A while back I pondered whether to get more serious and authorial with my blog. So I have decided to begin with a bit of self-revelation. Here goes.
- I was born at an early age of humble and pious parents in the SE suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio, USofA. You may diss Ohio to your heart's content, but badmouth Cleveland and you'll be in for a tongue lashing of great severity.
- I am mixed-handed (a.k.a. cross-dominant) meaning I use my right hand for some tasks and my left for others. I write with my right but eat with my left. I have dome this since childhood, and it always seemed like the natural and sensible thing to do. My mother thought it was weird (little did she know there was much more to come). I shave the right side of my face with my right hand and the left side with my left.
- I have always attended private, religiously connected schools, from 1st grade through grad school: 3 Catholic and 1 Methodist to be precise. To borrow a phrase from "Dangerous Liaisons", I have always been unalterably prejudiced in favor of convent education. One result of this is I'm college classmates with the pope (Villanova '77). The first time I had any sort of connection to a public school was in my second teaching job, which was at a state university.
- In college, one graduated summa cum laude with a 3.8 GPA or above. I had a 3.79 and had to be content with magna. Curse you freshman calculus!!! (As I recall, the pope got summa.)
- I realized I was gay in 8th grade (13 years old).
- I only like doing things I'm good at; conversely I dislike doing things I'm not good at. That seems to be the only criterion; difficulty, complexity, duration, effort, etc. have nothing to do with it.
- I've been sober since May 1986.
- I have a Vulcan Science Academy sticker on the back of my car, along with a Villanova and a Duke sticker (Duke is nominally Methodist, in case you were wondering).
- I was a Benedictine monk for 13 years.
- I spent most of my life as a ardent perfectionist (cf. 20 Nov re: kitchen towels), but being married and getting older has softened me up a bit, but I can still write an excruciatingly correct MLA-style footnote.
- I am easily intimidated by the authority of signs (except for speed limits), and get upset when I see people violating them. I am not, however, intimidated by people with authority much, and if they are unworthy persons, I will be outright defiant of them.
- Without a shadow of a doubt, my favorite musical form is the piano concerto.
- People think I have an ebullient, entertaining personality, which I suppose I do once I feel comfortable with a person or group. Put me in a crowd of strangers and I'm a complete wallflower, a timid, anonymous creature usually found in a corner.
- I have never had a hobby; I have serial obsessions. I become intensely interested in something and assiduously collect or study about it until interest passes and I move onto something else. Hence, I have a lot of collections of things: starships, rubber ducks, frig magnets, university paraphernalia, medieval bishop chess pieces, glass and stone figures of bunnies, etc. I once had a collection of 120 stuffed animal penguins, each with its own name which I knew by heart.
I love that bust! Fun facts. I wonder how early was the age you were born. Stone Age? Ice Age? Iron Age? 13 years as a Benedictine monk; amazing. Like you, I pretty much only like doing things I’m good at. Do you remember all the penguins names?
ReplyDeleteI still have some of them, of course, and know their names, and if I saw them again I probably would remember. Which reminds me, some recent additions to the menagerie need names. Oh, and just to be sure, I tape their names in small letters under their feet, using a label making machine.
DeleteGlad to add you to the list of many LGBTQ+ clergy and ex-clergy who I've known over the years, which include monks, nuns, priests, and ministers. It's a unique feature of the Boomer generation where an early life in religious service is combined with a later life of being out of the closet. Pre-Boomers, no one came out. Post-Boomers, no one goes into religious service.
ReplyDeleteA very astute observation.
DeleteMy sweet bear!
ReplyDelete🥰🥰🥰
DeleteAll useful information that the Russians will be most interested in but why include the photo-shopped image of James Francis at the end? And why is he wearing a laurel crown? He doesn't look too happy. Perhaps he has been up all night working on his PhD thesis..."The Role of the Syrian Hamster in Early Christianity".
ReplyDeleteThe Francis character is my avatar which allows me to operate in the human world without attracting the attention of rodentaphobes. The crown is the usual headgear for emeritus Rodentine Emperors, and office I was honored to hold in my younger years. Syrian Christianity is indeed a fascinating topic which I would happy discuss at great length whenever you want to be bored to death. Do you want me to begin with St. Ephrem's wholesale rejection of the Greek philosophical tradition or the requirement of post-baptismal chastity?
DeletePS: I found your Black Friday post to be delightfully creative and tremendously witty! 👏👏
DeletePPS: The Russians already know all about me; mine was one of a bunch of FBI files Trump sold to the Russians during his first term.
DeleteI would rather learn about St. Ephrem's breakfast preferences. For example, which was his favourite breakfast cereal?
DeletePray that your spouse does not use this blog entry as "Curious Things Around the House."
ReplyDeleteBe well.
Will Jay
PS Yes, I know that I should be better, especially since you could call the Pope and "call in a few favors."
DeleteWill Jay
For a few weeks after his election I would end appropriate statements with "Or I'll tell the pope." E.g.: There had better not be long checkout lines at the supermarket today, or I'll tell the pope.
DeleteSuch fun facts...thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete😊
DeleteI was taught high school by Benedictine nuns and monks. There aren't many left around here now.
ReplyDeleteYou have figured out a lot about your self!
👍
DeleteSo much to unpack, it's great to know you (even virtually). I'd do a post like yours but it'd be very dull.
ReplyDelete