Six things you may not know about me
 

1) I can wiggle my nose. I wiggled it at Mrs. Z during our wedding to see if I could crack her up. [A bit. She restrained herself.]
2) I can still remember events from when I was 3 and 4 years old - but have trouble finding my glasses these days.
3) I •hate• artificial scents. I refuse to enter a Bath and Body store.
4) I once bought a brand new manual transmission Ford Fiesta without knowing how to drive a stick shift.
5) I laugh out loud when I listen to "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me". I listen to the podcast on my headphones while walking to work in downtown Chicago. So this gets me some strange looks.
6) I did not enjoy high school. I was a geek before geeks were cool.

Did you love that car? Mom&Popdigr bought a brand new one in 1978, they could drive a stick-shift though. It was my first car after they were done with it. It was as orange as the day is long.

We all loved that little car.

We had the manual transmission Ford Festiva. Very similar. It was the cutest red car you ever saw. Loved that car. It got like 40 MPG and the hatchback was so big, I fit a lazy boy recliner in there that I picked up at a Salvation Army. Got the hatchback closed, and only had to scootch the seat forward most of the way to drive home. Not all the way.

Attachment 46126

Festiva. Pfft.

:p:

I did. It was one of the original models made in Germany. That thing ran like a champ for many years.

It was bright yellow. I never had trouble finding it in a parking lot.

So now I challenge you all to post your own six things.

1.) My sense of humor is an absurd mix of highest-high-brow and lowest-low-brow. An obscure literary reference by David Mitchell is enough to dampen my undergarments, yet I also think Tosh.0 is one of the funniest fucking things on television. But a solid, family-friendly joke, which by all logical rights should be funny to me? Meh.

2.) You know Ross Ulbricht, the guy who made an estimated $80 million off his Silk Road website, and is now in jail accused of six murders-for-hire? I found out over Thanksgiving that he's the same Ross who was a friend of my brother's in elementary school. I even have a party photo with both of us in it, circa 2001.

3.) I once tried to dart across traffic when I was way too old to know better. A motorcyclist had to swerve to miss me, and her left shoulder hit my backpack. I totally should have died that day.

4.) My mother sent me to a Jewish summer camp one year as a kid, and assumed (correctly, I guess,) that I could pass and no one would know the difference. I didn't figure it out until years later.

5.) I viscerally hate the flavor of tangerines. I do not understand people who say they taste just like oranges; they taste nothing like oranges.

6.) I am the keynote speaker at our church's annual Ladies' Christmas Brunch this weekend. It's a little weird, but they asked me, and I couldn't really turn it down.

I bet there will be good food at the Church Ladies Christmas Brunch.

Not much that I can eat. :)

It's not that great, actually. Instead of a potluck, the hostess of each table makes a large egg casserole according to a given recipe they use every year, and then they have fruit/muffins/coffee. They do have a gluten-free table though, started a few years ago when they asked me why I never came.

1. I sang the role of Pitti-Sing in my school's production of The Mikado - 8th grade. I was twelve.
2. I had a near-drowning experience when I was 5 or 6 years old (held under water by my older sister), and in spite of officially learning to swim, I have been nervous in the water ever since.
3. I learned to play the violin in 8th grade (using my grandfather's violin) and was privileged to play in a massed orchestra at a Christmas concert in Ottawa. We played the Toy Symphony.
4. I have a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. Not so long ago, I had both my front and side splits. Working to regain that.
5. I met my best friend in 3rd grade. We are still in touch every day or two.
6. My three sons wore my christening gown for their baptisms. It was handed down from my mother's family. My granddaughter was buried in it. (I made my daughter's gown, as she was too big for the family gown when she was baptized.)

I'm sorry. I had no idea you had lost a grandchild

Thank you, Sarge. September 4, 2010.

1. I sang in the australian national youth choir as a teenager.
2. I once stopped talking to my father for 2 years.
3. I can play the trumpet, clarinet and piano.
4. I want to learn guitar.
5. I won high jump in grade 4.
6. I used to play A grade level squash.

Six things you may not know about me
 

1. I sailed from France to NYC on a 46' yawl. And from Seattle to Ketchikan on a 23' sloop, in the winter

2. I hitch-hiked from Ketchikan to Vermont. Also in the winter.

3. I rode the length of Vermont on a bicycle in a single day.

4. I have perfect pitch.

5. I am ambidextrous.

6. I've lived in over 50 places, by the time I was 5 my family had moved 9 times.

1. Virtually every time I've ridden on a motorcycle, dirt bike, or scooter, someone has gotten hurt or almost gotten hurt.

