11 Things About You Don't Know About Me (or Maybe You Do)

Another part of accepting the Liebster Award is sharing 11 random things about myself. I think I'm a pretty open book so some of these things might not surprise you! But I'll try...

1. I once met Lawrence Ferlinghetti at The Poetry Project on St. Mark's Place. Some kid took a picture of me with the poet but never gave me a copy of the photo. (This was in the days before everyone had a digital camera.) 
2. When I attempted to go skiing on the German/Czech border, I got all the way to the top after a seemingly endless lift ride, took one look at the mountain and decided to hightail it out of there. In seeking an escape route, I ended up on the wrong side of the mountain and had to hitch a ride back to the ski resort. Luckily, I was picked up by a very handsome and polite Czech fellow who was fluent in English with a nice car and a roof rack. 
3. In Ecuador, I went for a bike ride down a bumpy hill. The brakes failed, I flew over the handlebars and landed on my head. (No, I wasn't wearing a helmet because I'm stupid.) I ended up with a black eye, bloody knees and elbows and a minor concussion. To this day, my memory is faulty. 
4. When Allen Ginsberg died, I wrote a poem and read it at a memorial event in Albany which was covered by the local news, so I made a small appearance that night. 
5. Speaking of TV appearances, I was on 20/20 when I was a kid. I'm pretty sure my mom still has the VHS somewhere. It's time to convert that tape to DVD! 
6. The summer I turned 16, I went to Israel for 5 weeks and lived on a kibbutz where I worked in a nectarine processing plant, sorting nectarines (or playing basketball with the bad ones...). A Russian dude named Roman proposed marriage. He was very handsome but I had to decline. 
7. I have read so many books that if you asked me what my favorite book is, I would sheepishly admit that I don't know or can't remember. 
8. Surprisingly, I am asked quite often how Henry and I met. I thought everyone knew the story by now! 
9. I've been tubing on The Amazon. 
10. Speaking of The Amazon, I had to be rescued by another knight in shining armor when I arrived at the airport in Quito for my flight home, and almost missed my flight because I didn't have money for the exit tax (which I'd never heard of!). A nice boy from Georgia lent me the money, and an awesome TSA agent rushed me through security so I could make my flight. Of course, I sent that boy a check as soon as I got home! 
11. It took me way too long to come up with this list. Seriously. I thought of a better one: I used to work in a broasted chicken joint when I was in high school. My boss was a supercreep that paid me under the table because his bookkeeping wasn't "set up yet" and got a little too close when training me on the ice cream dispenser.