My favorite quote of all time is the last stanza of this Victorian poem by William Ernest Henley.

I love the power this poem conveys – especially the last two lines.  No matter what happens, I know that I am in control of my fate and that I am the one steering the ship of my life.  It helps me avoid falling into the trap of feeling victimized or being made to feel guilty by others.  I don’t remember when I first heard this poem – I think it was an old Army veteran I worked with about twenty years ago – but I don’t remember when I haven’t had those last few lines always running through my subconscious. 

Having to pick just one favorite book when I read many a month is brutal.  Since I frequently review books here on the blog, I think you probably know by well what kinds of books I read.  But, pick one I will.  My favorite book – based on how much it impacted my life – is “In Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan.  This was the second I read from Pollan and together they literally changed my life.  Does it surprise you that my pick for this category comes in the form of non-fiction?

How do I pick just one?  I love movies.  I love movies so much I didn’t once bitch about Netflix raising their prices and charging separately for streaming and by-mail options AND have continued paying for both.  Instead of nailing down just one movie that I love, which would be like picking my favorite child, I’ll pick my favorite genre which is science fiction.  I loved Armageddon, I loved all the Star Wars, I loved all the Star Treks… Go figure, a technology gadget geek loves science fiction.  So much for learning something new about me, huh?

I don’t know what specific date I started blogging – sometime in 2008 I think.  But, the new blogger layout now shows me the number of posts I’ve done and this is number two hundred.  That number seems significant so I thought I’d do something to celebrate.  I see lots of people doing these 30-Day Blog Challenges and I found one that is designed to let readers get to know the blogger a little better.  (As if you don’t know me pretty well already after two hundred posts of hold-nothing-back, right?)  One of the lists has things on it that I do not normally blog about so I thought what the hell.  The next month you can all get to know me just a little better and I’d love it if you commented and told me these same facts about you!

Day 1: A favorite song

This is a hard one to nail down.  I am a child of the 80’s and love pretty much any hair band.  I played guitar in a garage band back in college and we did some extremely heavy stuff.  At the time, my favorite was Metallica.  I was also classically trained on the piano and LOVE classical music, especially Tchiakovsky.  But, right now my favorite song is “So What” by Pink.  It has such a great beat and great lyrics and Pink is one of my favorite artists because she knows how to tell it like it is.  I also love pretty much anything by Katy Perry and have been known to sing along to some of the teeny boppers that Big Sister listens to – like Selena Gomez lately.  I love music in general and will listen to anything – as long as it isn’t country which makes me violent and irritable or show tunes which I never got into.  The heavier the better if I’m trying to concentrate and the lyrics have to hit home to make it a favorite.

Stay tuned for the next thirty days for other random facts with a window into who I am.  Hope you enjoy!