Things to re-meme-ber me by

The Ridger FCDE at The Greenbelt has tagged English, Jack in an internet meme. Here's a recent history of this particular one:

1. The Greenbelt
2. Thoughts in a Haystack
3. Evolving Thoughts
4. On Evolution
5. Scientia Natura: Evolution and Rationality
6. The Flying Trilobite
7. Pharyngula
8. Ironicus Maximus

These are the rules:

1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.

2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.

3. People who are tagged need to write in their own blog about their eight things and include these rules in the post.

4. At the end of your post, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.

5. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

And, these are the facts:

1. My earliest memory (true or created, I'm not sure) is of hanging on a fence in my Grandpa's backyard in Pipestone, Manitoba. A barb was impaled in my left palm, but the memory is simply a placid image, nothing more.
   

2. When I was living in Chiang Mai, thinking a bicycle would be be a great way to get around, I bought a mountain bike. It was, indeed, a wonderful means of transportation and afforded me a good deal of exercise as well. One day, I decided to ride the bike to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep the top of Suthep mountain. I made my preparations and set out the next morning, early before the sun was too high. I rode out past Chiang Mai University and started up the mountain. Soon, however, I had run out of water and food and the temperature was well up into the 30s. The climb was much harder than I had anticipated and I was just about done in. I hadn't passed anywhere to get food for a long distance and had no idea if I could make it back. Just then, I came around a bend in the road and over to my left saw an open-air restaurant. Salvation! I coasted down to the edge and then, dripping with sweat, red in the face, rubber legged, dressed in cycling shorts and feeling very foolish, I walked over to the buffet. I looked around but could see no wait staff. Eventually a woman came and asked me what I wanted. I pointed it out and reached for my money. "Not to pay," she said. "Is wedding."

3. In grade 3, I won the school speech contest with a speech about goldfish. The first line was "Blub, blub, blub, swish, swish, swish. Ladies and gentlemen, my speech is on fish, goldfish that is."
   

4. When I was teaching jr. high school English in Japan, I was dealing with a very rowdy bunch of first year girls. One girl, in particular, who was very weak academically was fooling around not paying attention. After using various tactics, including explicit warnings, most of the class had settled down. Then I saw the girl writing a note on some cutesy Hello Kitty stationary. I blew up. I grabbed the note from her and berated her harshly. I had no more problems for the rest of the class, but at the end, when I looked at what she had written, I saw it was not a note, but notes related to the lesson. I stopped everyone from leaving and apologised to her. Since then I've done my best never to make assumptions about my students intentions.

5. One fall, I made about ₤20 per hour busking on the Queensway, just north of Hyde Park in London.

6. My first bicycle was a light-blue CCM with 16-inch wheels and a movable crossbar.

7. After racing to Ambon on the Summer Wind II out of Australia, we sailed back south towards Bali. The race had been marked by a lack wind and many of the boats had turned on their engines. After five days at sea, the captain, a 50-something Aussie who wanted to sail around the world, had promised us a leisurely trip with lots of stops. One, however, he discovered that it was hard to get steak and potatoes and that the locals didn't understand him E V E N W H E N H E S P O K E S L O W L Y A N D L O U D L Y, he rescinded that offer and headed straight for Bali. Things came to a head at Komodo where I was put off.

8. My second toe is longer than my big toe.

Now, as for the 8 people I tag, I'm ignoring rule 5. I'll list the blogs and if these fine folks find this and respond, wonderful. And if they don't, that's just swell too.

1. From A to Zimmer
   
2. Mishka Jaeger
3. Career Limiting Moves
4. Stoutfellow
5. Separated by a common language
6. Brashaw of the future
7. Designers who blog
8. David Crystal's Blog