10 things

[cellio]

There's a meme going around where you list ten things you've done that most people haven't. I think it started out as "...that no one else reading this has done", but I haven't led a novel-enough life for the number of readers I have. :-)

1. Had a pet rabbit.

2. Took graduate courses in music for credit, without being formally enrolled in the department.

3. Flew to another city to spend a weekend with someone I knew only from the net, and it wasn't in any way romantic.

4. As a college freshman, introduced a professor to a new research area (and it turned out to be productive).

5. Got kicked out of a required class for being a trouble-maker, with no academic reprecussions.

6. Built a house to use for Pennsic. (Well, mostly not personally... :-) )

7. Sued a corporation when there was no money in it for me.

8. Wrote a program to monitor the state of a vending machine and let me know when the Cokes were cold. [See note below.]

9. Attended a party where the host had prepared handouts entitled "what to do if the police show up".

10. Entered every major category in a large SCA arts/sciences competition, just to see if I could.

Edited to add: About the Coke program -- this wasn't the Coke program at CMU, the famous one that allowed you to query the machine from any terminal. First, that pre-dated me; second, I wouldn't have had a clue about the hardware interface anyway. What I wrote was a monitoring program that used the output of the existing program. When the machine was "empty" and I was thirsty, I would fire up the monitor so I'd know as soon as someone started to fill the machine. (An "empty" machine actually contained a few cold Cokes.) Eventually I got added to the list of people with permission to just go fill the machine, but that came later.

And the flip side: ten things I've never done that many people I know probably have:

1. Waited tables.

2. Attended a prom.

3. Played team sports.

4. Held a gun.

5. Intentionally consumed illegal drugs other than alcohol.

6. Driven more than 400 miles by myself.

7. Watched a Three Stooges movie all the way through.

8. Ridden a skateboard or scooter.

9. Left North America.

10. Built a fire.

Comments

[mortuus.livejournal.com]

Of the first list, I share number 3 with you. It was a lot of fun. I was very nervous because I'm never sure if in person I will be a great disappointment to people compared to how I am online, but it was great.

Number 9 made me laugh. It's nice that the host was so prepared and all :-D.

[cellio]

Of the first list, I share number 3 with you. It was a lot of fun. I was very nervous because I'm never sure if in person I will be a great disappointment to people compared to how I am online, but it was great.

Yeah, I had something similar. I'd been corresponding with an articulate and friendly-sounding Orthodox Jew who said, essentially, "you just haven't really experienced Shabbat the Orthodox way; I'll help". So I figured why not and found an affordable fare, and it was an enlightening weekend. The ten (!) kids were kind of overwhelming, but it was a good visit.

Number 9 made me laugh. It's nice that the host was so prepared and all :-D.

He anticipated the possibility, but so far as I know it was never necessary. But, y'know, pesky neighbors... :-)