In the early years of Facebook, a popular activity was for each user to post a list of “25 Random Things About Me.” In 2020, Facebook began removing the Notes section where those lists resided, so I thought, “Where better to relocate my list than to my blog’s About page?” Here are those 25 random things:

1. I was born in a Bronx hospital whose name — Fitch Sanitarium — provokes raised eyebrows from anyone who sees my birth certificate.
2. Although it’s not supposed to be possible, I had chicken pox twice — once as a baby and again when I was about 8.
3. I’ve always had an irrational fear of objects that have changed form. For example, when my mother accidentally melted part of a polyester shirt she was ironing, I panicked and screamed when she tossed me the sheet of hard plastic that used to be fabric. (I was in my teens at the time. I still have the phobia, but it’s less severe now.)
4. I had appendicitis when I was 11, and had to have my appendix removed. The surgeon had to poke around to find my appendix, which for some reason was in the wrong place.
5. When I was 12, I won a trip to France in a French contest.
6. I used to play guitar and write songs. The songs weren’t great, but they were catchy — there are still high school friends of mine who can sing the chorus of “Deepdale Court” or the first verse of “A Clock that Sticks.”
7. My parents were very active in our local synagogue when I was growing up. My father was president of the synagogue when I turned 13, so I had hundreds of people at my Bar Mitzvah service.
8. My mother was born two years and six months (minus one day) after my father; my sister was born two years and six months (plus one day) after me.
9. I’m the only person I know of who has this skill: I can bend my index finger backward until it touches the back of my hand.
10. I founded and directed a mime troupe when I was in college, and I continued to work as a mime when I was in my 20s, providing entertainment at parties and fairs and doing theatrical performances.
11. I performed a mime-and-magic show with Teller (we were billed as “Boaz and Otto”) before he ever worked with Penn Jillette.
12. My first real job out of college was with a little educational publishing company that produced textbooks, filmstrips, and videos. As a project director, I had a budget to hire freelancers, and so I would often hire myself. That’s how I got my first freelance jobs as a writer, a photographer, a graphic artist, and a musician.
13. I was a member of a theater troupe that traveled from school to school and put on shows for kids. I started out as an actor, but later became their resident playwright. One of my plays, “Digging the Whole,” was selected for performance at an international children’s festival at Wolf Trap.
14. I hurt my thumb badly (perhaps broke it?) when doing a pratfall in a children’s show when I was in my late 20s. It never healed properly — it moves stiffly, and my handwriting hasn’t been very good since then.
15. I’m really uncomfortable talking on telephones, particularly cell phones. I have a cell phone for emergencies, but it’s very rarely turned on. [The part about my phone rarely being turned on is no longer true, but I still don’t like phone conversations.]
16. In the days before the World Wide Web, I used to do online technical support for WordPerfect software on CompuServe. It was a volunteer position, but it earned me a free CompuServe account (which would otherwise have cost hundreds of dollars per month), and I also got a free trip to WordPerfect headquarters in Utah.
17. Although I never officially became a Quaker, I regularly attended Friends’ Meeting for many years, and Debra and I were married in a simple, traditional Quaker ceremony.
18. Debra and I used to support ourselves by running a small business creating educational and training materials. One of our steady clients was the American Jail Association, for whom we produced training videos for correctional officers. I directed these videos in jails all over the country, with the inmates played by real inmates.
19. In 1991, I wrote and co-designed a book for librarians called the “Library Displays Handbook,” which is still in print. Although the chapter about computers is obsolete, the portions that deal with using scissors, paper, and glue are unlikely to go out of date.
20. Despite my involvement with computers, I’m not a 21st-century kind of guy. My favorite entertainments are silent films and ragtime and stride piano music, all of which peaked in the 1920s or earlier.
21. I don’t like recorded music — I don’t own any LPs, I don’t buy CDs, and I don’t download MP3s. I do love live music, however, and I go to music performances whenever I can.
22. I’m an aficionado of Scotch whiskey, particularly the smoky, peaty whiskeys made in Islay.
23. I’m a certified practitioner of a relaxing, centering, healing form of bodywork called Breema, and I’ll give a free session to anyone who asks for one.
24. I love to sing. I’m not much of a solo singer, but I enjoy singing in harmony with other people.
25. I used to believe I was going to die before I reached 30. It turns out that didn’t happen, so all the years I’ve had since then are just gravy.