The Weekday Ramble is a daily dose of sports, music, culture, and more from Rambling On founder Erik Ritland. For more information check us out on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, or at our website.
Friday May 22, 2015
To celebrate writing 100 daily blogs I’m in the middle of posting 100 facts about me. Topics in part two, posted below, include why MySpace is better than Facebook, elephants vs. rodents, eating snakes, polka music, conspiracy theorists, Minnesota talk radio, my biggest music influences, my ethnicity, my political affiliation, and more.
Read part one here.
26. When Facebook started I thought it was for narcissists. I still think that.
27. MySpace was way cooler than Facebook. You could mod your page to make it your own. Facebook is like a suburban neighborhood where rows and rows of houses all look the same.
28. I had major turning points in my musical taste (and life) when I discovered each of the following musicians/bands: The Beatles, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Wilco, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, the Band.
29. When I discovered that country music is cool my whole life and musical perspective changed. You could say that country music got a hold on me.
30. My patron Saint is Saint Jude, patron of desperate cases and lost causes. I felt like that fit me pretty well. And no, I didn’t pick Jude because of “Hey Jude." I don’t even like that song very much.
31. I’m sort of a fraud.
32. I’m pretty genuine when I want to be.
33. I’m a liar but at least I’m honest about it.
34. My listening habits changed a lot when I discovered talk radio in the Twin Cities. If there were a hundred hours in a day I’d listen to practically every show that’s on KFAN and AM 1500 ESPN. We better appreciate our legends (Dan Barreiro, Patrick Ruesse, Dan Cole, Joe Soucheray) while they’re still on the mic.
35. I’d rather be a tiny elephant than a giant rodent. Doesn’t a giant rodent sound disgusting?
36. I discovered the blues in my early teens. My first blues cassette was Sleepy John Estes, I Ain’t Gonna Be Worried No More. I was amazed that there was music still around from the 1930s.
37. One time when I was in Texas I ate snake at some restaurant. It didn’t taste that exotic. I’d eat it again.
38. When I was a small boy I wanted to be a baseball player. Once I discovered the Beatles when I was, like, 10, I wanted to be a musician. I still do, though I feel like being a writer is a bit more realistic.
39. East End 106 was the name of the radio station I pretended I had growing up. It began with like five cassettes that I’d play a few songs from, one after the other, on a boom box with a double tape deck. It grew into a pretty impressive classic rock station. I’d play a song from an LP, jump to my CD player, back to my tape player, and also talk about each song I was playing. It was great fun. Maybe I should be a DJ. If only they actually did anything anymore I'd consider it.
40. I honestly didn’t think it’d be this hard to think of 100 facts about me. But man it's exhausting.
41. My favorite book of the bible is the Gospel of John. John's Jesus is contemplative, brilliantly spiritual, and always in control.
42. The best piece of advice I’ve ever received was from my dad who said that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
43. I think Grammar Nazis are pretentious hacks. Grammar rules are made up and subjective. They serve a purpose but as long as you can understand what somebody’s saying it doesn’t matter if they say it exactly correctly. And I’m allowed to say this. I have a degree in words.
44. If I could be an Olympian I’d be a bobsled guy. Bobsled guys are tight.
45. I’m half Norwegian, quarter German, and quarter English/other stuff maybe or something. I feel mostly Norwegian. Probably because I am.
46. I genuinely enjoy polka music. Happy music for happy people.
47. I have two cats even though I am allergic to them. One just walked into my door, the other was left by an ex-girlfriend. I never thought I’d dig cats as much as I do. I dislike pretension in people but pretension in cats is endearing.
48. I’m not sure if Oswald killed Kennedy, the moon landing ever happened, or if the government knew about 9/11 before it happened. However anybody who just trusts what they’re told blindly is as ignorant as any person who is unjustly belittled as a “conspiracy theorist.”
49. I’ve been a liberal, a conservative, and a libertarian at various points in my life. The party line doesn’t do much for me anymore. If I’m going to submit it’s going to be to the divine.
50. All my grandparents are dead.
Continue to #51-75
Erik Ritland is a writer and musician from St. Paul, Minnesota. His blog and podcast Rambling On features commentary on music, sports, culture, and more. He was also Lead Staff Writer for Minnesota culture blog Curious North. Support Erik's music via his Patreon account, reach him via email, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
RSS Feed
