16 Things

I was "tagged" on facebook by an old friend from grade school asking me to post a list of 16 random things about me. I pulled it together and then thought . . ."Hey! This might make an interesting addition to my ever-neglected blog!" So, enjoy.

1. When eating trail mix, I like to separate the ingredients into little piles and eat all of one thing before moving on to another. I do the same thing with Skittles and M&Ms. I also tend to eat all of one item on my plate before going on to the next.

2. I skipped a year of school because I was an extremely early reader. This resulted in me graduating from college ON my 21st birthday. Therefore I did not have a single LEGAL drink in college! LOL!

3. I was born with 12 toes - 6 on each foot. Thanks to some groovy surgeon when I was 18 months old, I now sport the standard issue ten.

4. The remaining toes are really long and I swear I can pick small items up off the floor with them (stray pencils, pens, kleenex). In fact, I once tried playing video game with them in high school. Let's just say that if I need to give you a hard pinch under the table, it might not be with my hand! F-R-E-A-K-S-H-O-W!!! (Actually, my feet do look just like anybody else's who has long slender toes . . . . But I know the truth that I'm actually Monkey Girl. LOL!)

5. If Lenox had a divided plate in the Eternal pattern, my wedding registry would have been sharply different. I hate green bean juice on anything but green beans. Casseroles are different. Who doesn’t love a good casserole? But if it’s not supposed to mingle, I don’t want it to.

6. I once jumped on stage and sang with a band while visiting San Destin. I must sing drunk about as bad as I do sober, because I did notice that they turned off my microphone although they encouraged me to stay on stage and shake it.

7. I once told a mildly dirty joke using the word "dildo" during open mike time at the old Comedy Zone in Overton Square. It was a dare . . . and the other person chickened out.

8. I've never watched Gone with the Wind all the way through. I have, however, watched Jaws and Pulp Fiction more times than I can count.

9. I have been a mild insomniac off and on throughout my life, including periods during my childhood. I used to sneak and turn on the TV in my room (What the h*** were my parents thinking?), turn the sound down to where it was barely audible, and watch SCTV and Soap when I was supposed to be asleep.

10. Here’s One of the Very Few TRUE Regrets of My Life: When I was younger (read: "and hotter") I had a dear friend, who is photographer, ask me to pose for him semi-nude for a project when he was getting his masters degree. Although I was intrigued, I totally wimped out. If I had known then what I know now, I'd have said "Hell, yeah" before he even had time to load the camera! No, I probably wouldn't do it now (he’s a whiz with Photoshop, but not a miracle-worker), but I sure should have done it then. Moral of the Story: Don’t be afraid to seize the moment. It doesn’t matter what people are going to think or say. It is your life and you should live it the way you want to live it.

11. I have ADD, but only recently found out after extensive testing of my working memory versus intelligence scale testing and other assessments. Wow . . .think of all the crap I might have accomplished if I hadn’t been so forgetful and easily distracted earlier in life.

12. I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2004. I underwent two surgeries in 8 days (removed 1/2 of my thyroid, pathology report came back that it was riddled with bad cells, went back in to remove the other half a few days later) and radioactive iodine treatment. BUT . . . . I’m great now! All subsequent nuclear imaging scans are clear and blood tests perfect.

13. I have an odd fascination with the bubonic plague and intermodal shipping, particularly container shipping.

14. I like to mow the grass. I really do. You can clean the house and it’s messy again in 10 minutes with kids. But you can mow the grass and it looks good for days. I love that in a really weird way.

15. I like to sit on the inside seat of a booth, or the window seat on an airplane I am the exact opposite of someone with claustrophobia. I actually love small spaces. In fact, I used to play inside my closet all of the time when I was a little kid.

16. I have a mean streak about a mile wide. Sometimes I just enjoy screwing around with people, especially if I think they are mean to others. I guess I’ve fancied myself kind of like the Robin Hood of Revenge. There was this woman that I worked with for years. I could not stand her, especially the way she treated her subordinates, one of whom was a dear friend. So one day, I stayed late in the office and gathered up as many different colors and types of ink pens as I could find. This was back in the day when people still used rolodexes. I sat down at her desk and changed one number on each of the handwritten cards (most of hers were). You know . . . made 3s into 8s, 1s into 4s or 7s, etc. Then I just sat back and watched as it slowly drove her insane for days that she could NOT reach anybody on the phone. She thought she was going crazy. That was fun.