2. Every time I've gone scuba diving, I've gotten a minor nose bleed from the dry tank air. The blood just sloshed around in the bottom of the mask, but I was afraid to clear it because it might attract sharks. I cleared it anyway, and was fine.

3. I've only seen one shark while swimming in the ocean. It was when I was snorkeling, and I had no nose bleed. I prefer snorkeling.

4. In high school biology, we did these body tests that showed some sort of genetic traits. I was the only guy who was able to put my head against a wall while leaning over a desk chair, pull my head a fraction of an inch away from the wall, and then lift the chair up without losing my balance and smacking my head back into the wall. All the girls could do it and so could I. This apparently indicated that I had a smaller chest than all the guys. But when we did the lung capacity test, I had the highest lung capacity in the class by a wide margin. I'm still curious about that seeming discrepancy.

5. I've been known to throw rocks at rattle snakes.

6. In high school, I often wouldn't start my homework until after David Letterman was over at 1:30 and then I would sometimes fall asleep in school or sleep for hours in the afternoon when I got home from school. My sleep was all messed up for years.

I love that #6 about you

I would want to talk about Letterman at school with people, but almost nobody stayed up that late. It was great when I got to college and could share Letterman with people.

1) Holey-textured drop ceilings make me nauseous.
2) I have my advanced open water scuba certification from PADI, and I jumped out of a plane (no tandem) in 1984.
3) My HS 2 Mile Relay (3200 meter relay) team held the school record for 20 years.
4) I have the mortifying disorder dermatillomania...mostly confined to my left thumb. It's akin to people who compulsively pull out their hair. I thought of it for this list because of Pete doing the wiggle nose at his wedding. I have a picture where my ex and I are grinning in front of the minister and only he and I knew we were laughing because he was holding my hands to keep them apart to keep me from unconsciously picking at my thumb.
5) I'm toe-bidextrous, meaning I can do things with my toes, which will come in really 'handy' should I ever have my arms chopped off. (Or I chew or pick them off: see #4)
6) I'm funny. Really. I am.

I can do things with my toes too! I routinely pick stuff off the floor with them. Like if I miss the dirty clothes hamper, I'll pick the clothes up with my foot.

Do your toes look like asparagus? My mom always said mine do "just like your father's toes!" ;)

As to Letterman, a dorm mate in college would stay up and watch Letterman and tell me all about it. HIs show started in '82 and this was 83-84, so it was really the new big thing.

Um... No.

:eyebrow:

:lol:

I'm a toe-grabber too. But no asparagus; I actually have relatively short toes. My brother has a couple pairs of webbed toes, even.

1) I sleep a full 8 hours every night
2) I eat 3 balanced meals every day
3) I walk in straight lines
4) I have beautiful body parts
5) I smell good
6) I'm perfect in every way.

But for everyone else who is different in one way or another...


.
.
.
.

1) NOT
2) NOT
3) NOT
4) NOT
5) NOT
6) NOT

;)

1. I set fire to the bank up the side of the bridge over the motorway with my old mate Greg in the supa-heat of summer 1976.
2. I've been run over by a Spanish guy on a scooter in Gran Canaria and have four Ti screws in my left ankle.
3. I once got six Cadbury's Creme Eggs in my mouth at once during a drunken binge at a mate's house in Northern Ireland. It was a messy venture.
4. I've been working for the same company since I left school in 1983.
5. Years ago, I got banned from driving for two weeks for doing 106mph.
6. I have no sense of smell. (See #2 for the reason for this).

1. I weighed 133 pounds when I graduated in High School. I now weigh almost twice that and the doctors say a healthy weight for me is 230 lbs.
2. I played cello and trombone through high school.
3. I love to play elaborate practical jokes and I tormented my 1SG and SGM.
4. I no longer drive, except off-road, because of medications I started taking after summer camp this year. My kids bring me groceries and take me for rides.
5. In the 1980's, I appeared in several movies and TV shows as an extra.
6. I have been published in historical publications, law enforcement magazines, and hunting & fishing magazines

1. Once I'd realised where I want to live, everything else was subordinate to that (job, relationship etc had to be built in after I'd moved to here). I'm daily astonished that it's all worked out so well, given that constraint.
2. I have O level Japanese but have forgotten it all except "Watashi-wa nihongo-o hanasimasen" ("I can't speak Japanese").
3. Until Mr Limey moved in with me when I was 44 I had never co-habited with anyone.
4. I nagged my mother to give up smoking, and once she did, I started!
5. I ghost wrote a coffee-table book on dogs for my mother when she overcommitted herself one time.
6. I really, really like the idea of wearing a "signature perfume" but can never remember to put the darn stuff on.

These have been interesting. Some, I never would have guessed.

