5 questions...

...is a game currently in favor at another journal site. Someone asks you five informative/demeaning/embarrassing questions about yourself, and you answer whatever you can. Always bearing in mind the statute of limitations, of course.

My friend Scott laid five on me, so here goes....

1. Which famous TV "critter" do you most identify with...Wile E. Coyote, Alvin the Chipmunk, or Winnie the Pooh, and why?

Interesting. As it happens, I owe a small debt of gratitude to Alvin and his brothers Simon and Theodore. Many years ago, the original animated "Alvin" TV show was created at a studio where my paternal parent worked; that put food on the table, which I think is a reason to "identify...."

However, if you had put Foghorn J Leghorn, Droopy Dog, the famous "Raid!" bug from the long-ago TV commercials or the wolf from Tex Avery's wonderful MGM "Red Hot Riding Hood" theatrical cartoon on the list, the answer might have been different.

2. You're a self-confessed auto aficionado. Share with us all the cars you've personally owned, make and model.

Ummmm. Okay. Lemme see if I remember 'em all. In (mostly) chronological order, and there were plenty of times when I had two or more simultaneously:

1950 Chevy 2-door (with original steel shade over the windshield and a genuine Earl "I'll paint any car, any color, $29.25, no ups, no extras" Scheib paint job;

1959 Hillman Minx (cost me $50 and was worth every penny);

1954 VW Beetle (for a short time only, 'til my father sold it to a friend who wrecked it a week later);

1953 Kaiser "Deluxe" 4-door;

1952 Kaiser "Manhattan" 4-door;

1970 Honda "600" two-cylinder sedan (my first new car);

1959 Austin-Healey "frogeye" Sprite;

1972 Honda "600Z" coupe;

1973 Mazda RX-3 rotary which, like many early Mazda rotaries, had a spectacular engine failure. Mazda replaced the engine but I never trusted it again;

1976 Renault 5/Le Car;

1953 Kaiser Manhattan (yes, the third one!);

1976 Renault 5/Le Car (with European high-performance -- not smog-legal -- engine);

1967 Renault 16 4-door sedan;

1956 Austin-Healey "100" (a restoration project I sold when a well-known restoration shop stole rare original parts off it for other clients...never even drove it);

1972 Citroen DS-21;

1979 Renault 5/Le Car (originally bought this for my father...when he stopped driving I took it back);

1959 Renault 4CV (actually two, one parts car and one complete);

1960 Austin-Healey "3000".

I know I've missed a couple, but I'm getting too depressed thinking about the loss of several on this list, and so will stop here.

3. If you had to live in a another place and time, what era and locale would you choose?

I suppose I would have chosen to have been born circa 1890, perhaps in a small Midwest town. I would have spent my adult years in some major city where (by age 30 or thereabouts) I could actually have made money with some of my now-irrelevant "talents."

4. What nicknames have you been/are you known by, and what's the story behind the origin of each?

When I was very young (say six years old or so) my godfather nicknamed me "Butch" because I had what was called a "Butch" haircut. I wouldn't let anyone else but him use that name. I hated it. Later, for no particular reason, I was called "Bud," which I also hated. Don't remember why it started. It was useful when my father and I -- sharing first and last names -- worked in the same business. It therefore stuck for some 15-16 years; when he retired, I ditched it in a hot second.

I'm sure certain people have nicknames for me now. As they are surely unprintable (or at least very derogatory), we won't go there.

5. We know you are a most eloquent writer. What other exceptional skills to you possess that we DON'T know about?

Lemme see. I'm pretty good at turning wrenches -- my answer to #2 should make it clear I had to become a mechanic by necessity! As long as the car in question isn't a modern computer-controlled nightmare, I can fix it. When parts for such relics can be found, that is.

I'm a decent photographer, with a preference for film over digital. I'm good in a darkroom. If you don't know what "photographic film" and "darkrooms" are, I'll try to explain later.

At one time, I was a fair musician (trumpet and keyboards). Dropped the trumpet when I was in my teens, haven't played keyboards in maybe 10 years. I'll be starting up again with the latter shortly when I get an instrument to practice on.

For some reason I'm quite good with pipe organs. I can restore, maintain, tune and refine the sound of the beasts. I have good ears and can perform basic tasks involving hand-labor. That, plus 40 years of experience and a willingness to ignore paying work in order to do something I enjoy.

I have another talent that is, sadly, not being used right now. But I'm not one to boast. And I'm shy about talking about it, anyway...it is better demonstrated than discussed.

***

Well, that was a fun 40 minutes!

Thanks for the questions, Scott. I hardly feel humiliated at all, even though one and all can now see what a dull boy I am....