November 28, 2007

I've Been Tagged!

For the first time in my young blogging career, I've had someone sneak up on me and hang one of those tags on my ear. That means I am obliged to write what is known in Blogville as a "meme".

Don't ask me what that word means... because I have no idea. This is what I found using the online dictionary:

meme (meem) A cultural item that is transmitted by repetition in a manner analogous to the biological transmission of genes.

meme (mēm) A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another.

The honorable person who tagged me to do this meme (and help me out in my NaBloPoMo-quest), is a blogger who is known for bringing home 95(!) books from the library. And, if ever you visit (which you really should) her blog, that will explain in part where she gets all of her weird, strange, funny and Odd Facts from.

Visit Odd Facts for some fun and strange... facts!

There are rules associated with a meme, I've found as well. And the rules for the one that I've been tagged with are as follows:


  • Provide a link to the person who tagged you, and spell out the rules of the meme on your blog.

  • Share 7 (seven) random and/or weird facts about yourself. (I believe this is the part that constitutes an actual meme)

  • Tag 7 (seven) random bloggers with this meme and post links to their blogs at the end of this post. (Free advertisement, and for some - a pain in the butt... from what I hear)

  • Let those who have been tagged know so by leaving a comment on their blog, and telling them where to find information regarding the meme they are now obliged to do.



So, that puts a check-mark in front of the first rule for me. The part where I provide the link to my tagger, and where I write the rules.

Part 2: 7 (seven) Random and/or Weird Facts About Me:

Aaah... where do I begin?

One: I was born at night (but, it wasn't last night).

Two: I smoked my first cigarette when I was 5 years old. Me and a neighbor girl snuck outside and lit up. My sister (who's 14 years older than me) caught us in the act.

"What are you doing?", she says - trying to sound angry.

Me... I'm just a cool, relaxed 5 year old who doesn't know trouble if it slaps me in the face.

"Smokin'..."

Three: I wrote my first sci-fi/horror novel at the age of 10. It was a 34 page story called "Lizard Planet". It was about a guy named Carl, who built himself a spaceship and took a few friends with him to explore the vast universe. They came upon a planet where humans were dominated by intelligent lizards. Carl and his friends helped the humans on Lizard Planet fight a war against the evil lizards. They brought a dog with them, too - it's name was Andalusius. To this day - I have no idea where that name came from... hehe.

Four: I went to my first concert at the age of 13. It was the day after my birthday actually, and the ticket was my present. My mother was with me to witness the first ever unmasked Kiss tour - the "Lick It Up" tour. Helix opened for them, and ever since I was a huge Helix fan.

Gimme an "R" - AAHR!

"O" - OOH!

"C" - SEE!

"K" - 'KAY!

What you got? - ROCK!

And what you gonna do? - ROCK YOU!

Five: At the age of 17 I moved out on my own, to another city. I went to an acting school, and I had every intention of being the next big thing in Hollywood some day. I was going to write my own movies, produce my own movies, direct my own movies and star in my own movies. I had it all figured out by then!

Six: (The only random fact that will bear a more serious tone to it) At the age of 21 I suffered a mental breakdown - the result of a particularly ugly break-up with a girl I meant to spend the rest of my life with. My one and original true love, whom I had been deeply in love with since I was 13, and finally got to call 'my sweetheart' when we were 20.

It signalled the end of my true belief in becoming a Hollywood star, and during it all I tore up the 120 page manuscript for the best damn thing I ever wrote in my life - those were the days before computers were something that Average Joe had access to, so sheets of paper were worth their weight in gold.

Seven: I named my blog "Ramblings of a Madman", after a diary I kept a few years back, which for my own amusement was called "Diary of a Madman". Diary didn't feel like a good name for a blog, unless I intended to post daily. Ramblings was much better, because I figured I'd use this space to rant and ramble on about anything at all that troubles or amuses me.

So!

There are 7 (seven) facts you didn't know about me. And that allows me to check rule #2 off the list.

Part 3: Tagging 7 bloggers with this meme:

I tag thee who are listed below:
Angela at ~angelaboration~
Beautifully Profound at Beautifully Profound
Butterfly Girl at Butterfly Girl
G-Man at Man Overboard!
Newt at Newt's Muse
Karen at Smiling Through It All
Samantha K at Sports, Soaps, And A Wandering Mind

Hope you all don't mind me layin' this burden upon your shoulders ;)

And that takes care of check-mark numero three. In order to cross the last rule off the list and fulfill my obligation to this meme, I will now log onto the above blogs and let them know what I have done to them.

Here I come a-taggin'!

17 comments:

Newt said...

Sweet, now I have material topic for tomorrow.

You are too funny.

