I’m a pathetic blogger. Want to read a book review? Didn’t think so. I don’t read them either. But I rarely have the time to write, and writing about what I’m reading comes easiest. Still, I am the recipient of a blog award: the Versatile Blogger Award, given by Gregg at Gospel Driven Disciples. I’m grateful for the compliment and recognition. Thanks, Gregg. Now, in an effort to be “versatile,” I give you a post that isn’t about books. This post, which, by the way, I should have written a month ago when first selected.
Part of the deal is that I tell you seven things about myself. So:
1. I have a 40-hour a week job. One which I haven’t ever mentioned here before. Why not? Because it is beside the point. And if you were to know what I did for a living, it would generate more discussion that is beside the point. Curious? I have a master’s degree in agriculture, and my job is related to my degree. But no, I’m not a farmer.
2. I have a tendency to be rebellious. In sixth grade, a new teacher was hired during the middle of the year. Every sixth grade teacher picked two students from their class to be in the new class. They were supposed to pick good students, but none complied. The result? The class from you-know-where, and I was in it. The teacher left unannounced before the year was over. And during my senior year of high school I was paddled five separate times for various offences.
3. I played the trumpet for five years. But, in a failed effort to fit in my last two years of high school, and to the relief of the band instructor, I quit band and ran track.
4. I made A’s in trigonometry my junior year, A’s in calculus my senior year, and then failed my math placement test my first year at university.
5. I was home schooled for one year (8th grade). My parents were horrified that I had received an A+ on a terribly written essay, so they kept me home to try to teach me how to read and write. Daddy had me read the Pilgrim’s Progress, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and other classics. He also forced me to enter an essay contest through the Freeman Magazine. Sounds tea-partyish, doesn’t it? I spent the entire year writing and re-writing that blasted essay.
6. I have a Texas accent, and I’ve worked on horseback. I once used water from a cattle trough to brush my teeth and make coffee.
7. I’m not a very “good Christian.” I like secular music more than contemporary Christian music. I refuse to go to tea-party rallies, read Christian fiction, or sing “Have a Little Talk With Jesus.” I like red wine. I don’t like Guinness beer (but I do like Full-Sail Pale Ale). My favorite movie is not Fire-proof (nor Lord of the Rings). I’m on the wrong side of the immigration debate, and I’m somewhat of an environmentalist (dangerously liberal, right?) But I do love Jesus, and I love and am thankful for my wife and three beautiful children.
The other part of the deal is that I pass the award on to 15 other blogs. Fifteen other blogs? Here-in lies a problem: I don’t read 15 blogs. The blogs I do read somewhat regularly are listed on my blog roll. So, I choose them. All except Gregg. Though Gregg is a great blogger, he picked me, and picking him is surely against the rules.