Two names you are called that are not your real name:
1. Denny or Uncle Denn (by family)
2. Pokey (by my brother Joel from when I was very young)
Two things you're wearing now:
1. Worn out socks
2. Dr. Pepper I spilled on my shoes
What are 2 of your favorite things to do?
1. Spending time with my family
2. Drinking Dr. Pepper
Two things you want very badly at the moment:
1. Food
2. Dr. Pepper
Two of the people who will fill this out and return:
1. I have no idea
2. Diane
Two things you did yesterday:
1. Ate take out Chinese food (with Dr. Pepper) for lunch
2. Helped ordain Gavin a Deacon
Two things you ate yesterday:
1. Hunan Chicken (not my favorite)
2. Spaghetti and Dr. Pepper (at Karen’s)
Two people you last talked to:
1. Diane
2. Karen
Two things you are doing tomorrow:
1. Resting up from today
2. Drinking Dr. Pepper
Two favorite holidays:
1. Oscar Night
2. Christmas
Two favorite drinks:
1. Dr. Pepper
2. More Dr. Pepper
Two people no longer alive that you'd like to talk to:
1. My father-in-law
2. His mother, Katie Simmonds
Friday, February 27, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Me He Made a Dreamer
The day of life is brief and I do waste what time is mine
In sentimental musings with my thoughts in serpentine.
The worldly ways are naught to me and business seems a bore,
I seek to know what lilies think and what the stars are for.
When I walk the city streets where people sell and buy,
I contemplate the silly jest and seek the butterfly.
In money, news and politics, interest have I none.
My thoughts are rapt in poetry and lying in the sun.
I’ve never wanted land or gold, care not a whit for fame.
If I can read and write and think I don’t even need a name.
As long as I have ought to eat and place to lay my head,
I’m happy leaving greater cares to other fools instead.
When God designed his creatures and placed us here below,
He made some feel responsible and made some just for show.
And me he made a dreamer, without a worldly care,
And when I’m gone no one will know that I was even there.
In sentimental musings with my thoughts in serpentine.
The worldly ways are naught to me and business seems a bore,
I seek to know what lilies think and what the stars are for.
When I walk the city streets where people sell and buy,
I contemplate the silly jest and seek the butterfly.
In money, news and politics, interest have I none.
My thoughts are rapt in poetry and lying in the sun.
I’ve never wanted land or gold, care not a whit for fame.
If I can read and write and think I don’t even need a name.
As long as I have ought to eat and place to lay my head,
I’m happy leaving greater cares to other fools instead.
When God designed his creatures and placed us here below,
He made some feel responsible and made some just for show.
And me he made a dreamer, without a worldly care,
And when I’m gone no one will know that I was even there.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Latest edition of 100 more random things about me.
101. When I was 12 years old I was infatuated with Annette Funicello and wanted to be Tim Considine, one of the Hardy Boys.
102. A dream holiday for me would be to tour Europe with my niece Anna Simmonds as my tour guide.
103. I can name almost the entire cast of the Lawrence Welk Show from the 70s. Is that something I should be bragging about?
104. One of my favorite views of London was from the Golden Gallery at the top of the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral. It’s quite a climb but well worth it.
105. I don’t remember ever feeling any racial prejudice until I was lectured on it as a government employee. I was told that I had to treat certain groups of people differently from others. I wanted to treat everyone the same, as I had always done.
106. In my youth I loved building model airplanes and had dozens of them hanging from the ceiling in my bedroom.
107. I was very nearly shot by a fellow deer hunter, which is why I only ever went hunting once. If I wanted to be shot at I would have joined the army!
108. I missed being drafted during the VietNam war by a series of policy changes – a student deferment, a marriage deferment and a family deferment because of my first child. These things each took effect at precisely the right time for me to miss going.
109. One of my favorite all time experiences was a road trip from North Carolina through Virginia and Washington DC and back with my daughter Sharon. She did all the driving – over 900 miles – and everything we saw and did was amazing, delightful, tremendous fun! I will never forget it.
110. I once saw a UFO. Something flew by that I couldn’t identify. So, UFO, right?
111. Watching the sunrise has always brightened me inside more than outside.
112. Very late one night when driving home alone the back way from BYU to Grantsville, I fell asleep. When I woke up I was going 90mph on the wrong side of the road! The scary part of this is that the right side of the road was covered with a herd of sheep! Somebody up there likes me.
