meme Archives - Page 24 of 28 - Ramblin' with Roger

Dancin’ with Myself

After going through a week-long computer withdrawal, I’m finally catching up on perusing some of the blogs I generally read and discover my name a few times. Gordon apologizes to me for being a little snarky to me on his podcast. Of course, I read the apology BEFORE hearing said podcast.
It turns out that I mentioned Fred Hembeck and Lynn Moss’ anniversary on my blog before Fred did on his, for good reason, which you can on the June 25 posting.
Then, I discovered that I got tagged by Tosy & Cosh with THE most convoluted initial instructions I’ve ever seen:

INSTRUCTIONS: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so.

1. No Smoking in the Skull Cave
2. Electronic Cerebrectomy
3. Byzantium’s Shores
4. Tosy and Cosh
5. Ramblin’ with Roger

Next, select five people to tag.

Oh, I’m not much on tagging, but…

1. The Life of a Wife and Teacher
2. Renaissance Geek
3. Blog To Self
4. Hydrogen Jukebox
5. Blog THIS, Pal!

“And, after what felt like unduly preliminaries,” quoting Tosy, the questions:

What were you doing ten years ago?
I had the same job. I was living in an apartment in Albany, not in a serious relationship, seeing LOTS of movies. Probably saw more 1997 movies than any other year.

What were you doing one year ago?
Going to the Olin family reunion again, as we did, in fact, this past weekend.

Five snacks you enjoy.
1. Oatmeal raisin cookies – must be soft – with milk
2. Apple with cottage cheese and a touch of mayo
3. That dip made with spinach and sour cream, with good bread
4. Strawberry ice cream
5. Wheat Thins

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics.
I was at the Y last week , and one of my racquetball partners started singing “(There’s a) Hole in the Bucket”. I asked him where he’d heard that song. It was from a Harry Belafonte album. My sister and I learned it from my father, and used to perform it in public when we were teenagers. That song I definitely know. Also:
1. “Beep Beep” by the Playmates
2. “The Boxer” by Simon & Garfunkel, but not that dumb, tacked-on verse: “After changes upon changes, we are more or less the same.” Or however it goes.
3. “Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music, not just the obvious part, but from “Let’s start at the very beginning…” Wish I could sing harmony with myself.
4. “Go Where You Wanna Go” by the Mamas & the Papas, and also the Fifth Dimension. My sister Leslie and I sang this at my 50th birthday party; another song from the repertoire.
5. “The Word” by the Beatles.
By the way, I would never go on that show The Singing Bee, which debuts this week. I’ve heard enough renditions of Beatles’ songs this week, where the artists, including the Beatles themselves, change the lyric, that I’m as likely to muff a word as they are.

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire.
1. Write more.
2. Travel (a lot more).
3. See more theater, movies.
4. Give more away.
5. Get one or two extravagances. Probably #1 is a laptop.

Five bad habits.
1. Misplacing things.
2. Procrastination.
3. General messiness.
4. Rushing through tasks.
5. A certain melancholy.

Five things you like doing.
1. Playing racquetball, as much for the camaraderie as the exercise.
2. Going out for ice cream. So much better than eating it at home, no?
3. Riding my bike on a country road.
4. Going to the movies.
5. Going out to a nice dinner.

Five things you would never wear again.
I actually owned two leisure suits in the mid 1970s, one brown, one lime green. Seriously, can’t think of anything else.
ROG

Nicknames

Here’s something very weird. My bud Lefty does a Friday Three Questions almost every week. One week, he asked, among other things:
Do you have a nickname people call you? If so, what is it? Is there a story behind it you’d like to share?

I warned him I was going to steal that question, so here it is.

I always liked the name Roger. It doesn’t easily lend itself to nicknames, as do names such as William (Bill, Billy, Willy, Will) or Robert (Bob, Bobby, Rob, Robby). I think that was part of my father’s motivation in naming me. I mean people call me Rog, and that’s fine, but other people have tried to inflict nicknames on me, and often, I have actively rejected them.

Just last week, my mother said that people used to call me Mr. Encyclopedia when I was a kid, because, over a number of years, I pretty much read the entire Encyclopedia Americana, PLUS the yearbooks, that were in our house. People asked me questions, and either I had the answer or would seek it out. (And yet it took me until I was 37 before I decided to go to library school; what was up with THAT?)

My grandmother used to call me Roggie, and I refused to answer that, because it sounded so juvenile. Yet later, when one of my co-workers called me Raji, it didn’t bother me so much, maybe because it sounded slightly Asian Indian, and therefore exotic.

