Screaming Meme-ies

I've been tagged by ahab for the "Talk Ostentatiously About Yourself" meme. I've never done one of these before, so I'll probably screw it up. I extend my apologies in advance.

Eight things (you never wanted to know) about me:

1. I have absolute pitch. (It's more a curse than a blessing.) Oddly, the only time it fails me is when I'm hung-over—not when I'm drunk, but when I'm hung-over. At those times, it can be off by as much as a whole tone in either direction.
2. I am a sentimental fool.
3. Since I was five years old, my favorite snack has been cottage cheese with Fritos corn chips. I treat the cottage cheese as a dip: I dip a Frito in it, sprinkle it with a little onion salt, and eat it. On one occasion, I ate an entire pound of cottage cheese in this way (in one sitting).
4. In 1986, I fell madly, head-over-heels in love with a cellist from New York. It was unrequited from the start. Despite other relationships since then (including a failed marriage), I have never gotten over the cellist. I'm still in love with her. Theoretically, we're still friends, but I've seen her and talked to her only once in the past 17 years. (Understandably, I make her uncomfortable.) To this day, it is almost impossible for me to listen to the Dvořák Cello Concerto without breaking down. Also, it is emotionally difficult for me to visit New York, because I associate it so strongly with her … and with dashed hopes. Most of my friends don't get any of this, and they think I'm a ninny.
5. I have been a computer-software professional for over 27 years. That and fifty cents will get me a copy of the local newspaper.
6. My current job sucks out loud, but I am locked into it for various reasons. I am, therefore, often unhappy.
7. It is my firm belief that rich businessmen, not religious fanatics, will (stupidly) destroy the human race and the world. (I can't tell you how that will happen; it's just an intuitive feeling.)
8. As is ahab about books, I am a major pain in the ass about music. To explain fully would take the rest of my life and fill up all of the disk space at blogger.com. Suffice it to say that I am dismayed that our culture has embraced music at the folk-rock-pop level to the exclusion of all else. I personally believe that rock music will be a major factor contributing to the downfall of civilization—but that doesn't mean what you think it means. That's not a moralistic perception; it's an emotional one, an aesthetic one, and an academic one. It's a judgment on the depth and caliber of rock music as a form of creative expression. (I'm not talking about the lyrics or the messages; I'm talking about the music.) If, as a society, we have nothing to express beyond what can be expressed through rock music, we're a civilization in dire trouble—not because of fallen morals, but because of cultural and intellectual shallowness, ignorance, and creative immaturity. Rock music (among other things) has stunted our growth as a culture. Musically, America is a stupid brat, a screaming toddler, pooping in its pants. That seems to be getting worse instead of better. I worry that we've reached a point where we may never be able to grow past that level of development. (I'll stop before I alienate myself from the rest of humanity. As if I haven't already.)

I hereby reaffirm the tagging of the people ahab tagged. That's all, folks. I'm all meme'd out.