I knew this was coming - as soon as I saw that Deb Owen had "tagged" my Pal,  Linda,  I had a feeling I would be on Linda's list of "tagees".  Unfortunately,  I tend to be an "open book" kind of person,  so I've already shared much of what may be found to be interesting about me.  So a caveat,  I may have already covered some of this ground in the past. 

Anyway,  following the rules, (and I am of course a stickler for the rules),  here 1st are the rules...

1) Post these rules before you give your facts.
2) List 8 random facts about yourself.
3) At the end of your post, choose (tag) 8 people and list their names (linking to them).
4) Leave them a comment on their blog letting them know they've been tagged!

Here goes,  8 random facts about me:

1) I have a veritable alphabet soup of designations and certifications (MCSE,  MCP,  MCT,  A+,  Altiris Deployment Certification, yawn) most of which are relatively meaningless. They used to mean something,  but nowadays with weekend boot camps,  and 3-day intensive training sessions,  any monkey with a laptop can pass the tests. 

2) I too was a "Music Performance" Major in college on what my school called a "fee waiver",  essentially a scholarship.  I was convinced I was going to be the next Peter Erskine or Neal Peart or I could have settled for the tympanist for the Boston Pops/Philharmonic.  After 2 years on the road playing concerts every other night,  I discovered a) I was good,  but I wasn't good enough to do the kind of work I wanted to do (studio or orchestral),  b) outside of stardom,  the studio,  or a permanent gig like a major orchestral organization,  there's not a lot of money in music performance c) the road,  in a word,  stinks. 

3) I recently (unofficially) joined the 1/2 million mile club - my life is an endless trip from airport,  to airport,  to 737,  to 777 (oh god,  do I love flying on 777,  best 1st class in the air,  no matter which airline) to A320.  I love airplanes,  and I actually enjoy my time in the air.  I'm a very big guy (see #8) but when I have to fly coach,  I am an expert at fitting comfortably into a window seat.  I still,  even after so many flights,  am a little kid when it comes to looking out the window.  Recently,  on my return from Cairo to JFK,  I woke from a nap,  opened my window shade,  and there were the Italian Alps some 15000 feet below - unbelievable.  There's just something magical about flying over Greenland,  or the North Pole,  somewhere you'll never visit,  that's virtually uninhabited,  yet you can see all of it from 6 miles up.  On the other hand,  I hate airports.  I actually get nervous when I'm at the airport, there's just so many things that could and can go wrong.  Maybe someday I'll write about the 6 hour security line @ Seattle,  or my Phoenix to Las Vegas to Phoenix to Atlanta flight (supposed to go straight to Atlanta) that took about 28 hours in all. 

4) I don't drink alcohol,  although it's not from some moral position or because I had a problem.  In fact,  just before I stopped drinking,  I had a hobby I really enjoyed,  brewing my own beer (it's just not as much fun when you can't drink your own product).  I was a beer snob,  as well as something of an amateur wine connoisseur.  Why don't you drink then ,  you ask?  well.. it's because Remicade changed my life.  Say what?  I have some form of severe Rheumatoid Arthritis,  either Reiters Syndrome,  or Psioriatic Rheumatoid Arthritis,  my Dr's can never agree.  Doesn't matter to me,  all I know is that I was quite debilitated for some time.  I was using a walker to get around,  and there were days I just couldn't get up out of bed,  the pain was so horrible.  Remicade has changed my life,  essentially put the Arthritis into full remission.  Unfortunately as a result I have to take a bunch of other drugs that are very hard on the old liver.  So, I've got two choices,  one live a short but happily inebriated life,  or just stop drinking all together.  I actually thought I'd miss it,  but it just doesn't matter.  There are times when I'm at a restaurant that brews their own,  I get the urge,  otherwise no problem. 

5) If I could come back as anyone else (and I'm not that unhappy with the current version),  I would come back as either John Williams (the composer,  not the guitarist) or Placido Domingo.  Try listening to ET or Schindlers List for that matter without the orchestral soundtrack - where the heck does that come from?  I can write a song with a simple harmony (give me a circle of 5ths and I'm dangerous),  but how can someone hear such amazing sounds in their head,  and translate that to paper?  I suppose it could be Mozart,  Jerry Goldsmith, or Berlioz (OK, not Berlioz - too complex, makes my head hurt),  but JW makes it work with what's happening on the screen.  Absolutely amazing.  As for Placido,  he's the very incarnation of what an operatic tenor should be - amazing voice,  range,  control,  great acting and presence on stage,  and drop-dead great latin lover looks.  As a former denizen of Mexico City,  I also respect what he did quietly to assist with the earthquake so many years ago.  I look more like Pavarotti (for now,  see #8),  but I'd rather be Domingo. 

