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What the hey; I’ve been a little short on inspiration lately, so when Joanna Young sent out an invitation to participate in this little exercise, I figured, why not? I mean, it’s not like I have any better ideas at the moment *sigh*.

So without further ado (since further do makes no sense at all), I give you 8 more random things about MEEEeeeeeeeeeee! (Isn’t it fun when you get to be the center of the universe? Even for just a little while?)

• It should come as no surprise that I’m a native Texan (although I’ve never played one on TV). Nevertheless, I own not one single cotton-pickin’ oil well, six-shooter, horse, herd of cattle or even a range for them to be home on! I do, however, own a genuine Stetson cowboy hat (acquired in Nashville, Tennessee) and one of those cool Western-style string ties (which I picked up in Portland, Oregon). And I don’t line dance either. Go figure. (photo: Big Tex, Texas State Fair, Dallas by StevenM_61)

• Way back when I was a student during summer sessions at Texas A&M University, for spending money I took a job as a pizza delivery boy man. We used an old stripped-down VW beetle named Clementine, and when I say stripped-down, I mean just that; her interior had a driver’s seat and nothin’ else! No heater, either; during the winter it was miserably cold. But the job did have one compensating feature (I mean, besides the free pizza). See, at the time, we had special dispensation from the campus police to drive on the very wide sidewalks found only in the campus dorm areas. So half the fun of the job was in driving that Beetle where no Beetle had gone before (sound of Star Trek theme music), including down, er, various flights of steps! (photo: 1967 VW Beetle by steelisreal)

• My stay in Taiwan taught me an inconvenient truth: I do not have the talent of wearing slippers with socks (oh, the humanity!) Allow me to explain. At the manufacturing facility where I worked, when going from building to building we wore street shoes, naturally. But upon entering the building, we had to put our shoes in little cubbies just inside the door, and everyone put on slippers similar to these. I always hated those things! It never failed - particularly when strolling along with a client - one of those darned slippers would shoot off my foot and down the hall like a jet fighter coming off a carrier deck. Very embarrassing, to say the least! I just know they’re still talking about it.

• I have the world’s worst memory for information, facts, etc.; particularly for names. It’s something I’ve been plagued with all my life, but it’s tough - my short-term memory cells are apparently rather proprietary and don’t want to hand off the information to my long-term memory cells. I tell ya, it can get pretty frustrating at times. However, I discovered that, if I format what I want to remember into a story - well, I’m likely to remember it forever! Hey wait - that sounds sorta familiar, doesn’t it? Lessons… learned from life… naah. (By the way, this image in no way reflect my actual ears. Cranial capacity; sure. I’m just sayin’.)

• I am have a tendency to be the world’s worst procrastinator. I’ll elaborate more on this… sometime. Maybe tomorrow. But maybe not.

• Speaking of Taiwan, in 2000 I had the chance to actually circumnavigate the globe… and didn’t. Although at the time I was a contract worker there, I received an invitation from my employer to come to Grenoble, France for an interview towards becoming a permanent employee. They asked me to fly directly to Grenoble from Taiwan and go home to Houston from there. But when I checked on the prices, I couldn’t believe it! (You’ve heard of ‘having a cow’? I nearly had the whole herd!) So I suggested they allow me to fly back home, collect Mrs. MZM, and come see them via Paris - all for 1/3 the cost! Naturally they were thrilled, and so we got a free, all expenses paid trip to Paris and Grenoble. I’d still like to circumnavigate the globe at least once, though.

• It’s there for all to see, but not many know that Mrs. MZM and I have lived in over 60 places since we hitched up 26 years ago! Yep; it’s true. Thus, one of our defining characteristics is that we are probably the most flexible people you’ll ever meet (although… in a slightly different way from these folks!) In fact, we made it our theme for awhile. Alas, such a lifestyle is not without it price; it’s been difficult to keep up with people we’ve met in various places over the years. Lucky for us, Al Gore invented the Internet, so now it’s much easier to meet and stay in touch with folks like you guys from all over the globe!

• As a computer user, I take my virus protection seriously! Really seriously! I mean, there’s the usual anti-virus software installed and running, along with its continual updates. I use NoScript in my Firefox browser, and AdBlock to help keep things under control online. Plus, there’s Akismet for spam blocking right here at the Zone. But I bet there’s one area you’ve forgotten about - your desk. No, not the desktop on your computer; your actual physical desk. Well, I’m proud to say I’m covered there too! Click on the photo to meet my two most important desk accessories and the final tag-team line of defense - Spike and Angela.

