Six Weird Things About Me

I detest those chain e-mails where you have to answer about 37 questions about yourself and copy just as many people with your answers. I'm pretty sure there aren't that many people who need to know (or care to know) my favorite ice cream flavor or the last book I read. And we all know how indescribably annoying uncalled-for "reply to all" e-mails can be, right? Exactly.

So, I am pleased to find a new take on this pesty e-mail concept. My friend Dovie has introduced me to it. Here's how it goes:

If you get tagged, write a blog post telling 6 weird things about yourself and clearly stating the rules. After you state your 6 weird things, choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you're tagged" in their comments on their respective blogs and tell them to read your blog for information as to what it all means.

OK ... here's my weirdness:

(1) Upside down faces. I cannot look at them in person. For example, if I'm sitting in a chair at a party and somebody is lying on the floor next to me, I cannot look down at them if their face would be upside down from my angle. Something about the eyelids blinking the wrong direction or other weird muscle movements that just gives me the heebie jeebies.

(2) Catfish. After 36+ years of living in Texas, I still have never eaten catfish. Ever. Not once. Not even a taste to prove that I do not like it. As a kid, I was convinced that I would not like it. Now, I consider it a "streak" that I just don't want to break.

(3) Celebrate! At some point in my life, I realized that "Celebration" by Kool & The Gang is just too good of a song to pass up. For years, one of my "rules" has been to always listen to the song if I ever come across it when flipping stations on the radio. My iPod allows me to listen to it on demand, but coming across it serendipitously is even better.

(4) Mouth noises. Can't stand 'em. I'm not referring to when people talk. I'm referring to non-talking noises: gum-smacking, chip-chewing, popcorn-crunching, etc. Basically, when food is involved, the mouth should never be open except to put the food in the mouth. The teeth should not close down on the food until the lips are closed (so as to block the sound). This includes the initial "chomp" on the chip, popcorn, or whatever. I've been known to actually leave a movie theater because of all the incessant mouth noises around me. It raises my blood pressure and I simply cannot tolerate it.

(5) Origami. If there is paper in my hands, it will be folded. Movie ticket stubs, Post-It notes, receipts, theater programs -- any paper products. I'm pretty sure it's not a nervous habit if for no other reason than it happens all the time and I'm not that nervous about stuff.

(6) Editing. Even before I had my current job, I've been editing the world around me. Without even looking for them, I find misspellings, unaligned margins, grammatical errors, inconsistent formatting and other such tragedies on restaurant menus, wedding programs, and more. In junior high school, I found a misspelling in Time magazine and thought I had won the lottery. I actually daydreamed about possibly being on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson as "the kid who taught Time a lesson" or something like that. Didn't happen.


Now, I tag David, Lori, Arshunda, Beth, Leslie and Laura.