Tuesday, August 3, 2010

I Accept this Award...and Go Into Hiding

My pal Anthony Venutolo, manager and bouncer at Bukowski's Basement has bestowed upon me The Versatile Blogger Award. This means a lot coming from Ant as he and his blog are a class act. The basement is a top-notch mix of poetry, short fiction, facts about gritty writers (yes, such as Bukowski) and a plethora of other things. I was honoured to be given this award with fellow #fridayflash regulars: David Barber, Pamila Payne, Tomara Armstrong and Kat Del Rio.

I apparently have to reveal 10 things about myself. I have given this a lot of thought today (perhaps you could smell the wood burning from your location). I shall try not to copy from the list of 10 things I revealed when I received a different award back in January.

  1. Although I am a fairly sedate home-body, I have engaged in such activities as: downhill skiing, snowshoeing, archery, snorkeling, rock climbing and have even fired a replica of a Kalashnikov automatic rifle (AK-47).

  2. I am fairly grey now (duh!) and found my first grey hair at the tender age of 19.

  3. In my mid 20's I applied to the police force but was turned down.

  4. On the first official date with my now wife, I showed up at her apartment door not with flowers, but with a dozen brown eggs that a co-worker gave me for driving him to work for the week.

  5. As a child I made it known that I wanted to visit China, Japan, India, Egypt and Nepal. So far I have made it to three of these countries.

  6. My father had a boat when I was a teenager and we often got up a 3:30am on the weekends to go salmon fishing.

  7. I have been employed as a structural steel draftsman for 18 years, but prior to that had an odd assortment of jobs such as: painter's helper, dog catcher, floor sweeper at K-mart, warehouse worker, geological clerk, and a doughnut baker/decorator/delivery guy.

  8. I love going to live shows and have seen musical such as Phantom of the Opera, Cats, The Full Monty, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and Fiddler on the Roof.

  9. I have not been to a lot of live rock concerts but have seen acts such as Neil Young, Yes, Pink Floyd, AC/DC and even the Bay City Rollers (*hangs head in shame*)

  10. I had not produced a display for a public school assembly on ancient civilizations, so I borrowed a cat suit from a class mate and dressed up as a Persian cat. Sorry, no photos!

I am choosing to make this award more valuable by only passing it along to 3 other people instead of the recomended 10 to avoid the mass proliferation that accompanies these treasures. I have been enjoying the blogs and writing of all three of these ladies and look forward to their #fridayflash contributions. Danielle La Paglia, Icy Sedgwick and Rachel Blackbirdsong are now recipients of this fine green shield thingy. Congratulations!

Umm...that's a rap. Yep, an odd assortment of shtuff there to comment on for sure. Speaking of comments...I shall be in isolation from Wednesday morning until Saturday night. A good friend told me that I should not mention that I will not have access to a computer and be unable to comment on what you folks say about this post. Personally, I think that numbers 4, 9 & 10 are very comment-worthy...I don't think it's a big deal because I know y'all will play nice and keep your comments kosher. Otherwise I will be back in the blogosphere on Sunday to give the evil ones a verbal spanking. Yes, Natalie, I used the word 'spanking'.

23 comments:

Laura Eno said...

Congrats!

Personally, I want to comment on #3. I am wondering if it is tied to in any way with the recent crime spree and the fact that you will be without internet for the next few days...

Cathy Olliffe-Webster said...

You brought her a dozen eggs?
And she married you anyway??

Unknown said...

I love your list, Alan... That's the best thing I think about these awards. And btw, I love the image of you as a dog catcher...

Fox Lee said...

So no pictures of you as a giant cat *sighs* That's ok - I understand.

Kat said...

Lmao Alan!

You're such a nut. Lol.

I'm with Nat on this...pics or it didn't happen, Chico. You can do a recreation of the Persian cat suit if you must. :D

Jen said...

And your wife thought, Ah, this one's a keeper. I'd have agreed with her. Eggs are much more thoughtful!

Laurita said...

This was the most fun list of all time, even before the part about the cat.

Enjoy your internet free long weekend!

... Paige said...

congratulations! and I have not read the one's to which you have passed the green shield thingy to, so I'll have to visit them.

Umm, eggs?

Mari said...

Congratulations on the multiple award! It seems you're very versatile indeed. :)

Hmm, about #10, you could always produce a recent version?