6) Speaking of Mexico City,  I missed being in the earthquake of 1985 by, well as Maxwell Smart would say,  "I missed it by this much".  I had planned to be in Mexico City for 2 weeks in mid-September.  As I've discussed in an earlier post,  my brother Brad played wide receiver for the Chicago Bears in the mid-80's including on the Super Bowl winning 1986 team (the ring must weigh 4 pounds).  About a week before I was heading for Mexico,  Brad called and asked me to come out to Chicago and stay with him and his wife Michelle.  Imagine my shock to wake up on Friday Morning Sept. 20th to see video of the neighborhood where I would have been staying in absolute shambles.  There is little doubt,  I would not have made it if I had been in that neighborhood during the quake.  Make no mistake,  there is a God...

7) I'm not even sure if my "Pal" Linda knows this,  but I was a working "DJ" in Phoenix when I was a senior in High School.  I worked at KOOL-FM, which at the time was a mid-rated top 40 station (it is currently the #1 ranked station in Phoenix,  and has an "oldies" format).  I didn't have a regular shift,  I filled in whenever they needed me,  mostly on weekends.  This was definitely the era of the "Boss Jock" and I used the moniker of "Rob Anderson" (try saying Andy Anderson really fast).  I also recorded commercials for the local dragstrip "Beeline Dragway". (SATURDAY NIGHT! AT FABULOUS BEELINE DRAGWAY!!!  RONNIE SOX AND BOBBY MARTIN WILL BE COMPETING FOR BIG CASH PRIZES!  TOM THE "MONGOOSE" MCEWEN AND DON PRUDHOMME THE SNAKE,  THEY WILL ALL BE THERE!  BRING YOUR CAMERA, BE THERE!)

8) This is more of a commitment,  but I'm  treating it as a FACT,  and I'm demanding that anyone that reads this holds my feet to the fire.  If you've read some of my earlier posts,  you may know that I've had a particularly crazy last 2 years or so (I told you I was an "open book" kind of person.)  I've done a massive amount of soul-searching in the last few weeks,  and I've made up my mind to in a sense "start over".  Don't get me wrong,  I'm not unhappy,  just want to be a little more comfortable in my ample amount of skin.  Sooo, 1st and most important,  I am a size 34 trapped in a size %& body,  and that's got to stop.  Until this moment,  I've shared with one person only,  but I figure the more people who know (and I know there's just 1000's out there reading this :>,  the more pressure to get it together and lose the weight.  The big secret is that I've been approved for gastric bypass surgery.  But...  I've decided that for now,  I'm not gonna do it.  I've been extremely committed to going it the "natural way"  good diet,  and working out.  I've made an amazing amount of progress in the last few weeks,  and I will prevail. 

You know,  this personal blogging has been something of a godsend.  I've had a political blog for years,  and I'm a contributor to a commercial blog on IP network security,  but I never thought of authoring a personal blog,  until I saw my pal Linda's.  Even then,  it was more of a lark, but since I've found it extremely cathartic,  and it's become my primary outlet for sharing what's happening in my life.  I guess I'm leading up to how I'm going to deal with the last 2 "rules".   I honestly don't know anyone specific that maintains their own blog,  other than those who have preceded me on this "chain".  I've tried to encourage some of my old Up with People friends to blog on my primary website/portal  http://andy-anderson.info/communityserver (or anywhere else) but so far no luck.  Sooo, one of things I'm going to do this weekend at my 30th reunion is find 8 people who are willing to share their 8 facts,  and in the process hopefully I can get them into the blogosphere.  The more the merrier of course,  I've found that reading personal blogs of friends,  and friends of friends often serves to recharge my batteries.  If you've been fooled into reading this blog,  please,  keep it up.  I originally didn't think I'd care if anyone reads it,  but I've discovered it feels good to get a comment here and again.