Random

One of my best good Clay friends was inspired by a current (or now probably passe) Facebook fad of listing 25 random things about oneself, and suggested that we exchange our randomness with each other as Valentine's Day gifts.

The goal was to learn a little more about each other, which we did. As a side effect, I learned a little more about myself, including an inability to stop being random with a specified randomness count. (See # 40.)

One thing I learned is that my value for beauty is more outer-directed than inner-directed. I don't know what that means and don't really care. Another thing I learned is that I still keep a lot of things to myself. I wasn't intending to write a personal history here. There isn't anything about family or deep personal relationships in this list, whereas some of my other friends were much more divulging. That's okay, too. Their secrets are as safe with me as mine are.

1. Have lived in the same town for 38 out of 52 years (not all in a row). Have lived in the same apartment for 26 years.

2. Big wrinkly scar on my right knee from when I fell on the asphalt in seventh grade: Debbie J- stepped on the back of my shoe while we were running outside for gym class.

3. Have never dyed my hair - not even streaks.

4. I have read more novels written in the 19th century than any other century.

5. Zero debt (no mortgage, car payments, student loans, or overdue credit cards).

6. I considered majoring in psychology but changed my mind when a rat died during a lab experiment.

7. I live two miles from the hospital where I was born, and a half mile from my parents' first apartment.

8. If I won the lottery: I would buy the Baltimore Orioles. (It would need to be a BIG lottery - prices have gone up since I invented that wish when I was 15.)

9. My favorite movie: The Right Stuff (reasons - beautiful cinematography, inspiring soundtrack, Sam Shepard's cool, and Dennis Quaid's grin! I also like movies that explain men to me.)

10. I have more Michael Feinstein CDs than any other artist (excluding bootleg Clay).

11. I cried when I saw Van Gogh's "Starry Night Over the Rhone" (Museum of Modern Art, New York, January 2009).

12. I got straight A's on two out of four report cards in fourth grade, hence raising expectations of me among all subsequent teachers, dammit.

13. Listed in Who's Who in the World. One of the credits I added to my official bio was that I was a music reviewer for the Beavers On Idol fan Web site. They actually accepted that.

14. I will go to great lengths not to make a phone call to a business or a stranger. (Receiving calls is only slightly less unsettling.)

15. Was baptized a Presbyterian shortly after birth. I haven't participated in organized religion since junior high school.

16. Best TV show of all time: The Dick Van Dyke Show.

17. I collect single champagne glasses (but ran out of room to store them, so I don't buy them anymore).

18. I was born at 6:30 in the morning. That's still about the time I usually get up.

19. Had one manicure once and hated it; pedicure is inconceivable. Clip own nails on an as-needed basis.

20. I have an older half-sister somewhere out there.

21. Paralyzing self-doubt and fear of complexity have led me to assure myself that lack of ambition is completely acceptable. (Either that or I'm just very lazy.)

22. I own my own tap shoes. But since I live in an apartment with wooden floors, I can only "shuffle off to Buffalo" in bunny slippers.

23. I can needlepoint, but not knit or crochet.

24. Allergic to pet dander but love cats and dogs equally. Would probably have another cat if I lived in a bigger place.

25. Never even experimented with drugs in college (or since).

Leftover randomness:

26. Musical instruments attempted to learn: clarinet and guitar.

27. Shoe size: 8-1/2 B

28. I think these pants make my butt look big.

29. No piercings or tattoos, but have a great big mole where the sun don't shine.

30. I believe that kindness is more important than love, and actions are more important than feelings.

31. I have no full-length mirrors in my apartment. (See #28)

32. I only applied to one college.

33. My passport is currently expired.

34. My two main boyfriends from high school (Vic, tenth grade, and Jack, twelfth grade) both became pastors. (Vic was also considering politics at the time. He asked me, in all seriousness, "Would you rather be Mrs. Billy Graham or Mrs. Richard Nixon?")

35. One of my English teachers in junior high school described me as "a quiet revolutionary" and predicted I would become a civil rights worker.

36. Languages attempted to learn: Spanish (2 semesters in high school, 1 in college), French (1 semester in college)

37. I choose to believe all beliefs are choices. I am suspicious of people who express their opinions as though they are facts.

38. Favorite colors = green and pink. (Hence, favorite flower = tulip) Now that I think about it, my fondness for pink tulips may have determined my favorite colors.

39. Passed through my childbearing years without incident.

40. I apparently love thinking about myself more than I thought I did! :)

Love, hosaa
randomly