Saturday, September 12, 2009

Random stuff about me

 

 

I was tagged by the ever upbeat beautyjudy, Nicole, and Nessa  (note new address – hopefully it’s her last move for awhile!)to share ten random facts about myself.  Trying to think of “interesting” things to say always stumps me – like when you’re in a class or workshop and as an ice breaker they want everyone to go around sharing their name, their (major, job title, what have you), and one interesting fact.  I don’t know about you, but all of a sudden my life seems very pedestrian!  That said, I’ll try my best to think of ten of these things!  At least I’m not on the spot, ignoring everyone ahead of me while racking my brains to come up with something!

 

1)  I was a HUGE Disney fan as a kid.  I could recite the names of the Seven Dwarfs in a heartbeat (still could, actually) and the names and order of all of the Disney feature-length animated features.  I knew tons of trivial facts about Disneyland, too, such as the fact that the train station at New Orleans Square has a Morse code message tapping out Walt Disney’s opening day speech (which I also used to have memorized).  At this point in my life, I would conservatively estimate that I’ve been to Disneyland about 350 times.

 

 

2)  I fell in love with the movie The Princess Bride and had a major, major crush on Cary Elwes.  I watched that movie so many times, I could recite every line of dialogue, from the opening notes of the Nintendo’s “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” to Peter Faulk’s closing “As you wish.”  Well, except for some of Fezzik’s (Andre the Giant) lines, which I just recited phonetically.  I had no idea “pints” was “prince” until I bought the DVD years later, for example.  A lot of the lines in this scene gave me trouble, too.  I didn’t realize they were naming fencing moves.

 

 

3)  I love languages.  Not only am I constantly striving to develop a deeper, richer vocabulary in English, but I love to learn smatterings of other languages, such as Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Arabic, Dutch, and others.  Not that I’m fluent – not by a long shot – but I have a natural gift for accents, or so I’ve been told.

4)  I never travelled out of my home country until I was almost  30 years old.  (That trip was to Montreal, Quebec, Canada).  Now, however, I take the opportunities whenever they come, as often as possible.

 

 

5)  I read Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol every December.  After having seen several adaptations of it, I decided that I should read the original about fifteen years ago.  I enjoyed it so much, it’s since become a tradition.

 

 

6)  There are certain songs that I’ve gotten it into my head that I should know all of the lyrics to to be culturally literate.  Among those are “Copacabana,” “The Girl from Ipanema,” and “Hava Nagila.”

7)  I can’t stand mushrooms.  Never could.  Every time I try and take a bite, my mind tells me “It’s a fungus,” and, well, there goes the attempt.

 

Mushroom.jpg image by gardenstew

 

8)  I am fiercely loyal.  It may take a lot to gain my trust and support, but once you have it, it is very, very hard to lose it.

9)  I always send birthday cards and anniversary cards to my family members.  Sometimes they don’t get mailed until the day of their special occasion, and on rare occasions, afterwards, but they always get sent.  You better believe I have a Hallmark membership card!

10)  I very rarely had any secrets from my mother, at least later in my life.  People would tell me things and then say, “But don’t tell your mother.”  Almost invariably, if it was something I thought she should know, I’d tell her anyway.  And also tell her that I wasn’t supposed to tell her.

 

 

Now I’m supposed to tag ten blogs myself that I love to read.  Truth be told, though, I think that most people have already done their own Random Facts.  The blogs I haven’t seen this on, yet, and would love to see it from are:

Concrete and Nail Polish

Violet – Tales on an Ingénue

Aquaheart

I think I caught everyone (well, except Brooke, who is busy, and Lucy who doesn’t have her own blog – yet), but if I missed you, I assure you it’s an oversight.  Anyone else who wishes to share, please do!  having time to create the list takes the pressure off, I promise!

9 comments:

  1. thanks for sharing those! I like reading these so much :D

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  2. I loved this! I will do it this weekend! thanks for thinking of me :D

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  3. The Princess Bride is so charming! I'm not even certain how many times I have seen it. If it's on in front of me, I will watch it joyfully each time.

    I completely understand the value you place on loyalty.

    These lists are so interesting. Thank you for sharing with us. :)

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  4. thanks for sharing :-) it was interesting to read. I also love the princess bride and know it by heart :-) great movie! the book is also amazing and very very funny.

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  5. What a wonderful list! Thanks for sharing! I have the same aversion to mushrooms that you do! I wish I was so dedicated to sending birthday cards to my family! I actually have a reputation for not being able to keep my parent's birthdays straight. I can remember the month but get the date confused with two other dates every year. Luckily they still love me :) And, um, Copacabana is one of my favorite songs. I confess: I've seen Barry Manilow in concert three times. Ah! Thanks again, Nivipa, it's wonderful learning more about everyone!

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  6. Oh you sound so sweet :D Really nice facts :D

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  7. I always mean to re-read A Christmas Carol. I love the movie and watch it every Christmas no matter what part it is. How I would love to go to Disneyland! I was there once a very long time ago. Loved reading some about you. If I have my own blog I'd never get time to read everyone else's. I'm very behind now!

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  8. I will try to stop changing addresses :) Thanks for mentioning it in this post. I totally sgree with you with #2. I had a total crush on Cary Elwes until I saw him in some movie where he was a creep. I don't remember which one it was though.

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  9. Kae - Thanks! Once it didn't feel quite so intimidating, it was really a lot of fun!

    Aquaheart - Of course, my dear :) I look forward to reading yours!

    paintedladyfingers - Princess Bride truly is a classic, isn't it? About a quarter of my heritage is Italian, and sometimes I wonder if that's where my loyalty - and tendency to gesture a lot - comes from!

    Inbal - You're so welcome! Would you believe that when I read the book, I truly thought it *was* a "good parts" version of the "original"? I did not know for YEARS that it was all Goldman's imagination!

    beautyjudy - yeah, I *try* and eat 'shrooms - they're supposed to be good for you - but. . . . And PDA calendars are the only thing that makes my card sending so reliable. I work freelance, so I live and die by my calendar, and look at it daily. That's a huge help ;) And when I was very young, oh, about five or so, my mom listen to BM a LOT - I so distinctly remember hearing "I Write the Songs" and wondering why he'd even *want* to make the young girls cry! LOL! Seriously, I think he has a lot of good songs, too. Of course, I also like Kenny Rogers, so how many people admire my taste in music. . . .

    rijaH - You are so sweet to say so! Thank you!

    Lucy - Yes, I now can quote *some* of it, like "There's more of gravy than of grave about you!" that always seems to tickle me! I hope you can get back to Disneyland sometime. Of course, it's never as good "as you remember it," but it's still a fun place to be. And I know what you mean - I am way behind myself ! *hides face in shame*

    Nessa - You're quite welcome :) Cary's movie might have been the thriller "Kiss the Girls" with Morgan Freeman. But, having crushed so hard, that movie couldn't take away my happy memories, even if I'm a little past the "crush" stage of my life now, LOL!

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