113. When I was a paperboy I hated collecting because there were so many people who just never had the money. Did they think the newspaper should be free? Now I go online to read the paper I used to deliver. And it’s free. Go figure.
114. I once demanded a new fortune cookie at a Chinese restaurant because the one I got said something like, "A life lived unselfishly is a happy life." I wanted one that said, "You will soon meet a beautiful, rich blonde in a red Porsche, who will whisk you away to a blissful life of unending happiness."
115. My last fortune cookie said, "You will inherit a large sum of money from an unusual source." Now that’s a fortune cookie! (Truth is stranger than fiction.)
116. I used to write movie reviews for my co-workers and employees because I saw many more movies than they did.
117. It occurs to me that have never had an impersonal experience.
118. The first thing I ever saw on TV was an episode of the western series Hopalong Cassidy. I must have been very young.
119. I have always regretted not knowing my father better. I want my kids to know me.
120. The first recorded music I ever heard in stereo was "Besame Mucho" by the Ray Coniff orchestra. It was amazing to me! I still have a copy (digital, on my PC)..
121. I drink a cup of hot chocolate almost every night before I go to bed.
122. I live less than 100 yards from the house I grew up in and my mother was born in.
123. The farthest I have driven a car is 1,700 miles from Grantsville to Detroit, and about 2,400 miles back. The return mileage was higher for side trips to see the sights.
124. When I was little we lived in Leonardtown, Maryland. I had a turtle named Peanuts. I named him that because he lived in a shell.
125. I was a toddler during World War II. Most toys back then were made of wood or cardboard because they needed all the metals, plastics and rubber for the war effort.
126. The first new car Judy and I bought was a white, two door, Oldsmobile Cutlass, with red interior. It was a sweet ride. Not too many years later we had a red Ford station wagon full of kids. Even sweeter.
127. I have always been fascinated with lighthouses. I like to think of the adventuresome days of sailing ships, when one of the most dangerous things for a seafarer was a lighthouse with the light out. Now with GPS almost anyone can gain the capability of finding out exactly where they are at any time anywhere in the world. Amazing.
128. I often wonder how it happens that tens of thousands of people who try out for American Idol could be totally devoid of talent yet posses such gigantic egos.
129. The first car I drove was a 1954 Ford. The first time I drove it, at age 14, I got flustered and drove it into a fence. I couldn’t figure out how to operate the clutch, gas pedal, gear shift and the steering wheel at the same time.
130. In spite of difficulties, I feel like the luckiest and most blessed person on earth. I would not trade my life with anyone.
131. I think one of the funniest movies ever made is Plan 9 from Outer Space. It is widely viewed as the worst movie ever made, but I find it highly entertaining.
132. Because I don’t like to carry change around I have accumulated a large collection of quarters, dimes, nickles and pennies. Karen’s girls love counting them and sorting them into different containers.
133. One of my all time favorite England things was a three day trip through Yorkshire in 2006 with Judy’s dad and her sister, Rosalind. One of the places we stayed was Pinderhill Farm, a bed and breakfast near Beeford. It was our "pig farm with the three-legged dog." A fun place and a delicious full English breakfast.
134. When Judy and I got married I had no job, no money and no prospects. What was she thinking?!
135. My first job after marriage was as a microfilm inspector at the church’s Granite Mountain Storage Facility in Little Cottonwood Canyon. An amazing place. I used to love to sit out on the huge granite rocks at lunchtime and read the scriptures.
136. I once fell off a sled being towed by my brother Joel at 40 miles per hour. I slid a long way on the snow packed road before I finally came to a stop.
137. I am a cancer survivor.
138. My mother’s mother was a beekeeper. She once answered her door to find a young girl from across the street standing on her porch holding a large can. The girl said, "My mom sent me to get the honey your bees took out of our flowers." Grandma laughed and filled her can with honey. This was always a favorite story in our family.
139. I hate to hear children fighting. It makes me sad.
140. When I was attending BYU my advisor questioned why I signed up for a course in English History since it didn’t fill any of my requirements. He seemed bewildered when I told him I selected it because I wanted to LEARN about English history! Duh.
141. My cousin and I used to love sleeping out on a gently sloped portion of the roof of our house.
142. We also loved playing Robin Hood in the apple orchard near his home. Little did I know that someday I would actually visit the real Sherwood Forest and the delightful village called Robin Hood’s Bay.
