Gossamer Tapestry

Reflections on conservation, butterflies, and ecology in the nation's heartland

Friday, May 18, 2007

10 Things

I was recently tagged by MarkH to do a meme.

  • Simply tell us 10 things about you that we don’t already know or would find interesting.
Well, I don't know if these will be interesting or not, but at least most people here probably don't know:

1. I was a born-again Christian for high school and part of college. I attended a Chirstian coffehouse sponsored by Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. We were all reading and discussing writers like C.S. Lewis and George MacDonald (and, of course, the Bible). I was completely committed to that world view until I took a course in Biblical literature in college and was exposed to textual criticism.

2. Although I enjoy music, I am hopelessly un-musical. I have sometimes suspected that I was deprived of music at a critical period of brain development. Some of my tastes in music are fairly pedestrian, but some totally baffle people. I enjoy heavy metal and alternative (the Butthole Surfers rock). My partner is puzzled by my recent interest in country and western.

3. I have never taken a single formal course in entomology. My undergraduate degree is in biology. For my doctoral work, I studied biochemistry. Now people treat me as though I’m a bug expert. Shh…don’t tell anyone, ‘K?

4. I am just completing my fifth decade of life. Three of the decades (first, third and fifth) have been wonderful. I’m hoping that the sixth does not follow the pattterns of the second and fourth.

5. Cats are the most wonderful creatures on the planet. This is not my opinion- it’s an objectively verifiable fact. Just ask the cats.

6. I was painfully shy growing up. Back then, if someone had suggested that as an adult I would be doing lots of public speaking and appearing on television and radio with some regularity, I would have thought they were nuts.

7. I was born on Cape Cod. I offer this one because it appeals to my sense of romanticism.

8. I am extremely glad that the whole "reparative therapy" for sexual orientation fakery was not discussed widely during my adolescence. Although I have been fully out for over half my life, I had lots of trouble coming to terms with my sexual orientation in my late teens (see #1). Had I thought I could be "cured" back then, I might have pursued one of those damaging options.

9. I was 26 before I had my own car.

10. I have wanted to be a scientist since I was 12.

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9 Comments:

At 19:31, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Some fascinating things!

My dog was not thrilled to read #5, though.

 
At 21:39, Blogger rodger said...

Alright Doug! Glad to see you took the challenge.

Butthole Surfers do a kickass cover of The Guess Who's American Woman. When you come to cook with Spo...Mark and I will be responsible for the entertainment and will not expect you to sing. We will sing about Cape Cod though.

We are complete opposites in regard to #6. I spent my youth performing and have a degree in theatre arts yet now I can barely overcome performance anxiety...on stage that is.

Great stuff...thanks for sharing.

 
At 22:00, Anonymous Anonymous said...

A scientist liking cats? I thought everyone from Cape Cod had a Golden Retriever. I guess you read MY entry on this and know I empathize 200% with Christianity in youth followed by a coming out. MY luck was not ever feeling it was true religion. And what's this about Country Music? You're from Chicago! That alone should disallow any links to countrified music. HAH.

 
At 23:26, Blogger steve'swhirlyworld said...

Interesting...and I thought you were the world expert on bugs b/c you've taken a ton of courses on them...who would of thunk it?

And cats are just bitchy b/c they're not dogs...

 
At 07:34, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great post Doug. It's interesting, I have met several bug experts who don't have degrees in entomology. I'm glad that someone is still enjoying heavy metal at your age. I still love it in my mid 40's and always wonder if I will still be putting on Judas Priest, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and Tool when I'm in my 60's and up. You've confirmed my suspicions that I will.

 
At 09:17, Blogger robin andrea said...

I'm glad you took up the challenge and told us these ten things. Heavy metal? Did you listen to that as a teenager? I have a theory about musical tastes, that as we get older we stick with some of our early loves because of the nostalgic content. The songs act, much in the way Proust's Remembrances of Things Past wafting fragrance, stimulating memory. Or not, just a thought.

 
At 19:35, Blogger Ur-spo said...

dear me I wasn't aware of #3.
I suppose there are still lots I do not know about you two.

 
At 08:17, Blogger Doug Taron said...

mark h- On the religion thing, one difference between our experiences is that you were shaking off the religion that you were born to. I was raised Roman Catholic. Evangelical PRotestantism was a brief (and ill-advised) foray of my own choosing.

rcwbiologist- on the issue of still enjoying metal at my age. Well my age isn't all that much older than yours. My comment about the decades may have made me sound older than I am. I'll be 50 in November.

robin andrea- For me, metal is not the revival of a youthful love. I hated the stuff back then. Dunnow what happened.

 
At 15:04, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I can NOT belive that you're into the Surfers. They are one of my all-time favorite bands, hands down.

Do you have the Double-Live "bootleg" album, Doug? The Surfers have it available for DL on their website. I gots my numbered copy on vinyl. Yeah, baby.

Congrats on your good-bad taste. I always knew you were ulta-cool, and now you have removed all doubt.

p.s. I didn't even listen to Weird Revolution, but I still enjoy everything else up to and including Electriclarryland.

 

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