Nuthatch, over at bootstrap analysis, has tagged me with a new meme. Unofficially says she, but I’m going to take it as an official tag, and my responses follow below. I find the concept of the meme fascinating, and ever since I read Nuthatch’s book meme response I’ve been waiting patiently for someone to tag me with it. And waiting, and waiting, sigh. I was so ready. I wanted to show everyone how witty, erudite and sophisticated I am… I read books. One of my big fears with writing this blog is that everyone will realize just how incredibly shallow and unsophisticated I really am.
Case in point. My first and only experience with a meme, actually was circulated by email several years ago, when I was in Fort Providence. It contained a number of "getting to know you" questions, you know… what’s your favorite colour etc. My favourite response to a question from my friends who responded? My friend Brad’s answer to favourite smell… "pee after eating asparagus".
So without further ado (well maybe just a little ado) the Personal History meme…
10 YEARS AGO September 1995? Filled with uncertainty and pain. Janice had been diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer in July and was recovering from surgery. We lived in Rose Valley Saskatchewan where I was posted. We had an apartment in Saskatoon, about two hours away, as Janice had been spending part of her days there, in her holistic health practice. We would spend much time there as she started her chemo, the first sessions of which she just couldn’t handle and gave up on after two treatments. That September I finished up the gardening, drove back and forth to Saskatoon for her appointments and slept-walked through work.
5 YEARS AGO September 2000? I was here in Arctic Bay and had just celebrated my first year here. I was the Cpl in charge of the Nanisivik Detachment and was about to become the Cpl. in charge of Arctic Bay Detachment as our new building was taking shape. My new partner, Herman, had just arrived from Kugluktuk and my five months alone here ("Come out I have you surrounded!") were finally over. My last partner, Brian, had been transferred to Innisfail Alberta for training to become a dog master, and would soon be on his way to Burnaby BC. Leah and I were dating, and for all intents and purposes, living together. She officially moved in with me in January 2001. I was working up the nerve to propose, and I would do so the next month. I proposed (on my knee of course but sans ring) on the land I had owned in Roblin surrounded by gophers, while fencing in my newly planted fruit trees to protect them from the cattle pastured there. Her response to will you marry me? "No" No? "I mean yes" Yes? "Yes." Yes! Proposing in a pasture, how hopelessly prairie boyish is that?
1YEAR AGO Well the easy answer is working on the house, but what exactly was I doing? Well we were putting the sub floor on the second floor, actually finishing that job exactly a year ago today. But I know I didn’t do that specific job. I was working on the first floor, possibly laying out some walls, or building window and door headers. I can not for the life of me remember exactly. I had been retired from the RCMP for almost a year and a half. It was the greatest job in the world, but the world had new challenges that I wanted, and other interests to pursue. I was learning skills that I’ve always wished I had (I avoided power tools for a great deal of my life, the experience of getting a major shock in the basement of our house while helping dad with a jig saw made me look at them with some trepidation). Carpenters have long held my admiration.
Travis was a little over two years old, and incredibly more and more fun to be with everyday. Leah and I had our third anniversary the month before.
YESTERDAY I didn’t get much sleep at all the night before and woke up late, around 7:30, and in a panic. We have a client, a fire fighter from Mississauga up training our local volunteer fire dept, and I hadn’t even started prep for breakfast. So I only made Kiggavik McMuffins for the guy, instead of the Eggs Benedict I had intended. The morning, due to my lack of sleep, is a little bit of a blur – attempts at paperwork and the continual search for a plumber to finish the mechanical in the house. After lunch I spent the afternoon in client room #3’s washroom, fitting the tile for the floor. Unfortunately our floor adhesive that was supposed to arrive on Saturday’s plane was lost, so all I could do was trim and fit the file. Then it was time to fix supper, fajitas for us and the client, shovel it down and head for the annual general meeting of the Tununirusirmiut Search and Rescue Society. Alas I was once again elected to a position on the board, surprisingly finishing second out of ten nominees. The meeting was for all intents and purposes finished at eight but a couple of people managed to drag it out to 9:30. Then I shut up the house, did some cleaning, some writing and was in bed before 2:00 am. Oh wait… we got mail, including two books from my sister for me. Good Poems for Hard Times and The Big Year. Woo hoo. Time to change my side bar.
5 SONGS I KNOW ALL THE WORDS TO Well, any Stan Roger‘s tune, so I guess I’ll just pick one, the Northwest Passage I guess. Heck this is hard, I know the words to many many songs, I just want to pick something that will make me seem, well interesting. 2) Redemption Song by Bob Marley. 3) Pretty Girls Don’t Cry by Chris Isaak. 4) Locomotive Breath by Jethro Tull and 5) American Pie by Don McLean. Honorable Mention – Every theme song to any children’s show on Treehouse.
