A Journal of My Mid-Life Crisis

18 January 1998 - Ways I'm Weird

This list is something I've actually been contemplating as a journal entry for a while. What finally triggered actually writing it is Renee's request for journal pages that contain random facts about the writer.

1. I am very nearsighted, -6.5 diopters without my glasses.
2. I learned how to make bobbin lace from a Swedish woman whose husband is pictured on a Maltese stamp.
3. My favorite painting is Van Gogh's Starry Night.
4. Except when I am traveling outside the U.S., I always wear 2 rings - one on the ring finger of my right hand and one on the index finger of my left hand.
5. I have never used a microwave oven.
6. Sunflowers give me the creeps. I have been known to cross the street to avoid walking right next to one.
7. I played several intramural sports in high school, including tennis, badminton and archery.
8. My favorite non-alcoholic beverage is Schweppes bitter lemon, though there is a lot to be said for the better brands of cream soda (e.g. IBC) and strong ginger ale.
9. My grandmother knew how to crochet but not how to knit. My mother can knit but not crochet. I taught myself how to crochet when I was about 13 and my mother taught me how to knit when I was in high school (though I didn't learn to cast on correctly for some time after that). Consequently, my mother is convinced that I will never have a daughter.
10. I don't collect dolls but my mother and brother both believe I do, with the result that I have over 100 of them.
11. My china pattern is Mikasa's Charisma Black.
12. I detest bananas. I can barely stand to be in the same room as someone eating one because the smell is so overpowering. I buy one about every five years to see if I still find them revolting and have not yet succeeded in taking more than one bite. My mother claims, however, that I loved bananas and sour cream as a child and I can tolerate things like banana bread or banana-nut muffins, though I'm not crazy about them.
13. I was on Jeopardy in 1986 and another trivia game show (The Challengers, hosted by Dick Clark) a few years later. I was also a test player for a game show based on Monopoly and got to meet Merv Griffin while doing this. The show flopped miserably and was cancelled after about a month.
14. My first stock purchase was 25 shares of Velcro.
15. I didn't get my driver's license until I was 26.
16. I can recite all of "Jabberwocky" and the "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" speech from Macbeth, but I've forgotten all the other poems I memorized for school.
17. I took six years of ballet classes.
18. I have been to 45 of the 50 states. The ones I have never been to (yet) are Iowa, Nebraska, Montana, North Dakota and Alaska. I am saving Alaska for last.
19. I don't have pierced ears.
20. I've been to six continents. In two weeks, I am going to Africa, which is my 7th.
21. My favorite animals at the zoo are bears. Especially, polar bears.
22. The only dried fruit I like is pineapple. Dried apricots are tolerable. All other dried fruit is vile.
23. When I started college, I planned to major in chemistry, go to medical school and become a researcher in neurochemistry. My degrees are all in mechanical engineering.
24. I am afraid of heights. Bridges used to be particularly nerve-wracking but I've habituated myself to them. I've also gotten pretty tolerant of glass elevators. But you will never ever get me on an open chairlift!
25. My only broken bone ever was a fracture of the tibia (ankle bone) a few years ago, which happened when I was wearing high heels and caught a heel on a step. I haven't worn high heels since.
26. I have very short fingers. Despite which, I took several years of piano lessons. My high school nickname was "twinklefingers."
27. My two fantasy jobs are science advisor to the President of the U.S. and researcher for Lonely Planet travel guides.
28. I own a pair of snowshoes.
29. I have read a lot of Barbara Cartland novels. My freshman year roommate in college had a large stash, which she stored in artillery cases.
30. My favorite ballroom dance is the tango. In general, I prefer Latin-tinged dances. I dislike the waltz.
31. My favorite flowers are white irises. A perfect bouquet consists of three white irises, one coral rose and a large fern leaf.
32. I have never seen "Citizen Kane."
33. I never set a digital alarm clock for times that end in :00 or :05. My alarm is usually set to wake me up at 5:17.
34. My only real brand loyalty involves shoes. I used to wear Capezios all the time. Now I wear Rockports and, occassionally, Hush Puppies.
35. I have never been to Yosemite. Or the Statue of Liberty.

Now, there! Wasn't that more fun than if I'd written about getting my leave of absence paperwork turned in and renting storage space and packing and packing and packing? Or my one true accomplishment of the week, which was finding out what the origin of the caber toss is? (Apparently lumberjacks in Scotland used to throw tree trunks across rivers to avoid having to carry them down to bridges. This still doesn't explain why they have to turn end over end to count, but it is a bit of an explanation.)