Or maybe it was because it reminded me of the bookish Raj on “What’s Happening”. I RELATED to Raj. The eldest, responsible, bookish, glasses, the eldest child, pesky little sister (actually I had two – love you both).

When I was in junior high, we were really into using our middle names as our monikers. I was Owen, Baby, dubbed by Sid, which was not his middle name, but a truncation of his last name, but that was a short-lived period.

The summer of 1975, when I worked in Binghamton City Hall as a janitor, I cleaned the cells, picked up the trash in the detectives’ offices, washed windows, and buffed the floor. (Note: if you ever turn on a 1975 vintage buffer, be sure to start it in the middle of the floor, lest you poke a hole in the baseboard. I know this because…I heard about it?)
Well, I worked with two guys who were impressed that I could finish my work in five or six hours in an eight-hour day. Generally, I ended up either speaking to the police captain, who was a great guy (unlike some of his subordinates), or go hide somewhere and read a book. These two guys started calling me Flash, because they thought I was so fast. I wasn’t that fast; it was that they had the wonderful ability of taking a six-hour job and stretching into eight. I patently rejected this nickname, and act as though I had not even heard them if they called me by that name. (One of these guys was more “flashy” – the first man I ever met with two children by two different women, neither of whom he was married to.)

Oh, there have been other nicknames in matters of the heart, but I’ll pass on those here, thank you.

So here’s the weird part; Lefty’s piece was July 7, 2006. I must have started working on it, saved it with a 2007 date somehow, and only discovered it recently. Or I did publish it before, but can’t find it, which would make it a summer rerun.
***
And here’s a year-old cryptic Note to Lefty: Don’t succumb. Do what Mr. T would do: pity the fool. And hope for the best.

As Lazy as Mrs. Lefty

Did you miss me? (And you say, how can I miss you when you never go away?) Well, I have been away, for a week, without access to a computer. Fortunately, my stealth poster was at it again. Thanks, SP! (Comic book characters with two words in their names were often referred to by their initials. This never made sense in Wonder Woman’s case, because it would take more syllables to say her initials – six – than her name – four.)

This does mean I haven’t read many of YOUR blogs, I haven’t heard Gordon’s podcast where he allegedly answers my questions, etc.

(Guess I know what patriotic activity I’ll be doing on Wednesday: surfing the net, while holding a flag, naturally.) Meanwhile, Kelly can do it…

Roger Owen Green —

[adjective]:

Benevolent to a fault

‘How will you be defined in the dictionary?’ at QuizGalaxy.com

Roger Owen Green’s Random Movie Quote:

‘I feel like the floor of a taxi cab.’

– Dr. Egon Spengler, Ghostbusters

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

You are Hard Harry from Pump up the Volume

You are shy, but once you overcome that you are inspirational to those around you. You are rebellious and like to push the authority figures buttons.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

I suddenly have the need to SEE Pump Up the Volume.

Hey, Lori, I’m Answering Here

My old friend Lori in Florida is one of those irregular bloggers. Postingwise, she makes no-longer-shirtless Eddie Mitchell seem like Mike Sterling. Anyway, she e-mailed me one of those things I’m supposed to e-mail back. Being the contrarian sort, I decided to put it here instead. Somewhere down the line, I lost a couple questions. C’est la guerre.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? No. My father was really strong on NOT having me named after anyone, a trait I’ve obviously inherited when it comes to Lydia’s name.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? When I dropped off the child at day care last week and she wailed. She hadn’t done that since the second day.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING Well, it’s OK. I once, for a marking period in 3rd grade, got an F in handwriting, so other people may disagree.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT Turkey

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? One

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I suppose it would depend what side of me I showed them.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Not a whole lot.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Not on your life. Wait: not on MY life.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Life (regular). Don’t have it often.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Well, the sneakers, yeah, because I have to. Otherwise, usually not.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Some days.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Common: strawberry. One I haven’t had in a long time: orange pineapple.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Generally, where they fit into the situation. Are they hanging by the exit? Are they saying anything? Are they saying anything that anyone wants to hear?

15. RED OR PINK? Did you know that, even early in the 20th century, pink was a boys’ color, and blue a girls’? It’s true. That said, red.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? If I told you, I’d have to tell you.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My father; my friends Donna, Nancy and Raoul.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? n/a

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? I’m wearing pajamas.

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Popcorn.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Some Beatles covers thing Fred Hembeck gave me.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Green. Well, maybe aquamarine.

23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Bread baking at the Freihoffer plant, which often catches me unaware.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My sister Leslie.

