AJ Q&A

Answers to your questions
Well, I’m back. I returned back home from Dallas Tuesday evening after a truly life-altering two days with my younger brother in Indianapolis. So much happened in such a short period of time, it’s a little difficult to wrap my mind around right off the bat, but I’ll try, beginning tonight. I’ll be writing what will most likely be a fairly long series about both the trip itself as well as the circumstances around it.

I’m at home on Wednesday morning as I write this. I decided to take the first half-day off after my return because I knew that I would want some time to think before diving right back into work. And that is indeed what I’ll have to do, as we’re entering a very busy part of the year and I still have four days of vacation time I must use or lose before the end of November. So in other words, the month and my workload is already compressed, so I’ll have to make the most of my time.

That being said, I’m going to turn my attention here to answering the questions I offered you all to ask in my absence. Obviously, a few of them involve my trip and the nature of Alzheimer’s disease. I’m going to defer answering those to my story, where they will be addressed individually and in context. So Inanna, and Jennifer, I’ll be referencing your questions directly a little bit later. I hope you don’t mind, but they are germane to the story as a whole and the details will be better served in that context.

So here we go…

• Michael had two requests: One for a picture of my kids. Here’s one that many of you have seen before, but is the only recent good photo I currently have scanned. I’ll definitely be taking more pictures when the kids are home from school for Thanksgiving, so I’ll be sure to get a good one to share with you later.

Amy (20) and Shawn (22), taken this past June.

Mike also asked a very thought-provoking question: “Who would you have play you in the movie version of your life -- and could give a semi-accurate portrayal?”
Wow! Now that’s a great question. And a tough one too, simply because there just aren’t all that many vertically challenged actors that I know of who are as good-looking as me.

Rimshot, please…

But seriously folks…I know it sounds crazy, but not so much from the looks standpoint (and good god, certainly not by virtue of his height), but more from the aspect of his personality, I’ve always liked Tom Selleck as an actor because of how he brings his emotions into the roles he plays. I’d like to think that he could portray me fairly well because of that. I think that from what I’ve known of his characterizations of the people he’s played onscreen and the person he’s displayed himself to be in interviews, on talk shows, etc., that he and I are a lot alike.

• Jamie asked, “Who is the blogger you most want to meet. Besides me of course. No seriously! Ok, just tell us WHO!? And why?”
Hmmm…besides YOU? Geeze that’s a tough one! I really hope it doesn’t sound like a cop-out, but there are so many of you that I someday hope to meet, it really wouldn’t be fair of me to pick just one. I will say that the experience of meeting the one blogger whom I have met, Michael, was thoroughly enjoyable. I think I’d like to duplicate that about a dozen or more times with a number of you.

• Brighton asked for…“ Ok, pics... something beautiful in your state. Pets.”
I’ll have to take a raincheck on that one, but I’ll post something on that soon.
“Questions, favorite colour, interior style of your home, how many bonds occur between hydrogen and oxygen when making water?”
— Blue
— “Eclectic traditional with a shabby-chic twist” (according to Michelle). I just like to call it “comfortably arty.”
— 10 (um…was I right, teach?)

el sid asked, “have you ever had deja vu, and if you have, was it because you'd had a dream about it before?”
Does it count if I’ve dreamed about going to the Déjà Vu? Heh heh… Seriously though, I don’t remember ever having anything that powerful, but as I talked about in my last post, and like most everyone else, certain smells really trigger memories for me that are nearly as potent.

• And finally, Jennifer asked, what does “AJ” stand for?”
The “A” is for “Anaheim” and “J” is the initial of my first name. Sorry for the mystery folks, but I really don’t ever intend to put my real name out on this blog for a number of reasons, one of which I’ll talk about in the following story about my little brother.

The nickname was actually an attempt by a former manager of the Papa John’s I worked at several years ago, to playfully deride me for my affinity for the Anaheim Angels baseball team, who were perennial underachievers at the time. I, however, wore it as a badge of honor. And as I’ve mentioned on a few occasions in this blog, I adopted “AJ in Nashville” as my e-mail signature name when I began e-mailing The Tony Kornheiser Show on ESPN Radio a few years ago. I’ve used it as my primary online ID ever since.

Well thanks for your interest everyone, this was fun. I’ll try to get the pics that Brighton requested as well as some newer ones of my children up within a week or so.