K.C. Shaw said...

I read "painter's helper" as "pirate's helper" at first, I swear. I was really awed until I read it more closely. Apparently I'll believe anything about you feisty Newfoundlanders. :)

kathryn said...

So. Why are you being punished, anyway? I mean...no access to a computer? What did you do??

Speaking of gray hair...are you still clean-shaven? I'm reading backward, so forgive me if this has already been covered.

Brown eggs...nice touch. I don't know who comes out stranger in this story...you or your co-worker.

Did you bring the salmon home and gut the salmon and cook the salmon? Or did you make your mother do it? Some hobbies are not meant to be shared.

Karen from Mentor said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Karen from Mentor said...

*Rummages in your drawers, drinks directly from the milk carton, throws a water balloon at laura..

goes off to look up some limericks*

Kat said...

Hey Alan....come guess which of my ten are fact and which are fiction so I can post the truth, Chico. ;)

Cate Gardner said...

Ooh, congrats on your award. You'll have a shelf full soon. I love musicals too - Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar and Les Miserables are my faves.

Aaron Polson said...

Wow...Bay City Rollers...wow.

*you've rendered me virtually speechless*

;)

Katey said...

Yeah, there's no way I can let #9 pass without comment-- it's too good! If you have to see only a few bands in your life, I think you picked the important ones. Don't hang your head or I'll have to-- my list is way more embarrassing.

Enjoy your net-less time. We allllll need it.

Danielle Birch said...

I'm a theatre fan too. West Side Story is coming to Brisbane in November and I have my tickets :)

Alan W. Davidson said...

Laura- contrary to popular opinion, I'm not on the lam for anything (though some may wonder why I live on an island at the edge of the world).

Cathy- part of my irresistable charm (and I needed her for her fridge).

Anthony- the dog catcher gig was a fun way to make 9 buck an hour in the seedy parts of town.

Nat- You'll get over it. I've heard that you've got a great imagination.

Kat- that's funny about the recreation of the cat suit. I think I'm about 100lbs heavier now and doubt that I'd squeeze into the outfit!

Jen- that's the nicest thing anyone's said to me in years. THanks! (*sniffs*)

Laurita- thanks. If nothing else, I tries to be entertainin'. The French island was a great place to visit.

Paige- I suppose eggs aren't everyone's cup of tea...

Mari- I think somebody will have to make me a suit and mail it out for me to model it for the fine readers of this blog...

KC- The 'pirate's helper' job sounds much more exciting. Hmm... the misreading of that sounds like the premise for a story...

Kathryn- grey beard is coming back nicely (I'm at the derelict stage at the moment). Yes, I would scale and clean my own salmon. We would either cook it in a clay baker on the BBQ or smoke it (No, not what you are thinking...)

Karen- I have put a new lock on my drawers. I'm wondering what the first comment was to have you delete it!

Cate- I've never seen those three live, but would love the chance one day.

Aaron- Yeah, the Bay City Rollers were free tickets my pal won in a contest...honest...and we were only 12 and didn't know any better. Really.

Katey- Yeah, it was nice to be 'unplugged' for three days. I bet your list of concerts would be amazing.

Danielle- That's another show I haven't seen live yet but would like to. We don't get many musicals here, living in such a small place.

Karen from Mentor said...

I had a typo. Apparently balloon has TWO oo's.

[That's my story and I'm sticking to it.]

Entre Nous said...

I had serious internet withdrawal after 48 hours, will you make It??!

J. M. Strother said...

Congrats on the award, you deserve it, and nice picks on who you passed it on to.

"On the first official date with my now wife, I showed up at her apartment door not with flowers, but with a dozen brown eggs that a co-worker gave me for driving him to work for the week."

That's great. These are the types of things that form fond and lasting memories. Hope she liked eggs.

If you know how to make donuts, you're my new BFF. I'm particularly fond of glazed buttermilks (called old fashions here).
~jon

Alan W. Davidson said...

Joni- I found that my hands stopped trembling after about 24 hours.

Jon- Thank you, sir. I believe she did enjoy the eggs. It's funny that you mention donuts. My mother had a donut shop back in BC when I was attending university. I know all about 'old fashioned' donuts. The cherry sticks were always my favourites.