I was tagged by both Eli White and Brian Fling in this dastardly meme regarding 7 things. I am usually a HUGE fan of all things meme - and kind of regard myself as a certified meme expert. However this whole meme that requires a lot of work - I.E. blogging is something entirely different. I think i actually like it, but i am not entirely sure yet ;).

I do find it hilarious that almost every blog post regarding this seven things starts with a bit of self deprecation and surprise at how this meme stumbled upon innocent them. Well, it did come as a surprise - so I guess i understand.

Well here it goes. Seven things about me:

One: I grew up without a TV. When I was quite young (~3) my parents got rid of their TV. I am not completely sure why. I imagine it had something to do with money (the lack of) and priorities being making sure my brother and I were clothed and fed. My parents got their first TV after getting rid of the previous one when I was about 21. My parents used to rent a TV for big events (war, olympics, etc) and my brother and I would watch the TV manically until it was returned to the rental place. We also used to rent a TV and VCR about once or twice a year to watch all the movies we could in the time alloted. Those were awesome times. I currently don’t have a TV.

Two: I have been paid to YoYo and Juggle in front of a LOT of people. I guess that makes me a professional. Heh. In college my two best buddies (Matiss and Brian) and myself started a “circus” group. We juggled and did shows for all sorts of things. We opened for Incubus, Sir Mix A Lot, and a few other boring bands. We protest juggled as a group called Jugglers against homophobia - protesting people like Elizabeth Dole and her homophobic antics. After college I continued to support my friends by juggling on the side. It was a really fun time. I don’t juggle as much as i would like, but i still try to make it to conventions and what not. It is a lot of fun.

Three: My first computer was an Apple ][c. My dad got it in some trade. My brother and I would build text games in basic. Shortly after that I got in to BBSs. Mostly we called places like &totse and downloaded things that would get me in trouble. It was an awesome time. I suggest checking out the BBS Documentary to get an idea of how awesome it actually was.

Four: I met my lovely wife Hiromi while in college in iowa. We moved to Chicago together in 2001 to live together as roommates. Eventually, it became clear that our relationship was much more than that. We got married in 2006 and happily live in Chicago. She is awesome.

Five: I read a lot. I always have. Growing up without a TV will do that to a person. I read mostly fiction, but will stray to the dark side and read non-fiction every once and awhile. I usually read about an hour before going to bed. It helps calm me down and is a good way for me to get into the sleeping groove. I have recently been into ebooks and use a Amazon Kindle to read them. I find that I do miss regularly reading paper books, but the convenience of reading ebooks is awesome. I can’t wait until the eInk displays and associated readers are smaller, easier to use and cheaper.

Six: I love David Bowie. It isn’t a love that requires posters and discussion or anything. It is kind of similar to how people who grew up catholic talk about religion. David Bowie has just always been there for me. My first record I picked for myself was Ziggy Stardust. My first concert was the Bowie’s Sound + Vision tour. When I was quite younger, my mom took me to get my hair cut and I brought along my Labyrinth LP to show the stylist that I wanted David Bowie hair. I ended up with a rat tail.

Seven: Although I always knew I would end up with a Computer Science degree - I fought it as long as I could. In college I studied the history of Catholicism for a couple years before actually jumping into computer science. It was awesome. I ended up concentrating on Giordano Bruno and the his (untimely) multi-world theory. It was a lot of fun and lead me to have an unnatural interest in the mechanics of theology.

That’s it! To make this official, I now have to tag 7 people to make a Seven Things list on their blog.

Ready? These Seven People please report to the meme office and make a Seven Things entry on your blog:

1. Dylan Reed - my brother - I like involving him in the blogosphere.
2. Scott Van Den Plas - crazy person - He has a great blog and I love including him in meme parties.
3. Ryan Kanno - hawaii nerd - Ryan is hilarious. Hopefully all seven things will be about a Ukulele.
4. Cole Pierce - art nerd - Cole is one of my favorite artists. I used to make him go to terrible iowan raves.
5. Lakshmi Nagarajan - friend and pro blogger - Lakshmi is an awesome "mommy" blogger who learned to drive a car in 2008. heh.
6. Anders Conbere - xmpp nerd - Anders is awesome. I hope he picks this meme up.
7. Speedy Joe - awesome designer - Speedy just set up his blog. I wanted to give him some blogosphere love. ;)

• Link your original tagger(s), and list these rules on your blog.
• Share seven facts about yourself in the post - some random, some weird.
• 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 by leaving a comment on their blogs and/or Twitter