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| Charleston, S.C. |
Lowandslow challenged me to come up with seven interesting things that everyone might not know about me. I don't usually do these things but since he is one of my loyal readers and a frequent commenter (thank you, thank you!), I will do my best. Here we go:
1. I once won $10,000 in travel from the old Rhodes Furniture store on Sam Rittenburg Hwy. My kids were younger then and I dropped them off with my parents for the summer and went around the world. I rode a train through the Canadian Rockies, hiked on Vancouver Island, explored Hong Kong, stayed on a houseboat in Kashmir, enjoyed a lazy canal boat in France and finished off in London. I spent every last cent.
2. Although I am not opposed to eating meat I rarely cook it. I live on scrappy salads at work and simple healthy meals at home. A friend recently told me I was a "lazy vegetarian".
3. I took my own delivery pictures. Shut up. Don't picture it.
4. I grew up without a tv and had only seen three movies by the time I was seventeen: The Sound of Music, Ben Hur and Love Story. I've been making up for it ever since.
5. I walked across England from coast to coast and at the end I weighed exactly to the dot what I weighed when I started. I kept thinking I was going to walk off all those big English breakfasts. Ooops.
6. I consider flavored tea hot juice. Yuck.
7. I once failed a septic tank inspectors course in West Virginia and I'm still pissed about it. It was a rainy afternoon, I was hanging out with a couple of hippies and tagged along. I never wanted to be a septic tank inspector but they failed me because they didn't want a little gal passing the test, no one stood up for me and I didn't fight it. Grrrrr.
Whew. Seven. That's it! I am not going to name anyone but if you drop by please join the fun and come up with seven things most people might not know about you. I mean YOU. Leave a note in comments letting us know you are playing along so we can read them.
34 comments:
First off, I love that house, Joan. One of my favorites.
Second...
I have a Master's in English, a specialization in film...more specifically, Post WWII Polish horror. I know almost everything there is to know about Polanski, and I'm absolutely obsessed with him.
I also love Woody Allen, buy boycotted him for a while after the Soon Yi debacle. I eventually gave that up as Hannah and her Sisters is my favorite movie and I can't go too long without seeing it.
I love New York more than any place on earth and would move back there in a second. I can't imagine living here for the rest of my life.
I've dated an Emmy winner and an Oscar nominee.
I was a sleepwalker as a child. I very clearly remember being outside of the house in the middle of the night and thinking that my parents were in the barn. I don't remember anything past that, but my folks found me with very dirty feet, so I think I went looking for them.
There is a treasure map hidden on the wall of my closet in my childhood bedroom.
Once I watched Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet while reading along with the original, checking every single line for accuracy.
Oh! I guess #8 should be that my real name is Rebecca
~angel
rebaccah - those are great! It is a fun way to learn about people. My sister was a sleepwalker so I know about that.
I'll play!
1. My friend and I were the first girls to ever take auto shop at our high school in Southern California. I believe it was summer of '76. Three guys got up and walked out when we showed up for the first day and the rest of them laughed and told them how dumb they were for doing that. ;)
2. If I knew then what I know now and had it to do all over again, I'd be an archaeologist. I'm so jealous when people get to be the first ones to touch something untouched by humans for centuries. The subject fascinates me and I read about it every chance I get.
3. I'm a native Californian and that is where I fell in love with the South. I lived close enough to Disneyland in Anaheim during high school that I've been there at least a couple hundred times and my favorite ride of them all was "Pirates of the Caribbean" in "New Orleans Square." Most especially the beginning where you ride in a boat down a calm river past quiet homes with spanish moss hanging down and fireflies everywhere and the humid air smelling sweet. That's when I decided I wanted to live here. It took a couple decades but I finally made it and it has more than lived up to all my fantasies.
4. I hate my first name. I try from time to time to modify it and be known to all by a nickname that I like, but it seems so complicated and contrived that I eventually give up.
5. I'm something of a tomboy. I like driving trucks and shooting guns and watching action-adventure movies. In high school, I street-raced my '57 Chevy with a stock 283 and won every time. My husband says I speak "both languages" and that my ability to "translate" is a valuable asset. Hmmm. I should mention that I also like pretty things, especially jewelry, and I sew and garden and I love interior decorating, too.
6. I like my coffee very strong and very dark and just coffee. My daddy teased me when I was first drinking coffee at around 15 years old by calling it "kool-aid" when I put cream and/or sugar in it. So I learned to do without and now that's the only way I drink it. Someone famous (I forget who) once said that coffee you can see through is a waste of time. That's about right.
7. I have a horrible temper. Fortunately, there are only a few things that set it off, so it only shows itself rarely but when it does, it's not pretty. I do try to control it, I really do. It has gotten better as I age. God Bless the other half of my soul (my darling husband) who has nearly infinite patience and still loves me anyway.
