Can't Get You Out of My Head

(photo caption) There are other photos of Tom Lyden on the 'net, but, for some reason, they won't cut and paste into Blogspot's publishing program as easily as this one. Whatever.

"Hey, Fogbot! What's with your Tom Lyden obsession?"

Well, to be honest, there isn't one. The thing is, Fogbot's a curious person by nature. That, plus the fact that Tom Lyden wanted to make a game out of finding his birthdate for Fogbot's Dead Pool's usage during our correspondance, well, game on.

It took Fogbot all of three days to find Lyden's birthdate. Now, granted, Lyden found out Fogbot's birthdate almost immediately, but Lyden had access to LexisNexis -- a semi-legal service (according to MN Attorney General Mike Hatch) that provides background information on most everyone in the good ol' U.S. of A., provided you pay their huge annual fee. Anyway, Fogbot doesn't have that kind of cash, nor that kind of interest, or, really, that kind of need or want or desire or whatever. So Lyden can have his LexisNexis' and Fogbot will make use of the tools at his disposal (various search engines, as well as other, more creative devices). Given that, Fogbot thinks that three days is a pretty speedy turnaround.

LexisNexis makes Lyden lazy. There, I said it. Fogbot's a better man than Lyden. But that's just Fogbot talking.

But the Lyden story has been a hot-topic among Fogbot's circle of friends (and co-workers, as one made note of the other day; the actual comment was, "You're creepy! But I like it!"). And the Lyden topic continues to have legs.

Now, let's get one thing straight (no pun intended): I have no problem with Tom Lyden. In fact, he was very cordial, given the circumstances, during our communication. At the same time, however, Lyden's a very public figure -- a very public figure who, when on camera, appears to maintain a fair amount of, let's say, "self-confidence." So Fogbot feels that it's not stepping over the line to try to take Lyden down a peg or two. Regardless, it's all in good nature.

Given the continued legs within Fogbot's inner sanctum on the Lyden issue, however, has led to some fun exchanges and some interesting new information.

For instance: Did you know that Lyden's a Libra? How about the fact that he's over 40 (don't let that baby face fool you)? How about the fact that he attended Lewis and Clark College in beautiful and scenic Portland, Oregon, graduating in 1987? And that, like many of the jokers that Fogbot graduated with from his own college, Lyden likes to post personal updates regarding himself in Lewis and Clark newsletters under "Class of 1987" news?

Fogbot had no idea that Lyden had two cats.