I started this blog in February of 2016 as a lark. Okay, there were two lies in that sentence. The first lie was that I started this blog at all. I actually started my previous blog, also called tombeingtom.com, in February of 2016 and in December of 2018 the internet ate it. That was partially my fault because I ran across some error or another and decided to fix it with my amateur programming skills and destroyed it for all time. So, I erased the damn thing entirely and started a new blog also called tombeingtom.com, the one you’re reading now.
The second lie was the lark part. I was incredibly methodical for months in my approach.
Why the history lesson?
Kim over there at itrippedoverastone.com nominated me for a couple of blogger awards a couple of centuries ago (June 4th actually, a little over a month ago) and I promised to respond. Then I tripped over a birthday and a puppy and got side-tracked a bit. Now that I’m regular again I wish to fulfill my promise, my obligation, and my pleasure to respond.
Wanna hear it? Here it go!
The rules are simple, thank the nominator (thank you, Kim!), briefly explain how you started your blog (see above!), give two pieces of advice to new bloggers (Don’t do it! Just don’t!), and nominate some other folks. Dylan, you’re nominated. Write something for the first time in a hundred years. Jen, you too. Paul, you get one just so you can have a break from the greatest Canadian teen show of all time. I’ll think of others as I go along. Please feel free to ignore this summons entirely.
Also, because of the Sunshine Award, I get to answer 11 questions (my favorite part!) and ask 11 more (my silliest part!).
- Are you an early bird or a night owl?
- I am an early bird, 100%. I generally wake up around 5 (or 4:30 like today) and get up, have coffee, read, do our finances, walk the dogs, and — time permitting — write. By 8:30 in the evening I’m spent. Generally I get to bed around 9:00, read for 30-60 minutes and crash. I used to be a night owl, though, and stay up at parties until 4 in the morning. I did that at the Leprechaun Crawl, as a matter of fact, but was still an early bird. Irish Car Bombs at 7 am, anyone?
- What is your personal favorite post on your own blog that you’ve published up until today? (Link it!)
- I’m really proud of the last one I did.
- What time of day do you dread?
- 3 pm. I suffer from an extensive and all-encompassing mid-afternoon slump, particularly if I skip my nap.
- Have you been on the vacation of your dreams or still planning it?
- I don’t vacation much. I like overnight and weekend romps in Reno and stuff like that. Big groups going to nearby places to have ridiculous fun, that’s my dream stuff. Two years ago 35 of us went to Vegas when Mrs C and I renewed our vows and that may have been my favorite 5 days ever. Mostly, though, I like to be home when I can. I love dogs.
- Name your dream car!
- I am so not a car guy. When I was younger I always wanted a mini-van or RV (so I could easily transport more dogs). I like SUVs now, and want to buy an older one soon. I loved my ’98 Durango (which I had for 14 years). I’m a terrible liberal like that.
- If you see a penny on the ground, do you pick it up?
- If it’s head’s up.
- If you could pick a book title (actual or fabricated) to describe your life over the past 10 years, what would it be?
- Easy. “Being Tom”
- What is the song title that best describes your life over the last 10 years?
- “Life’s Been Good to Me (So Far)”
- Ever thought of going vegan?
- Oh yeah, for sure. But, as I established above, I’m a terrible liberal.
- I have to know, do you still have a landline???
- Funny story. I had a landline until around 2010-11, even though no one in my house ever used it and the only calls we ever got were telemarketers. But Mrs C would not let me cancel it, no matter how much I pleaded. So, one day, I just canceled it. Some weeks later, Mrs C turned to me and said “we don’t seem to be getting any of those annoying sales calls at dinnertime anymore!” and I said, “No, Mrs C, no, we do not.” I broke the news to her later that week. 😉
- Wasn’t there supposed to be 11 questions?
Okay, here’s some silly questions, for everyone. Whether or not you like to accept rewards or not (Bojana!) please answer below, from the heart:
- Do you consider yourself a reasonable human being? Do you consider most other human beings to be reasonable?
- If space aliens exist, and find us, do you presume they would be mostly malicious or benign?
- Who is your favorite comic book superhero?
- If you could go back in time to your early teens, and you developed a mutant power, what do you suppose it would be?
- As #4 above, except what would you HOPE it would be?
- If you’re driving down the ocean in your jet ski, and the wheel falls off, does it still take the same amount of pancakes to cover a doghouse?
- You’re on the Starship Enterprise. Are you wearing gold, blue, or red?
- What would you do with an extra $1000 a month in free money?
- Do you prefer beer that is crisp, cold, and good or hoppy, warm, and sucky?
- When was the last time you got drunk on the deck alone listening to Bruce Springsteen?
- Wasn’t there supposed to be 11 questions?
