Alan K. Henderson's Weblog

I've been tagged with the latest meme - to name six weird facts about myself. (In most circles except this one, being a blogger would top the list.) Well, let's see what I can come up with:

1. On two occasions in the late 1970s I sacked groceries for Tammy Huerta, the daughter of Tejano singer Freddy Fender. The first time I didn't know who she was, but my coworkers did.
   
2. My first set of wheels had four wheels and not two - a 1984 Honda Aero 80 motorscooter.
   
3. The three scooters I have owned met untimely deaths. The first was stolen and partially stripped before the cops retrieved it. The second was wrecked when an eastbound car made a lefthand turn in front of my westbound bike on Lancaster Blvd. in Fort Worth, Texas. I did a perfect somersault at 35mph and landed flat on my back, suffering low back strain for a few days. After seeing the ambulance bill ($500 or so) I swore that if I get in another wreck I'm taking a cab instead. The third was rear-ended in a hit-and-run on MacArthur Blvd. in Irving, Texas. I was thrown maybe 10 feet and suffered no injuries. Indeed I did take a cab home.
   
4. At the time of the first wreck I had my brief fling (pun intended) with judo. Judo is the least aggressive of the martial arts, and after a number of weeks I decided that I wasn't aggressive enough for it.
   
5. I have something in common with former Republican congressman Richard Armey aside from Texas residency: we are both members of the Progressive Student Union of the University of Texas at Arlington. The PSU makes you a member automatically if you attend so much as one meeting - even if one is there as a guest speaker, as in Armey's case. (I wasn't at that meeting, but I did meet him at a different campus event.)
   
6. I can say the following in a single breath, and from memory:

   To be or not to be, that is the question—
   Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
   The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
   Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
   And by opposing, end them.

I have a few people in mind to tag with this; I'll let y'all know if they take up the challenge.

Update: The meme is passed to Jay Manifold.

Labels: Curiosities