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June 20, 2007

seven random things

by sven at 8:22 pm

Gretchin tagged me with the "seven random things about yourself" meme. So, here goes...

  1. I was named after my father's anthropology professor, Sven Liljeblad (1900-2000). My standard quip: "Thank goodness I only got the first name!" Sven was Swedish; my last name, however, is Danish. Translated, it means "the farmer's son." The Danes in the family are from back around my great-grandparents' time or before... I don't honestly know how far back, though. I never saw any evidence of Danish heritage other than what's in my name.

  2. During my grade school years, I wanted to be a primatologist. I had dozens of books about monkeys and apes, and knew all the genus/species names. My favorite monkey: Humboldt's woolly monkey... (Which, incidentally, is featured prominently in the movie, Robinson Crusoe on Mars.) Loved the Chinese story of Monkey King raising "havoc in heaven." Loved King Kong -- both the 1933 and 1976 versions.

  3. Other early ambitions: I had fantasies about inventing an army of self-replicating robot monkeys, which would build me a spaceship out of cardboard, and an underground mansion with ten water slides -- and hot tubs filled with caramel and hot fudge. I drew very detailed blueprints for the robot monkeys. (Hm... Now where did I put those, anyway?)

  4. In high school I was on the Math Team. Yes, we'd all get on the bus and travel to Math League competitions... I've actually got a collection of medals that I won. During my sophomore year, I took second place in the state for my grade-level. That was in Maine, where I lived until coming out to the West Coast for college, btw.

  5. In college I was part of a two-man folk-grunge-novelty band with my chum Paul Anderson. Some of our best songs: "Music, Sex and Cookies" and "Movin' Right Along" (from the Muppet Movie). Paul plays acoustic guitar. I play piano -- loudly enthusiastically. [I've been known to get blisters on my fingers.] We both write goofy songs.

  6. I have the same thing for breakfast every single day: Quaker "100% Natural Low Fat Granola with Raisins" (which tastes far better than it sounds) and a glass of orange juice. I eat the cereal with water instead of milk -- and cold, not hot. I tend to buy 10-15 boxes at a time, because my usual grocery store doesn't carry the stuff. I find it convenient to not have to think about what I'm going to eat first thing in the morning.

  7. I've got webbed toes. On both feet, the second and third toes are webbed all the way out to where the toenails begin. The bones aren't fused -- it's just the flesh. I've never had any desire to have them split... And, no (since you ask), they don't really help me swim any faster.

It looks like pretty much everyone I could think of to tag for this thang already has been tagged... So I guess I'll be the terminator for this end of the daisy chain. Cheers!

posted by sven | June 20, 2007 8:22 PM | categories: miscellany