I got tagged, and now all my clothes are covered in spray paint. ZING!!! OK, anyway, I’m supposed to say 6 interesting things about myself, apparently stuff no one already knows about me. Well, no one, I repeat NO ONE is going to find out about those things…I covered my tracks and destroyed ALL evidence of—Oh, I mean, OK. How about 6 things you may or may not know about me, with unique details about them.
1. My dead father appeared in a dream and told me where to get cheap internet. It’s true. Not long after he died, I had a dream that he called me on the phone and told me the name of a free web access site called Juno, which I’d never heard of. I looked it up (we had a trial version of AOL at the time) and saw that it was a partner with NetZero. We got Juno web service, and we had internet!
Really, this is the kind of thing my dad would appear to me for. I’d never expect him to give me deep, spiritual insights, or give me guidance along the path of life. But practical info about low-cost internet (especially something for free)—yeah, that’s what my dad would do.
So to return the favor, I’m using the internet to post a clip from a show my dad enjoyed--Benny Hill (there’s also a slight resemblance).
WARNING: bawdy, cheeky British humor ahead:
2. I used to draw Disneyland maps and lists of attractions. In 8th grade, I was really bored with school…OK, so from 5th grade to the time I graduated BYU, I was bored with school. But in 8th grade, I was ESPECIALLY disinterested in school. I did well, pretty much straight A’s, but I had a lot of free time while the rest of the class was “learning.” So I would write lists of all the Disneyland attractions, by land, then draw a Disneyland map and put numbers where each attraction is located.
Here’s a short clip from “Gala Day at Disneyland” from 1959…there were a lot fewer attractions back then, and my map/list wouldn’t have killed nearly as much time. Though I’d have been excited to add the BRAND NEW Matterhorn, Monorail, and Submarine Voyage
3. My brushes with fame: Donny, Marie, John Williams, Mighty Wind Guy, Gallagher, Marvin Payne
I saw Donny Osmond at the doctor’s office. He was wearing a Mulan shirt and the nurse called him back and handed him a urinalysis cup and pointed him back to the bathroom.
I saw Marie when working at Cinnabon. She ordered an Orange Juice for her son. Amanda rang her up at Toys R Us also.
My mom made arrangements with someone from the Tucson Symphony, allowing me to meet John Williams. That was awesome, but I was so nervous I could hardly talk to him. For those reading the blog that don’t know John Williams, he composed most of the popular movie musical scores: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, E.T., and tons of others. Here’s John (we’re on a first-name basis) conducting the E.T. flying theme:
I met the guy from “A Mighty Wind” (John Michael Higgins) in line to get Disneyland tickets. He was most recently in “Fred Claus”. For other movies he’s been in go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0383422/ or visit your public library…ok, maybe not.
Mormons might know Marvin Payne as the dad from Saturday’s Warrior. And we in the Peterson family know him as “Robot Jaw” because of his most prominent facial feature. I tried to help him once at Officemax, but we didn’t have what he was looking for. You can glimpse him in this ad for “Saturday’s Warrior: Recut”:
And I sat behind Gallagher at Walt Disney World when I went to see Muppetvision 3-D. Luckily, he didn’t have any watermelons at the time.
4. I roll my clothes. Yes, I do not fold my clothes, I roll them. It started once when I rolled them so they’d all fit in a suitcase when I went on vacation, and then I said, “Why not just keep them rolled?” It makes it a lot more roomy in my dresser drawers, and I don’t have shirts on top of shirts, etc.
For no particular reason, here’s sped-up audio of “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast. The guy who uploaded this has a bunch of other funny sped-up audio…
5. I’ve always been a present-peeker. It’s true. I looked for presents every Christmas. Not just that, I also have opened presents, including tapes which I listened to and then re-wrapped. Even today, I will sometimes look in Amanda’s internet History to see what presents she’s looked up. Yes, I’m a child. My most notorious peek? That’s be a group effort when Kevin and I opened our Laser Tag toys from my Dad and opened the batteries, played Laser Tag, then rewrapped them before my mom got home from work (Ahh, to be a latch key kid!). How could we resist when we saw this on TV all the time:
6. Here is a list of all the girls I had crushes on through my life, (first names only to protect the innocent).
Amanda C., Wendy, Jody, Andrea, Charity, Christy, Trisha, Emily, Amanda M.
I only kissed 2 of them: my first crush, Amanda C., and my last crush, Amanda M. (Who is now Amanda P.—she’s my wife, see?) most of the rest of them didn't know about the crushes, except the couple I foolishly sent love notes to.
Here’s a romantic love ballad, courtesy of Mystery Science Theater: “When Loving Lovers Love”:
