I logged on to check my site yesterday and found out I’d been tagged – hmm, well, maybe this will shake out my summer lethargy. I kept jotting down little notes on what to write. Then I asked a friend about this tagging business and she said the eight things I’m to write about myself are supposed to be true.
Veracity. Well, that took some of the spice out of what I had so far.
Here are the rules, as passed on to me:
1. Post these rules before you give the facts. 2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves. 3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules. 4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
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When I was little, the Mayo Clinic found I had severe allergies to dust, pollens, mites, pet dander, etc. As testimony to how kids can adapt to just about anything, I pretty much ignored them. My sneezing and sniffling bugged my Mom, however, and she would crush the pills between two spoons, then mix the powder in honey for me. I liked how the powder and pill fragments swirled into little constellations.
Adults had told me how vast the universe is and how minute atomic particles are. So I imagined tiny worlds inside the honey-captured constellations of pill powder, before eating the honey and licking the spoon.
(We’re all so cavalier with the worlds smaller than our own, and so flummoxed when the gods ignore us, aren’t we?)
My dad said that his father had what was then called “hay fever”, too. Dad didn’t have it, but said it sometimes skips generations. Grandpa used to vacation on the north shore of Lake Superior in the late summertime, where the pollen count is lower and he could get some relief. We did, too – and I still have an immense fondness for the rugged beauty of Superior, the largest body of freshwater in the world.
The biggest hassle for me was that the allergies precluded me from having pets for a long time, and sometimes when I visited friends their pets’ dander would trigger an allergy episode. When I first met my wife, she had Vinnie (a german shepherd/doberman mix) and Millicent (a cat) and I braced myself with medications for any potential episode.
The amazing thing was that I didn’t need them. After we moved in together in May I had an episode and we bought an air purifier and some medicines, but attacks are rare any more. My allergies are largely in remission these days.
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From infancy I favored my left hand, so have always had a southpaw approach to life. I’m also pretty much flat-footed.
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In junior high they gave us color tests and found out I was color blind to some shades of green. (They appear drab brown or gray to me.) I tested okay for reds. Then, when I was about 40, I happened on a color test again and found out I now couldn’t see certain shades of red, either.
I was a Mayo Clinic guinea pig for numerous studies and therapies. For a couple years in my mid-teens I took atropine sulfate eye drops to see if it would slow down my myopia. It seemed to help. But it dilated my pupils so everyone thought I was stoned. I stopped taking them toward the end of high school and by the end of college I needed glasses.
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So given these infirmities, what are some of my interests in life? I was a runner for 30 years (being flat-footed perhaps contributing to joint troubles in my lower legs); I grew up birding (despite color blindness, I can still ID a lot by size, posture, behavior, and the colors I see); I write (despite recurring difficulty reading my own scrawl); My wife and I garden and have furry pets (my allergies are in some remission, and there are some good medications out there); and I love movies and to read (despite myopia and presbiopia).
There is much to be said for stubbornness, sometimes.
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The odd thing is how I identify myself with some of these things – being a left-handed, allergic, color-blind, myopic, presbiopic guy with wobbly wheels.
I left out the bit about high cholesterol, as I haven’t yet incorporated it into my cheese and sausage-loving identity.
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I sometimes kick myself for not pursuing journalism further than I did.
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I know global warming is bad. Also, poverty, disease, economic disparity, too much weaponry loose in the world, habitat destruction and species extinction: we’ve got lots of troubles.
Still, monotheism scares me more than anything else. Too many people think God is only on their side, and that their cause, crusade, or jihad is God’s will.
I heard once that, when they poly-theist Romans attacked a culture, they found out what gods those peoples worshipped. As the Romans lay siege to them, they made offerings to those local gods.
Think of how terrifying that must have been: not only did the Romans have their methodical legions and war machines, but they were praying to the local gods — who were answering the prayers.
That’ll change your tune and leave you open to a new heavenly paradigm.
Now, the monotheists attack in the name of one God, defend in the name of God, and whatever happens believe it was God’s will, and idiots like Jerry Falwell try and tell us that a catastrophe like 9/11 happened because God was punishing us for liberality.
Monotheists and their unilateral approach to life seem the least able to see anything from another point of view — and the ability to see life from the perspective of other peoples has never been more crucial to our survival.
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On the other hand, although people who claim to be able to divine God’s will worry me, I do think God ought to pay more attention to the fortunes of the Minnesota Twins, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, the San Francisco Giants, and the Minnesota Vikings. Lending an omnipotent hand on their behalfs would be a divine gesture.
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Am still pondering who to tag in return — stay tuned.
These are wonderful personal FAQ’s, nicely done.
Geben Sie mir bitte acht Apfelsinen.
Vielen dank!
Eight of them?
Orange-ou gonna get stuffed, or can you really eat that many?
Just think what your mom might do if she found the leftovers in your overrun fridge.
Cannabis helps eyes a great deal, I’m told.
I think your writing is great and these answers probably made the whole tagging thing worthwhile. I got an impression from some of the older bloggers that it wasn’t always appreciated so I won’t be doing any more tagging myself.
As for monotheism, I regard myself as a Christian but I don’t insist anyone agree with me, and I do not regard the people who call themselves Christians but preach hatred to be anything of the kind.
Always interesting to learn more about you, Ben!
I’m with litlove. This is a great addition to your About Ombudsben page.
You folks are too kind.