May I play, too?
1. My maternal grandparents were immigrants, arriving at Ellis Island from Slovenia with 2 little boys and not much more.
2. I played Glenda the Good Witch in my 6th grade production of The Wizard of Oz. I still know all the words to her song 'Come out, come out, wherever your are.....'
3. I grew up in the 'burbs of Chicago, LOVED baseball as a teenager and wanted to be a sports writer. Jack Brickhouse, well known Chicago Cubs broadcaster for years, published a response in our local newspaper to a letter I had written him about it, saying that it was a noble cause but that women would NEVER become sports writers as they would never be allowed in locker rooms. I never did become a sports writer - but there are plenty of women sports writers/reporters today.
4. I lived on a small island in the Aleutians and whilst there experienced an 8.0 earthquake.
5. After my 25-year marriage broke down and we divorced, I met a lovely English man online. We married (going on 9 years now!), lived in the States for awhile, and in 2010 literally sold it all - EVERYTHING - to move back to England, where we now live. Starting over in your mid-50's ain't easy.
6. I find the subject of TEA to be fascinating. I have spoken and led workshops on the subject, and conceived/developed/led a tea-themed tour to London.
7. The beauty of poetry can make me cry.
Denise - This is fascinating! What a great way to learn about people. I still admire you for packing it all up for a new adventure.
LeeAnne - Archeology would be great although you have made a great life for yourself. I wonder what I would have been if I knew I had choices. I came fresh from India only aware of Nursing or Teaching. I always thought my name was too simple and boring. Thanks for playing along!
This is grand. Every one of you could be a book if not an action movie. Keep 'em coming!
Sounds like you actually lived out Jules Vere's "Around the World in 80 Days". How cool. Thanks for playing along. Others seemed to like playing, too. :)
S
what a wonderful post this is. a beautiful house, seven interesting things about you, and then these amazing comments. i don't have time to play but i'll try anyway. 1. i got thrown out of typing class in high school in the 1960s by mrs. chesterton for wearing pants. 2. i saw the broadway production of 'hair' with my sister in its first season. 3. both of my children were born at home. 4. i don't care how much my wrinkles show, i always point my face toward the sun. 5. sometimes i wish i could trade places with my cat. 6. at my fastest i typed 150 works per minute with 0 mistakes. so there, mrs. chesterton 7. i still have a baby tooth in my mouth.
1. I have a BA in Spanish, read and speak it fluently, although I have never been to a country where Spanish is the native tongue, and my ancestry is English/Irish/Scottish/Australian.
2. I collect and smoke tobacco pipes.
3. If I could only pick one food? Popcorn, homemade in oil, with salt and grated parmesan cheese.
4. I love to drive. As long as I have good music with me.
5. If I had the money to buy a new car, I would prefer to buy a classic muscle car and trick it out.
6. My garden is a part of my soul, an extension of my self.
7. I want to see Hamlet performed in Shakespeare's own theater someday. I've watched Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet at least 20 times, and though I will never tire of it, I would love to see where it all began.
What a great way to learn about people.
brattcat - Thrown out of typing class - you are soooooo bad! Love that you had your kids at home. Amen on the wrinkles. Thanks for sharing!
Marcheline - we gotta get you to a Spanish speaking country! I'll let you drive and pick out the music. I'll bring the popcorn. :))
Love the picture of the house. Charleston has so many beautiful sights!
Fun game and interesting stuff about all your readers! Let's see if I can come up with seven things...
1. English is my second language, but if someone at work needs spelling or grammar help, they come to me.
2. I lived in South Carolina for over seven years while owning a car that had no air.
3. I was born at home. So were my three siblings after me. While the first three children were born late in the afternoon, the fourth one was born in the morning, which prompted my father to ask my mother if she thought she would be OK to help with that evening's milking of the cows. We all believe that was the reason child No. 5 was born in the hospital.
4. I would crawl over broken glass for chocolate (though I've never had to do it...yet)
5. When my middle son was born weighing in at 9 lbs 13 oz, my doctor said that he was probably 10 pounds, but, "...he peed all over me before I could get him on the scale."
6. I drive a car with a manual transmission.
7. A few days before I got married to my husband, I went to a clothing store. The salesperson asked me if he could help me, I said, "Just looking for a dress, I'm going to a wedding."
1. I won the all-ages musket shooting contest at age 10 at camp.
2. My academic nemesis from 1st through 6th grade became a Rhodes Scholar.
3. I rarely wore my retainer.
4. I drove my car from downtown Charleston to Kiawah without using my hands. It was a stick shift. I also taught myself how to do a high-pitched whistle and shell and eat a mouthful of sunflower seeds like a big-leaguer on the same drive over the summer of 1983.
