Seven Things You Don't Know About Me.

So, I've been tagged by Lauren Vargas, Linda Jacobson, and Lauren Turner to take part in the Seven Things You Don't Know About Me blogging fun. Geoff Livingston originally tagged Lauren Vargas and my bud Richie Escovedo. This idea is a great representation of why I love the social Interwebs. Here goes:

1. For several years, I played guitar in a heavy metal band, Cain. Don't try to look us up or buy our stuff on iTunes because your search will be fruitless. We weren't the big hair variety, either, we were more of the Pantera/Metallica ilk. I still listen to metal regularly and go to the occasional show. I also still play guitar, but more of the Zeppelin/blues speed now(I'm old!).
2. My wife and I give out informal Parent of the Year awards. My most recent Father of the Year honor came when we got home late from an event. I told my kids(3&5) to be quiet because I thought I heard monkeys upstairs. The 3 yr old ended up crying and not sleeping much that
night, afraid of the monkeys in our house.
3. I write all the time. I've written four full length novels(one I'm finalizing to try to sell). I wrote a play, The Mercy Street Boys, that was produced by a local theater in 2001. I've always had more story ideas than time. I hope to balance that ratio someday. I also write non-fiction. I'm currently working on a non-fiction book with a friend centered on the relationship between love and self-respect.
4. I'd list my favorite kinds of music as rock, jazz and opera. Wait, what was that last one? Yup. Opera. I attended a performance about 8 years ago just from curiosity and found out I really like it. My favorite is Puccini's Turandot. Nessun Dorma is one of the most beautiful things ever written, in my opinion. Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez is a close second, but that's not opera, and I'm getting off topic.
5. I played ice hockey, badly, for a few seasons recently. I am a rabid hockey fan and thought my love for the game would translate. The NHL players make it look easy. Skating is hard enough. Trying to play hockey and skate for me, near impossible.
6. I've run three marathons. My favorite, so far, being New York. Running through that great city was amazing. The countless people lining the streets in every neighborhood was amazing. And, of course, finishing in Central Park is nice.
7. Despite my love of all things literary, I read everything Stephen King and Chuck Palahniuk write. One of my fav recent blog posts references Palahniuk's Fight Club.

I hereby tag these friends: Leo Bottary, Dan Keeney, Chelsea Moser, Rob Barra, Jenn Schooley,
Patrick Evans, and Simon Salt.

The rules(courtesy of Vedo):

• Link your original tagger(s) and list these rules in your post.
• Share seven facts about yourself in the post.
• Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
• Let them know they’ve been tagged
  (Hat tip to Beth Harte for the rules.)

Photo gracias: Flickr user no vacancy.