I wuz TAGGED on Tuesday... but I went original! It was the old "Seven Weird Things About You" meme tag... and instead, I did fourteen... seven were true, seven were fake... only one person publicly played along... two people played by e-mail... and four people played by other messages... but I have HELD OFF giving the answers UNTIL NOW!!!

So, without further adieu...

#1: I have shaken hands with Prince Philip (Queen Elizabeth's husband) by accident.

TRUE! It was during a trip the royal couple made to Toronto in the late 1990's... and I was on a walk and ended up at a church where they were attending services. I had heard on the radio that their visit to the church and service had ended about an hour before I arrived, but I noticed a crowd and some members of The 48th Highlanders in formal dress uniform outside the church. I assumed they were getting ready to be dismissed and the crowd was watching the soldiers, so I jockeyed for a better place to see them as I know a fellow in the regiment. Well, imagine my surprise when, about a minute or less after arriving and finding my spot to try and see my old friend, a hand was suddenly thrust towards me which I shook instinctively... which was a good thing as, indeed, it was The Duke of Edinburgh's... The Queen and him were late leaving the church so the crowd WAS for them and not the 48th lads... and I've often wondered who I might have "nudged" out of the way when I had assumed the royal couple had already left... and how mad they were that I got a handshake and they didn't.

#2: I have kinda webbed toes... my doctors have all "noted" them which makes me uneasy.

FALSE! It sounded good though... so I included it. I did know two people who genuinely seemed to have webbed toes... and for some reason, while typing this, they came to mind so "Voila!"

#3: I have never broken a limb or even a major bone to this point in my life.

TRUE! (Touch wood...)

#4: I was trained as a marksman (in riflery) and am still a darned good shot!

TRUE! I've received a couple of awards for my marksmanship... and yet, I am an advocate of gun control.

#5: I have, unwittingly, participated in a "Legalise Pot" march.

FALSE! I'm not against decriminalization... but I'm not for legalization.

#6: I once had to pay for Keanu Reeves' donut at a Tim Horton's in downtown Toronto.

FALSE! I've never met the man... much less at a Tim Horton's.

#7: My birth was announced in the paper as my parents "completing their centennial project".

TRUE! It was 1967 which is Canada's centennial... and apparently, in a kind of sarcastic (but not so much) play on the amount of announcements in the paper about *this* centennial project and *that* centennial project, they announced my birth as such.

#8: I never completed university.

TRUE! I did attend to continue my education as an adult (I did go to college and completed high-school through a college program,) I couldn't afford to maintain my university education... so, I lasted about a year and a half before folding it up to join the "real" workforce full time.

#9: I had terrible acne as a teenager and was on antibiotics through many of those years.

FALSE! The Gods chose to ensure I was not prone to acne. I did have the odd "zit", but nothing major.

#10: I was born, raised in, and still live in (metropolitan) Toronto, Ontario, Canada... I've never lived elsewhere.

TRUE! Yup, I'm a minority in this city of three-plus million souls... Born, raised, and still living in Toronto.

#11: I have had a book dedicated to me by a Canadian author of some note.

TRUE! It's the book pictured above... "True Canadian Ghost Stories" by John Robert Colombo... Quite an honour!

#12: I was in a childrens' "talent show" on TV in Toronto as a very young fellow playing piano... I lost.

FALSE! I did take piano lessons as a kid... and my mother played (and still plays) piano... but I was never on TV for it... which is good 'cuz I was rotten. Granted, quitting lessons was easily one of the worst mistakes I think I ever made in my life.

#13: No matter what, I find it impossible to throw away old pill bottles when I finish a prescription.

FALSE! Sue might argue, as I do like to keep a couple of empty bottles around (for travel and whatnot,) but no, I'm not hoarding empty pill bottles.

#14: I can't stand the taste of any sort of fish.

FALSE! I love fish and chips... and even the occasional bit of salmon and even tuna. It's not my fave, but I don't hate it.