
There are some rules involved with this. I've never been one to follow rules willingly, but I'll do my best to comply. All right, here goes:
First, I have to add the Honest Scrap logo to my blog. Okay. Done (it's somewhere on the sidebar). Then I have to provide a link to the person who nominated me. I did that, above.
Now (oh, God, I knew there was a "catch".....), I'm supposed to list ten interesting things about myself. This is the tough part. Most of the truly interesting things about me are either incredibly shocking or nearly illegal - so that's out (am I joking, or what? Naw, I don't joke.....).
If I list accomplishments, it will sound like I'm bragging. If I list other, more conventional things, it will be boring. Well, let's see - - I'll pull a few random things out of my cowboy hat, in no particular order. You've probably heard most of them before.
1. I'm ambidextrous (nothing sexual...), which probably comes from being a pianist. While on the subject, here's another scrap of trivia: the average pianist can span an octave (eight keys) with his hand. I can easily span ten keys with my right hand and eleven with my left.
2. When I was seven years old, I was diagnosed as having leukemia by two different doctors. I was given extensive unconventional holistic and naturalistic treatments by a third doctor. What can I say? Well over forty years later, and I'm still around......
3. At age sixteen I broke my left wrist playing football (when a big fat bastard tackled me). To this day, I can't bend my left wrist. Incredibly, it has never affected my piano playing.
4. At age sixteen (again), the National Guild of Piano Teachers presented me with the Albert Rosen award for one of my piano compositions. At age nineteen, I performed a piano concerto with a symphony orchestra. For the next few years I performed widely as soloist and accompanist with various orchestras and chamber groups.
5. When I was in my early twenties, an editor from Random House requested to see a collection of my poetry to be considered for publication in a book. Although already widely published, I didn't think I had enough quality poetry worthy of being in a book, and I turned down his offer.
6. On the subject of "turn downs":
While living in Southern California, I was hired by both Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm. After careful consideration, I rejected both offers at the last minute. Reasons? Working at Disneyland was much too restrictive - sorta like being in the military. Knott's Berry Farm wanted me to work on a rotating shift, and that would have driven me crazy.
7. I worked as a movie extra with an independent agency. I also worked as an armed late-night security guard, on & off, for several years. On one of my jobs, somebody dumped a body in a large trash compactor on the premisis. I unknowingly was with the body all night long (the workers discovered it in the morning). Incidentally, the murder was never solved.
8. My maternal great-grandfather was of Austro-Hungarian royal blood. One of my maternal great uncles, Frederick Lang, was executed for murder. He was the last man hanged in New Jersey- in 1909. My article on this subject was published in the New Jersey Monthly. I'm presently working on a book based on the same subject.
Hey, wait a minute! If I reveal ten things about myself it will be far too much. I'll no longer be mysterious. I'm mercifully going to stop at eight. In retrospect I've lived an incredibly interesting life - which included as much adventure, excitement, drama, and tragedy as any novel. Listing random incidents is nearly an impossibility.
Okay. Now, according to the rules, I'm supposed to nominate ten other journals for the Honest Scrap Award. This is where I'm going to break the rules. I'm not gonna do it. I don't want to play favorites. I read and enjoy many journals on Blogspot. I could easily pick ten but that would be unfair to the others.
I truly appreciate all the great people who take the time to visit my blog (even those who don't leave comments). I feel that you are all my friends, no matter how many miles seperate us.
Is this honest scrap? You bet it is!