I appreciate knowing that girls aren't the only ones that fall deeply in love and get messed up when it ends. It's more than nice to hear about a guys side of things. Thanks for sharing this stuff.

Jay said...

Smoking at 5, drinking the hard stuff at what? 8? LOL

Are you still writing screenplays? Or Sci-Fi stuff?

Samantha_K said...

Well, I know what I"m blogging on Friday.

I take your challenge, r.e.h.!!!

You are a fascinating specimen indeed.

R.E.H. said...

Newt: I guess there is a girly side to me ;) I've only been deeply in love twice though - that first time I told you about here, after which I swore to never fall in love again. That promise was crushed a couple of years ago when I met The One.

Jay: Drank my first beers at the age of 14 :)

I still want to write, but lack of time and devotion these days are making it hard these days. I do write a blog on the internet these days though... oh, wait! Yeah! You already know that ;)

Samantha K: Thank You... I'll take that as a compliment... right? ;)

Jen said...

Do you ever think to re-write the broken manuscript? It might be better this time around, no?

I say go for it. You never know. . .

Anonymous said...

Believe me, I know all too well about the mental breakdowns.


Your facts were very interesting. Maybe it's just because I am so damn nosey! I dunno.

MrRyanO said...

Helix and KISS! That is fucking sweet! Of course, Helix only had that one song, but it was killer!

fiwa said...

Dear R.E.H., are you quoting Kid Rock?

Those are the most interesting answers I've ever read on a meme, I feel like I learned a lot about you. I hope you pick up your script or novel writing again.

lovins,
fiwa

Karen said...

I would have paid serious cash to see a 5 year old smoking! You are hard core.

You should keep writing. I bet you have a masterpiece in there somewhere.

Tequila Mockingbird said...

i think it's a good thing to get your mental breakdown out of the way early. i had mine when i was 17, and i'd like to think it made me a better person.

Tink said...

You know, you probably think it was the best writing ever because it's GONE. If it were still around, you might have picked it apart to an oblivion by now. That's how it goes. I thought I was a fantastic poet until I refound my folder of "masterpieces." Yeah, it was crap.

R.E.H. said...

Jen: Nah... won't rewrite that one. The idea was original at the time, but then American Psycho came along and serial killer movies from a serial killer point of view became very popular.

Preposterous Ponderings: That would be why you found them interesting, indeed ;)

Beautifully Profound: Oh, I'm so sorry for tagging you... thought it might help your struggles with the NaBloPoMo ;)

That's one of the reasons I chose that particular fact. I've been meaning to do a lengthy post about the specifics of that relationship, which would explain a lot about why I don't fall in love, and why I'm having such a hard time letting go of The One.

Rockdog: Helix has done a whole lot of great songs, dude ;)
Never Want To Lose You, is freakin' great. Heavy Metal Love... hell, pretty much every song they ever recorded is great.

Fiwa: Kid Rock? Who's that? ;)

Thank you. There's a lot more to learn about this troubled soul ;)

Karen: I charge $2.400 per viewing... I have the video here somewhere... oh that's right - videos were not the norm back then...

I hope to find the drive needed for my writing again. The desire is still rooted deep inside.

Tequila Mockingbird: Yes. I believe in a way it has made me (if not a better) a stronger person. It took years of my life away from me though - and that's not so good ;)

Tink: I think my (then) girlfriend had a hand in making me think so too. She would always read my pages religiously, and go on and on about how fucking great it was, and that I was going to be every bit as successful as I'd ever hoped I'd be. She was always my biggest fan...

I do have some old writing that I always liked, and some of it still holds up... some of it makes me seriously doubt I ever had a skill for writing. ;)

Anonymous said...

Maybe you would have better luck with men?

I'm KIDDING!

Your mother is fuckin' awesome! Like me. I would/will totally take my kid's to see someone one day.I don't know who yet.

Cool list, thanks for the tag!

R.E.H. said...

Butterfly Girl: Oh, my mother is the coolest of them all. She was hooked on concerts after that time, and went to see Twisted Sister and Alice Cooper with me as well, back in the good ol' 80's.

I wasn't even embarrased by it, because my friends thought she was so cool...

Guilty Secret said...

He he, I loved the tag photo.

So, now we know why your names your blog Ramblings of a Madman (which I think is a great name by the way) but why do you go by the name REH? Are those your real initials?

R.E.H. said...

Guilty Secret: Glad you liked the pic. I had bought some new clothes the other day and saw one of those tags lying around, and the idea just came to me ;)

R.E.H. Hmmm... Yeah, I'll be honest - those are my real initials.

R.E.H. said...

Jill: It was a pretty good one, if I may say so myself. According to people who read it, it was stellar!

This whole incident will at some point be covered in the "Rubicon Heart" story...