Well, there ya have it! 8 random things about me. So ends the “I’m the center of the universe” portion of our post today. Now it’s time to make it all about YOU!

I invite all of you to join us in revealing a bit more about yourselves to your readers. They’ll thank you, and you may even have a bit of fun doing it! No, don’t panic - I’m not going to tag anyone specific (sound of huge sigh of relief). Just jump in if you like. To make it even easier for you, here are some thoughtful “non-rules” brilliantly outlined by Jeanne Dininni:

1. Give yourself permission not to complete it if you lack the interest, inclination or inspiration to do so (that way you’ll only write it if you do).
2. Allow yourself to ignore the hurry element.
3. Focus on the meme and shape it the way you want, make it your own.

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

It’s always gratifying when someone tags you for a meme, isn’t it? It means somebody “out there” is thinking of you (they like me – they really like me!) I don’t know about you, but it always gives me a quick boost of energy. This time, Chip Sterling is the culprit.

Unfortunately, getting tagged again (along with opening my big mouth and volunteering to write for a few group projects) has just about overextended little ol’ me! Besides, I was poked (ouch – hey, that hurts!) by this one a while back.

But what the hey, I’ve got a few minutes to kill (sound of gunshot); let’s grab a flashlight and sneak on down to the basement (sound of creaky door opening) and see what we can rustle up here…

(Sound of tentative footsteps descending rickety wooden stairs. Slight rustle of unseen creatures hiding from the light. Ominous flapping sounds – possibly a bat. Suddenly – a tremendous crashing noise as years of accumulated junk comes crashing down! The flashlight goes out. Then – silence…)

Ah! Here we are:

• I have a personal library of almost exclusively science-fiction paperbacks, most of which I’ve read many, many… uh, many times. When I find one I really enjoy, it stays in the library pretty much forever.
• In my lifetime, I’ve had three dogs as pets – all dachshunds. I dunno; there’s just something about the cute little guys I really enjoy.
• My shortest commute ever – I once spent three months working for the Department of Homeland Security (now, don’t you feel safer knowing that?) at the Las Vegas airport DoubleTree Hotel. Upon leaving my room each morning, I walked down the hall to our working suites (about 100 steps, tops).
• I remember a kid in elementary school named Larry Martin, mainly because he was the fastest runner I’d ever seen. Once, during a race, I watched him actually stumble and miss the starting gun, and still beat the heck out of everyone else! It was truly inspiring; a lot like watching Eric Liddell in the movie Chariots of Fire.
• I have a thing about ants. I’d rather not talk about it.
• One of my clearest childhood memories is of me lying on my back in a large green field, watching a kite I had built float lightly in an April breeze. I particularly remember the clear blue sky, and the smell of the grass. To tell you the truth, I have no idea if it really happened or if I’m imagining it. I don’t care – it’s too wonderful an image to give up.
• If I could have any car in the world, money no object, I’d get a brand new silver Mustang GT. I think Ford did a great job redesigning it without losing the original look.
• When I was very little, I remember going to my grandparent’s farm in Louisiana. When Grammy needed some potatoes for dinner, Grandpa grabbed a shovel, went out to a nearby field, and dug some up! I was astonished! I mean, who knew? So I went home and dug up every plant in Mom’s garden. No potatoes.

OK, here’s where I’m supposed to tag eight more folks. But I think I’ll just open it up to whoever wants to jump in.

I mean, it’s not like the Meme Police will show up and cite me for “Failure to perpetrate a meme”, right? (Sudden sounds of pounding on door and shouts of “Police! Come out with your hands up!”)

Whoops! Gotta go!

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

A while back I started a meme called My Home Town, to help us and our readers celebrate their roots, and in the process, take us on a sortof “world tour”.

Well, although it’s not exactly burning up the blogosphere (I’m afraid it rivals the infamous “turtle meme” for speed!), there are now enough participants to start the Grand World Tour list!

