Well, Bil Simser has tagged me, which means that I’m it. The basic gist of this blog game/chain letter is that I have to tell you five things that you probably wouldn’t know about me. As a reward, I get to pick five other hapless blogging souls who must then do the same.

  1. I am a long-time vegan and avid chef. I taught cooking classes for a number of years while living in Boston. I even got featured on the front page of the Somerville Journal, North America’s oldest newspaper.
  2. I’ve been playing the saxophone for about 20 years and have been in various jazz bands, big and small. I can carry a tune, but I’m not giving up my day job. (I take full responsibility for the “musical interludes” that grace Plumbers @ Work.)
  3. I have a Masters degree in Physical Chemistry from Harvard University. Although my business cards say “M.Sc.”, it’s actually an “A.M.” or Artus Masterus, which is Latin for Master of Arts. It’s easier to write “M.Sc.” than explain to everyone that Harvard gives out an “A.M.”, which is equivalent to every other university’s M.Sc.
  4. I love games. I collect European-style board games. Examples include Puerto Rico, Power Grid, The Princes of Florence, and The Traders of Genoa. (i.e. Not Monopoly.) BoardGameGeek is an awesome site. I spent much of my teenage years playing AD&D, Car Wars, BattleTech, Paranoia, and similar games. I was a popular dungeon master in my high school and was president of the RPG club. (In high school, dates were a fruit that grew on trees.)
  5. Unlike Bil, I have broken a bone in my body. Many years ago, I broke a toe on my left foot in a freak cooking accident when I ducked into my pantry for a potato.

My duty is done. I pass on the gauntlet to…