Installment 1 of 100 Things About Moi

Being new to this site, I was inspired by another's article on “One Hundred Things About Me. Encouraged by that writer, this is my first installment of 20 of my own 100 Things.

One

I was born in the early 60's in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I have two older siblings. My parents were the first of their respective families to leave the safety of the deep pine woods of the “Florida Parishes” or the top of the foot when looking at the boot-shaped map of Louisiana..

As a point of reference, when viewing a map of Louisiana, Interstate 10 crosses from East Texas into Louisiana. Along with I-12 (maintaining the straight line from Baton Rouge to Slidell) and back to I-10...this straight line is, generally, both a geographical and cultural dividing line. The section south of this horizontal line is comprised of the famously known swamp and marsh area and its Cajun and Creole cultures (with an exception around Lafayette,LA/I-49 where it extends a bit further north.). On the other hand, north of the line the land ranges from flat to rolling and, historically, good for farming.. Correspondingly, the cultures north of the Interstate line tend to be more like those of the nearest bordering state.

The top of the boot previously referred to tends to be more like Mississippi than how

most think of Louisiana. Therefore, I am a Redneck....not a skin-head, not a racist, but

as in “good ole boy.” I use this as a positive descriptor as it aptly denotes my family's

history, my youth, and my accent (Lori L. and Echo can testify to that.)

Two

My father is the son of a share-cropper. I am among the tenth generation of his family

to reside in what is now the United States. My maternal grandparents, grew most of

their food, and earned a bit of money for “store-bought” goods farming strawberries.

Again, when my father (19 yo.) and mother (15 yo) married they left the woods for

Baton Rouge.

Three 

Though they moved long before my birth, during my youth I repeatedly begged my parents to return to “the country.” It never happened. Therefore, I spent all summer, every holiday, and every possible weekend with two very special cousins, “in the woods.”

Four 

As a result of the above, I feel very comfortable in both settings, yet I have never felt as though I “belonged” in either environment...sort of half-wolf, half yard-dog. Nonetheless, given the choice of abiding in a simple cabin secluded in the midst of forested acreage or a multi-million mansion I would choose the former.

Five
Until the age of 34, I was an extreme introvert. In some situations I learned to put

on personas to get by. In spite of my introversion, I did enjoy playing organized

football during elementary and middle school. I also enjoyed the outdoors, hunting

and fishing. However, I never saw, in those around me, the same shyness, anxiety,

sensitivity that I always felt.

Six 

My love for reading actually developed before I could do so. When I was around the age of 4 or 5, every night before bedtime my sister read a chapter or so of “The Adventures of Mark Twain” and then “Huckleberry Finn.” She recounts that on most nights I would tell her I could not wait until I learned how to read. My love of writing began to develop as I learned how to put two sentences together.

Seven 

Though I now have very strong spiritual beliefs, I was not raised “in church” or taught any formal doctrine or creed during my youth. However, I do recall realizing, during the many hours and days I spent alone exploring, hunting, or simpling sitting amidst the forested acreage of my grandmother's home, that God did, indeed, exist. In a sense, I met Him there and I have not doubted His existence since.

Eight 

I was an A/B student through-out school. I loved literature and history, tolerated science and hated math.

Nine
During 9^th grade I met my first “real” girlfriend. We dated on and off until we

graduated from high school. We did not attend our Senior Prom together and both

eventually married and divorced our dates for the Senior Prom.

Ten 

I endured my first hang-over the same morning my ninth grade final exams began.

Eleven 

I began my first job as a flunkie in the Parts Dept. of an automobile dealership duringthe summer between 9^th and 10^th grade. As 10^th grade began I started my second job, pumping gas, vacuuming and drying cars at an Exxon car wash. I rode back and forth to school and work on my second motorcycle, a candy-apple red Honda CJ 360T.

Twelve

After six months of the “car-wash blues” I was hired as a number one burger-flipperat McDonald's. It was there that I met my first wife. I was still one of Ronald McDonald's employees when I completed high school.

Thirteen

During high school I wrote for the school's newspaper. I was nominated by my 10^th

grade English teacher and subsequently invited to read a poem I had written as a class

assignment during a meeting of the local school board...my first public reading! At

the time, I had no clue of the influence poetry would have on my life.

Fourteen

As a 16 yo., I purchased my first car. It was a navy blue, 1972 Ford Gran Torino with

a white vinyl top and a 351 Cleveland Engine. As a 17 yo, I purchased a bass boat.

Fifteen

My childhood hero was our next-door neighbor, J.W. D'Abadie, Jr. The dark-skinned,

muscular Cajun, nicknamed “Spanky” was a motorcycle officer for the local police

department. He rode Motorcycle No. 86, a Harley-Davidson Electra-Glide. It was

back then my desire to some day own a Harley materialized. I have never realized that

dream and it has been somewhat dampened since owning one has become the

“popular” thing.

Sixteen

Around the age of 16 I sat on a rattlesnake (accidentally, of course) while deerhunting near Angola, Louisiana, near the “Big Farm,” Louisiana State Penitentiary. My Dad has not let me forget that day since.

Seventeen

One vivid childhood memory I retain is sitting with my Dad in his brown Naugahyde

easy chair as he watched the evening's national news. At the time, our black and white

television set received two channels. I recall the co-anchors of the program, Chet

Huntley and David Brinkley announcing the days military casualties in a far-away place

called “Vietnam.”

Eighteen

I was a teenager when I ate my first boiled crawfish...remember, I am a Redneck. Mymother cooked fried chicken, pork chops, butter beans, mustard greens, and corn bread.

Nineteen

During high school, when my friends were listening to Fleetwood Mac, Gino Vanelli,

and Heart, I was listening to Jerry Jeff Walker, Willie Nelson, and David Allen Coe.

Twenty

I was truly born into a three-name family. You know....names like “Billy Joe Smith,”

“Randy Earl Jones,” or “Joe Bob Hoyt.” Yes, most of my family called me by my

first and middle names until I threatened to exterminate the entire population of the

Gulf Coast around the time I began Middle School. To this day, I hate both my given

first and middle names. Once I terminated any use of my middle name, I began a

five-year quest to have everyone, not only call me, but to believe my given name is

Robb. Except for the family members who continue to live in the deep woods of

Louisiana, I am Robb............so, everyone say, “Hello Robb!”