Tagging; oh, go on then...Marching On Together!

Ok, so at first glance this whole tagging thing seemed like one of those godawful chain emails one recieved promising untold riches should you foreard it to a billion people withinhalf an hour of recieving it, but once I had read AJ's frankly excellent effort and AEB, I figured the least I could do to is participate; a sort of 'Get to know your friendly Blogger' excercise.

Basically, the rules are thus:

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 random and/or weird things about yourself.

3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

My blog links are not random; that would probably result in a waste of time. I have chosen ones I think you will enjoy if you're here, reading TGS. Anyways, onward and upward:

1. Apart from Food & Beer, Leeds United are a passion of mine. I have a special Leeds United Mug (pictured) that only I can use. No-one else must even look at it. This may sound strange, but I think most males do something like this in thier lifetime. Over the years many of my possessions have been adorned with that badge, and many are treated with grail-like reverence. The same rules also apply to my Sabatier Knives.

2. More obsessive behaviour; If I have a beer at home that i have not had before, the cap is

kept. I have about 70 or so caps. I dont know why I do this, as i dont look at them again; they just lie around in a big tub.

3. I also write fiction in my spare time, and have enjoyed some small-scale publishing success. My favourite writers are Henry Miller, Hunter Thompson, Charles Bukowski, and Cormac McCarthy. At the moment, I am reading 'True Tales of American Life' by Paul Auster.

4. My Foodwriting Hero is Anthony Bourdain.

5. I worked in my Grandfather's Butchers' as a teen, and learned a lot about food, meat and 'locally sourced produce' before that phrase was even coined. I learned one main thing; Family and Friendship should always be based around eating together.

6. I play Bass guitar; I listen mostly to Americana and Alt.Country music, and at the moment I am enjoying Iron & Wine, Mark Kozelek, American Music Club, Lambchop, The National and Richmond Fontaine, to name a few.

7. As a result of my obsession with Beer, my long-suffering partner not only has more beer knowledge than your average twenty-something girl, but knows what to look for, how to buy, and the brewing process. She can name a brewery at 20 paces from a pump-clip. She will make suggestions for my beer-cellar, and I trust her completely to pick up beers for me if am not able to. She can even do a pretty good job of detecting aromas when sniffing beer. In many ways she is the perfect beer-pursuing partner - and the irony is this: she can't stand the stuff. A Kriek, maybe, in the summer, but that's it.

There you go. Not as insightful as AJ's, but now you know a little more.

My "7 Blogs You Should Totally Check Out":

1. John's Random Ramblings

2. The London Review of Breakfasts

3. Soy & Pepper

4. Black.Salt

5. Toothpaste for Dinner (not food/beer based but excellent)

6. Food & Thoughts

7. ...A Swift One

- Excellent blogs, every one of them. Enjoy.