The Habits Meme

I don't do that many memes, but this one seems interesting:

"Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1.) When I like a TV show, I get really into it, watching almost every episode and going on-line to make sure I'm up on all the characters and subplots. By contrast, if I'm not into a show, I hardly ever watch an episode even as a brief diversion.

2.) I enjoy being outside. When in Madison, I worked and read outside as much as possible. Being able to do even more outside was a major incentive in my getting a laptop.

3.) I have been a fan of the Seattle Mariners since 1985 or 1986. I've never had any connection with Seattle, but was a fan of lost causes, and so went for the most hopeless team I could find when I first got into baseball. Ironically, I became a fan of the Chicago Cubs for NL purposes, not because of their hopelessness, but because all they had day games on WGN which I could watch after school and during the summer.

4.) I became a passionate St. Louis Blues fan thanks to a dramatic comeback in a play-off series against the Detroit Red Wings televised on KPLR in 1989, 1990, or 1991. I could probably track down the exact year by the fact Vincent Riendeau was the starting goalie and Curtis Joseph the back-up.

5.) Yes, I did bump my head as a child. When I was about a year old I fell off the staircase into the basement and knocked it on the concrete floor below, leading my parents to install a barrier there that remains to this day.

6.) My first effort at an original work of history was my efforts to chronicle the history of the TAG class with which I passed 4th-6th grade, and was mostly in honors and AP classes with until graduation. I think a volume of just over 30 pages on our 5th grade year is still extant.

7.) Being back in the U.S. for a little while has made me realize how little time in Israel I've spent simply relaxing. With most of my stuff in storage in Wisconsin, I've referred to my apartment as more like a camp than a home; my activities seem like I'm putting myself through a Middle Eastern history boot camp, though I've never felt overwhelmed by it.

8.) I played French horn from the 4th grade up through my freshman year of college, when I started having scheduling conflicts between band time and classes I wanted to take. I still have the instrument, however, and hope to return to it at some unknown point in the future, if I wind up settling in a community that has a good option.

I won't tag anyone, but feel free to tag yourself!