Catch Up - Memes x2

About a hundred years ago I was tagged by a couple of you to do a meme and I'm finally getting around to doing them now.

I usual I won't be tagging anybody else with these, but if you feel so inclined feel free to join in.

The first one is from Lady in Red who I met while commenting back an forth with Ron. Whenever I see her name pop up I think of Sammy Hagar singing, "Red, Red, I like Red. There's no substitute for Red." This is what she had to ask:

WHAT ARE YOU READING?
The rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people

This is from John Grisham's 2005 book, "The Broker"

Leaking like an old dike, the Hoover Building practically sprayed gossip onto the streets of Washington. And there to collect it was, among many others, Dan Sandberg of The Washington Post. His sources, though, were far better than those of the average investigative journalist, and it wasn't long before he picked up the scent of the pardon scandal.

I'm only a couple of chapters into this one and am hoping it will capture my interest like so many of his others have done.


The next one is from a darling southern girl by the name of Rhea who resides in the BIG ole' state of Texas. Be sure to go by and say Howdy. You might throw in a couple y'alls too. Those go over big down there!

She offered up the following:

The Rules:
1. Link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your entry.

And the winners are. . .

1) At the ripe old age of six years old, I was the bat boy for my oldest brother Gene's little league team the Senators. I remember getting to wear a uniform just like the players and at the end of the year got a small wood toy bat as a sort of trophy.

2) I was once taken to school (high school) in the back of a police car. The officer, Dick Davis, yeah that was his real name, accused me of truancy and after searching me (WTF) made me get into his car and go to school. He then proceeded to march me into the office like a criminal and had the principal call my mom, who happened to inform them that I had a dentist appointment in another hour. So I was in fact not cutting school, but was simply outside the school grounds talking with some friends when perhaps I should have stayed at home waiting for her to pick me up. The principal and the cop both had egg on their faces and I got to look cool for a couple of days as word made it around campus that I had fought the law and the law didn't win!

3) I suffer from CRAFT. (Can't Remember A Flippin' Thing) My mom might argue that this is an inherited trait that has only affected the males in our family, i.e. my dad, brothers and I, but as much as I'd like to blame it on genetics, truth is, it's probably just a form of laziness. I say this because I have an uncanny way of remembering numbers of all sorts and when I was cooking for a living, I could recall intricate recipes without having to look them up. Apparently these things had/have some sort of subconscious importance that makes my brain retain them while virtually everything else glides over the synapses without leaving so much as a trace burned in to the memory banks.

4) My Eustachian tubes in my ears never turned vertical like the vast majority of people's do. (This is what allows fluid in your ears to drain properly) As a result, I was plagued by more than my fair share of ear infections as a kid. Later when I took up SCUBA diving, it made it very difficult to clear my ears as I descended in the water.

5) I once fell in love with a girl who broke my heart. I thought she was the one for me and I would have done anything to have had it work. She went into the Marine Corps back in Quantico, VA while I was living in northern California. She broke off the relationship a couple of months later and left a rather large hole in my heart for quite some time. Later, when I met Lisa, I would realize Ann had done me a tremendous favor by saying goodbye. Whenever I listen to a Garth Brooks song in which he sings, "Some of God's greatest gifts. . . are unanswered prayers." I reflect on what I thought I wanted and how He had a better plan for me.

6) My mind is like a Los Angeles freeway; no matter what time of day it is, it's always busy. I'm almost constantly in motion and relaxing is not something I do real well unless I'm camping. This is when my alter ego takes over and I am the picture of mellow. Put me in the great outdoors with my tent trailer and I become the poster boy for the phrase "Chill". Back in civilization I'm like a one man wrecking machine trying to do thirty-six hours worth of stuff in a twenty-four hour period.

I now have just one more meme that Kimmie asked me to do and I will take care of that in the next couple of days.

Hope you're having a great weekend.