Folks, I gotta run and start getting ready for work, otherwise I’d opine for hours. Have a happy [insert day of the week here] and remember to always recognize sunshine! ‘IwlIj jachjaj!
Tom Being Tom 
You are my Sunshine for sure! #7–whatever colour the sarcastic sidekick wears. #8 Give it to my kid for grad school:-) Happy Sunday!
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Thank you, Suzanne! Or should I say … Dr McCoy? 😉
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No awards, but who can ever say no to you. Here you go, knock yourself out.
1. Reasonable? Reasonable? I’m a woman, so NO. (Men are even worse at times).
2. I hope malicious. If they don’t bring us to our senses the hard way, who will? We failed miserably so many times.
3. I don’t believe in superheroes. I like goofies and outcasts.
4. Tell us sex makes the world go round.
5. Tell us sex makes the world go round.
6. What?
7. Yellow, but the regular one. Not everything that shines is gold.
8. Send them to me and I’ll tell you.
9. Cold beer over any other. But then again, if warm beer is the only thing around, I wouldn’t say no. We have a saying in Serbian – there’s no bad food for a good pig.
10. I was too drunk to remember. Thank god.
11. Keep asking.
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“There’s no bad food for a good pig.” Again, you iterate an axiom that could be my mantra. Thanks for answering, my dear friend! Very reasonable answers, too. Judging my #3 I’m one of your favorite heroes.😎
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Most definitely.
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Finally! kidding. Such great answers. I learn a bit more about “being Tom” every time I read one of your posts. I still cannot get over the leprechaun costume. HA! I need to get my own!!!
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Happy to be chosen! Even if life did get in the way for a bit. Not enough 4:30 mornings to catch up!
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Question 11, (side note, Yes, Tom, there were supposed to be eleven questions.) If you are of Legal drinking age… (Yes, Tom, we BOTH are…) What is your favorite shot, if it’s a call, do you know what’s in it? Hhhmmm… slippery nipple. Bailey’s Irish Cream and Sambuca! (Or licorice schnapps, at the biker bar where I worked) … yuk.
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11. My favorite shot these days, which I call for every time I’m in a bar with anyone, is “no shots!” I used to love whatever was flowing around, or tequila when I had a choice, and then I got into this Fireball kick which was sweet and easy (until the next day). The next day I’d have what is called a “mind eraser” to essentially kick the new day into gear. After a while, starting about two years ago, the bartenders got used to me saying “no shots, okay one, but make it a girly shot.” Then, when the Jameson started pouring for everyone else, Kime – or one of the other bartenders – would say to me “want a girly shot so you can join in, Tom?” Those generally took the form of some kind of fruity kamikaze.
Nowadays I generally say “just another beer, please,” because although I don’t feel as though I’m old my liver generally disagrees. 😁
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Haha Haha! Sadly, I know exactly what you mean…😎
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Great fun. Enjoyed that. 😉
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Thank you, Lockwood!
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1. Well, first I think we need to define reasonable. Speaking for myself I think I’d go for about $1.79 a pound. That seems pretty reasonable, but there’s room to negotiate.
2. According to Stephen Hawking our first contact with aliens will probably mean the extinction of the human race and I’d like to know what that says about Stephen Hawking.
3. Spider-Man. But really the Australian Spider-Man who lives in a hole in the ground and can kill you just by looking at you.
4. From what I remember of my teens my mutant power would be the ability to eat anything. It’s not a very useful power but then I wasn’t exactly a useful teen.
5. I’d hope to turn into Spider-Man. Or Aquaman. Being able to breathe underwater would be pretty cool.
6. As always the answer is 42.
7. I’m dressed like Cyrano Jones. Also I’m probably in the brig for transporting tribbles. Or in the bowling alley.
8. Travel. Or maybe save it and build an addition on the house so I could have an office.
9. Generally I prefer my beer cold and on the malty side, although a nicely chilled and hoppy IPA can be nice on a hot summer day.
10. Is this a trick question? I find it’s better to stay just on this side of lightly buzzed while listening to The Boss.
11. Good sir, you are intelligent and educated. You even throw around Klingon phrases. Yet your refusal to use the proper subjunctive mood disappoints me. Anyway, I don’t know. Were there supposed to be eleven questions?
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Great answers! A few retorts:
1. You’re an easy $2.19 in my book, Chris.
2. It means he’s probably smarter than us. Sentient things, when they meet other sentient things, rarely let them live for long.
4. In the Legion of Super Heroes, you would be Matter-Eater Lad.
5. Don’t forget to control the fish.
6. So long, and thanks for all the fish.
10. The Boss brings out the devil in me.
11. BIlugh!
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Great post brother. Your wit and humanity shine through on everything you write. Love your answers
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Thank you, Bill!
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