Friday, March 14, 2014

A Couch Trip....


True story....when I was a kid I dreamed of being an actor. Not just any actor, though, I dreamed of being a humongous star. Now, the hows and whys of my fantasy were never hashed out in my young brain, I just wanted to be famous. Part of that fantasy, especially back in the late 70s and early 80s, would just have to entail a spot on one of the biggest shows of all time.

The Tonight Show, starring the King of Late Night.....Johnny Carson.

I was always captivated how Carson and Ed McMahon made the whole gig seem so easy and I used to daydream about being a guest. Seriously, I would have these little conversations in my head between me and Mr. Carson where I was always witty and charming and had the audience rolling in the aisles.

Now, why am I sharing this bit of childhood trivia?

Because, to this day, I still like when people ask about my life or interview me. I mean, come on, who doesn't like to talk about themselves?

Anyway, as I was thinking (for the past two days) about what I might post about, I hit a wall. I couldn't come up with anything that got me jazzed about doing a blog post. So I figured I'd do what I do, a lot of times, when I get stuck writing.....I'd read.

I started going through my sorely neglected Feedly feed and came upon a great post by one of my favorite bloggers....Robin, over at Your Daily Dose. It seems that a blogging buddy had bestowed upon her the "coveted" Liebster Award. So, instead of naming other victims recipients, she decided to just throw it out there to the ether and if someone needed some blogging material they could use it.

So, with a "yoink", a cut, and a paste a blog post was born.

Thank you, Robin, and without further ado.....

Heeeeeeeeerrre'sssss Marrrrrrkyy!! (cue Tonight Show theme)



1) Have you ever met someone famous?

Quite a few people, actually. One of my favorites would have to be Bruce Campbell. A heck of nice guy who hasn't let his own brand of fame go to his head. I've also met pro-wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin, Highlander t.v. series star Adrian Paul (an extremely nice guy), Adam West (a jerk), and Walking Dead co-creator Robert Kirkman.

2) What concert would you pay a "ridiculous" amount of money to see? The person or band can be dead or alive.

That's an easy one.....Elvis Presley. Second choice would be The Rolling Stones

3) What personality trait do you like best about yourself?

My (sometimes) quick wit.

4) If you could meet a character in a book, who would you choose?

Sherlock Holmes. I mean, come on, not take a chance to meet one of the inspirations for Batman? No way!

5) If you won the lottery, how would you spend the money?

Honestly, I'm way too "Mid-Western" to answer this question any other way but boring. I'd pay off my bills, buy a nice home and two cars and help my family and friends out any way I could. I guess I could use it to pay that ridiculous money to see Elvis or The Stones, too.

6) Do you believe that there is such a thing as "having it all"?

No. I don't think human nature would ever allow for us to be completely satisfied. Close, maybe, but not entirely.

7) Have you ever had a paranormal experience of any kind?

I'm contractually obligated by the United States Government to not answer that question....sorry.

8) What is the most important trait for a person to have in order to achieve success in their life? Job? Relationships? (It can be one trait that ties them all together or separate ones...)

I don't care what anyone says...I believe honesty can get you the furthest in life. Though, I also believe you can be honest and still be tactful. In the spirit of #8 I'll confess that I lied on the previous question.

9) What is holding you back from achieving your dreams?

I'm afraid to take big risks. Small ones, yes, but not the real big ones. Probably another reason I never became an actor.

10) What is your favorite time of day?

Actually, it's very late a night when it's quiet and things are peaceful.

"O.k, we'll be right back after these important messages...." (cue music)

I'd like to thank Robin, again, for the great questions and helping to get my creative juices going. Also, if you haven't checked out Robin's blog, Your Daily Dose, do yourself a favor and give it a look It's a lot of fun.

Have a great weekend!



26 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Bruce Campbell. I am so envious.
Sherlock Holmes - cool choice.
And Robin just rocks.

Andrew Leon said...

You'd rather meet the inspiration for Batman than Batman himself? I... don't understand.

Which is not to say that I would choose Batman.

Dee @ A Deecoded Life said...

Great idea for a post.
I didn't know Sherlock Holmes was an inspiration for Batman!

Elizabeth Seckman said...

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a writer. A really rich one with so many jewels on my fingers, they'd be too heavy to lift off the keyboard. But in reality I'm too mid-western also. The simple life suits me just fine. Honestly :)

Manzanita said...

That song came to mind when I read this,,,, "You outta be in pictures." I don't think that is so odd to want to be famous. We all have those flights of fancy and some of them come true. You may be a lot more famous that we know.
this is weird.... I've been having vivid dreams lately and there was an unknown man in a dream just last night. Nothing really odd about it, He was just there. When I awoke at 4 AM (the critters want their breakfast at that time) I was re-thinking my dreams and wondering who the strangers were and I came to the conclusion one was you. It's so odd how one can pick up on the personality of a person through blogging and then dream about it as if we knew each other. I've done that before with people I've never met.
Geez, I hope you enjoying life and the lottery.

Annalisa Crawford said...

Well, paying lots of money to see the Stones is pretty much the only way to see them! And if Sherlock Holmes is looking very much like Benedict Cumberbatch when you meet him, you can guarantee I'll be there too :-)

When I was about 8 (and being interviewed on national TV for my writing), it was Michael Parkinson or Terry Wogan I was imagining. Unfortunately, they've both stopped interviewing so I'll never have my dream come true *sigh*

Robin said...

Thanks for the shout out and running with my questions. Interesting answers!!!

