plezWorld from A to Z

As I often do, instead of spending the evening plopped down in front of the television, I find myself plopped down in front of my computer, checking out blogs and news articles from various newspapers. Well, I was wandering aimlessly through the blogosphere late last night and stumbled upon this meme at Bab's Bitchin:

A is for your age:
Forty-something

B is for your burger of choice:
Half-pounder with Swiss Cheese and Bacon (adorned with lettuce, tomato, mayo, and ketchup... hold the mustard)

C is for the car that you drive:
Ford Explorer - Eddie Bauer Edition

D is for dog’s name:
Ace was our Labrador Retriever when I was growing up

E is for an essential item you use each day:
Toothbrush

F is for your favorite television show:
Season Four of The Wire

G is for favorite game:
Scrabble, closely followed by Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit

H is for hometown:
North Tarrytown, NY (the town has since been renamed to Sleepy Hollow in 1997)

I is for instruments played:
In order: Voice, Recorder, Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Piano, Trombone

J is for favorite juice:
Orange Juice

K is for what you’d like to kick:
I loved to play kickball at recess in elementary school

L is for last restaurant you dined at:
Ruby Tuesday... I had the Ribs & Shrimp combo (ugh!)

M is for your favorite Muppet:
Kermit

N is for number of piercings you have:
Zero... I could never figure out which ear a straight guy would pierce. Nowadays, people have both ears, noses, lips, eyebrows, and tongue piercings. OUCH!

O is for overnight hospital stays:
Zero... I have only had to go to the hospital on three occasions (all minor injuries or out-patient surgery)

P is for people you were with today:
Two... the SugarPlum (because her summer camp is taking a break for the holiday) and plezWife (for obvious reasons)

Q is for what you do in quiet times:
Mainly goof off on this damn computer looking for stuff to add to my blog!

R is for regrets:
The only regrets I have are for the things I have not done!

S is for status:
Some would say that I'm a high falutin' peon

T is for time you woke up today:
5:45 AM... plezWife woke me up before she left for work to remind me to take the SugarPlum to her piano lesson this afternoon

U is for what you consider unique:
My name... how many people do you know named "plez"?

V is for favorite vegetable:
Tomato

W is for your worst habit:
Biting my fingernails... a habit that has haunted me since early childhood, the good thing is that I can no longer limber enough to reach my toenails!

X is for x-rays you have had:
Two... both while in college to examine injuries I sustained while playing basketball, one on my knee, the other on my ankle

Y is for yummy food you ate today:
A Carmel Machiatto and Blueberry Muffin from Starbucks this morning

Z is for zodiac sign:
Cancer... incidently, my high school mascot was a Crab.

(if you come across this meme and choose to do it, let me know)

Seven Random Facts About plezWorld

Rafique, author of The Liberal War Journal has tagged me with the Seven Random Facts meme. Since plezWorld doesn't get tagged for memes very often, I'm compelled to comply.

The Rules:
I. Link to the person who tagged you.

II. Post the Rules Here.

III. Share Seven Random or Weird Facts About Yourself:
1. I started my first job when I was ten years old, delivering newspapers in Tarrytown, NY; the minimum age was 12 years old, but the delivery manager let me do it because my three older brothers also had paper routes in the small town.

2. I know a member of the Village People of "YMCA" fame, he was the choir director of the youth choir in the church that I attended in Elmsford, New York... his father was also the pastor of the church.

3. I used to take vocal training as a teenager and my only performance was a less-than-stellar rendition of the old Frank Sinatra standard "My Way."

4. Both of my parents were raised on farms in Depression Era and segregated North Carolina, they migrated up North in the late 1950's where I was born in New York; I was part of the reverse migration of the 1980's that brought me back Down South to Atlanta, Georgia.

5. I was a NASA Scholar when I went to college and I entertained the idea of entering the astronaut program, but I was too tall (I'm 6'4" and the maximum height requirement was under 6').

