7 Things

Sahm says if I read her post about 7 things, I have to post 7 things of my own. So here are seven random facts about me...

The rules: Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those who are tagged need to write on their own blog those 7 facts as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag 7 other people and list their names on your blog. Then you leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.

1.) I have a high school letter in girls' tennis.
2.) I once gave a girl a Valentine's Day card eight feet wide by eight feet tall made out of plywood. It lit up. Kyle helped me build it. I'll post pictures if Pooteewheet gets them scanned.
3.) I majored in British history and English as an undergraduate, with a focus on Tudor and Stuart politics. My thesis was on Riot and Rebellion under Edward VI. I was seriously considering school in Wales before I met my wife. Instead, I have a Masters in writing from Hamline and did my thesis on dystopias. Ming was the only friend who went to my reading/thesis defense.
4.) Scooter is a name my grandparents' used to call me. I hated it. But when I joined a (work) group with 3+ people with the same first name, I adopted Scooter so people would know it was me without just calling me by my last name. The nickname refers to a specific, manually-powered red scooter I used to ride around the farm in Montana.
5.) I played clarinet in high school and some of college. I was playing in the pep band of the opposing team (RPI) when Harvard got shut out in hockey on their home turf for the first time in something like three years.
6.) I know some - as in a very little, almost no - Finnish. It was my language to get out of the University of Minnesota. They taught us to speak almost as well as a two year old. I can count, order you to dance and read, and change endings so you know which books are mine.
7.) I played Admiral von Schreiber in The Sound of Music, partially because I was the only person who could grow facial hair.

If you read my blog regularly and have a blog of your own you're tagged - because I think my stats say I have 7-10 consistent readers.