David Turley at Musings Over A Pint punked me last week — in a good way, and on my birthday no less — by pulling me into 7 Things, an internet version of a chain letter. I’m sure it’s a coincidence, but 7 Things is also the name of a song by Miley Cyrus (a.k.a. Hannah Montana). Before you think I knew that little factoid off the top of my head, I did a Google search for “7 Things” to see what I could find out about it. The idea is “I’m supposed to write seven things that people might not know about me” and then bestow the same “honor” on 15 more unsuspecting bloggers. David also nominated fellow beer bloggers Tom, Lew, Eric, Jeremy, Brad, Julie, Thomas, Joel, and Edmond, though so far none of them have stepped up. So I guess it’s up to me to get the ball rolling. I’ve never been too shy about sharing personal details and I’m just superstitious enough to think I better do it … or else.

7 Things You May Not Know About Me

1. I’m obsessed with wooden clothespins. I even used to wear one every day on my collar.
2. I write and throw with my right hand, but bat and play golf left-handed. I believe I may be partially ambidextrous. I can beat you at ping pong with either hand.
3. Whenever I travel, I pick up small rocks to bring home as souvenirs. I try to find the most interesting and diverse rocks I can. I now have jars and bowls in the house filled with stones from around the world.
4. I was active in the Boy Scouts when I was a kid, and even worked at the Scout Camp during the summer when I was in high school. I still have some of the council and OA patches I collected. I even have my bright red scouting jacket with the giant wolf on the back indicating my membership in the “Order of the Arrow” for the Minsi (now Kittatinny) Lodge 5. Once a geek, always a geek.
5. Something like ten to fifteen years ago when I was struggling with whether or not to pursue writing more seriously, I wrote to one of my favorite authors, John Updike. Updike was born in the same small Pennsylvania town as I was: Shillington. Many of his earlier works were set in towns like Shillington, especially the Olinger Stories. He sent me back a hand-typed postcard that was very encouraging, which he signed and also wrote a note in the margin. I keep it framed in my office as inspiration.
6. I have a half-brother and a half-sister but didn’t grow up with them. My father had a child with each of his subsequent two wives after he and my mother divorced when I was a year old. I used to keep in touch with my brother but lost track of him over ten years ago. I’ve met my sister two, maybe three times.
7. I also have an e-wife. I was married in the early 1980s for just under four years. A somewhat funny side story is that the last I heard, she thinks I’m dead. About ten years ago I called a mutual friend of ours, who answered the phone by saying “hey, you’re not dead.” I thought he was joking because we hadn’t talked for a number of years, but it turned out he’d heard from my ex and she’d told him she thought I was dead.

So now you know.

Here are my nominations for 15 bloggers to follow in my footsteps:

• Alan at A Good Beer Blog
• Stan at Appellation Beer
• Lisa Morrison, the Beer Goddess
• Erik at Beer Tap TV / ErikBoles.com
• Jeff at Beervana
• Daniel at Bradford on Beer
• Bryan at The Brew Lounge
• Ashley at Drink With the Wench
• Don at Joe Sixpack
• Tomme from Lost Abbey’s Brewer’s Blog
• Maureen at her eponymous MaureenOgle.com
• Dr. Bill from New Brew Thursday
• Mark at Pencil and Spoon
• Pete from Pete Brown’s Beer Blog
• Martyn at Zythophile

If any of you actually post your own 7 Things, please be so kind as to post a comment here with a link to yours. Thanks. Oh, and by the way, if you don’t … something might happen. Or it might not. Just sayin’.