tagged them.
5.No tag backs!

Numbers 1 and 2 are easy. See below. Number three is where I fall down in a mud puddle. I'm a recluse! I hardly know ten people in real life or on DA! So, I'll put in an offer at the bottom which may cover 3, 4, and 5. And you have my Voodoo Health Care Revenge Kit vanilla-vanilla.deviantart.com… which I made this morning as penance for not being very hip with this sort of chain-tag-virus stuff.

There's a lot about me that you do know, or could know if you have been following the breadcrumbs, like my friend Lilian Marvolo has done. But if not, here are ten things about me that you may not know. I've tried to make them significant or interesting, rather than saying, for example, "I had an english muffin for breakfast" which might be true, but hardly worth telling.

1. At one time I used to read Lord of the Rings regularly every summer, sometimes more often, so I've read it at least 7 or 8 times.

2. I've read Finnegan's Wake twice cover to cover, standing up while doing so. (This could be a world record, folks. Both times were on the train in Tokyo during my daily commute. I would never claim to understand FW, but it is far more interesting than the Bible, which I have also read at least twice, cover to cover.)

3. As a phlebotomist, working my way through college, I drew blood from more infants than you are ever likely to even see in your whole life.

4. I can't watch horror films, ever, because they scare me too much. (I still have occasional nightmares from crap that I was coerced into watching many years ago. But I can watch back-to-back Fred Astaire movies for weeks on end.)

5. Would you believe: I have written more novels than Jane Austen. (But she still has an actual audience which makes her way cooler than me.)

6. I have had years of formal lessons on violin, mandolin, classical guitar, bass guitar, piano, and voice. (And yet, I'm a crappy instrumentalist who really can't learn other peoples' music and, at present, can't play any pieces.)

7. My spoken Japanese isn't half bad. (But my Japanese reading is only about middle-school level and my writing is atrocious. If you know anything about Japanese reading/writing, you probably understand the problem. Heh heh.)

8. Unless you're M.J.Bivouac or one of his pre-Cambrian contemporaries en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precambr… I'm probably older than you, even though you might be more mature. (I never actually grew up, I can just play house pretty well when I need to.)

9. I haven't voluntarily watched any commercial television since, uh, hmm, wow... it was early in the last quarter of the 20th century. (I do, however, subscribe to Netflix, so I can get the same low-quality American programming, minus the obnoxious mind-numbing commercial interruptions, any time I want it.)

10. I don't usually drink coffee because I'm a recovered coff-a-holic and prone to violent headaches of caffeine withdrawal. (But, unfortunately, today I had one cup, so I'm totally wired. I'm about to pop out of my skin and hit the walls with a very messy sploosh.)

Now, the wimp out... If I were in a mood to tag people, I would probably tag my "friends" like

or a few people I don't know as well. But frankly, I'd be scared that they might take revenge on me... I don't know ten people whom I would be comfortable tagging, so. Hmm. Well. Ahem. If you want to be tagged, lads, lassies, others, and alien visitors, just note me and I'll promise to view your gallery, and add your name to the list below. And I'll write something kind about you to go along with it. And I'll send you a big virtual for being so marvelously understanding. Offer good until filled with ten. Void where prohibited, taxed, or spindled by law.

Uncle Vanilla's Big List of Poor Tagged Souls:

1. Thanks be to Lilian Marvolo, who answered my plaintive cry in record time. She's possibly the most rational person I know, and has a big warm heart. Merry Xmas and pass the hot mulled wine...

2. Thanks be to Pink Porcupine, a marvelous illustrator. You should look at her work. It is as fine and technically sound as some famous illustrators of the past (whom I won't name because I'm not actually comparing, simply observing quality).

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