Remember Meme

And just because he needs something to read while he cowers in fear from the terrorists, I’ll go ahead and do this memory meme per the request of Kevin. (It’s not because he threatened to come and annoy the hell out of me if I didn’t do it. So, don’t get any bright ideas.)

Ten years ago
Ten years ago, we had just moved to Florida the previous year. We were still in full “Look! A palm tree!” mode. We had year-round passes to Disney and used it as our main form of recreation. Unfortunately, I was seeing little of this, as my job kept me hopping around the country. It was either that year or the next that I never set foot in our local office until May, because I was on the road every week. I’m glad that’s over.

It was also the year we learned that my mother had cancer. She began her year-long battle with it, finally succumbing in October 1996.

Five years ago
Five years ago was pretty much unremarkable. I was still traveling a little bit, so I remember driving through Missouri (which is filled to the brim with nutballs on AM radio) and listening to all the Y2K prophecies in 1999. We spent New Year’s Eve at a party for one of the few times ever (usually, we either sleep through it or spend it at a midnight movie).

My wonderful mother-in-law died in April of that year. Starting in 1996, we lost my mother, then my father-in-law (1997), my mother-in-law (2000) and my dad (2001). So, that wasn’t a very fun 5-year stretch.

One year ago
After whining about it for 20 years, I had the equipment for my own little recording studio. I spent most of last year either recording or talking about it.

We did go on what may turn out to be our last family vacation (at least with our present configuration of adults and kids), and it was the best trip ever. Remember The Adventures of Bobby Sock?

Yesterday
Just another day for me. Get up. Blog or read blogs. Work. Come home. Baseball. Write and record. Sleep. Maybe a little eating thrown in for good measure.

Today
More of the same with a 50-percent chance of double that amount.

Tomorrow
I have had a discussion with my art director, and we agreed that she needs to hear the songs from my next CD by August 1 in order to do up the cover art for a September 1 release. So, I’ll probably be spending even more time in my little cubby hole with a geetar.

Five snacks I enjoy
Cheese (especially really sharp cheddar, Gromit)
Sour Cream and Onion Chips
Peanuts
Beef Jerky (especially the stuff that comes in big slabs o’ meat, rather than the sticks)
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Five songs I know all the words to
Bunches and bunches… Well, here are some of the lyrics for five that I sing some of the words to… a lot… like annoyingly a lot… like “if you roll your eyes like that every time I enter the room, they’re gonna get stuck that way, kid” a lot…

“Oh, we’re the boys of the chorus…”
“Once, I had a secret love…” (but usually “sequined glove”)
“Fish heads, fish heads…”
“I love you a bushel and a peck…”
“Mairzy doats and doezie doats…”

Five things I would do with $100,000,000
Pay off all my debts and the debts of my brothers and my sisters-in-law.
Give money to all my favorite charities (like the Red Cross, et al) and non-profity things (like PBS and NPR) and church.
Set up a trust fund for the kids.
Go on a wicked world tour.
Buy my own recording studio.

Five locations I would love to run away to
Hawaii (any island, even touristy Oahu)
Any part of the U.K. (especially Ireland or Scotland, me muddah’s ancestral home)
Northern Europe (especially Germany, me faddah’s ancestral home)
Alaska
Canada (especially, British Columbia)

Five things I like doing
Playing computer games
Playing guitar
Watching movies
Eating (and cooking, though I don’t do it much)
Visiting new places (especially historical sites)

Five things I would never wear
Not much on this list, really. I’m not very trendy, but it’s not because I won’t wear trendy stuff. I’m just lazy.

Five recently seen movies I like
Flight of the Phoenix
Casablanca
Batman Begins
Cinderella Man
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

Five famous people I’d like to meet
Iris DeMent
Garrison Keillor
Bob Dylan
And I’ll squeeze Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Eric Idle and John Cleese into the final two slots

Five biggest joys of the moment
Watching my son’s nervousness and excitement at having his first real job
Baseball
Getting ready for Harry Potter Day
Plunking on my old geetar
Playing City of Heroes with friends

Five favourite toys
My computer
My Boss BR-864 recording studio
My Les Paul
What more is there to life?

Taggage
I don’t like the whole meme tagging thing, so I’m not gonna do it. If you want to do this and haven’t, you’re more than welcome to it.