So, for your reading enjoyment, I give you:

• Charing, Kent, United Kingdom – Karin H. at Stop/Start
• Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands – also Karin H. at Stop/Start
• East Koy Four Corners, New York, United States – Robyn McMasters at BrainBasedBiz
• Melbourne, Victoria, Australia – Markk at My Opinions Are Important
• Edinburgh, Scotland – Joanna Young at Confident Writing
• Belgrade, Serbia – Danica at Belgrade and Beyond
• Abilene, Kansas, United States – G.L. Hoffman at What Would Dad Say
• Geneva, Illinois, United States – Brad Shorr at Word Sell, Inc.
• Upper Marlboro, Maryland, United States – Edith Brown at Jeteak Press Writer Blog
• Brisbane, Queensland, Australia - Yvonne Russell at Grow Your Writing Business
• Montego Bay, Jamaica - Galba Bright at Tune up your EQ

If you’d like to contribute a post about your own home town to the tour, I’d love to hear from you! Drop by the original My Home Town post and leave a link in the comment box and I’ll post it right here for all to find!

p.s. Anybody know how to make a mashup? Wouldn’t you love to see these places on a world map?

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

Yes, I know, I know; already written this week about life in Robinson, Illinois. That post was intended to help us realize just how interesting that place called where we are really is.

But you know how it is, right? Writing it got me to thinkin’ (that grinding noise you hear) about the many places I’ve been. Funny, isn’t it, how the very act of writing about something triggers even more stuff to write about. Wow, I can feel the ol’ gray cells firing away up there (oooh, lookit all the pretty lights).

Well, here’s something Mrs. MZM and I still wonder about to this day…

After we’d settled into small town life (a humongous change from our life in the bustling metropolis of Houston, Texas), we finally had the chance to explore the town and the surrounding area. It wouldn’t take long; after all, Robinson is only about a mile across in both directions, so there’s really not that much to it.

Well, let’s see… there’s a couple of schools, two main industries (the Marathon refinery and the Heath chocolate factory), a Farm King (great deals on work clothing, or if you happen to need a cattle chute), 7 eateries (see the link above), an abandoned movie theater in a somewhat lonely downtown, the usual town square… the ordinary elements of small town life. Although we found the inevitable mansions spotted here and there, the general population was mostly blue-collar working class folk.

And speaking of mansions, there were four (count ‘em – FOUR) Illinois State Lottery winners living there, too. Ordinarily I would have considered that fact to be amazing enough all by itself, but here’s the really odd part – two of them lived in Robinson before winning and stayed, while the other two winners moved there on purpose AFTER winning! Interesting, and possibly even strange, but true nonetheless.

Mrs. MZM and I spent plenty of time exploring the area within 100 miles of the place, and one of the things we noticed about the houses was that there seemed to be a preponderance of, well, lawn decorations. You know, the concrete figures you see in lawns everywhere, right? Deer, gnomes, bird baths – you name it, we probably saw it in somebody’s lawn. Of course, some lawns had more than others.

Then there was this one place that (I would swear it – except my momma taught me not to swear) had a statue of virtually every Disney character known to man. You think I’m kidding? Nope, they had the entire cartoon pantheon, from Mickey Mouse to Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and then some (at least a hundred figures in all!) was represented, all in concrete and painted up beautifully. It was a sight to behold, I’ll tell ya!

But by far the most common item were those concrete geese. And it wasn’t just the fact that (and I’m really not kidding here) about 25% of the population seemed to have a pair flanking their doorsteps. It’s the clothes they were dressed in that really caught the eye!

The photos you see here are from a small area fair we visited once, and allow me to assure you, this is merely the barest touch of the beginning of the start of the tip of the iceberg. There were clothes of every type imaginable, from Star Wars characters to super models. It was the most memorable thing, in my humble opinion, about life in Robinson.

So what’s that about? Whatever on Earth prompts people to do that?

Don’t you just love the diversities of lifestyle we enjoy? One of the most rewarding things Mrs. MZM and I have experienced in our travels are the “little” idiosyncrasies (and some ain’t so little, either!) such as these, literally everywhere we’ve been (and believe me, we’ve been a few places – see the About Yours Truly page up there). Every single place has its own personality, its own lifestyle; literally a flavor of its own. That’s what’s so fun about traveling around the country, and yes, around the world.

So here’s the thing…

Introducing a new meme: My Home Town

I would LOVE to know about YOUR town! So… let’s throw this one out as a meme, shall we? Sortof whack it against the wall and see what sticks. I’ll start by tagging a few of my favorite folks (purposely choosing some from around the world), but if you aren’t tagged and feel like jumping in, by all means, go for it!

William Tully (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
Robyn McMaster (East Koy Four Corners, New York, USA)
Joanna Young (Edinburg, Scotland)
markk (Melbourne, Australia)
Karin H (Kent, U.K.)

So here’s the question: What, in your opinion, is or are the most amazing, unusual, strange or just plain weird things about where you live?

Now, all you have to do is write a post answering the above question, then tag a few folks (choose your own number).