5 SNACKS White Cheddar popcorn, Wasabi Peas, Homemade Nachos (mine), a slice of bread and processed cheese slice wrapped around a whole pickle, anything sweet.
5 THINGS I’D DO WITH $100 MILLION DOLLARS Sorry, this is an obscene amount of money and I can’t wrap my head around it. Develop a drug that would enable Leah to like flying, travel and warm weather, then travel. Save the world.
5 PLACES I’D RUN AWAY TO The Galapagos Islands (a truly magical land); The Sierra Maestra mountains in Cuba; a forty foot sailboat circumnavigating the globe; Kauai; Roblin Manitoba
5 THINGS I’D NEVER WEAR I don’t know… leather with the studs on the inside, uncomfortable shoes, trendy clothes, those big baggy hip hop gangsta’ pants, clothes that fail to show off my incredible fashion sense.
5 FAVOURITE TELEVISION SHOWS … of all time, or currently? I’m always in front of the TV these days but I don’t really pay attention to a lot of it Currently 1) Poker tournaments. 2) BBC news – for that more worldly perspective. 3) IDOL (Canadian and American. 4) The Amazing Race – although I can’t really decide whether or not I’d be a participant, lots of places I’d like to see, but I’m kind of a stop and smell the roses sort of guy. 5) The L Word (okay I realize that kind of makes me look like a sicko voyeur – but I find it a refreshingly different sort of soap opera). All time 1) The Ed Sullivan Show – I miss Topo Gigio 2) Barney Miller – There was a study once that Barney Miller was how police perceived themselves – wrongly of course but who cares 3) WKRP in Cincinnati (how do you spell that anyway) – specific episode "As God Is my witness I thought turkeys could fly" the single most funniest Television episode bar none; 4) The Forest Rangers (its a Canadian thing) 5) Due South – Gorden Pinset as the ghost of a mountie (see #4) too too funny (again, probably a Canadian thing, probably even a Canadian Mountie thing, okay probably a Canadian Mountie, born about the same time as me, raised on the Forest Rangers thing. Hell somebody must have got it, they cast him in the part). Honourable Mention – Peep In The Big Wide World (either list), I mean a kid’s show narrated by Joan Cusak with the theme song by Taj Mahal, what’s not to like.
5 GREATEST JOYS Travis, Leah, My Family, that the people I care most about in this world are still pretty healthy, Poetry, My creative Side (Okay that is kind of six, sue me)
5 FAVOURITE TOYS This incredible 17" Apple Powerbook, Our Sony VX2000 Mini DV camcorder, The Fort Hearne (okay that is more of an anticipation thing), Tools, The Hydrophone.
5 PEOPLE I’M TAGGING Hmm, okay I guess Tony G at Milkriver Blog, Cindy at Woodsong, Mike at 10,000 Birds, Pamela at Thomasburg Walks and Brian at Taming of the Band-aid. You’re it.
Comments
9 responses
LOL, locomotive breath! now there’s an oldie but goodie. I’ll probably have a Jethro Tull earworm the rest of the night..
(and since I’ve been tagged, I’d better get busy typing eh?) 😉
http://danceswithmoths.com/blog/archives/27
Clare, you’re great…Cindy, Mike, and Brian were also people I wanted to tag. What an incestuous group we are.
Due South: That was a cool show!
Leather with studs on the inside?? Is there really such a thing?
This entry wins the “most unpronouncable words for a Yankee” award.
And, belatedly…I tag you with the book meme! Go for it!
dang it- I’m sorry Clare, feel free to remove the post above. I still am not sure how to use ‘trackbacks’. Lemme try this again 🙂
this one will take some thinking . . . give me a day or two after i get the Spinetingling Circus out and i’ll have a go at it.
tg
Personal History Meme
Uhoh, Ive been tagged. Clare at Kiggavik tagged me with a meme via Nuthatch at bootstrap analysis. Im a fairly private person so this may be a bit more difficult for me than the root canal I had done this afternoon- but here goes nuth…
Clare, would that be that extended version of American Pie? If it is, you are my HERO!!! Or INSANE!!!
Either way, we are both bad Canadians in not mentioning Hank Snow.
Aah, The Forest Rangers….I remember them well, and am still startled when I see one of the kids all grown up selling deck stain on tv.
hah! back at ya!
http://milkriver.blogspot.com/2005/10/com-memeries.html