Man with a Mission

It’s a wide-ranging Monday Mission.

1. I just got back from a family reunion. It was ok, but I find those gatherings a little boring. Does your family ever have any reunions or annual get-togethers? Do you enjoy them?

Never been to one of my own. I went to a Kleerup family reunion a few summers back, and that was kind of fun. I wouldn’t want to do it regularly, but I’m enough of a genealogy guy to want to pull info together of that sort.

2. A gal I work with told me that when her husband’s drivers licsence comes up for renewal, she swipes it. She says he won’t ever pose for pictures and that’s the only way she can get a photo of him. Is that not creepy? Are you a picture person? Do you like taking photos, and having yours taken?

I’m almost always the guy on the back side of the camera. Which is a shame because I always find pictures of me fascinating — not because of any ego sort of thing, but because it gives me a chance to see how other see me (warts and all).

3. Time for show and tell: post a recent photo of yourself!

Scroll up. Or down. Or go to the photo album.

4. I have a cousin I always knew as Jay. As he got into college, he began to go by Greg. Turns out is name was Greg, Junior. Jay was short for Junior! Can’t blame him for changing it. Did you ever have a nick-name growing up? How did it come about? Did you ever give anyone a nickname that stuck?

With a name like “Dave” there wasn’t much reason to adopt a shorter nickname, and I collected more epithets than nicknames in school and growing up, so, no.

5. Since I don’t have cable, a friend promised to send me a few episodes of “Trading Spaces,” the show where folks redecorate someone else’s home (and I’m still waaaaiiiting on that tape). But that got me to thinking about how I’d change my own house if I were able. And the room I’d do first would be the bathroom. If you could design the bathroom of your dreams, what would it be like? Spare no expense!

I’d like to redo our master bathroom — largely to take out the current bathtub and put in a regular shower. If we did “Trading Spaces,” though, we’d probably have folks do our bedroom, which is a large, relatively undecorated expanse.

On the other hand, I tend to be luke-warm on most of the TS makeovers — too much “Hey, never mind what the owners want, or what is actually livable — won’t this look just smashing?” attitude on the part of the designers. I’m much more of a “Ground Force” kind of guy.

6. I’ve been trying to catch up on the early seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in re-runs, though I’ve been told to buy the DVDs. But I think I’d rather borrow them if I could. But there are a few television shows I’d like to own on DVD (like “The Flash” and “Max Headroom”). What shows (if any) do you own in a video collection? What TV shows would you like to see collected on DVD or video?

I have a nearly-complete VHS collection of Babylon 5. Now that they are releasing the seasons on DVD, I’m sorely tempted to go that route (maybe I’ll check for Used).

Not many other complete shows I can see rewatching that way. The original Outer Limits, perhaps.

7. I recently watched “Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang” again, first time since I was little. It held up pretty well, unlike some movies that are better in your memory than they are when you see them again (like “E.T.” good movie, but for me, better as a memory). Do you have any favorite movies from your childhood? Do you think you would still enjoy them if you watched them today?

We didn’t do movies much when I was a child (and I was pre-video, for that matter). The few that were regular repeats on TV all seem to hold up pretty well for me, e.g., The Wizard of Oz, and The Ten Commandments — but looking through nostalgic eyes always colors things for me.

BONUS: Don’t you know you’re sleeping in a spotlight?

{Shrugs.} Once I’m asleep, you could probably set off sirens, too.