143. It may seem that a great number of items on this list are connected with England in one way or another. That’s a good thing.
144. In high school we had a teacher who was so tiny we were able to stuff her into a locker. She actually thought it was funny… after we let her out. We also had a teacher named Golden Alvin Stromberg. Everyone called him "Gas," even the other teachers.
145. I love the taste of curry and love most curry dishes.
146. Once when I applied for a job in the private sector I was told that it probably wasn’t right for me because in my current government job I was already making more than the president of the company! I went back to work at the Army Depot with a new appreciation for my situation.
147. One summer I worked at a service station in Wendover, Utah, back when service actually meant service. I checked the oil, pumped the gas, cleaned the windows and even checked air pressure in all four tires. It was what was expected in those days.
148. I also worked as a trash collector for a time back when we actually had to pick up the metal garbage cans and dump the stuff into the truck. Then when we got to the dump we had to shovel it out. My how things have changed!
149. Back in the days when I delivered newspapers I used to have very troubling dreams in which I was unable to remember who I was supposed to deliver papers to.
150. I still have recurring dreams about being in school but unable to remember my class schedule or what test I’m supposed to be taking next.
151. I love the energy of storms. Thunder, lightning and wind, though sometimes frightening, always make me feel more alive.
152. I love the smell of freshly mown grass and the smell after a rain storm.
153. I hit a deer near Ophir one day while driving Susan to Snow College. Three deer jumped into the roadway ahead of us, one just cleared the front end; one stopped in time to miss us on the passenger side. The other leaped high across the road and we clipped it’s hind legs. It slammed hard onto the hood and into the windshield then dashed off into the brush with its broken leg dangling. We were lucky the windshield didn’t break. The poor thing would have kicked us to death.
154. I love the sound of waves lapping against the hull of a sailboat.
155. I love the smell of artist’s oil paints and turpentine and the feel of moving a brush against a stretched canvas.
156. When I was young I loved sitting with my cousins in my aunt’s raspberry patch on a sunny afternoon and eating all the fresh ripe raspberries we wanted.
157. I was astonished by the wonder of modern technology when I sat down and watched our first color TV. Of course we never dreamed of anything like HD back then.
158. I used to enjoy lying on the lawn on a moonless night and looking at the miracle of the night sky. That was way before the brightness of city lights washed about ten million stars from view.
159. Little makes me happier than the sound of my grown children’s laughter, except possibly the laughter of their children.
160. My granddaughter Lauren loves to have me read books to her almost as much as I love doing it.
161. If I had to do it all over again, I probably would.
162. I can recall the smell of the hallways on the day I first entered high school.
163. When I was about 10 years old I punched a guy in the nose because he wouldn’t stop teasing me. He was much older than I and his nose bled a lot. He deserved it.
164. The only cigar I ever smoked made me sick to my stomach. One too many.
165. When I was in my teens my mother thought I didn’t like girls because I would rather stay home and draw that go to dances. I liked girls a lot, I was just afraid of them.
166. My high school junior prom was one of the worst nights of my life.
167. I used to memorize great speeches from Shakespeare plays and recite them aloud when I was alone. I always thought they sounded best with an English accent, even though Hamlet was Danish and Petruchio was Italian. Women have some of the best speeches in those plays, Portia in The Merchant of Venice for example.
168. I would like to go to dinner and have a long talk with Tom Hanks. He should pay.
169. My dad loved the song Ghost Riders in the Sky, by Vaughn Monroe. I did too.
170. The first time I sat down in front of a computer I was afraid to touch it. I didn’t want to look like a fool by doing something wrong.
171. I don’t like crowds. I much prefer visiting with people one on one.
172. I like Jaffa Cakes.
173. We once had a leg of lamb for Thanksgiving dinner. It was delicious, especially with mint sauce. But it didn’t seem like Thanksgiving.
174. When got my first view of Mr. Rushmore I was startled that it appeared both larger and smaller than I thought it was going to be. I can make sense of that.
175. I have driven across the Golden Gate Bridge twice. Both times the water was totally obscured by fog.
176. Some of my best sunrise and sunset photos were taken from the road to Stansbury Island, northwest of Grantsville, where during daylight hours the salt ponds are dull, drab and ugly. A change in lighting makes all the difference.
