Six Weird Things About Moi........

Weird Things

First< I would like to thank Wrick D. for thinking of me when he needed somebody to tag. I am in the middle of my installments of writing, "100 Things About Moi." and they have all been weird. Now I get to come up with 6 more just for fun!

Here are the rules:

THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the 6 weird things about him/herself.

People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state

the rules clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their

names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says you are tagged in their comments and

tell them to read your blog.

ONE

I love good food. I love good restaurants that combine good fare with ambiance. The weird thing is I not at all picky about food. For example, If I get hungry and there is nothing cooked and no leftovers to warm I have no problem whatsoever opening a can of pork and beans and eating them out of the can. What, no pork and beans? Then I will pop the top on a can of sienna sausage and grab a couple slices of bread? I don't know how many times I have grabbed leftovers out of the fridge (especially pizza) and dug in as my wife says, "Aren't you going to heat that?" It seems she would be familiar with my "weird" food habits by now.

TWO

I have worked very hard for many years to convince people to call me "Robb" and not by my given name. Why? I don't like it. Now the really important part is that I've worked nearly all my life erasing all traces and everyone's memory banks that I even have a middle name. I have done well on both counts, except for my relatives who live deep in woods and seem to need to call people by their first and middle names.

THREE

I don't mind embarrassing myself. I will sing when I am walking in the mall. I will strike up conversations with others when standing in lines or most any other situation. I'll jam at traffic lights and not mind if anyone else sees me. I'll will pantomime the words if a favorite song starts playing in a department store. At times, my wife and son have suddenly turned up missing when I say or do something like those named above. I suppose I spent too much of my life as a wallflower. Now that I have come out of my shell, I am not going to let anything hold me back. I have also learned that if people reject me for one of these things......well, who needs em' anyway.

FOUR

I don't know how many of you will think this is weird, but recently I was talking to a friend after church and noticed I had a notebook under my arm. He said, "Man, I don't think I have ever seen you without a notebook. What do you write in that thing? It's true. I guess I have one with me wherever I am about 85% of the time. I call them my "journals" and that is their main purpose. I have kept one nearby for over thirteen years now. I have boxes of filled notebooks stashed away. It all started with my reading of "Writing Down The Bones," by Natalie Goldberg.

FIVE

My wife and perhaps you too may think it weird, "work" and "earning a living" is not the "end all," "be all" "have all" "do all" thing for me. At one point in my life it was. In fact it was ingrained into by my father.

Things happened in my life and it occurred to me how many older men I knew were working hard all their life, spending much of their time planning and talking about what they were going to do during their "retirement years," yet they didn't live to see the arrival of that all important day.. I saw others retire and live in misery because they were "bored." Some, I see working harder after retirement with "honey-dos" and running here and running there.

The two that I suppose have had the biggest impact on me are having good friends who must work after retirement because their pension funds have folded and those very good friends who worked so hard for so long, enjoyed their retirement party, began executing their plans that were thirty or forty years in the making, happy to have reached that point, then pass suddenly. To work all those years for a "retirement" that is gamble at best.... Somehow the thought just does not set right with me as it once did.

Before you begin calling me a lazy bum. In no way am I advocating that anyone sponge off anyone else, not pay their bills, not support their families, or live of the government. The thing is, and the part my wife cannot fathom, I do not require a lot of "things."

I have lived without debt. Yes, I had (and have) income and I know how to live within my means. Therefore, if I want to work part-time, do without a brand new pick-up truck, not eat out every night, so I can spend more time writing, painting, or searching for solitude along the banks of the Mississippi River, I can. It is a matter of priorities.

Like everyone else, no matter how much I work and earn, it would never be "enough." It seems the more we earn, the more we buy. The more we buy, the more we spend in maintenance, insurance, and headaches. If I understand this, I can determine my "needs" make sure they are covered and actually save money. If you notice. "I" can and have done all these things. Everything changes when "I" becomes "We" and "We" want whatever we don't have no matter how many credit cards stack up with all sorts of big numbers on them. I believe there are many more "fulfilled" starving artists than there are "fulfilled" millionaires.

SIX

The short time I have been writing on Gather, it has been pointed out, discussed, and I now sometimes wonder whether it is gain or loss, that I (See #FIVE) write in such detail. What do you think?

I tag:

Joey O.

Michael S.

Soren Rask

Lori Leidig

Echo M.

Barbara F.