Tagged

I’ll have to admit that I was somewhat ambivalent last week when I discovered that steven of
The Golden Fish had tagged me. I was pleased that someone whose blog I like had chosen to honor me, particularly when the other blogs he tagged seemed first rate.

On the other hand, I’ve never been particularly fond of tagging, particularly being “it.” I have a hard enough time just trying to come up with something I think interesting enough to write about here when I’m given unlimited freedom. It’s much harder when I feel obliged to follow some kind of prompt, particularly a prompt like this one that asks the blogger to:

rule the one. link to the person who tagged you.
rule the second. post the rules on your blog.
rule the third. write six random things about yourself.
rule the four. tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
rule the fifth. let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
rule the sixth. let the tagger know when your entry is up
.

First, I’m pretty sure that some time in the last seven years of blogging I’ve actually played this game of tag before. I’ve certainly promoted fellow bloggers repeatedly, many of whom have been blogging long enough to have been tagged before, too. As I’ve mentioned before, my blog list generally begins with the blogs that first linked to me and ends with blogs that I’ve only recently discovered and linked to, and who have probably linked to me.

Now, it’s not too difficult following the first two rules, which is why that’s already been done. The third rule, however, is a little more difficult. After seven years of blogging I’m pretty sure I’ve told readers nearly everything about my life that is even slightly interesting. That’s what drives me to constantly go out seeking new experiences and new ideas in books. Unfortunately, I don’t really remember which random things about myself I’ve already covered. At my age, everything seems new at some point, but my grandkids are quick to point out that “you said that before, grandpa.”

Long ago, when Jonathon Delacour was still blogging, I revealed that I was an INTP. Recently, though when I took online tests I discovered that I was no longer an INTP, at least if I were to believe the new tests. Instead, I’m an INFJ. I’m wondering if it’s normal to change types over long periods of time, or when you change professions.

I often say that since I’ve retired I’ve learned to live my life one day at a time. Looking back, though, I wonder if that hasn’t always been true. I remember back in high school when I took an aptitude test, it said that I had multiple interests and multiple skills, but it provided me with no particular guidance on what kind of career I should pursue — which may explain how I ended up becoming a high school English teacher instead of a physicist. I went to college “to get an education,” not to prepare for a career.

I actually entered the University of Washington as a physics major with advanced status in mathematics. When I saw my counselor, I signed up for English classes, one physics class, and nary a math class. Never took another math class in my life, though trigonometry helped me when I took Advanced Mortar training in the Army.

I’m sure most people in my life would’ve classified me as a “nerd,” or at the very least, an “intellectual.” They’d be wrong. At heart, I’ve always been a “jock.” One of my few regrets in life is that my dad wouldn’t let me sign up for football in high school. I’m fond of birding, photography, and poetry, but I’m a fanatic Husky fan, managing to make it through most of the Huskies last eleven games, eleven straight losses.

I know I’ve said it many times before, but I’d have to say that my defining characteristic is my stubbornness. The best way to insure I will do something is to tell me I can’t do it.

I’m not going to tag anyone with this, but the main reason I’m writing is this is so that I can mention six bloggers I’ve recently discovered that I find worth reading regularly. I try to make sure that I link to bloggers who link to me and who I’ve read regularly for a few weeks, but I’m not sure how many of my readers actually pay attention to the bottom of my long list of blog links.

So, without further ado, here’s six blogs I’ve started following relatively recently, besides The Golden Fish, of course:

The Solitary Walker

Dominic Rivron

Living Next Door to Alice

Twisted Rib

Weaver of Grass

Beating the Bounds

Oh, and I guess I’m going to skip rules 5 and 6. If they don’t actually read my blog, there’s probably no reason to make them come here and read this.

7 thoughts on “Tagged”

  1. Thank you for linking to me.

    Your blog is one of my favorites. I know I can always click over here and find something pretty- and some days that’s invaluable.

  2. hey loren! you might have noticed that i skipped rules five and six as well. i stuck a link to you in the hopes that other people might catch their fortune / blessing and make their way over here. i hope that all five of my readers find their way over here and then i can sit back and think “hey, i done a good thing”!!!!
    thanks for your lovely pictures and words loren,

    steven

  3. Thanks so much for linking to my blog, Loren. I can quite honestly say that yours was the very first blog I started reading ‘seriously’ – and I’ve been a follower ever since. The mix of personal-reflective/photographic/literary-intellectual certainly keeps me interested. And I know the same goes for many, many readers of it.

  4. Thank you Loren. I get great pleasure from your photography and even greater pleasure when you are discussing poetry. I can honestly say I look forward to reading your blog every day and when you don’t post I am disappointed. Long may you continue.

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