177. I was traumatized for life by an unfortunate incident in my youth. My cousin, two of her girlfriends and I were playing in her dad’s granary. Suddenly, as if by some pre-arranged signal, the three of them grabbed me and held me down. One of them shouted, "Let’s kiss him!" I was horrified with anticipation! Then tragically, they called off this unprovoked attack and went back to just playing. I was chagrined and have never fully recovered from my humiliation.
178. I loved climbing trees when I was young. I still would, if I could.
179. The best hotel room I ever had was an executive suite at the Marriott in Lexington, Kentucky. How I came by it is a long story that involves treating hotel staff with simple courtesy in a stressful situation.
180. Here’s a joke I made up in 1963 while tracting in England: What do you get when you cross an elephant with a rattlesnake? Answer: poison ivory.
181. I don’t own a suit or a pair of jeans.
182. When walking home from high school I used to love stopping at Grantsville Drug with friends for a cherry iron port. It was the best fountain drink I ever tasted.
183. I have ridden in a taxi in this country only once. In 1986 it cost me $7.50 to get from the airport to downtown Salt Lake City.
184. I once parked on a hill and my car start rolling just after I locked the door and dropped the keys in my pocket. Jogging backwards downhill, I was barely able to retrieve the keys, unlock the door, jump inside and get my foot on the brake in time to keep my car from rolling over the edge of a steep incline!
185. Sometimes I think I’m the only person here. The rest of it is all an illusion set up as a test just for me. Do you ever feel that way? How could you? You’re an illusion.
186. The fastest I have ever driven is 100 miles per hour. Anyone who drives faster than that is nuts. It’s illegal for one thing.
187. One of my favorite places is Conwy, North Wales. Conwy castle is wonderful.
188. One of the most helpless feelings I have ever felt was totally losing control of my car on black ice. Watching fence posts and utility poles going by when you are looking straight ahead is a bit troubling.
189. I love the look of cobblestones, but walking on them when they’re wet is no fun.
190. If I had to eat a shrimp sandwich every day the way the old Skyline Restaurant used to make them, that would be okay with me! Jane Brown knew what she was doing.
191. During the 80s The Sir Walter Raleigh Inn in Alexandria, Virginia served steak and lobster dinners that were to die for! I ate there every chance I got.
192. My brother Joel and I rode the roller coaster at Lagoon together more than 25 times in a row without getting off. It was a day when you could re-ride any ride for ten cents. We filled our pockets with dimes and had a blast.
193. When I was in high school we could walk across the street to the Dairy Queen, pay a dollar for a hamburger, fries and a shake and get 25 cents change.
194. I once was invited to an all night party by two prostitutes who solicited door to door at a hotel near the airport in St. Louis, Missouri. I turned them down. I would have called the police, but I think they were going to the party.
195. I attended the Army Logistics Management College in Petersburg, Virginia. One afternoon I was nearly two hours late getting back to class after falling asleep in the woods where I had decided to eat my lunch. It was a pleasant nap and I did end up passing the course.
196. Two friends and I once sailed the Great Salt Lake from Silver Sands Marina to Carrington Island at night during a new moon.
197. My greatest thrill has been holding each of my newborn children and grandchildren for the first time.
198. One of my favorite places for a government training course was Hermosa Beach, California. I was able to stay in a motel right on the beach and eat dinner each night at the restaurant next door while watching the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. Strange, I don’t recall anything at all about the training.
199. My earliest recollection is of Christmas. I hope my last one will be too.
200. Recalling the various events of my life in order to compose this list has been extremely enjoyable and enlightening. I’m glad I took time for the exercise whether anyone else ever reads it or not.
102. A dream holiday for me would be to tour Europe with my niece Anna Simmonds as my tour guide.
103. I can name almost the entire cast of the Lawrence Welk Show from the 70s. Is that something I should be bragging about?
104. One of my favorite views of London was from the Golden Gallery at the top of the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral. It’s quite a climb but well worth it.
105. I don’t remember ever feeling any racial prejudice until I was lectured on it as a government employee. I was told that I had to treat certain groups of people differently from others. I wanted to treat everyone the same, as I had always done.
106. In my youth I loved building model airplanes and had dozens of them hanging from the ceiling in my bedroom.
107. I was very nearly shot by a fellow deer hunter, which is why I only ever went hunting once. If I wanted to be shot at I would have joined the army!
