Who are you? Who am I?
In the A to Z Challenge today, I stands for Identity. It shifts from generation to race to our tribe to our interests. I am Generation X, Hispanic, dad blogger and soccer coach. I’m others, too, in the moment (Pizza Friday) and beneath the surface (Kesha Appreciator).
In April, I’m also Allergy Sufferer and Haircut Needer.
I’m Back Scratcher, Mess Maker, Soda Drinker and Rockies Fan. The final question in Go Ask Daddy gave me license to examine another side of me, the fantastical superhero side that just didn’t die in my childhood.
How do you identify yourself?
I’m also, once a week, Question Answerer, for the kids. Here’s the latest round.
1. What does DVD stand for?
The innovation kind stands for Digital Video Disc.
Or, a Digital Versatile Disc. A DVD can hold movies, pictures, music, and even start your AOL account. The single-sided, single-layer disc holds 4.7GB of data. A double-sided, double-layer disc, 17.08GB. The first movie on DVD debuted on March 25, 1996 – Twister. That was way before Blue-ray discs.
DVD also stands for Dick Van Dyke, Dumb vs. Dumber and Dumb Video Ducks.
2. Is your bib number the same as the number of runners in a race?
Research for this answer proved one insight: A portion of the running world abhors the newbie.
Not all of it. I imagine friends such as Deb of Deb Runs treating the green runner with care. We tenderfeet commit atrocities such as wearing our race shirt – on race day. Or asking questions such as, how long is a marathon? In my world, the first person to sign up for a race gets bib No. 1.
Doesn’t that sound utopic?
The challenge: Finish the race higher than your bib number.
3. Dad, Kesha or Jennifer Lawrence?
It’s infinitely tougher than a mere Ginger/Mary Ann decision.
Kesha represents the edgy, academic brilliance interrupted by youthful indignation. Unabashed self-centeredness with a twinge of ‘knows better.’ Jennifer Lawrence is 100-proof nerddom wrapped in classic beauty. She’s elegantly awkward and exceedingly hilarious.
Must I pick just one?
Today, at this moment, after a long day in the sun, a walk through the ghetto and barely a fourth of the movie “Interstellar,” I’ll choose …
Jennifer Lawrence.
4. Why would Hillary Clinton need two phones?
So she could listen to Kesha on one and watch a Jennifer Lawrence movie on the other.
Clinton, the presumed front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016, said she used a personal email account while she served as secretary of state so she wouldn’t have to carry two phones.
Now there’s this awesome innovation that allows you to access two accounts on one phone.
Maybe Hill should have just used SnapChat.
5. Who is your favorite Marvel hero?
No Kesha/J-Law dispute here: My choice is 100% Spiderman.
I met Spidey at the Greeley Mall when I was in elementary school. His Spidey helicopter flew over our neighborhood and he waved to me as I played football in the backyard.
I associate so much with him, both as Spiderman and Peter Parker.
I’ve often expressed my blog life/real life duality as “Spiderman on the blog, every big Peter Parker in real life.” Fingertips on the home keys, I know only one question: What’s the limit?
I labor in awkwardness when my fingers are off the keyboard, though.
I’m lumbering and oafish, as far as you can be lumbering and oafish in a 5-foot-6 frame. In my element, occasionally on the sideline and more often as I write, I’m the amalgamation of super powers and the cylinder clicks of a freakish act of nature.
A kid might idolize Thor or Iron Man or the Hulk.
Att age 5 or 25 or 43, I felt every bit Spiderman. Even the part of him described as having a “terrible identity problem, a marked inferiority complex, and a fear of women. He is anti-social and accident-prone … [a] functioning neurotic.”*
That’s an answer I can give with confidence.
*Source: http://blazemiskulin.kinja.com/why-peter-parker-has-to-be-white-and-spider-man-doesnt-1692935937
Just a dad ... 
Great I challenge post Eli! Happy Friday Hugz to you! Have a wonderful weekend!! Lisa and Bear
Thanks Lisa! It was almost innovation – and a post about those new soda machines in Burger King. Have you seen them?
I have to admire your grit and determination in keeping the challenge going Mate. Spiderman eh? I was a fan of The Phantom, the ghost who walks. He was the father figure I needed at the time. He was tough, kind, good and noble. Oh and he kicked ass.
I want this challenge to help me write more efficiently, mate. Tough, kind, good and noble are superlative, for a father figure. Kick-ass just rounds it out.
We should all hope to have that.
Well the challenge is working. We should have it indeed Mate.
I’d love to get a day or two ahead – I don’t want to miss out.
You’ll have to burn the midnight oil Mate, no, not the pop group.
Oh I’ve fallen asleep on many a late-night post, amigo. Many.
Then you wake up with QWERTYUIOP embedded on your forehead.
Actually, it’s on my left cheek. We won’t speak of the slobber.
That’s worse Mate, it runs right down through the keyboard.
Don’t I know it. Sometimes you get a shock.