5. In high school, I went to the Pablo Cruise concert with the Homecoming Queen.
6. Surprised how comfortable a red mini-dress is in August.
7. I broke my hand playing pickup basketball at the playground and did not tell my wife. She would have made me go to the ER and they would have casted it. I was afraid of losing my vacation and her not allowing me to go snowboarding 3 weeks later. I bought a splint and wore it when I was alone.
Pixel...I've done that "no air" briefly in the south but wouldn't want to do it for long. Tough lady, you mother! I got that chocolate issue too. Wow...big babies you have! Fun to learn more about you. Thanks for playing along. I love these.
Your Red Dress comment gave you away :) I don't ask every good looking gentleman to slip into a red dress and play under the oaks. Wearing a splint in secret - that might be a first. I still can't picture how you drove the car...I'll need more on that.
No wonder I love my readers. You are all so interesting!
Love the house and would enjoy living there!
Why didn't Low and Slow add his seven things? This activity seems so egocentric but I LOVE it. Interesting details. How I wish that I could win 10,000 dollars. You spent it wisely! God love your parents for taking the kids.
MY SEVEN...
1. My parents spoke both German and French, but I learned neither one.
2. I would be happy to spend the rest of my life traveling from country to country, state to state.
3. I have traveled to Israel, Poland, South Africa (twice), India, the USSR (twice), Germany, Italy, France, England, Spain, Canada, Mexico (many times), Guatemala, El Salvador, Singapore, Thailand and Bali.
4. When younger I fantasized about becoming a photo journalist.
5. I want to learn how to weave.
6. My husband and I eloped in Chicago in 1962 and just celebrated (quietly) our 50th anniversary.
7. I am a former flight attendant and still love flying.
PS. I did not fly to all of these countries while working as a flight attendant; I was too exhausted. I went to these countries, lived briefly in some of them, but traveled mostly during the summer when I was not teaching. DH patiently took care of the two kids while he was working and I was flitting about the world.
1. I sat through Wagner's Ring in Seattle and it took a week to get over its emotional wringer.
2. I've met six people who ran for president. Two won.
3. I saw Benny Goodman perform the clarinet concerto Aaron Copland composed for him.
4. I've seen 10 of the 15 known paintings by Leonardo.
5. Garrison Keillor has read messages to me on The Prairie Home Companion- twice.
6. I've been on a pilgrimage to the tomb of Georges Melies, on whose work the film Hugo is based.
OK, so I forgot a seventh, but I feel vainglorious enough as is. Nuff said.
Lowandslow posted his on his own blog. Since not all of my commenters have blogs this made sense. You are a traveler! I eloped too but mine didn't last as long as yours. I had no idea you were a flight attendant. I love learning all these things!
Waldo - I loooove learning all these quirky eccentricities. Thank you! If we combine all these we can come up with new commercials for the Worlds Most Interesting Man. Or Woman.
Nice shot!
Taking your own delivery pictures???!!!! Now that's what I call being born with a camera in your hand! :-)
1) I received a personal thank-you note from George H.W. Bush.
2) His son Neil tried to pick me up when he was campaigning for his brother. N liked my Slinky dog so much I said, "Oh, please, take it," and fled the building. He gave it to his dad.
2) I owned and showed horses for 15 years.
3) I never learned to do counted cross-stitch. All the samplers in my home are--oh the shame--stamped patterns.
4) One day in 2009 I realized I hadn't eaten meat in two weeks, so I gave it up altogether.
5) I secretly think a lot of People in Whole Foods don't look so good. Iron deficiency, perhaps?
6) I grew up in the boondocks--real Southern Gothic stuff--and clawed my way to the bright lights of the big city, swearing I'd never leave. I now live in a tiny rural village where horses outnumber people. Never say never.
7) I knew I didn't want children when I was 11 years old.
Anon - Good ones! I think this is what we should have to do to apply for jobs. This tells more about a person than a resume. Thanks for playing along!
I tend to agree about Whole Foods. Not always bursting with happy energy are they?
Hahah!
Joan, I read your posts anonymously every weekend, but had to leave a note on this one after I stopped chuckling (is that how you spell it?). Can't believe you weren't down a few pounds from England.
Kathy - I don't think you ate as much as I did. I felt like I was earning those big English breakfasts and enjoyed every bite :))
#1 - that is so awesome. how incredibly lucky!
#2 - love it!
#3 - impressive.
#4 - would you ever go by your middle name?
#5 - what a life you have!
I am indeed very lucky. I didn't even put my really freaky ones down. Didn't want to scare people. I don't have a middle name. Neither do my kids.
I came across your blog when looking for Charleston pix. We're planning a visit for the first time in July, and I'm loving these sneak peaks into what I might see.
On another note, I'm so jealous of your #1, and your #5 just cracks me up. That's just the luck, isn't it?
Thanks for dropping by! You will enjoy your visit. Plan for hot and humid in July! The ocean will be a big warm bathtub.
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