7 Things

Yes, it’s meme time again.  A meme, according to wikipedia, “comprises a unit or element of cultural ideas, symbols or practices; such units or elements transmit from one mind to another through speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena.”  In other words, it’s a way to help spread a culture.

The blogosphere occasionally sends these memes around as a way to spread this culture of online community… sort of like a “getting to know you” exercise that you might do with students on the first day of class.  A topic is chosen, people respond to it and then pass the meme along to others to contribute to.  By tagging others like this, the meme spreads quickly.

I was tagged a couple of days ago in a meme called 7 Things You Don’t Need To Know About Me, by a PE teacher in Victoria named Jarrod Robinson, or mrrobbo to those that know him.  He was tagged by Rodd Lucier from Canada, otherwise known as thecleversheep.  (I find it interesting that Rodd lives in Ontario Canada, where I happen to be at the moment, so in two hops, this meme has gone from one side of the planet to the other.  Such is the nature of our online world…)

So here you go, 7 things you (really) don’t need to know about me…

1. I liked school when I was a kid, did reasonably well at it, but didn’t take it at all seriously.  During the 4 weeks of study time before the HSC I went surfing every day.  Did ok in the HSC, but really improved my forehand bottom turns.
2. I used to surf when I was a kid, but mainly I used to skateboard.  Unlike school, I took skateboarding very seriously and spent most weekends trekking across Sydney looking for unused pipes or empty swimming pools.
3. I like dogs, but usually find the work required to own one too much work.  Feeding, walking and cleaning up after a dog can often outweigh the joys of owning one.  Despite this, I’ve still had several dogs over the years.  Don’t even get me started on cats.
4. Despite learning the piano when I was a kid, I cannot play one at all now. However, I taught myself to play the bass guitar in my teens, and played in several bands when I was at art school, including this one.
5. I’m a terrible dancer. Nothing much more to add to that, I just am.
6. I allegedly snore. I’ve never heard myself doing it, but apparently I do. I’ve discovered Breathe Right strips recently and (I’m told) things are much better now.
7. When I was 25 years old, my tax return listed my official occupation as a Professional Rally Driver. I drove a car in the Wynns Australian Safari that year and thanks to a generous sponsorship arrangement, I actually made the bulk of my income that year as a rally driver. 

That’ll do.

I now pass this meme along to…

• Linda Johannesson
• Allanah King
• Al Upton
• Tomaz Lasic
• Martin Pluss
• Julian Ridden
• Chris Waterman

7 Things by Chris Betcher is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.