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13. I followed a friend's lead and licked a Monet painting at MOMA.

14. I was the mascot for high school (an Eagle) & a radio station WSOC (a bear).

15. I castrated a calf with my dad once on our farm in NC.

16. I have double jointed elbows.

17. I can make a clover leaf shape with my tongue.

18. I helped steal a painting in college, drove it to Washington, D.C., photographed it and returned it over the course (I think) 2 days.

19. I am a universal blood donor and give whenever I can.

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8. I got scammed by two guys on a beautiful day in NYC. They managed to distract me enough to get about $60 from me. I later read about how this particular scam snared a lot more folks as well. I blame the weather.

9. I believe Bigfoot and extra-terrestrial life is extremely possible, but I'm not holding my breath. Note to self: see #8 above

10. The first time I was ever in a major motion picture (Two If By Sea), I had the FIRST line, in the FIRST scene, being shot on the FIRST day of filming of the ENTIRE project. I had to deliver that line to Yaphet Kotto. I was a little nervous. On a side note, the Director of Photography for that film was Andrew Lesnie. He later went on to be the D.P. For Peter Jackson and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, winning an Oscar. So he's doin' WAY better than me right now.

11. I almost died in Mexico. Somewhere down the line, I drank the water accidentally. I got so dehydrated I got up to go to the bathroom and couldn't lift my hand to grab the door knob, so I kept bumping into the door, not understanding why it wouldn't open. A little later I woke up lying in a booth in the restaurant. They were kind enough to take me to the hospital. I don't want to give away the ending, but I lived.

12. When I was a teenager, I made my own guitar out of wood scraps. I would pretend to be in a rock band upstairs in my room and air play to all sorts of music. One time, when no one else was home, I was rockin' out and decided to go downstairs to refuel my rock engine with some rockin' Pepsi and tripped over the extra long neck of my homemade guitar falling down a flight of about 24 stairs. Had I died that day, they would have found my body crumpled in a heap at the bottom of the stairs, clutching my poorly made guitar, dressed as David Lee Roth from his Diver Down days. No one but my dog (and now you) has ever known about that.

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5. I didn't drink until I turned 21. Literally, in college, my roommates took me out on my 21st birthday and proceeded to get me plastered. St the time I hated beer, but was open to wine coolers. Now I think beer's great and wine coolers are a gateway drug the tobacco companies use to get kids to watch Mr. T.

6. In junior high I used to spend hours air-drumming to The Police. To this day, I still have an intimate knowledge of every noise on Zentatta Mondatta.

7. I've never seen one single episode of "24" or "Desperate Housewives", and I don't really like to watch any sports. Except maybe hockey.

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4. When I turned 13 my dad gave me a 12 gauge shotgun for my birthday. I fired it once at a pie plate about 25 feet away and missed it entirely. Never shot it again. I'm not against firearms or hunting (just be responsible-but really, who needs an automatic weapon to go deer hunting?), it's just that firing that shotgun felt like getting punched in the face while someone pops your ears. I'm guessing I don't need that.

Now that I think about it, guns and blowing up stuff are still pretty cool... so long as nobody gets hurt.

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3. I was in a band called "Big Valerie" that played only two shows. I played rhythm guitar and vocals, neither of which I was/am any good at. We played at a now defunct bar called Spiral on the Lower East Side. The big hits were "Spank Me" and a Country Western version of Queen's "Under Pressure."

I think the main reason I did the show was a chance to dress ridiculous and be on stage - my two weaknesses. We gave money and a tape to the sound guy to record it, but he forgot turn up the record levels. It either wasn't enough money or we just weren't loud enough.

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Sorry folks, I was away on vacation but hope to be making the 25 Things go little quicker.

2. My first exposure to The Beatles was from my grandfather's record collection. After he died, I was allowed to go through it, picking whatever I wanted. Abbey Road was a random choice on my part. I liked the cover. I now view it as one of the best albums of all time.

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There's an email thing that's been going around that I find both annoying and interesting all at the same time. It's kind of like a car wreck, you don't want to look at it, but you can't help but peek. It's the "25 Things" email going around. You get an email from a friend that tells you 25 things you may not have known about that person, then YOU have to send 25 things about yourself back to that person, plus 24 other people you might want to know 25 things about. All of it clogs up your inbox, but still, I find it interesting learning about folks. So, rather than clog email boxes, I'll let the gawkers come here instead. So here's a start:

1) Back in high school, I was the school mascot. I dressed up in an eagle costume and went to football and basketball games. It was fun because no one knew it was me, and I could have loads of fun being anonymously ridiculous. It seemed that people liked it because the Student Council purchased a new eagle costume for me to use. I still credit this experience for my high tolerance for heat. Later in my costuming career I dressed as a bear for a country radio station and a troll king at Toy Fair in New York. Those last two I got paid for.