First, I went through a time in the 90s when I was completely enamored of Adrian Paul. I mean seriously. I watched that show religiously. It was on USA at 6pm (I think) and I watched it EVERY DAY. That only made my crush worse. Yikes. Good thing I never met him. I would have made a boob of myself.

Someone else already said it, but you can count on paying a ridiculous amount of money if you go to see The Rolling Stones. That is how they roll!

I didn't know Sherlock Holmes was based on Batman. Makes a lot of sense now that you say it, though.

Now I really want to know about that paranormal experience!!!

Honesty. I like it.

I used to really like late night. About a month ago, I started going to bed REALLY EARLY so that I would wake up earlier. I think I feel better and it turns out that I like early morning for the same reasons I used to like late night. Go figure.

Here's Johnny!!! (And I'm out)

Shilpa Garg said...

Congratulations for your Liebster Award! Some very interesting answers there and yes, I'd love to see Elvis and Rolling Stones in action too!

Shilpa Garg
Co-Host AJ's wHooligan for the A to Z Challenge 2014

randi lee said...

I am also quite afraid of taking big risks. The small ones are no problem, but swimming in the deep end...I'm afraid of a shark or two showing up! Something I need to work on. Thanks for sharing. Very cool to learn some more about you!

Suzanne said...

LOL at answer 7 :)
Suzanne @ Suzannes Tribe
xx

Mark Means said...

@Alex: Agree 100% on your second and third points :)

@Andrew: Good point, I guess I was going too "highbrow" with that answer. Comics are "books" too, for sure!

@Dee: Thank you and, according to comic book legend, he was. Pretty neat, huh?

@Elizabeth: Well, it seems that you're certainly on your way. I'm sure the big jewels will come soon enough.

@Manzanita: That's very interesting and dreams are funny things, aren't they. I've also been told there's none "stranger" than me, so that would seem to fit your dream, as well :)

@Annalisa: Haha, I wasn't even thinking of the t.v. Sherlock, but I can see where you're coming from. If it happens, I'll let you know!

@Robin: Yeah, it's funny about Adrian Paul. I figured he'd be a vapid pretty boy, but he was a very nice guy and went out of his way for many of his fans the day I got to meet him.I'm sure you would have just been swooning uncontrollably :)Thanks again for the material!

@Shilpa: Thank you very much and you can't get much better than The King or the Stones, in my book :)

@Randi: Thank you and, yeah, you have to watch out for those sharks!

@Suzanne: Hehe, thanks! :D

Michael Di Gesu said...

Hey, Mark,

Glad you got motivated. Robin is a sweetie! Cool and interesting answers.

It's always fun to learn more about our blogger friends!

Lisa said...

What a great interview! Now see, that wasn't so hard was it? Are you doing A to Z this year?

Heather Musk said...

Great post. It's always fun to learn more about people in the bloggy-verse.

Maurice Mitchell said...

Meeting Bruce Campbell would be awesome and who knew Adam West was a jerk?

S.P. Bowers said...

When my brother was little he made up and recorded many episodes of his very own talk show. It was called "Stop that wheel!" and came complete with sound effects.

Good times.

triles said...

Stopped by from the A-Z list, and then I see you're a fan of Robin. She's one of my favorite bloggers too. Enjoyed your answers. Good luck with A-Z. See you around.

Unknown said...

Mark, this was fun to read. Your answer about your "Mid-Western" values and winning money made me laugh. Yup, that must be me too! My favorite time is the wee hours of the morning for the same reason you like night. :) Love the dark and quiet.

cleemckenzie said...

I think you chose the perfect character when you chose Sherlock. He always fascinated me. And you're right, being an actor demands huge risks, but then so does being a writer! You're brave, Mark!

Morgan said...

LOL, Mark! I think you're extremely entertaining and I wish you could've been on Johnny Carson. :) I loved the interview. Sherlock was a great answer and I'm totally laughing at number 7! :)

L. Diane Wolfe said...

We don't get the answer to #7? Would you have to kill us if you told us? LOL

Elsie Amata said...

I would love to meet Bruce Campbell. I'm a big Evil Dead fan. I've met a few famous people (I'm hoping football players count). The best was Michael Strahan, the worst was Terry Bradshaw (although Brian Urlacher came in as a close second). Meeting anyone associated with TWD would be awesome!!

LD Masterson said...

Well, I wanted to go back to #7 but Diane already caught that.

I never imagined being interviewed by Johnny but I did fantasize about sitting on the other end of his couch and getting to meet everyone who came on the show. Which was just about everyone.

Tara Tyler said...

number 3 is proven by number 7 =)
i'm glad you took robin up on the offer! i happened to be the buddy who gave her the award!

glad you were inspired - haven't heard from you in a while. i get it tho! and i'd do the same thing with the money, except for the elvis part, surely i'd throw a fabulous book party in LA, hoping some star or producer would want to make a movie out of it! dream, dream, dream!

have a great weekend!

jaybird said...

Having lived half my life in CA and the other half right next to New York, you can't throw a stone into a crowd and not hit someone who either wants to be an actor or has worked in the field in some way.

When my daughter Frankie was about seven, she woke up one morning, all in a funk. So I say, "What's wrong kid?" And she replies (with an giant NJ whine) "Ugh. Moooom, I just want to be famous already!!!" Ha.

gagbush said...

Thanks for sharing your moments along with us. I really enjoyed this conversation. Almost with all of the answers I am satisfied. But on #6 have some doubted. Please explore more on that.
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