108. I missed being drafted during the VietNam war by a series of policy changes – a student deferment, a marriage deferment and a family deferment because of my first child. These things each took effect at precisely the right time for me to miss going.
109. One of my favorite all time experiences was a road trip from North Carolina through Virginia and Washington DC and back with my daughter Sharon. She did all the driving – over 900 miles – and everything we saw and did was amazing, delightful, tremendous fun! I will never forget it.
110. I once saw a UFO. Something flew by that I couldn’t identify. So, UFO, right?
111. Watching the sunrise has always brightened me inside more than outside.
112. Very late one night when driving home alone the back way from BYU to Grantsville, I fell asleep. When I woke up I was going 90mph on the wrong side of the road! The scary part of this is that the right side of the road was covered with a herd of sheep! Somebody up there likes me.
113. When I was a paperboy I hated collecting because there were so many people who just never had the money. Did they think the newspaper should be free? Now I go online to read the paper I used to deliver. And it’s free. Go figure.
114. I once demanded a new fortune cookie at a Chinese restaurant because the one I got said something like, "A life lived unselfishly is a happy life." I wanted one that said, "You will soon meet a beautiful, rich blonde in a red Porsche, who will whisk you away to a blissful life of unending happiness."
115. My last fortune cookie said, "You will inherit a large sum of money from an unusual source." Now that’s a fortune cookie! (Truth is stranger than fiction.)
116. I used to write movie reviews for my co-workers and employees because I saw many more movies than they did.
117. It occurs to me that have never had an impersonal experience.
118. The first thing I ever saw on TV was an episode of the western series Hopalong Cassidy. I must have been very young.
119. I have always regretted not knowing my father better. I want my kids to know me.
120. The first recorded music I ever heard in stereo was "Besame Mucho" by the Ray Coniff orchestra. It was amazing to me! I still have a copy (digital, on my PC)..
121. I drink a cup of hot chocolate almost every night before I go to bed.
122. I live less than 100 yards from the house I grew up in and my mother was born in.
123. The farthest I have driven a car is 1,700 miles from Grantsville to Detroit, and about 2,400 miles back. The return mileage was higher for side trips to see the sights.
124. When I was little we lived in Leonardtown, Maryland. I had a turtle named Peanuts. I named him that because he lived in a shell.
125. I was a toddler during World War II. Most toys back then were made of wood or cardboard because they needed all the metals, plastics and rubber for the war effort.
126. The first new car Judy and I bought was a white, two door, Oldsmobile Cutlass, with red interior. It was a sweet ride. Not too many years later we had a red Ford station wagon full of kids. Even sweeter.
127. I have always been fascinated with lighthouses. I like to think of the adventuresome days of sailing ships, when one of the most dangerous things for a seafarer was a lighthouse with the light out. Now with GPS almost anyone can gain the capability of finding out exactly where they are at any time anywhere in the world. Amazing.
128. I often wonder how it happens that tens of thousands of people who try out for American Idol could be totally devoid of talent yet posses such gigantic egos.
129. The first car I drove was a 1954 Ford. The first time I drove it, at age 14, I got flustered and drove it into a fence. I couldn’t figure out how to operate the clutch, gas pedal, gear shift and the steering wheel at the same time.
130. In spite of difficulties, I feel like the luckiest and most blessed person on earth. I would not trade my life with anyone.
131. I think one of the funniest movies ever made is Plan 9 from Outer Space. It is widely viewed as the worst movie ever made, but I find it highly entertaining.
132. Because I don’t like to carry change around I have accumulated a large collection of quarters, dimes, nickles and pennies. Karen’s girls love counting them and sorting them into different containers.
133. One of my all time favorite England things was a three day trip through Yorkshire in 2006 with Judy’s dad and her sister, Rosalind. One of the places we stayed was Pinderhill Farm, a bed and breakfast near Beeford. It was our "pig farm with the three-legged dog." A fun place and a delicious full English breakfast.
134. When Judy and I got married I had no job, no money and no prospects. What was she thinking?!
135. My first job after marriage was as a microfilm inspector at the church’s Granite Mountain Storage Facility in Little Cottonwood Canyon. An amazing place. I used to love to sit out on the huge granite rocks at lunchtime and read the scriptures.
136. I once fell off a sled being towed by my brother Joel at 40 miles per hour. I slid a long way on the snow packed road before I finally came to a stop.
