Monday, July 23, 2007

Random things

Seven random, possibly interesting things about my life (in response to being called out by Casey Touissant):
1. I once met a guy who shared the following things with me: same nickname since birth (Rock); same real, first name (George); same military draft number; same birthday in the same year; lived on the same street in the same city; attended the same university; had the same color hair and eyes. The biggest coincidence of all, tho', was that we actually met and put it all together. (At the end of that school year, I never saw him again.)
2. Speaking of 'discovered' synchronicity(!): if you are familiar with a pseudo-science called biorhythms, you will know that there are three 'waves'-which begin the hour you were born: intellectual, physical, and emotional; and-supposedly-everyone has their own unique pattern-made up of these three waves. When I did a 'compatibility chart' for my wife and me (25+ years ago!)...only five waves showed up, when there should have been six: three each. After re-entering the info several times, it turned out that our 'emotional waves' matched so precisely that they overlaid each other and appeared as 'one' wave. (This makes for some interesting times-which I wouldn't trade for the world.)
3. I was one of the happy fools who actually bought advanced tickets to Woodstock. I still have them(!) because-by the time I got to Yasgur's farm-the festival had been declared a "free concert".
To this day-given what went on(!), I still marvel that we found our vehicle again, which we had to park on the side of a country road-8 miles away from the site!
4. I have 'cross dominance': referring to the hemispheres of the brain. I have equal dexterity in both hands. (I am left-handed but do lots of other stuff like a righty.) The real benefit, however, is that I can write backwards (mirror-writing) faster and more legibly than the 'normal' direction-which I enjoy doing immensely.
5. The most profound piece of theater I even saw was the debut performance of Not I: a short play written and directed by Samuel Beckett at Lincoln Center in NYC.
6. I once worked as a laborer on a road crew in the Azores, at a military base there (as a civilian). When the project was over, I 'hitched' a ride to Rome on an Iranian military cargo plane that had stopped there to refuel. It cost me $10 because I had to buy my own life-jacket. I sat in the back of the plane (loud!) with all the weapons...and 'crass', American consumer goods-purchased by the crew.
7. When I got my driver's license at age 16, I perfected a way to 'drive' while sitting on the opposite side...stretching my left leg and arm. I did it so I could see people's reactions as I 'drove' by them, waving from the passenger seat window.
Tagging list forthcoming...or you, gentle reader/artist, can contribute your own random things...here! Please do.

3 comments:

caseytoussaint said...

What a great list - I'm glad I tagged you. I am thankful that you don't drive down my street sitting in the passenger's seat, though.

Sharon said...

A very fascinating and funny collection of facts, Rahk. The imagery of that 16 year old driving down the road is still making me chuckle. And your encounter that other George is quite odd.

Sharon said...

I forgot to add...equal dexterity in both hands... I'm totally envious. I decided a couple of week ago that I wanted to learn to write with my left hand. I've been practicing the alphabet every day, much like a first grader. It's much more difficult that I expected.