In Response to Brian Harrison and Brandon Grasley

Brian Harrison tagged me in this blogging meme.  This isn’t normally the sort of thing that I do on this blog but if it helps the cause of bringing bloggers together, I’ll give it a shot.  And, just as I was about to post, Brandon Grasley tagged me for the same meme.  I’ll acknowledge both of these fine gentlemen and answer both their questions below.

So here is the task…

1. Acknowledge the nominating blogger- in this case it would be me…
2. Share 11 random facts about yourself.
3. Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
4. List 11 bloggers.
5. Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer, and let all the bloggers know they have been nominated. Don’t nominate a blogger who has nominated you.

11 Random Facts About Me…

1. Put me in a coffee shop with five people around the table and I’m the quietest, shiest person you can imagine. Yet, I can stand on a stage in front of 1000 like I did at ECOO with no problem.  My wife calls me shy; a former boss called me a closet extrovert.
2. I throw a baseball right handed – really am generally right handed and yet bat left, play hockey left handed and used to golf left handed sharing my dad’s clubs. The course finally insisted that everyone have their own clubs and I bought righties – they were $10 cheaper.
3. I used to be a baseball/softball umpire.
4. Two prized possessions are my RLSS Bronze Medallion and Award of Merit. I still wear them around my neck.
5. I was the first person in Grade 10 to be able to grow a moustache. I’ve shaved it off once but other than that, still have it.
6. Yes, as a matter of fact, I have driven a snowmobile through the ice of a lake.  I think I was in Grade 10 at the time.
7. I have never seen a Star Wars movie and Zoe makes fun of me because of it.
8. I have a whole slew of negative blog post ideas that will never see the light on day.
9. My favourite colour is green.
10. Given a choice of a wiki or any CMS to date, I’ll take the wiki every time.
11. My first vehicle was an old 1959 Chevrolet Apache Pickup Truck – starter on the floor and a wooden bed in back.  I wouldn’t mind finding it again and restoring it!

Brian’s Questions for Me Were… and my responses are in green

1. Who is your favourite superhero? – Superman
2. What is the most interesting place you have visited? – Red Onion Saloon, Skagway, Alaska.
3. IOS or Android? – Android, for sure.  So much to configure.
4. Would you rather be a hammer or a nail-Why? – Hammer, sort of goes along with the wiki mentality.
5. What was your first part time job? – Picking cucumbers
6. Left on a desert island, what 3 books do you take with you? – The Lord of the Rings
7. When do you usually write your blog posts? – When the mood hits, normally first thing in the morning.
8. Pizza- thin crust or regular? – Regular
9. What was the topic of your first blog post? – “I hope this works.” It was also the first post I ever deleted.
10. Did you ever own an 8-Track cassette? – Nope
11. Lennon or McCartney? – Hmm. Going to be an outlier on this one – I always preferred Harrison

Brandon’s Questions for Me Were… and my responses are in green

1. Who is the “most famous” person you’ve ever spoken with? – Other than Brandon Grasley…, Alan Kay
2. What’s one thing you’ve learned recently for pleasure but not for work? – photography and the learning never ends
3. What’s your favourite type of exercise? – bicycling
4. What is something you love to do in each season of the year (name 4 things)? – sleep, walk, swim, blog
5. What’s something you have to do that you feel self-conscious about? – shave – you can’t make a mistake
6. Who helps you to “overcome”? – my wonderful wife
7. If you could magically change one thing (and only one!) about the state of technology in education, what would it be? – make the perfect browser and stop the update madness
8. What do you appreciate? – my dog. You can learn a lot from a dog
9. Who have you thanked today? For what? – good friends for including me in their plans
10. Is “unplugging” a good thing for you, or a bad thing, or …? – meh, just another part of life
11. How did you feel when you were nominated? – honoured

The final thing that I’m supposed to do is pass this along.  If you’re reading this, consider yourself tagged.  Please support Brian and Brandon and keep this thing going.  The problem when you create a list is omitting someone so my criteria for the names that follow is that I’ve had an online interaction with them today.

1. Sophia Mavridi
2. Alfred Thompson
3. Vicky Loras
4. Gust Mees
5. James Cowper
6. Marisa Constantinides
7. Alana Callan
8. Colleen Rose
9. Patti Henderson
10. Sheila Stewart
11. Brian Aspinall

Now, I just have to get their attention.

For you and these folks, I’ll ask the following 11 questions.

1. When was the last time you backed up your computer?
2. If you could speak any language other than English, what would it be?
3. Where would you go for your dream vacation?
4. Have you ever received a parking ticket?
5. You’re in control of the thermostat.  What’s your ideal room temperature?
6. Have you ever taken an online course?
7. What was the last educational conference that you attended?
8. When was the last time you were in a public library?
9. Have you ever dabbled with Linux?
10. What would you consider to be the best photo you’ve ever taken?
11. What, and where, is your favourite park?

I played – hopefully, you will too.

Related articles

• Bringing Back Joy (fryed.wordpress.com)
• This Week in Ontario Edublogs (dougpete.wordpress.com)
• This Week in Ontario Edublogs (dougpete.wordpress.com)
• This Week in Ontario Edublogs (dougpete.wordpress.com)
• This Week in Ontario Edublogs (dougpete.wordpress.com)
• This Week in Ontario Edublogs (dougpete.wordpress.com)