Eight Random Things

The lovely Jen Lemen posted this and it sounds like fun for a start to the week

• Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves...People who are tagged write their own blog post about their eight things and include these rules....At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and they should read your blog.

1. I'm not very good at following rules of any kind, except for spelling, about which I'm a little OCD. (Grammar, less so. My words get tangled up occasionally. I'm more for expression than proper syntax.) I'm actually more rule-averse with every passing day.

2. I'm a random mix of excessively sentimental and darkly sarcastic. I can be really cynical and pissy and bossy, and then lose it in the car to "Leader of the Band." I somehow manage to survive in spite of this debilitating, dichotomous disorder.

3. I've had "I Ran" by a Flock of Seagulls and Prince's song "3121" stuck in my head for the past six months, at least. I sing "3121" aloud frequently, without really realizing it. There's nothing better than being in the ladies room going about your business and all of a sudden, "Do you wanna come? 3121. It could be so much fun. 3121" pops out of your mouth involuntarily. It's even better when I don't stop myself after the first line and get to the "This is where the party be. 3121.You can come if you wanta, but y'all can't never leave." part.  ( I hate "I Ran", by the way, and it always starts in my head at the line with "aurora borealis" in it. What happens in our brains to make these things happen? Linda Fabian used to sit in the cafeteria and sing that song in our freshman year in high school, which is not a good or necessary memory.)

        3a. See what I mean about the rules? A corollary (hi, word I can't pronounce!) to #3 is the fact that I can remember the words to just about every song I've ever heard more than once. I kill on those new "remember the lyrics" shows, and go into "scream at the television" mode when they're on, which is why I cannot watch them with any frequency or full attention, because it's gonna give Mama a heart attack, heah?

        3b. Consequently, I am secretly a rock star, with a secondary dream job as a Sharon Osbourne-like band manager. Not even kidding.

4.  I am left-handed, which isn't so much the random thing as is the consistently shocked reactions of other human beings to my left-handedness. I also have a scar on my face, and I don't get nearly as many funny looks (off with you, by the way, funny lookers. Go look at your own funny-looking for different reasons selves) for that as I do gaping stares at the apparent freak show that is me writing with my left hand. I know it's a bit unusual, but at the same time, it's usually an adult who comments on it, and I wonder if there haven't there been other left-handed people in their world? The reactions I get would suggest that it's more common for a white Bengal tiger to walk across the parking lot than it is to see a random lefty signing a form or writing that graffiti on the bathroom wall.

5. I feel that I talk way too much, but I don't think I can help it. I hope that my self-awareness of this makes up for it in some small way, and that if my voice becomes the aural equivalent of a hammer to the head, that someone will let me know. I literally hear myself solving problems and elucidating situations as I speak. I've cultivated and/or been blessed organically with relationships with some wonderful people who not only like to talk as well, but seemingly don't mind listening to me, even when I'm at my most manically hyperverbal. The loss of a couple of these relationships in their previous form is one of my deepest regrets in life. Or maybe they're just all lying. Jerks.

This also means that I talk to myself when I'm alone, I talk to my dog, I talk back to the radio and television, and I absolutely, emphatically practice conversations aloud. I'm not saying I enjoy it. I'm just saying. Obviously.

PS BlogHer highlight was Deb Roby and Maria Niles - beautiful introverts both - telling me that I was the kind of excessive talker that they didn't mind listening to all evening long. This was a gift, seriously. I love my BlogHer girls.

6. (I keep thinking this one and not wanting to write it down, so I will just for kicks.) I'm a total romantic with no expectation of another love relationship in my life. This could sound dramatic and awful, but it shouldn't. it's just a conclusion I've arrived at involuntarily after much suffering that I really didn't believe I was capable of, and right now I'm frighteningly okay with it. It's getting its own post because: I've written and subsequently removed too much here, I'm blown away by the brave honesty of so many blogs I read on a daily basis that render my relative lack of disclosure a bit silly, and it just doesn't belong in such a nice, random list. Remain perched on the edge of your seats.

7. Photography and the Internet have had a profound impact on my life. Back when my whole psyche imploded a couple of years ago, these things kept me afloat (along with some excellent friends). They've also really helped my life take its current not-too-shabby shape by helping me see the world differently, tell stories, and become part of a larger community with some kick ass people. I'm really grateful.

8. I love lipstick. And Target. And cheese.

(Oh! I tag the aforementioned Maria...and Deb. Let's see...how about Genie? And Heather? And Joanna? Shannon? Grace? Jen from the Word Cellar? Have at it if you feel like it, kids. (And anyone else, too...I'm not wedded to this tagging thing. Just let me know if you do. I'm all about random things!)

Comments

[toledolefty]

I'm left-handed too and I know what you mean. I've been married to my husband for thirteen years and he still is weirded out by how I look cutting things with a big knife because it seems like I'm doing it "wrong" and am going to cut off my hand or something. My theory on that is that we are used to seeing people who look different from us when they write, throw a ball, cut up broccoli, etc. Right-handers are not, and so we look seriously odd to them. I almost never notice another person's handedness, and now that I type almost everything, it seems like an even weirder thing to care about.

I loved talking to you at BlogHer and enjoyed helping you hold up the shuttle bus while we made wardrobe changes and you ministered to the elderly.

And thank you for tipping me off to LOL 80s. Can't believe your Poison wallpaper didn't make your top 8 random facts.

[Grace]

Ooh, being tagged gives me the warm fuzzies. And I am looking forward to your follow up romantic post.

I already did the 8 random things, though. If you're interested, you can read mine here: http://www.noonewatching.com/archives/2007/08/8_random_things_meme.html

[Shannon]

You know, this could be just what I need today. Tag, I'm it!

[Jennifer/The Word Cellar]

I never knew being left-handed was met with such shock and awe! Maybe I'm just used to it since my dad's a leftie. I did a similar post a few months ago, but it only has six facts. I'll link to that for now: http://thewordcellar.blogspot.com/2006/04/ive-been-tagged-oh-my.html. Thanks for the tag!

[Debra]

Only for you, dear:
http://debsdistractions.blogspot.com/2007/08/tagged-for-random-things.html