137. I am a cancer survivor.
138. My mother’s mother was a beekeeper. She once answered her door to find a young girl from across the street standing on her porch holding a large can. The girl said, "My mom sent me to get the honey your bees took out of our flowers." Grandma laughed and filled her can with honey. This was always a favorite story in our family.
139. I hate to hear children fighting. It makes me sad.
140. When I was attending BYU my advisor questioned why I signed up for a course in English History since it didn’t fill any of my requirements. He seemed bewildered when I told him I selected it because I wanted to LEARN about English history! Duh.
141. My cousin and I used to love sleeping out on a gently sloped portion of the roof of our house.
142. We also loved playing Robin Hood in the apple orchard near his home. Little did I know that someday I would actually visit the real Sherwood Forest and the delightful village called Robin Hood’s Bay.
143. It may seem that a great number of items on this list are connected with England in one way or another. That’s a good thing.
144. In high school we had a teacher who was so tiny we were able to stuff her into a locker. She actually thought it was funny… after we let her out. We also had a teacher named Golden Alvin Stromberg. Everyone called him "Gas," even the other teachers.
145. I love the taste of curry and love most curry dishes.
146. Once when I applied for a job in the private sector I was told that it probably wasn’t right for me because in my current government job I was already making more than the president of the company! I went back to work at the Army Depot with a new appreciation for my situation.
147. One summer I worked at a service station in Wendover, Utah, back when service actually meant service. I checked the oil, pumped the gas, cleaned the windows and even checked air pressure in all four tires. It was what was expected in those days.
148. I also worked as a trash collector for a time back when we actually had to pick up the metal garbage cans and dump the stuff into the truck. Then when we got to the dump we had to shovel it out. My how things have changed!
149. Back in the days when I delivered newspapers I used to have very troubling dreams in which I was unable to remember who I was supposed to deliver papers to.
150. I still have recurring dreams about being in school but unable to remember my class schedule or what test I’m supposed to be taking next.
151. I love the energy of storms. Thunder, lightning and wind, though sometimes frightening, always make me feel more alive.
152. I love the smell of freshly mown grass and the smell after a rain storm.
153. I hit a deer near Ophir one day while driving Susan to Snow College. Three deer jumped into the roadway ahead of us, one just cleared the front end; one stopped in time to miss us on the passenger side. The other leaped high across the road and we clipped it’s hind legs. It slammed hard onto the hood and into the windshield then dashed off into the brush with its broken leg dangling. We were lucky the windshield didn’t break. The poor thing would have kicked us to death.
154. I love the sound of waves lapping against the hull of a sailboat.
155. I love the smell of artist’s oil paints and turpentine and the feel of moving a brush against a stretched canvas.
156. When I was young I loved sitting with my cousins in my aunt’s raspberry patch on a sunny afternoon and eating all the fresh ripe raspberries we wanted.
157. I was astonished by the wonder of modern technology when I sat down and watched our first color TV. Of course we never dreamed of anything like HD back then.
158. I used to enjoy lying on the lawn on a moonless night and looking at the miracle of the night sky. That was way before the brightness of city lights washed about ten million stars from view.
159. Little makes me happier than the sound of my grown children’s laughter, except possibly the laughter of their children.
160. My granddaughter Lauren loves to have me read books to her almost as much as I love doing it.
161. If I had to do it all over again, I probably would.
162. I can recall the smell of the hallways on the day I first entered high school.
163. When I was about 10 years old I punched a guy in the nose because he wouldn’t stop teasing me. He was much older than I and his nose bled a lot. He deserved it.
164. The only cigar I ever smoked made me sick to my stomach. One too many.
165. When I was in my teens my mother thought I didn’t like girls because I would rather stay home and draw that go to dances. I liked girls a lot, I was just afraid of them.
166. My high school junior prom was one of the worst nights of my life.
167. I used to memorize great speeches from Shakespeare plays and recite them aloud when I was alone. I always thought they sounded best with an English accent, even though Hamlet was Danish and Petruchio was Italian. Women have some of the best speeches in those plays, Portia in The Merchant of Venice for example.
168. I would like to go to dinner and have a long talk with Tom Hanks. He should pay.
169. My dad loved the song Ghost Riders in the Sky, by Vaughn Monroe. I did too.
170. The first time I sat down in front of a computer I was afraid to touch it. I didn’t want to look like a fool by doing something wrong.
