I've been tagged

OK, here goes... 7 things you may not know about me from reading this blog... Thanks, Barrett.

1. My grandfather Dick Gottlieb was a pretty amazing guy. He was a city councilman in Houston when I was born in 1971, and the mayor decreed my birthday "Mark Willenzik Day" in Houston, TX. (There's another thing you might not have known about me.) He was a television announcer for the Houston Buffs, was involved in a televised live suicide (a man came up to him during the baseball broadcast and offed himself right there), was awarded a Purple Heart in WWII, ran for mayor of Houston and lost in a contested, and very close election, was the local on-air emcee for countless telethons (Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope, etc.) He had his own advertising firm, and I was cast in a commercial for Lone Star Television Rental (think Rent-A-Center). My line was "Even I've got ten dollars!". I was wearing a cowboy suit and waving a $10 bill. I was about 7 years old then. Every time we went out in Houston, people were constantly coming up to us and saying "hi" and asking for autographs (from my granddad... not me). My son Andrew's middle name Richard is to honor my grandfather.

2. I am obsessed with numbers. I think the number 19 is unlucky. I won't put the volume on my car stereo at 19... always 18 or 20. I am extra careful on the 19th of every month. I say the number "20" out loud to myself when I want to stop thinking about whatever it is that I am dwelling on. Numbers I like: 3,4,7,10,14,17,20,21,24,27. Numbers I don't like: 19,26,22 (in that order). Yes, I have noticed that the numbers I like are almost all common scores in football. I don't think that's why, though. I think about dates a lot, too.

3. I have a nervous tic with my shoulders. I think it happens about once or twice a week, and I know it's coming, and I can't stop it. I also can't do it on purpose. It is definitely triggered by anxious thoughts.

4. I once bowled a 276, and I've bowled several other games over 260. I once bowled consecutive games of 256, 210, and 248. I bowl without putting my thumb in the ball. I also bowled a 268 and a 267 on the Wii.

5. My nostrils are not symmetrical.

6. I started my first NCAA tournament pool in 9th grade (1987). Dan (or was it Tom?) Putnam won $100 when Keith Smart hit the winning shot for Indiana over Syracuse. I charged $20 for vigorish and did not buy an entry into my own pool.

7. I shoplifted a Now-And-Later (street value in 1979, 2 cents) from a convenience store, and had terrible guilt about it.