I know where my towel is

As a miserable high school student in the late 1980s, I memorized the HHGG series. I built an electronic thumb, with some help from my dad and a bunch of spare computer parts. I desperately hoped I could hitch a ride on an alien spacecraft and see the galaxy — though I suspect a lot of that was because high school was so appalling. Douglas Adams’ books helped make it bearable. At 10, my son loves the series. This photo of me with my towel is a little tiny tribute to an author who fired the imaginations of millions of devoted, if weird, fans.

(Photo credit gratefully given to stoobydoo for Illuminate Yaletown 2009. Thanks for using Creative Commons!)

And the instructions:

What would your own album look like if you were in a band?
The image is what mine would look like.

Follow the directions below and find out yours…

Here are the rules:

1. The name of your band is the first random Wikipedia article you get here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random

2. Your album name is the last 4 or 5 words from the last random quote you find here:
http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3

3. Your cover art is the third photo you find on flickr’s interesting last 7 days here:
http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
** Rachel’s rule addition (yes, you know I had to make up a rule): Reload until the 3rd image is under a Creative Commons license allowing you to use it! Then use that one.

4. Assemble in your favorite image editor.

5. Post in note – add photo and tag your friends!

Have fun!

[Dear Reader: If you don't care how it happened but just want to know my five things, please skip down to the numbered list below. Otherwise, read on.] It happened thus: Brian Lamb twittered a Churchill quote and a link to his Five Things (written almost as long ago as Alan’s tap; as you will see, this is sort of a theme here), so I went to check it out. I’m glad I did, too, as now I know to bring my bulletproof vest to places where Brian is likely to be. In the post, Brian lamented that most folks had already been tapped ages ago (true, and a problem I shall face shortly). He also thoughtfully provided the link to Alan’s Five Things, in which Gardner C. and Bryan A. were already snagged, in a comment. Of course I followed the link, because CogDog’s Five Things were bound to be interesting (and again I was not disappointed). Imagine my surprise to find that down at the bottom of that post, I too had been tapped. Thing #0, therefore, is that I can be a little slow on the uptake. There, threw that one in for free. Five Things:

1. I can draw a mean Bill the Cat.
2. One of my early jobs was as a secretary. I sucked. Oh, I was so unbelievably bad at it that I can’t even tell you how awful I was. I hung on for six months through sheer bloody-mindedness and then I quit.
3. While it’s commonly known that I have a background in art, not many people know that one of the media I like to work with is metal. I prefer oxy-acet to arc welding… there is something alive about the flame that I don’t get from the sparks. Unfortunately I don’t have the equipment at the moment so it’s been way too long since I’ve had the opportunity to wield a flaming 6000-degree F (3000 C) torch.
4. In the spring of 1992 I spent a semester as a Peace Corps Intern in Libreville, Gabon. The internship program doesn’t exist any more, or didn’t last time I checked (mine was the second-to-last group. I don’t think this was my fault, but you never know). Twice a year, six interns were selected to go to various Peace Corps countries to do things like organize the central office library or, in my case, to set up and maintain their computer network. Yes, I hooked up an AppleTalk network, in Africa, and taught people how to use FoxBase, in French. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life and I loved every minute (except for the 48 hours when I had malaria; that I could do without). I learned to drink beer there, so I am naturally suspicious of any beer that you can see through.
5. I performed double trapeeze, Spanish web and shoot-thru (balancing ladder) in the circus when I was in college (sorry, no pix, don’t ask). My undergraduate alma mater, Florida State University, has a collegiate circus, and I performed in the homeshows. They take the circus on the road in the summer, but summer is such a lovely, pleasant season in Tallahassee that I always remained at home. Oh wait, no it’s not. I stayed home because I was broke and taking summer classes.

My turn to tap: as has been noted elsewhere, many have already been tapped. I couldn’t find a Five Things post from Gardner C., so I hereby tap him again. I further tap Vidya A., Martha B., Nancy W., and Fleep T. Go get ‘em, girls (and Gardner)!

I gather, from reading the Five Things posts of people I respect, that there’s sort of a feeling that this kind of thing is done in spite of our better judgement, and preserving the meme is frowned upon a little bit. I’m delighted that I could bring it back over a year after decent people thought it was over.

Thpthpthpthpthpthpthp.