Classic Rant #1,084 (November 14, 2013): A Dozen Things You Did Not Know About Me

I will admit right at the get go that I got this idea from some posts on Facebook that I have read, and have liked.

Evidently, there is a small wave of posts going around listing facts about the people you have "friended" that you didn't know about.

Not that you know every little tidbit about every person that you "friend," but it is interesting what I have been reading about these people.

So I decided to extend this little game over here.

Since I have been doing this blog, my regular blog visitors have gotten to know me a bit, but you can't possibly know everything about me.

So here are 12 things that you did not know about me, with explanations where applicable:

1) According to my mother, I was born about two weeks after my actual due date: I guess I liked where I was and didn't want to leave.

2) My paternal grandfather and my father had a Kosher butcher store on Delancey Street in Manhattan, but there were no plans for me to continue running that store when I became an adult: Mayor Lindsay planned to put a highway through the store, and it closed around 1966 after many years in business. The highway was never built, and the empty lot stands today.

3) I was the first child of my parents, first grandchild of my grandparents, the first in my family to go to college, the first to graduate, not the first to marry (my sister was), but the first to divorce, and the first to remarry (very happily): Someone has to be the first, and I was it.

4) I went to high school with the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Brian Setzer, Jessica Hahn, Joey Buttafuoco, and several other people who became notable as adults: I didn't know any of them very well, but I did walk the same halls as they did at Massapequa High School. And Alec Baldwin's dad was my driver's ed teacher. Six degrees of separation ...

5) My aunt Suzanne, who went under the name Suzanne Parrish, was an actress, and appeared on the night time soap "The Doctors." My cousin, Dr. Donnica Moore, is on TV all the time, giving medical advice on a number of shows: Six degrees of separation again, although I am quite friendly with my aunt, who I see several times each year. She is a remarkable woman, been through a lot but is strong as can be in her own way. I don't really know my cousin, only to say that she is my cousin.

6) I am the father of two, a boy and a girl, and I am the godparent of one: It's my sister's middle boy, who is a good kid who is finding his way in school right now. He was a wrestler in high school, and I had visions of him becoming the next big star in the WWE, but alas, he was injured and it ain't gonna happen. My kids are just normal kids who are growing up real fast.

7) I am 5 feet, 9 inches in height. I was barely 5 feet during my bar mitzvah, but right after having my big day in May 1970, I grew to my current height and never grew another inch in stature: I remember that during June of that year, my mother had to rush out to buy clothes for me, as I had sprouted up so quickly that I didn't have anything in my wardrobe that I could wear.

8) I met my wife through a dating service: Yes, before all the Internet dating services, there was your standard boy meets girl services, and after my first marriage, I felt I needed some help in finding the right girl, and I joined something called Together. After a few dates that they set up, where the girls were nice but I didn't really see anything happening, they paired me with the girl who eventually became my wife. Funny, I worked around the corner from her for a while, and never met her or saw her. Funny how things work out.

9) I was supposed to be in a movie,  a contestant on a TV game show and on a reality show, but never was in any of these things: Many years ago, as a teenage, I was one of many people who won a contest to be in the remake of "King Kong." I was supposed to be in the crowd scene by the World Trade Center, and one of the extras to crowd around the felled big ape. My parents were away on vacation, and since the shooting was overnight, my grandmother, who was watching my sister and I when my parents were away, refused to let me go. Some years later, I took a test to be a contestant on the then brand new Travel Channel's game show "The Travel Game." The show was canceled after just a few episodes--maybe like five of them--and I never got my chance to show my travel expertise. And very recently, I was supposed to be the subject of a show produced by Marlo Thomas of "That Girl" fame. The show was about conquering fears, and I have a fear of riding roller coasters. Anyway, the kibosh was put on that one when Hurricane Sandy struck, and I haven't heard from her production company in a year, so I assume the show is dead.

10) I hate chicken: My father was what they called "a chicken butcher" way back when, and since my grandfather was also part of the business, I have chicken in my blood, but I have always hated chicken. I don't like the smell or the taste, no matter how it is prepared. Everyone in my family loves chicken, so I am like the black sheep ... err, chicken of my clan.

11) I am the only person, reportedly, to have been present in Yankee Stadium to see both Mickey Mantle's 500th homerun and Alex Rodriguez's 500th homerun: I was there in 1967, and then years later when ARod hit his homer. I got coverage from Newsday, but I think it has been pulled offline because it happened several years ago. But several other national newspapers picked up the story, and I was a celebrity for my 15 minutes.

12) I can spin a basketball on my finger and I can make noises by clasping my hands together: As a kid, I was sick with one thing or another, got bored, and taught myself to spin a basketball on my finger. Also, as a kid, I discovered that I could make these noises with my hands, which came in handy as a kid, but not so much now. I can't do either as well as I did them way back when, but every once in a while, I can whip each of these talents out and amaze people with them.

There are probably many other facts that I could tell you, but these are the 12 that came to mind.

I hope you enjoyed this little peak into my world, but as they say, eight is enough, 10 is too much and 11 and 12 ... well, just be happy I didn't make extend this even further.