Five Things You Didn't Know About Me

Earlier this week, I was tagged by Michel Adrien aka "Library Boy" (Library Boy: Five Things You Didn't Know About Me) to eschew some personal privacy and disclose five things you may not know about me.

Here goes ...

1. Like Michel, I can swear and give a taxi driver directions in a number of languages. I grew up as a foreign service brat, so picked up some local language on my travels. So if you need to be able to say "straight", "faster", "slow down", "left", "right" and "right here" in English, French, Arabic, German, Italian and Romanian, I'm your man. (Funny ... typing that made me think that this lexicon may be useful in other contexts.)
2. Like many normal people, I do occasionally trade some privacy for convenience. I collect points/miles on the airline I fly most often. With points, I took my son to Toronto for a week and was bumped to business class about a dozen times last year. They already know when and where I fly, so I might as well get something out of it. I don't let loyalty programs into my grocery cart or book purchases.
3. I was a headbanger in junior high school. And that's all I'll say, since I don't want to think about it any further.
4. I have eaten rat on dozens of occasions. Well, cane rat to be precise (photo). When my parents were living in Ghana and I was in boarding school, I used to visit every summer and over the winter holidays. Weekday afternoons were spent on the beach at Labadi. In addition to the delicious beer and fresh pineapple, vendors on the beach sold delicious and spicy kebabs. We assumed they were made from beef, but the heavy spices made it virtually impossible to tell for sure. On my last visit, my parents said to avoid the kebabs on the beach because of an anthrax outbreak in the local cattle. We asked the vendor if the beef was imported and he just smiled. It wasn't beef. It was grass cutter (the local moniker for cane rats). So we ordered more.
5. I am a happy lawyer. I get to do stuff that I find interesting and challenging with clients I enjoy spending time with. I like to teach, and I get ample opportunities to do so at Dalhousie Law School. No day is like the one before it. I like to write, and this blog is evidence that I manage to do so from time to time. I like my family and my kids, and somehow I'm able to be at home for dinner as a rule, rather than the exception. I'm never in the office on the weekends. I like to travel and my work takes me to exotic locales like Fredericton and Stockholm. I get to work at an amazing law firm (that has supported my odd practice) with people whom I enjoy and respect. It really doesn't get any better than this.

Tag, you're it: David Canton.