4x4

Given the impending approach of Blogger Social, I thought I'd add my story to the 4x4 meme I read about on Matt Dickman's blog, then subsequently followed back through Valeria Maltoni and Ann Handley. As Ann puts it, "The object of (the 4x4 meme) is for the taggedwriter to reveal personal bits about themselves that you wouldn’t knowotherwise, and then to tag other blog authors to similarly spill theirguts." Granted, I haven't been tagged, but I like this sort of game. (Even more on the meme here.)

4 PLACES I'VE BEEN
    1. Chomerac, France. About 35 minutes south of Lyon. I got married there. I shall return.
    2. In The House of The Man Who Created The Shark For Jaws. We were doing consumer research for a Volkswagen project. Someone on our team knew this guy, and somehow he fit the profile. So we end up in this house, and by the photos on the wall, we figure out, "Hey, this guy built the shark from Jaws!"
    3. On The Autobahn at 140 MPH. Another VW project. This time we're in Dresden, Germany, to test drive the new Phaeton. Naturally, one must test $85k high performance sedans at top speed. My buddy Chris and I took turns to see who could go the fastest in what turned out to be pretty heavy traffic.
    4. In Far Too Many Executive Boardrooms. The one in Akron, Ohio comes to mind. Or Wolfsburg. Or St. Louis. They're like theaters, where the audience is on stage.

4 JOBS I'VE HAD
    1. Church Janitor. Cleaning the carved woodwork was fine. Cleaning up the restroom after certain groups had used it wasn't so fine.
    2. Grocery Store Bagger. How hard can it be to put the hard, heavy stuff on the bottom and the soft, breakable things on top? Here we are, 24 years later, and I'd still prefer to bag my own, thank you very much.
    3. Wanna Be Commercial Director. I dabbled, and the talented folks at Redtree were kind enough to support the effort.
    4. Drummer. It ended up being a vocation, versus an avocation, despite the degree in music. I enjoy playing for musical theater orchestras as much as on stage at CBGB's. Done both many times.

4 OF MY FAVORITE FOODS
    1. Meat, including meat from the sea. Of the finest cut and quality, grilled slightly.
    2. Red wine. Of the finest...
    3. Brussels Sprouts. Provided I get to prep them (sliced thin) and cook them with butter, sea salt, pepper, diced dried fruits, garlic, and shallots.
    4. Pomme Frites. Which generally cost more and taste better than French Fries.

4 SCENES IN MOVIES I WISH I'D WRITTEN AND DIRECTED (Based on the evidence, there appears to be room for defining the topics of this meme.)
    1. The Gas Station conversation in No Country For Old Men between Anton Chigurh and the Gas Station Proprietor. "You've been putting it up for your whole life, only you just didn't know it."
    2. The Dude's introduction to Maude Lebowski in The Big Lebowski. "Do you like sex, Mr. Lebowski?"
    3. Joe Moore, Booby Blane and Mickey Bergman discussing the split for the jewelry store in Heist. "How you doing, Bobby?" "I think you're lookin' at it."
    4. Pretty much anything written by Joseph L Makiewicz or directed by Sidney Lumet.

That's part of me, in a nutshell. And you? What's your story, Greg Swan, Garrick Van Buren, Patty Mitchell, Paul Isakson, Dan Knutson, Sean Scott, Amanda Gravel, Ernie Mosteller, Dion Hughes, Mark Silva, Herb Sawyer?