TAG! You’re IT!

I was tagged to do a blog meme on Stories! How exciting- my first one on this network.

1. Post these rules.
2. Post a photo of yourself and eleven random facts about you.
3. Answer the questions given to you in the tagger’s post.
4. Create eleven new questions and tag new people to answer them.
5. Go to their blog and/or Twitter and let them know they’ve been tagged.

Eleven Random Facts About Me

1. I was born at Mother Frances hospital in Tyler, Texas. Its claim to fame is an outstretched arms statue of Jesus that looks like he’s directing the traffic circle out front.
2. There are other people from Ireland whose last name is Lanagan, but they probably aren’t related to me. I forget the exact relation, but my ancestor was a sea captain during the cholera epidemic in Ireland and missed the whole thing. Just one of the lucky breaks that’s gotten me where I am today, I suppose. 🙂
3. I was a trumpet player all through junior high and high school. I can still play, but I’m nice, so I won’t.
4. There’s nothing I won’t eat once, and very few things I won’t eat twice. This is because I am gregarious about learning how to cook peasant food and elevate it to an art.
5. I am unemployed, but I have a donation box on my WordPress site and somehow I think that’s comparable.
6. My favorite t-shirt design in my CafePress store is “F*CK COMIC SANS!” in Comic Sans.
7. Years ago, I had a blog called “Clever Title Goes Here.” My one claim to fame is that Wil Wheaton left me a comment. My one claim to shame is that I don’t have it anymore.
8. I am married with cats, but no kids yet. As Rita Rudner once said, “we can’t decide whether we want to ruin our carpets, or our lives.” My wife is named Dana and someone needs to give her an award simply for agreeing to be married to me. I am a handful.
9. My favorite music is hip-hop, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s mainstream or underground. I live for the hook and the story. Easily the best story in hip-hop (in my humble opinion) is Eminem’s stark raving mad fan, Stan. I saw Talib Kweli a few months ago and I thought I was going to stop breathing. My love for hip-hop is real and it’s deep.
10. I love men’s fashion, and if I made enough money, I would spend hours upon hours shopping for clothes. They don’t even have to be for me, I love men’s fashion so much. If you ever need a present for your husband or boyfriend and you want it to be clothes, I’m the one you want with you. I have read every issue of GQ and Esquire for the last two years. People are weirded out sometimes that I like men’s clothes, but to me, the reason is obvious. Not all women look good in the colors that people want women to wear, and everyone looks good in colors like black, navy, grey, etc.
11. I have a goldfish tank. They’re all named Eric. It saves time.
    1. As a random bonus fact, Matt Smith is my Doctor. He is Eleven.

Questions from my Tagger:

1. Which out of the following two seasons do you prefer: Spring or Fall?
   1. I was born on September 10th, which may have something to do with it, but I prefer fall. I’m a Virgo, a natural busybee organizer that must have new pencils to start school even though she hasn’t started school in years.
2. If you could improve something about yourself, what would it be?
   1. I wish that I could just lighten up. I miss a lot of social cues because the ideas in my head are bigger than smalltalk and if I get lost in my head, it’s hard to find my way back.
3. What is your favorite movie of all time? (Yes, you have to pick just one.)
   1. Love Actually. If you can make it through Jamie’s wedding proposal without tears, you are a stronger person than me. I cry just about every time.
4. Who do you admire?
   1. I admire the millions and millions of people that get up every morning and make our world work. People that have pride in their jobs, especially garbage collectors and construction workers who are thanked very little but absolutely tantamount to our country’s success. No, I’m not running for anything. You’re welcome.
5. Do you have a best friend? If so, explain what you have in common and why this person is your best friend.
   1. I don’t have a best friend. Well, I did, but she’s my wife now, so the position has been vacant for some time.
6. Do you fear death?
   1. I do not fear corporeal death. I fear dying in obscurity without ever knowing what it feels like to get a million hits.
7. Are you in love?
   1. Desperately so. My wife is the love of my life, and I could not be who I am if she wasn’t who she is, either. Don’t make me talk about Dana too long, because I will choke up and cry all over my laptop. Sometimes people give you emotional gifts that are so big, you just can’t put them into words. Dana does stuff like that for me every single day.
8. If you were/are an actor, with whom would you most want to work with?
   1. I am not an actor, save for a few school and community plays. However, I enjoy the craft of writing scenes and acting very much. I think I would be best in a sketch comedy troupe, so I would most like to work with Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Lisa Kudrow, Margaret Cho, Kathy Griffin, etc. My absolute fall-over-and-die dream would be working in the writer’s room at either Saturday Night Live or South Park.
9. What is your ultimate goal in life?
   1. To be such a famous writer that people will know my name like they know Deepak Chopra or Wally Lamb or Toni Morrison- yes, those are all authors that have appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Coincidence? I think not. I want to be the one Oprah calls when she can’t think of a new book for the show. We’ll eat bonbons in our housecoats.
10. Has a movie ever made you cry? If so, list which one and why.
    1. It would be easier to list movies that don’t make me cry, like, I don’t know… I can’t think of a movie that wouldn’t make me cry in the right circumstances. Sometimes, things are just so sweet, even if it’s peeling someone’s eyelids with a knife to save someone you love. I’m deep like that.
11. Has a particular post on here WordPress ever touched you so deeply you felt the need to reach out to the author?
    1. I definitely want to share some blogger love, but to be honest, I’m just now starting up in the WP community. I have read little bits of a lot of things and very few all the way to the end. What I will say is that I’m grateful for all the bloggers that are willing to shed light on their dark places, because everyone knows they have them. Bloggers will talk about it.

Questions for the Tagees

1. Tell the story of how you got your name.
2. What is the most important relationship in your life?
3. I’m interested in food. Tell me about a food you didn’t like until you tried it X.
4. Do you have a favorite band that you’ve loved for a long time?
5. What was the first computer game you ever played?
6. Are you a geek? Are you Team Doctor Who, Team Star Trek, or Team Star Wars? Why? It’s ok to be all three, too.
7. Do you have favorite fonts for blog writing?
8. When you sit down to write, what’s around you? I’ll give you a for instance. I have a glass of water, a pack of gum, and several Jolly Ranchers. Do you prefer a desk, or do you sit anywhere with your laptop?
9. What do you do? I don’t mean for money. Your job doesn’t define you. Say you’re a financial analyst. If you want to talk about it, great, but I’m more interested in the financial analyst with an amazing green thumb.
10. If you have them, how did you make the decision to have children? If you don’t, do you plan to one day? Is it important to you?
11. I’ve often though I could be very comfortable as an expat in Baja. Do you have similar fantasies? Where would you live if you didn’t live in your home country?

Tag, you’re it!

1. Pete Armetta <http://petearmetta.com/>
2. Derek Maul <http://derekmaul.wordpress.com/>
3. Oh God, My Wife is German <http://ohgodmywifeisgerman.com/>
4. s. asher sund <http://sashersund.com/>
5. Confederacy of Spinsters <http://confederacyofspinsters.com/>