Don’t limit yourself to just one thing, either – in fact, the more, the merrier. PLEASE include photos as appropriate (to amaze us all, and, you know, prove you’re not kidding – we all know what a picture is worth, right?), but remember – the more memorable, the better!

NOTE: Just so you know, I have a personal interest in everyone’s answers (read on), so when you link back to the person who tagged you, please (make that, “Oh, please, please, please!”) also link to this post as well so I can read it, too.

My plan (he said gleefully, chuckling maniacally to himself) is to eventually collect them all into one grand post. So as I said, please (make that – well, see above) help me out. (Besides, not only will it make great reading, but you’ll get an extra trackback link as well.)

Also please note; this is not a contest or a competition (a sortof “My place is weirder than YOUR place” kind of thing, because that would be, uh, weird). No, it’s an opportunity to share, talk about, and yes, celebrate the grand diversity that makes up this wonderful ol’ world we live in.

OK folks, let’s see what’cha got!

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

OK, OK, it’s not quite official meme week here at the Zone. First there was Tully’s 10 faves meme on Monday. Now here’s 8 random things about me from my friend Arun Rajagopal; a post that’s been waiting in the wings for a few days.

I’ll tell you, normally I don’t like to reveal all that much about myself. After all, I tend to be a somewhat private person (yeah, sure – so I blog, right?) But I figured what the heck, I can surely come up with 8 things about me that won’t really compromise my own sense of privacy. Of course, whether or not it will have been worth it once you read them is another story.

So without further ado (because further do really makes no sense), and in no particular order, I give you:

8 Things You Didn’t Know About Me (That May Make You Rich Insane)

1. I am not actually a blue shark, although there are still some folks out there who seem to think so. Back when I first started MZM, I used the image of a blue shark wearing sunglasses as my icon, but during SOBCon this year decided it was time to come out from behind the curtain of anonmy anonnimitie anonomousness, er, to reveal my true self. Still think the glasses are cool, though.
2. In spite of the aforementioned tough-guy blue shark image – if I see a spider (or any sort of biting or stinging bug for that matter) anywhere near me, I gather up my hoopskirts, scream like a girl and run from the room. Well, not quite. But I really, really don’t like ‘em. Especially if they’re, like, ON me.
3. I played clarinet in the school band throughout most of my junior high and high school years, mainly because I really hated the idea of getting all sweaty and icky during the day in gym class. (It was a choice of one or the other.) Besides, I was, well, let’s just say “not athletically inclined” and leave it at that. I was always the last guy picked for any team anyway, which was a painful humiliation I could do without.
4. During a period of lucidity research last year, I discovered a weird report stating that 1 in 18 people have a third nipple (proof that you can find out just about anything worth knowing on the Internet.) Just wanted everyone to know: I’m not one of them!
5. I have an uncanny ability to visualize in 3-D. What the heck does that mean? Well, I can look at a group of objects and see how they fit into a given space. Which makes me a genius at the sport of car-packing, a talent that’s come in handy over the years while moving from place to place.
6. If it were possible to get paid for doing it, I would probably take a job reading books. Especially science fiction. That’s something I could do all day and all night (well, except for eating, sleeping, and, you know, interaction with other people). Of course, since I started blogging, I think I would probably take a job doing that, too, but then you probably already knew that. (But it would have to top what I’m making now, though, since I really like what I’m doing now.)
7. I started smoking back when I was attending high school in Holland (I blame peer pressure – at the time I was the only one I knew of at the school I attended who didn’t smoke). Alas, as a college student I smoked like a locomotive. But on my birthday in 1977 I quit cold turkey and haven’t looked back. (For a while, though, I did have a few very strange dreams in which I was smoking – and knew, in the dream, I shouldn’t be. Weird.)
8. In my home office is a framed print depicting a businessman sitting at his desk, listening intently while Jesus sits next to him, expounding on some subject. Framed with it is a small metal plaque which quotes Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord; plans to prosper you and not harm you; plans to give you hope and a good future.” It’s a gift from Mrs. MZM and is one of my favorite things.

OK, now that you know 8 totally useless things about me – it’s your turn! But (and that’s a BIG but!), instead of specifically naming five victims friends, I’ll open it up for anyone who feels inspired. So what do you think? C’mon, take a shot – hey, you never know!

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

Well, well… I was tagged last week (sound of being tagged) by the honorable Mr. William Tully, esq., of LOGICal eMOTIONs. Seems he’s had an attack of the clevers lately, and started a new meme that, ironically enough, mirrors something I’ve been contemplating anyway – highlighting some of my favorite past posts.