6. I met my wife 24 years ago at a party after the annual Georgia vs. Georgia Tech Football Game on the campus of the University of Georgia; the party was thrown by my frat brothers and she was hanging out with her snooty sorority sisters.

7. Many find it hard to believe that my wife and I share one checking account - the one I opened as a freshman at Georgia Tech - and we're still married after close to 18 years.

IV. Tag 7 random people, linking to them:
1. Lola Gets...
2. Boo Goo Doo Boom
3. Lori's Old School Mix
4. Cynical Bastard
5. living-loving-laughing
6. Stepfather of Soul
7. Terrence Says

(I actually put a random number generator to my Blog Roll and these are the seven blogs that emerged)

V. Leave a comment letting them know you've tagged them.

The 6th Degree: Do Be Have

Lewis Empire blog describes itself as "strategies to help manage your finances, invest your money and retire young." plezWorld found an interesting meme tucked away in this blog post. Lewis has apparently developed something called the 62 Steps to Success based on Jack Canfield’s book, "The Success Principles." The basic premise is that in order to work towards something, you need to know what you’re going to learn (Be), experience (Do), and get to play with (Have).

The meme seems pretty simple, come up with make your list of 10 things you want to do, 10 things you want to have, and 10 things you want to become. Well, it turned out to be a lot more difficult than I had expected. Here’s my list:

Do

Blog everyday in 2008

Skydive

Drive a car over 200 mph

Get invited to the White House by the President

Endow a scholarship in my name at my alma mater

Dunk a basketball, again

Teach a high school calculus class

Find and visit my ancestral home on the African continent

Sing the National Anthem before a football game

Walk my daughter down the aisle at her wedding

Be

An expert in my field (whatever that may be)

An elected official

50-year old retiree

A good husband and father

A role model for my community

The basis of a positive story on the nightly news

Reincarnated, so I can do it right the next time

My destiny

A trusted advisor

Happy

Have

$1,000,000 in my bank account

A red Cadillac Escalade

Life Membership Pin

A seat on the Space Shuttle

Respect of my family

No debt

Great grandson

My daughter's PhD hood

A beach house in the Caribbean

My health

I'm probably supposed to tag some other blogs to compel them to complete this meme, but I find that process so passe'... so if you've gotten this point in my post, consider yourself tagged! *smile*

[Hat Tip: Lewis Empire]


plez sez:

the third installment of the sixth degree of plezWorld:

1st Degree: Brown Sugar
2nd Degree: Whitney's Big Adventure
3rd Degree: Reggie, another kid with good* credit
4th Degree: Dual Income No Kids
5th Degree: CheddarBlog
6th Degree: Lewis Empire



What is the sixth degree of plezWorld? Find the answer here.

One Word Meme

i found this little ditty over at Old Dog New Trick blog. it seems simple enough, but i found it to be more challenging than it appears. give it a shot and either post your answer in my Comments or on your blog.

Use ONE WORD for each answer.

Yourself: content

Your Partner: asleep

Your Hair: faded

Your Mother: saint

Your Father: deceased

Your Favorite Item: PDA

Your Dream Last Night: nothing

Your Favorite Drink: Coke

Your Dream Car: Escalade

Your Dream Home: current

The Room You Are In: office

Your Fear: truth

Where You Want To Be In Ten Years: beach

Who You Hung Out With Last Night: family

You’re Not: easy

One of Your Wish List Items: millions

The Last Thing You Did: farted

You Are Wearing: clothes

Your Favorite Weather: hot

Your Favorite Book: Irving ("A Prayer for Owen Meany")

Last Thing You Ate: ice cream

Your Life: duplicitous

Your Mood: whimsical

Your Best Friend: wife

What Are You Thinking About Right Now: answers

Your Car: Explorer

What Are You Doing At The Moment: blogging

Relationship Status: married

What Is On Your TV: nothing

What Is The Weather Like: humid

When Is The Last Time You Laughed: earlier