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July 29, 2007
8 Random Facts about Ms. Write Again Soon
I've been tagged with this stupid meme. If it didn't come from my favorite Brooklyn-via-DC lesbian, I would have just ignored it completely. But since I adore her, I can't. Damn you, Ms. NYC Rouge--do you know how long I've agonized over this list? Hours, I tell you. Are they random enough? Are they interesting enough? Are they too obvious? I shake my fist in your general direction...
1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.
#1 Living in Sweden Changed My Eating Habits
While I will never get used to the idea that "fish buried until it rots" is a fine dining delicacy, my year in Sweden did expand my culinary horizons. I now love omelets, salami, cereal topped with yogurt or applesauce (instead of milk), and sandwiches without the second piece of bread. The potato chips "with that great bacon taste you love!" and the spreadable lobster paste…well…I apparently didn't live in Sweden long enough for that to sound appealing.
#2 I'm a Night Owl
I do my best work between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m., and it pains me to get up before 10 a.m. (although I often do). This sleep schedule (which will reappear even after weeks of diligently getting into bed at 9 p.m. and dragging myself out of bed at 8 a.m.) is one of the main reasons that I am so good as a student and as a self-employed business person—I set my daily routine and if I decide to stay up all night working on the Big Idea there is no reason why I can't take a nap the next afternoon. My boss is generous that way.
#3 I Have a List of Everyone that I've Had Sex With
Not a mental list—an actual written list. It's just a couple sentences about each person, the circumstances of our meeting, how good (or bad—sadly there are those too) the sex was, and how we left things. It's like my little black book, only shorter, with more graphic details. I decided to start keeping it a couple years ago when I realized the specifics of some of my earliest boyfriends were getting fuzzy in my almost-30 mind and I wanted to be sure that I would always remember their last names (and certain other things too).
#4 Ms. Wish to See Knows My Identifying Marks
From 2000 – 2002, Ms. Wish to See and I were roommates. At some point was decided—as part of being prepared for any eventuality—we should figure out several key identifying marks on each other's body so that in the case of a terrible accident and/or encounter with a serial killer who chops up bodies we would be able to make a positive ID to the police. As a result, not only does Ms. Wish to See know that I have a tattoo on my stomach, she also knows that I have the visual remains of a graphite pencil tip in my middle finger (from 6th grade) and a scar on my ass from where my C-section birth went a little wrong.
#5 The Beginning to the Movie Tarzan Always Makes Me Cry
While you might not believe it, dear reader, after following the Copious Weeping Episodes of May 2007, I am really not a crier. In fact, up until this year I hadn't cried for eons…that is, unless you count the times when I have accidentally caught the opening scenes to the Disney movie Tarzan. Have you seen it? The one where the parents get shipwrecked on the island and make a little treehouse and all seems well until they are summarily killed by the jaguar? Cast your mind back and remember the horrid Phil Collins song "You'll Be In My Heart" and picture me, tears seeping uncontrolled from my eyes, tears rolling down my cheeks, tears soaking any Kleenex that happens to be handy. I have no idea why it happens, but eight years after I first saw the movie, it still happens (and I know because Janie was watching it last week when I walked into the room at the precise moment when the song started).
#6 I Should Be Working on the Big Idea Right Now
This is the story of my life. Every time I watch an hour of television, or read a chapter of a book, or sit down to pen a blog entry, there is a little voice inside my head that whispers nasty things about how much work has piled up. And as the seconds go by, that little voice raises the volume until it is saying in quite a normal tone that I am never going to finish my projects at this rate and that I'm letting down my staff. And then before I can do much else it is screaming that I AM A TERRIBLE FAILURE. All of which makes me want to crawl under the sheets and avoid the Big Idea forever, since who wants to do work that is destined to fail? And thus goes the vicious cycle that must end soon. Today in fact, since I'm already past four deadlines and the buck has to stop somewhere.
#7 I Suffer from a Severe Case of Blog Envy
I adore Ms. NYC Rouge's blog for its uncompromising honesty (and hilarious stories about men approaching her in the subway). I love El Guapo's blog for the way it makes me laugh and then unexpectedly catches me with its poignancy—and I love reading it with a Guatemalan accent. I love Bastish's blog for its amazing photographs and reminders of my time in Japan. I worry that my own blog is not living up to the standards of "best blog I could make it"—primarily because I don't have the time (see #6 above) and that makes me want to just stop writing altogether. On the other hand, "keep a blog for 5 years" is on my list of 50 Things to Do Before I Die and since I'm not on the road to accomplishing any of the others I figure I might as well keep it up as best I can.
#8 I Spend a Lot of Time Naked—Or At Least Semi-Clothed
Part of the joys of working from home is the ability to start a morning conference call in my pajamas, and then squeeze a shower in before my next e-meeting. Because I'm constantly running behind schedule (2007 New Years Resolution is meeting with only partial success) I often find myself sitting for a 45 minute conference call wearing just a towel. And occasionally that towel is wrapped around my hair. At other times I run to the gym in the afternoon and have a repeat of the "wearing only a robe meeting" late in the day…and then there is the whole "in the middle of changing into pajamas when this great idea hit me" hour in front of the computer at night. For that reason, I'm not pushing video-conferencing, although I have all the equipment set up and ready to go. The webcam is a dangerous thing, dear readers. Use it wisely.
So, it appears as though I am expected to "tag" eight people in some sort of horrid chain mail reprisal of 7th grade. I assume that if I fail to do so I will face an unexpected and yet horrible death mere days from now. So I'll do it, begrudgingly. And if my tag-ees decline to participate? Well, that steamroller accident is on their own heads—they'll have no one to blame but themselves.
-- Mr. Bastish – I'm sure he has many random facts to bestow upon his readers.
-- Ms. Secret Blog – whose #1 random fact should be "Why I Keep My Blog a Secret"
-- Ms. Pleasant Mornings – since she needs a kick-start to her blog
-- Mr. Pilot – who did not take my advice and reserve http://mrpilotisanasshole.blogspot.com, but instead writes things about sports that I don't understand
-- Mr. Hipster Dork – although he is probably too busy listening to indie music to participate
-- Ms. Shuffle All - because I think it's fun to tag people that you used to know, but don't anymore
-- Mr. Bad Apologies and Mr. Fliven – I know they've already been tagged, but I'm going for the peer pressure approach
UPDATE: Good lord, who knew it was so difficult to post comments on people's blogs? I give up. I tried the first five and was alternately told to "come back later and try again", to register for some a sportingnews account (no thanks!), or told to log in using my Google account (double no thanks!). I feel I have upheld my end of the bargain, so the chain mail gods had better leave me alone.
Comments
Okay, you got me...
Posted by: ms. pm at July 30, 2007 03:38 PM
I shall comply as well.
Posted by: jason at July 31, 2007 12:28 PM