171. I don’t like crowds. I much prefer visiting with people one on one.
172. I like Jaffa Cakes.
173. We once had a leg of lamb for Thanksgiving dinner. It was delicious, especially with mint sauce. But it didn’t seem like Thanksgiving.
174. When got my first view of Mr. Rushmore I was startled that it appeared both larger and smaller than I thought it was going to be. I can make sense of that.
175. I have driven across the Golden Gate Bridge twice. Both times the water was totally obscured by fog.
176. Some of my best sunrise and sunset photos were taken from the road to Stansbury Island, northwest of Grantsville, where during daylight hours the salt ponds are dull, drab and ugly. A change in lighting makes all the difference.
177. I was traumatized for life by an unfortunate incident in my youth. My cousin, two of her girlfriends and I were playing in her dad’s granary. Suddenly, as if by some pre-arranged signal, the three of them grabbed me and held me down. One of them shouted, "Let’s kiss him!" I was horrified with anticipation! Then tragically, they called off this unprovoked attack and went back to just playing. I was chagrined and have never fully recovered from my humiliation.
178. I loved climbing trees when I was young. I still would, if I could.
179. The best hotel room I ever had was an executive suite at the Marriott in Lexington, Kentucky. How I came by it is a long story that involves treating hotel staff with simple courtesy in a stressful situation.
180. Here’s a joke I made up in 1963 while tracting in England: What do you get when you cross an elephant with a rattlesnake? Answer: poison ivory.
181. I don’t own a suit or a pair of jeans.
182. When walking home from high school I used to love stopping at Grantsville Drug with friends for a cherry iron port. It was the best fountain drink I ever tasted.
183. I have ridden in a taxi in this country only once. In 1986 it cost me $7.50 to get from the airport to downtown Salt Lake City.
184. I once parked on a hill and my car start rolling just after I locked the door and dropped the keys in my pocket. Jogging backwards downhill, I was barely able to retrieve the keys, unlock the door, jump inside and get my foot on the brake in time to keep my car from rolling over the edge of a steep incline!
185. Sometimes I think I’m the only person here. The rest of it is all an illusion set up as a test just for me. Do you ever feel that way? How could you? You’re an illusion.
186. The fastest I have ever driven is 100 miles per hour. Anyone who drives faster than that is nuts. It’s illegal for one thing.
187. One of my favorite places is Conwy, North Wales. Conwy castle is wonderful.
188. One of the most helpless feelings I have ever felt was totally losing control of my car on black ice. Watching fence posts and utility poles going by when you are looking straight ahead is a bit troubling.
189. I love the look of cobblestones, but walking on them when they’re wet is no fun.
190. If I had to eat a shrimp sandwich every day the way the old Skyline Restaurant used to make them, that would be okay with me! Jane Brown knew what she was doing.
191. During the 80s The Sir Walter Raleigh Inn in Alexandria, Virginia served steak and lobster dinners that were to die for! I ate there every chance I got.
192. My brother Joel and I rode the roller coaster at Lagoon together more than 25 times in a row without getting off. It was a day when you could re-ride any ride for ten cents. We filled our pockets with dimes and had a blast.
193. When I was in high school we could walk across the street to the Dairy Queen, pay a dollar for a hamburger, fries and a shake and get 25 cents change.
194. I once was invited to an all night party by two prostitutes who solicited door to door at a hotel near the airport in St. Louis, Missouri. I turned them down. I would have called the police, but I think they were going to the party.
195. I attended the Army Logistics Management College in Petersburg, Virginia. One afternoon I was nearly two hours late getting back to class after falling asleep in the woods where I had decided to eat my lunch. It was a pleasant nap and I did end up passing the course.
196. Two friends and I once sailed the Great Salt Lake from Silver Sands Marina to Carrington Island at night during a new moon.
197. My greatest thrill has been holding each of my newborn children and grandchildren for the first time.
198. One of my favorite places for a government training course was Hermosa Beach, California. I was able to stay in a motel right on the beach and eat dinner each night at the restaurant next door while watching the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. Strange, I don’t recall anything at all about the training.
199. My earliest recollection is of Christmas. I hope my last one will be too.
200. Recalling the various events of my life in order to compose this list has been extremely enjoyable and enlightening. I’m glad I took time for the exercise whether anyone else ever reads it or not.
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