The Labyrinth made me do it

This is an awesome photo of me and I will except no arguments otherwise. Since I like taking on challenges that border on the completely unimportant and possibly insane, as this picture demonstrates, I will take Mr. Bea up on his Meme challenge. I wonder if Meme stands for something? The origin of Meme, as I understand, is that of many fads on the web in which you pass something on to your friends and tell them they have to pass it on to their friends and then to their friends, etc. ad nauseum. My favorite demonstration of which was portrayed in the movie Wayne's World, involving hundreds of images of Wayne saying "and then they tell 2 friends" over and over. But I digress.....

The Rules of the Meme. (pronounced either maymay or meemee, I have no idea)

1)The rules of Meme get posted before the Meme. And yes, you are allowed to talk about Meme, unlike Fight Club, which I swear to God do not talk about, or Brad makes Angelina steal another baby from Asia.

2)The Meme blog post will consist of at least 8 random and most likely, but not neccessarily, previously unknown facts about the author of the blog. Anything goes, but I'm pretty sure this is how they found out that Madonna uses steroids, so be careful with illegal activity.

3)At the end of the Meme, you must list 8 other bloggers in which to carry on the task of performing their own Meme. You must comment on the other authors blogs to tell them they have been Meme'd and to see your blog for details.Thats right grandma, just like 1994 when e-mail chain letters were all the rage! Nothing says "I care very little about your happiness" like nailing your fellow blogger's and bloggette's with a chain letter. However, I have yet to see of any threats associated with meme'ing if you do not comply. i.e., your dad will go to prison and meet Nasty Nate, your dog will get tapeworms, you're body chemistry will change and you will stink like old fish no matter how much cologne/perfume you use. So since there are no consequences involved with not playing along, I'm gonna start the curse, and say that if you don't carry on the meme, Paris and Nicole Richie are going to come to your house and teach your relatives all the newest slang words that they will use forever and ever and ever. And if you have a sister, Lindsay Lohan is going to come to your house and teach her about "boys". Yeah, so don't eff around with the Meme.

"The Magic 8"

1) I remember very very little about my life before I was 18. I don't know why this is, I just don't really remember it. Don't remember the feelings, emotions, stories, friends, etc. There was nothing tragic or scary about it, and its not meant to be an offensive remark on that time and the people in it, but I think I was inside my own head all the time. I can only remember about 10 of my friends from high school, I don't remember any of the names of my teachers, and those stories from high school, I can't remember unless someone tells me the whole thing and then I can say "ohhhhh.....Right!" I remember the bulk basics, like the sports I played and the places I've been to, but the details are surprisingly very sparse. I'm not even going to get into how little educational info I retained. Remembering things outside of 1 year is a weakness of mine anyway, but especially during those years.

2) I am convinced I have one great physical characteristic and that is, my hands and feet. I have never seen anyone with more balanced and good looking extremities than me. I will challenge anyone to hand/foot off provided there is an impartial judge.

3) I have never broken or seriously injured anything in 15 years of continous sports seasons. I may have a couple of torn ligaments in my left shoulder, but it has never affected me doing anything. Swim team, soccer, baseball, handball, cycling, weight lifting, basketball, and rowing and I have never had to miss any of those thousands of practices due to injury. Take your vitamins, drink lots of water, and warm up and stretch before physical activity kiddies.

4) I really really dislike the phone and not just because I talk on one for most of the day. There is some sort of mental issue between me and the phone that goes deep into my psyche. The sound of a ringing phone is like nails on a blackboard to me, much less when it is my phone that is ringing. You can bet that if you call me, if I am there to answer it, 90% of the time I debate for about 3 to 4 rings whether or not to pick it up, even if I want to talk to that person. You can bet that I never want to talk to you on the phone, but I will soldier on in this wireless communication intensive world and do what needs to be done.

5) The most debalitating thing in my life is my extreme allergies to dogs and cats. This one genetic occurence has far and away caused me more problems than anything else I can think of. EVERYONE, has a dog or a cat in their house. I can't sleep over your house, I can't go to your party, I can't visit you, and I can't ride in your car. Basically the entire reason I am so indepently driven is because most other people literally "make me sick". Not some cute tissue/otc allergy pill commercial sick. My throat closes up, my asthma kicks in, my eyes water and my sinuses fill with mucus inside of 20 minutes. Like getting squeezed by a anaconda and maced at the same time. Genie pops out of a bottle, asks for the 3 wishes: changing this would be the first thing out of my mouth, no hesitation.

6) You will never catch me crying at a funeral, but I am a HUGE sucker for medals ceremonies that involve the national anthem. I can't watch them with other people cause I lose it almost every time.

7) I don't remember it, because I was very young, but my mom tells a story of how I once got lost at Sea World and screamed her name and wouldn't let anyone touch me till I was found. She taught me to do this. No, not safety tips for public spaces, just public humiliation. In large crowds, I often have the urge to scream things.

8) I am addicted to making up harsh nicknames for people at the gym. You can prevent this by basically staying out of my sight, but I am afraid that I can not prevent myself from doing it. Priority #1 at the gym is to get stronger, priority # 2 is to be a hater. One day, I will write a post revealing some of these nicknames and the stories behind them, but thats all the time we have for today.

I do not have 8 people to send this to because no one I know blogs besides The Bea, but I am hoping that my one send will inspire this person to blog if he is not already. And if you are reading this blog and you are blogging behind my back, you need to tell me! No closet bloggers allowed!

John Mullady, who is currently walking with Bea from Yankee Stadium to Fenway. No, seriously.