Nine Truths and a Lie

I got tagged by Blog Antagonist to list ten interesting things about myself. Apart from the obvious, of course — I’m a stay-at-home dad and my wedding cake was made with Krispy Kreme doughnuts — I’m a little hard pressed to come up with ten. I’m kind of boring.

So, to spice things up, remember that camp game, Two Truths and a Lie? Where you say three things and people have to guess which one is false? That’s how I’m going to do this one… there will be a hidden lie in there and you have to figure out which one it is.

But here goes:

1. I love animals. I’ve been lucky enough to have had pretty close relationships with a huge range of ’em, from bugs to whales. That’s me helping rescue a whale. Yes, those are flip-up “BluBlockers” I’m wearing.
2. I’ve worked as a youth mentor, and there are still about a dozen teenagers who keep in touch with me and ask me advice. This makes me incredibly proud. My secret is that I don’t get freaked out when kids tell me weird things about themselves.
3. I read young adult and children’s books more than adult books. I like the boy stuff, the girl stuff, the kid stuff, even the science fiction stuff. Just not the trashy stuff.
4. I’ve blogged this already, but I cry a lot, at movies and the news and stuff. I cry most about touchingly happy and hopeful things, second most about sad things.
5. My favorite poem is “Afternoon on a Hill,” by Edna St. Vincent Millay.
6. From time to time I write silly songs. My most recent is a parody of “Hey Ya!” that’s about baby toys. “Break it, break it break it, break it break it, break it break it like a brand new toy…”
7. I had a “My Turn” piece published in Newsweek when I was 17 years old. My first professional publication! Until… my new reality!
8. I am a rule follower. I have a really hard time not doing what I’m told.
9. I have a birthmark in the shape of the state of Texas.
10. I’m completely addicted to coffee. The guys at Peet’s know me and my daughter by name. (Clearly scraping the bottom of the barrel as far as “interesting” goes.)

So… Which one is the lie?

Now I’m supposed to pass on the tag to five other bloggers for them to write about themselves. I choose:

• Aimee at Greeblemonkey, because she’s cool, and so I bet there’s some unexposed interesting stuff in there.
• Aimee’s husband Bryan because we think we might be psychically related and I’d like to find out for sure.
• Deacon Dave, a friend of BusyMom‘s, because I love deacons.
• Ann Marie, The Waterman’s Wife, because she has a toothache and could use getting her mind off of it.
• Amanda Mandajuice, because I think she just gets it.

I also categorically add these people to my tag-you’re-it list: Mike from Cry it Out, Rachael at CrankMama, BusyMom herself, and, oh, how about Barack Obama. They’ve probably been tagged before and they’re all probably too busy, but they’re interesting folks and I’d love to know more.