Now, the name of this particular meme game is to pick the ten posts that, when read, will give your readers a good feel for what you and your blog are all about.

Sheesh, it’s going to require a superhuman effort to get my choices down to ten – I like so many of them. (Well, I guess I could always suggest you read my ebook for six other favorites that aren’t listed here.)

Otherwise, here are ten posts that should give you a fairly complete picture of what Middle Zone Musings is all about:

• For a glimpse of one of our many weird adventures while in Paris, check out A Full Moon Over the Seine River
• A surprise in the middle of a rush hour freeway taught me a few things in Life, Comin’ At Ya!
• My entry for Ben Yoskowitz’ What I Learned in 2006 sums up the most profound things I learned in, well, 2006
• Then there was the ProBlogger contest that ended up bringing in almost 900 entries; here’s mine: The Top 5 Things Strangest Things I Learned While Blogging
• Written as one of the preliminaries to my own first contest, this story In Praise of Attics Everywhere explains my love of science fiction
• A huge opportunity falls right out of the sky in We Want You!
• Sometimes putting people into categories can cause you to miss some very interesting things, or so I found out in Are You a Labeler?
• They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks… but can the old dog teach me a thing or two? I’d say so in Learning Patience
• In one of the silliest, and life-changing experiences of my life, What I Learned From a Light Switch tells how I knew Mrs. MZM and I were right for each other.
• And finally, it’s the most difficult experiences that can have the most profound effects on our lives, in What I Learned From a Manlift

OK, I guess I’ll just tag a few friends here; so let’s see now… how about:

• Mike DeWitt
• Pete Aldin
• Karin H.
• Yvonne Russell
• Rajaram S.

Your mission, Mr. or Ms. Phelps, should you choose to accept it, is to name your 10 favorite posts from YOUR blog. Here are the meme Rules:

1. Please try to limit your list to 10 posts or less. (Take your time. Do some digging in your archives to find the perfect ones - it’s to your advantage more than anything else.
2. A request: If possible, please link to Tully’s original post, and also link to the post that you were tagged in. Memes go on for quite a long time and when anyone trys to follow one backwards to see some of the other posts, it gets quite difficult when only the blog URL is used. (Once again: Just a request.)
3. Tag 5 folks. The people you tag, please let them know by email, contact form or some other efficient method.

Y’all have fun!

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

Here’s my metaphor for blogging: Bridge-Building

In response to Liz’s Blogging Metaphor Project, my thoughts almost immediately went in this direction. I mean after all, I’m an engineer – even though I don’t play one on TV (*sigh*) – and I tend to look at things from a “how’s that made” perspective. In fact, “Bridges” is the title of my chapter in Drew & Gavin’s upcoming e-book, The Age of Conversation.

Actually, it would be simpler to reproduce the chapter here, but all the authors agreed not to do that for a while so it wouldn’t affect book sales. But I can at least give you a teaser, and the basis for my opening statement:

“A bridge, in terms of its function, connects or reduces the distance between two points. In other words, it makes it easier for you to get from here to there. Sounds reasonable, don’t you think? But what I find most interesting is the word applies equally to physical and non-physical worlds.”

Now, I realize that reading this has caused you to instantly want to drop everything and immediately rush out and purchase your copy of the book, but… try to restrain yourself for a moment and let’s think this one out. (Besides, it’s not available yet. But when it is, then you can rush out and… er, well, you know.)

But what’s really amazing about bridges, and what makes the metaphor so perfect, is the almost endless variety of bridges out there! Truss, cantilever, suspension, arch, beam; and many different forms of each. And no matter how similar or how close any two bridges might physically be to each other, they are never exactly alike! Even the ones meant to be the same are not, really; even visibly identical bridges always have unseen engineering differences.

Each is unique; just like every blogger is unique.

See, like a bridge, a blog is a connector between here and there. “A connector? A connector of what?” you may ask. Well, the obvious answer is “people” – but there’s so much more to it than that. Blogging also connects ideas, minds, hearts, cultures… yep, now you get the idea.

Here’s the thing; you can only ever build a half a bridge! That’s because, when a post is published, only one end of the bridge is built; the other end is hanging out there in cyberspace somewhere. Where will it land? Well, when a post is read, the other end of the bridge just got connected - voila! Now notice, class, the incompleteness of the one without the other.

Ah, but now look at what we’ve built together!

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!