Like spider legs

Well, I have been tagged again. This time by Cailleach, for eight random facts about myself. Leaving aside the argument as to whether one can achieve anything approaching "random" for these purposes, I'll give it a shot.

1. I cannot write in cursive or lower-case letters. My cursive was impossible for even me to decipher, and I just sort of forgot how to make lower-case letters. I make non-capitalized letters in small caps. Only my signature is cursive.

2. I have never seen an ocean, or any body of water larger than Lake Michigan. This dovetails quite nicely into my irrational fear of water and the fact that I cannot swim.

3. In January of 1992, I decided to keep track of all the books I read. At the end of the month, the total was 53. I doubt I've ever duplicated that feat. I've never tracked my reading like that before or since.

4. Every place I visit, I decide I would like to live there. I nearly spent a winter in Athens, GA because I liked it during a brief stay. The only exception I can think of was Denver, CO, which is also the only place I have ever visited and then moved to. Twice.

5. I was briefly the editor of a music magazine after leaving college. My interview was held in an Arby's. Six months later, at my first professional audition in Chicago, I landed the role of the editor of a music magazine in "The Blank Page," by Adam Langer (Adam is now a bestselling author). I played the same role in the film of the same name, so I have now had more experience playing the editor of a small, indie magazine than I had being one.

6. I once quit a job because my employer wouldn't allow me to listen to music. I was shoved into a room all by myself, and wanted to listen through headphones. My boss looked like Captain Kangaroo, and didn't believe for a second that music makes me more productive. It does, and every job I've had since has confirmed that. At the time, this seemed like a trivial reason to leave employment to everyone but me.

7. Until I started blogging, I never had anything resembling a nickname my entire life. Now people call me variations of "Moon" or "Mr. Topples" even sometimes in real life. I'm still not certain I approve of this.

8. In the period after map of july's first record came out, we played some pretty diverse shows, including a bar mitzvah and the lobby of a 30-cinema theater on the day Godzilla opened. There was an enormous inflatable lizard on the roof above us.

As usual, I tag no one, but let me know if you take a stab yourself and I'll come by and check it out.