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Yes, Lori, I do.

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Baseball, football.

27. HAIR COLOR? What hair? Gray.

28. EYE COLOR? Brown.

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No, glasses.

30. FAVORITE FOOD? Spinach lasagna.

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy Endings, I suppose. Isn’t that the dessert choice at Friendly’s restaurants?

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? The last hour of Mississippi Masala.

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? PJs, I tell you.

34. SUMMER OR WINTER? In our global warming mode, winter, which hasn’t been what it used to be.

35. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs THEN kisses.

36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Ice cream.

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. (Yes, this is different from what I wrote to Eddie the other day.)

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Entrepreneur magazine.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? news, JEOPARDY!

42. FAVORITE SOUND? Water running.

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles

44. WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Barbados

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I can make kazoo noises without a kazoo.

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Binghamton, NY

47. WHAT KIND OF CAR DO YOU DRIVE? We have a 2003 Honda Avalon, but I don’t drive it.

48. LIKE YOUR JOB? Usually.

49. PETS? None

50. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? Doesn’t matter.
ROG

Seven or eight things about me

I believe it was Gordon who noted seven things about him that you may not have known. Then Scott tagged me, with these instructions:
“Players start with 8 random facts about themselves. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them that they have been tagged.”

1. When I first picked up the album Magical Mystery Tour in the store back in 1967 or early 1968, I simply could not read the words “Beatles” in the yellow stars. I knew it WAS a Beatles album from the song list, but it was a full five minutes before I sussed out the group name. (Confidential to Fred Hembeck: November 27, 1967.)

2. My favorite mixed drink is 45% orange juice, 45% cranberry juice, 10% ginger ale. The cranberry cuts the OJ’s acidity, the OJ cuts the cranberry’s tartness, and the ginger ale is just to give it that faux alcohol sensation. I’ve ordered the mixed juices sans ginger ale in restaurants, and while some places seem to take it in stride, others act as though I want them to cross a desert barefoot to get liquids from a cactus or something.

3. My favorite cereal combination is spoon-size shredded wheat and Cheerios. But I won’t buy either of them unless they’re on sale. So when they ARE on sale, I might buy four or six boxes. I might even use coupons, which I seldom use otherwise.

4. In the spring or summer of 1976, I was in a production of Godspell in my college town of New Paltz. My solo was, initially, “We Beseech Thee”, a song I could sing and I liked, but got changed to “All Good Gifts”, which I was never fond of.

5. When I lived in New York City in the summer of 1977, I lived in Jackson Heights, Queens, but I worked in Manhattan. I took the #7 train, then the E or the F train. I was a telephone solicitor five nights a week from 6 pm until midnight. Who was I calling at 11:30 at night? People on the West Coast, of course. The folks I called were people who had once expressed interest in the product – people with lapsed subscription to TV Guide, people who owned the Encyclopedia Americana who might want the Annual. As a result, I’m very polite to phone solicitors; I say “no, thank you,” right before I hang up on them.

6. During that summer of 1977 (which, not so incidentally was the Summer of Sam), I met this young woman from the Unification church (yes, that’s the Moonies) and would have dinner with her group once a week for a couple months at their place in the Bronx. I was invited to go to their complex upstate; I always declined.

7. Once that summer, for no particular reason, I walked from the Bronx to the New York Public Library, some 160 blocks. Another time, I walked from the library to Wall Street; don’t know how many blocks that is.

8. I once successfully performed the Heimlich maneuver on a 70-plus-year-old woman in May 1995. This was at my church of the time. I had been in a pretty sour mood, actually, because of resolving some old affairs of the heart stuff. This woman, who I did not know, was off to the side, looking as though she was turning blue. Then someone opined that perhaps she might have eaten something. I recalled my training from high school, never utilized. Some piece of meat flew at least 15 feet. The pastor, always one to come up with a smart-aleck remark, said to me, “If you see ME choking, just let me die.” (Confidential to MRR – yes, he’s the one.)

I’ve always been loath to tag – though I don’t mind being tagged – so, only if you want to:
The Scribe at Peace X Peace
Uthaclena at the Hydrogen Jukebox
and the Weird Monday person, Kelly Brown.
***
Oh, here’s another thing about me: I recorded two programs last night – and neither was the last episode of the sopranos. One was The Tonys on CBS, which we like to watch because we’re generally unfamiliar with the productions, ironically, the reason nobody ELSE watches them. The other is Bruce Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions band live in Dublin on PBS. We’ve actually watched neither, but hope to before the fall.
ROG