My Facebook Moment & 25 Random Things About Me

Posted: February 14th, 2009 | Filed under: Culture, Personalities, Politics, Ruminations | No Comments »

I joined Facebook.

For about a week. Then I deleted myself. I’m much relieved.

Entering that world was merely a matter of curiosity. One of my friends, a middle ager as myself, joked about how another of our buddies, also a chronological contemporary, was his Facebook Friend. I wanted to see what that meant. Then realized I had to join the network if I wanted to find out. So I did.

And those guys were listed as friends on each other’s page.

Hmm.

I did nothing more. Then I got an email, saying somebody I don’t know wanted to be my Facebook Friend. I ignored it. Then I got another email advising that an old nemesis wanted to be my Facebook Friend. I ignored it.

But, realized: Enough is enough. I cancelled my registration.

There’s more. Click on the title.

I understand the positives of being a part of such a network. Like, uh, networking. Marketing too. I just don’t need to be a part of it to feel whole. To those that choose to jump in, God bless ya. I hope it works.

Apparently one of the au courant crazes there these days is to post “25 Random Things About Me.” You can tell a lot about people when they tell you that much. If only by the info they choose to reveal. Esquire has run a similar feature for years, in which celebs share things they’ve learned along the way. A slightly different take on the same premise: This is who I really am.

Anyway, those kind of revelations intrigue me. I like to know stuff about other folks. But, not so much about a former nemesis who now wants to be my Facebook Friend.

But, hey, I like to talk about myself. I’ve had a disturbing lifelong need to have those around me know what I feel about any topic. Whether they care to or not. I have a longing to be heard. Hey, that’s why I started this website. And it was back before such things were called blogs.

So, here goes with 25 Random Things About Me, c d kaplan:

1. I quit playing high school football after only one jayvee season. My father was devastated. I carried the guilt with me until I climbed Mount Shasta in Northern California in 2003.

2. While eating lunch with pals recently, I ran into a woman whom I vaguely remember from the 70s. She carried on about how she was friends with somebody named Marci, a medical student back then, a gal she said I dated for awhile. I have no memories of dating a med student named Marci. Which doesn’t necessarily mean I didn’t.

3. I have a foot condition called, I think, “severe hyperkeratosis of the plantar surface.” Which means I have lots of callouses on my feet, which I need to remove every other week.

4. I’ve only had one pet my whole life. Lila the Love Dog, who came with my relationship  with Joanie, the Film Babe, my wife. We had to put Lila down several months ago. I have not recovered yet. I’m not sure I ever will.

5. Pete Maravich is the most exciting basketball player I’ve ever seen in person.

6. I’m a recovering cocaine addict. I’ve been clean and sober since November 15, 1982. The process that has been the basis for my sobriety is the greatest gift I’ve ever received.

7. At age 63, I was married this past summer for the first time.

8. I was a Juvenile Court prosecutor for 22 years.

9. I have one sibling, a brother eight and a half years older to the day. He’s a plastic surgeon and a cattle rancher in Missouri. We’ve spoken to each other only once in the last decade. His choice. I stopped trying to reach out. The best advice he ever gave me was to take Typing class in the 9th grade.

10. For years, I lied about meeting the Beatles. I never met the Beatles. I did sit back stage at their concert in Chicago at the International Amphitheater, the first show on their last U.S. tour.

11. I once owned a green Karmann Ghia, which I wish I still had. But I do love my current car, a red Mini Cooper S with a white top and checkered flag mirror covers.

12, I was hit head on by a car while I was jogging in November, 1990.

13. I have a short attention span. I’ve read very few novels as an adult. Every so often I’ll pick up “The Great Gatsby” and read a page or two, marveling at Fitzgerald’s writing prowess.

14. Once at summer camp I threw up while playing baseball right after lunch, when I’d eaten egg salad. I didn’t eat egg salad again for thirty years.

15. I was well into adulthood before I realized that pimentos did not grow inside olives.

16. I own 16 pairs of Keens. And one pair of black low cut Converse Chucks.

17. When Joanie and I renovated the house we live in, we put in a 50s diner booth. It’s got naugahyde seats and a table with a boomerang formica top. It’s the one thing that everyone visiting for the first time comments on.

18. I’ve been addicted to college basketball since December, 1952 when my parents took me to my first game, a Louisville win over Purdue. I went to law school because there was a game I attended on the same day I was supposed to take the GRE. My favorite team is the U of L Cardinals.

19. I love New Orleans. I love the New Orleans JazzFest, an annual April event. I went to my first JazzFest in 1976. I’ve attended with friends 21 of the last 22.

20. My three favorite restaurants in the world are: Galatoire’s in New Orleans. Impellizzeri’s Pizza, which is right around the corner from my house. And one whose name I can’t remember in a little town whose name I can’t remember by this bucolic little river whose name I can’t remember in the Dordogne region of France near Le Bourdeilles. The fish soup is sublime. If I remember more details I’ll edit this Random Thing About Me.

21. I started taking piano lessons last year (2008) when I was 62 years old.

22. I’ve had weight issues my whole life. At various times as an adult I’ve probably lost (and regained) a total of 300 to 400 pounds. (Not all at once, mind you.)

23. As of yet, I still haven’t taken to text messaging, nor instant messaging. I email a lot. But if I need to be in contact with somebody in the moment, I call them on the phone and try to actually talk to them. Or leave a verbal message.

24. When I was younger, and single, I was out and about a whole lot. Now I mostly stay at home a lot. I don’t travel easily, never have really, and often wonder if I don’t have a mild case of agoraphobia.

25. I love rock & roll. Always have. It’s too late to stop now.

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