This is a response to a tag from George Szirtes.

1. Though I play guitar and mandolin, my first instruments were cornet, drums, and flute, none of which I can play now. I did not start learning to play guitar until I was almost 19, in the summer of 1983.

2. I did not start learning German, for that matter, until I was already 19, in the fall of 1983.

3. In fact, I went to college to study physics, but I got sidetracked by Nietzsche.

4. I did not get the joke about the word "beat" in the name of "The Beatles" until I was well into my thirties.

5. [It's hard to think of six things!] If I had not moved to Basel in 1995, I would have gone to spend a year in Poland with my girlfriend (now wife) Andrea, where she would have had a job as a German teacher.

6. [Something many people already know] I attended over 80 Grateful Dead concerts between 1982 and 1993, plus several dozen Jerry Garcia shows (I'd say 30-40).

As George wrote me in an email:

Rules of Tagging:

• Post these rules on your blog.
• Write six random things about yourself in a blog post.
• Tag six people of your own.
• Stick in a link for each person tagged.
• Let each person know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
• Let the tagger know your entry is up.

Six people:

Mr. Jumbo
Don Brown
Cyril Wong
Swiss
Al Filreis
Michaela

My apologies if any of you have done this one already!