PEOPLE COLLECTION: 5 THINGS NOT GENERALLY KNOWN ABOUT ME

I got tagged by Clare Dudman...

As Clare says:

Apparently it originates with Sharon J who is searching for characteristics of people for writers and asks that the following paragraph is included in the post:

PLEASE LEAVE THE FOLLOWING IN ALL ‘PEOPLE COLLECTION’ POSTS
Remember that it isn’t always the sensational stuff that writers are looking for, it can just as easily be something that you take for granted like having raised twins or knowing how to grow beetroot. Mind you, if you know how to fly a helicopter or have worked as a film extra, do feel free to let the rest of us know about it :-)

I'm gonna give you seven, since I'm pretty sure I've mentioned one of these before at some point and none of these are particularly revelatory. Fact is, most of my stuff is out there on the blog already or in interviews or in the fiction.

(1) My dad's nickname for me growing up was "Ham" or "Moose". I'm not quite sure why, to this day.

(2) My sister Elizabeth and my best friend Duane in high school used to take Duane's video camera and do skits parodying various movies and TV shows. The worst was a Star Trek skit in which I played Scotty and Duane played Spock. I didn't want to do the lines as spoken and so I kept being contrary until Duane got so mad he started slapping me upside the head. These skits are soooo terribly acted that if any of the three of us ran for political office, they'd be used against us.

(3) I sleep with a baseball bat when Ann is out of town on business. When she's here, I don't feel the need for a baseball bat or anything else for protection.

(4) I don't eat anything after the expiration date if I can help it, fruit and milk included. I'm a little bit of a freak about this.

(5) My sister was once being harassed by a kid at a local community center. So I pushed him down and beat the crap out of him. Only afterwards did I realize that he was about three years younger than me and I could've gotten away with just giving him a good talking to instead of a beat-down.

(6) I sometimes publish under the name "Scott Miller". I haven't done this for a few years.

(7) I once gave a girl I had a crush on in high school a ton of presents and then was so shy I couldn't bring myself to ask her out or hardly even speak to her, even after she said to me things like "The dolphins in this David Brin novel seem to like sex an awful lot," which while not necessarily a come-hither sure wasn't a get-thee-gone, either.

I think I'm going to tag Jay Lake, Jeffrey Ford, Liz Williams, and Sean Wallace. But no guilt if any of ya opt out.

Jeff