Don’t stick your tongue on the keyboard.
Wow, you make it sound so easy… the identity thing… I’m going to use 26 letters to make a statement about my identity as a part-time working mom alone 😉
I think we can lead an ordinary life AND make a difference.
Wow, that picture of you – that was about C’s age! He is having a pirate sleepover at daycare tonight, how cool is that?
I like that approach, Tamara. What really constitutes an ordinary life? They can all be extraordinary, even at being ordinary.
I wanted to include my felt Superman poster, too, in that shot. I was kinda cute, huh? C and I could have been buds.
43 isn’t too old for a pirate sleepover if you ask me, either.
Best answer hands down for DVD with Dick Van Dyke or Dumb Vs. Dumber 😉
Right? I wonder who wins that Dumb Vs. Dumber debate … and I wasn’t able to find more on Dumb Video Ducks, but it’s a thing, trust me.
I think our identities can be fluid and change with time, but it’s best if we always are honest with what our identity is. And as for me, Spide-Man ALL the way!
Good luck with the 2015 A to Z Challenge!
A to Z Co-Host S. L. Hennessy
http://pensuasion.blogspot.com
Absolutely, S.L. – out identities ebb and flow, and we can miss it if we don’t pay attention. Spider-man has been my superhero spirit guide for nearly 40 years! Glad you stopped by – first time in the challenge, and it’s been a blast, not only to write, but to find new blogs.
Great to get to know more about you, Eli! Sorry the Kesha/J Law question is so difficult for you. I had similar troubles when I took a Spike or Angel quiz on Buzzfeed last week!
There’s always something else to toss out here Rabia – just need the girls’ questions to draw it out.
Kesha and Jen both bring so much to the table – they have that undeniable something, each.
What did the Buzzfeed quiz reveal to you?
I’m with you on the Spiderman/Peter Parker description; great way to put it.
Isn’t it perfect? Maybe that’s part of why I love him most out of Marvel heroes.
Umm…I carry 2 phones:) One is my business phone and the other my personal – it was just easier to keep everything separate. Now I feel weird on the rare occasion that I just have one with me.
Spiderman has a lot going for him!!!
I can scarcely carry one, which is why I had to turn down the offer to become secretary of state. If I had two phones, for sure I’d lose my wallet.
Spiderman’s awesome. I can’t possibly decide between Emma Stone and Kirsten Dunst.
Thanks for reading my blog post today. Had to come by and see who you are and what you’re into. A Rockies fan? I live on the Front Range. Hope they do better this season.
I’m from Greeley! Four games down, 158 to go for my Rockies, right? Glad you stopped by … your blog is in my “READ!” folder for a return visit!
Fascinating, funny post.
It swerved a few times in my head, but here we are. And thanks!
spiderman is my fav too, and i met him at montgomery wards at the mall when i was 7. i asked him to shoot his webs out of his wrists for me, but that didn’t happen so i was a bit let down, but continued to love him to this day.
Spidey sure loved malls in the 70s, didn’t he? I guess asking Spider-man to shoot webs on demand is like asking Kesha to … well, that’s a bad analogy.
I’m not judging, but I prefer Superman myself. Love the your breakdown between Jennifer Lawrence and Kesha who are both pretty cool in our eyes.
Superman gets his props, because he’s a newspaper guy. Today might have been a Kesha kind of day for me.
I used to be an Allergy Sufferer too, but then I discovered the superhero power punch of eating kale for breakfast, lunch AND dinner. Or, is it ice cream? I can’t remember which.
Oh yeah – it’s actually Flonase.
Des has Spiderman shoes.
I knew you’d pick Jennifer Lawrence!
What if you’re allergic to kale? Ice cream seems the way to go, but no more than two or three times a day.
They stopped making Spider-man shoes my size when I was … about 12. And I think there would be more happy time with someone like J-Law than with Kesha in the long run.
I don’t look like Mick Jagger, that’s why.
It’s definitely Jennifer Lawrence for me. In a world of uber-fakeness, she seems like the real deal. Don’t disappoint me, J-Law!
I don’t think she’ll let us down, Mo!
I’m glad you picked Jennifer Lawrence. Otherwise I would have had to break up with you.
You’re just saying that because you knew I’d pick her. Makes you look tough.
Jennifer Lawrence by a mile, Eli. And Ke$ha would not stand for the misspelling of her name!
Oh, and that photo of you is adorable! We had the exact same wood paneling in 1976…
Kesha actually took the $ out of her name, presumably to bridge the gap between her and J-Law in my eyes.
I used to be kinda cute back in the day. Wood paneling is best when it’s accompanied by shag carpet, yo.
My favourite superhero was WonderWoman. She wasn’t size 0. She had curves and wasn’t afraid to show them. That takes courage! 😉
She was bad, wasn’t she? Those magic bracelets that could deflect bullets, and that invisible plane!
And yes, curves. A bad mama jamma.