Friday 5

Another Friday, another Friday 5.

From Merideth

Everything starts somewhere

Five things that are such an integral part of your life, you can't believe someone else introduced them to you.


1. Overseas travel. When I turned 15, my Grandparents told me they were taking me to Greece. That was the beginning of my life-long obsession with travel. One that persists to this day and occupies of lot of my thought, time and money. I will go anywhere, anytime.

2. Bread and Cheese. This most wonderful of portable snacks was a complete unknown to me until I went to Oxford in 1994. But traveling with Laura (who needs a freakin blog) means packing a lot of cheese. Yummy. We would go every morning before an adventure and stock up on assorted cheeses and breads at Oxford's wonderful market. Fruit, especially grapes, complements this feast well...

3. Chinese Food. I thought I hated Chinese food, as I dislike vegetables and that was all Chinese food was to me. Then, I tried to date a girl who liked Chinese food, and found myself having to eat the stuff. Now I love it, and go through withdrawals if I go to long without it.

4. REM. OK, maybe I just have REM on the brain from seeing their kick-ass show last Sunday, but REM is my band. I own every album, know all the words. Would obsessively stalk except I don't want Michael Stipe to think me a wanker. Learning a new REM song is a particular joy. I was introduced to this group back in 1984, when I was Tweedle-Dum in an otherwise High-School Cast of Alice in Wonderland. The big kids listened to REM, so damn it, I did too. REM saved me from country music, which I was listening to at the time.

5. The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In a just universe, I would have found this my own. Instead, it was introduced to me by Rachel when I was a sophomore in High School. I loved it and went on to become a cast member in San Antonio's show for a while (I was Eddie). Now, RHPS may not, on the surface, seem like an integral part of my life. I no longer go to shows and it has been years since I picked up a saxophone. But, the songs and quotes and images from the show, burned in my cranium, inform just about everything I do...

So, thanks Laura, Amanda, Grandmommy and Granddaddy, 80s theatre freaks and Rachel...

Is it sad two of these are food?

Most of the things I find integral to my life came about before I was old enough to understand who was introducing me. Film and Theatre have always been with me, as has reading. I had computers around the house from a fairly young age. I had email in the 80s for God's sake... Nobody introduced me to Parenthood. And Merideth introduced herself to me, but I am not sure that counts...

Also participating

Gina, Adam, Melissa, Craig, Colleen, Dave, Chris and introducing Adrienne and Gord.