1. All my memories of my childhood before the age of around 10 are based on things my sisters have told me. I have have maybe 2-3 but I don't know if they are real. Nobody knows why.

2. I didn't come out of the closet until I was 40 and I actually was a 40 year old virgin. I've made up for lost time since then.

3. When I DID come out, I did it through a mass e-mail and every single response was the same. "We knew you were gay, we're just glad you're finally having sex!".

4. I found out in 2010 that my father is still alive. We were told he was dead by the state of NJ when our mother was dying and had applied for disability. I happened to see a NY Times news article on line with a picture of him and his 2nd wife. The article was about seniors and low-income housing. I haven't tried to contact him and never will.

5. My sense of humor on line is exactly the same in person.

6. I loved my Mom very much but never cried when she died.

I remember you posted something about your dad when you first saw that article. Pretty crazy.

I believe my sister-in-law is a gay 40-year-old virgin, too. Any tips on how to get her to come out of the closet and start living life? :)

You could confess the same to her to coax her out, then, when she does come out say, "I'm just joshing with you."

but wuh-wait until after youmakeoutwithher aaan-and take pictures for us, to tell her!

Yet another PPV Cellar fundraiser!

But look out... the ex's middle sister was relationship-free, AND played women's softball... but miraculously took up with a guy at age 50 and now they are hitched.

1) When I was a little kid I stole 6 cents from my sister. That was the only stealing I ever recall. A kid slipped me a stolen ice-cream bar at school once. I snuck the money into the till when no-one was looking.
2) I remember crying and talking to my dog when I was in middle school as he was the only being who understood me.
3) I gave the same dog the Heimlich when he was choking on a bone... and again when he retrieved it.
4) I was very afraid of girls.
5) I once ran a 5:15 mile... I was much thinner then.
6) I understand kids, adults not so much.

This is the kind of thing that makes me doubt my stance on dogs. I worry that maybe one or both of my kids will be the kind of kid who needs a dog. I grew up with two dogs (serial monogamy,) plus a rotating cast of cats, and never felt a deep emotional connection to any of them. I mean yeah, I cared in the sense that I certainly wouldn't want to see them hurt, but mostly we just cohabited. I'd hate to deny something important to my future angsty-middle-schoolers though...

One of my students got a cat last week. He needs to connect with some living thing as he has dealt with a lot of loss. I am a little worried for the animal but so far so good.

I probably couldn't care less about horses, but my wife grew up with them.
She claims that girls develop very special bonds with horses, and I do believe her.

And, for me, boys and dogs develop those kind of bonds too.
Maybe it connected them for their role of hunters in our past, I don't know.

As for cats...

I don't really buy into cats either.

On the dog thing, it's important to remember that man has bred dogs since forever so if you take your time you should be able to match your kids with a breed that has whatever qualities you think will help foster a connection. Some dogs will pester, some will be aloof, others will stay nearby waiting patiently for any scrap of contact.

If you're lucky, a cat will abuse you regularly rather than killing you outright.

1) I played the viola in school 1st chair
2) I love to look (sometimes buy) ugly [different] antique ceramics/porcelain
3) I love tools and working on mechanical things
4) When I was 15 I ran away to Florida for a week with a girlfriend.
5) My experience and views on dog breeding and exhibiting have been published in several books and in several languages.
6) My grandfather spent time in a German concentration camp for buying groceries to feed the Jewish families that lived on his street.

...and a C G D A to you too !

People who are into horses develop special bonds with their horse. I have known one or two lads who were mental about horses.

People who are into dogs develop special bonds with their dog. I am a dog person, I have been obsessed with dogs since I was knee high to a very small grasshopper. As a young lass, I was at my happiest when it was just me and my dogs. And that hasn't changed.

On the other hand I've never been all that drawn to horses.

But Dana, all Dwellars know you are the exception to many rules ;)

ha! True enough.

I think we have a romantic image sometimes around certain pairings: a girl with her horse/pony, a boy and his dog, etc.

The special bond is between a human and an animal. I don't think there's any real gender difference in how we relate, or what animals we relate to. I just think there's a cultural leaning towards seeing a difference

Dana is exceptional but she is not the exception... I have loved dogs since I knew how to say the word. I grew up with horses but they are meh to me. I do love cows too.

All the junior high chicks drew horses on their notebooks. That's all I know.

Yes all.

Horses really weren't that big of a thing at my school. My recollection is that probably 1 in 5 girls were into horses and ponies and stuff.

The ratio was pretty close to 1 in 1 here, but this is in Texas where a fair number of girls actually rode horses on a regular basis, so we're not a representative sample. I loved riding them, but I didn't love them. On the other hand, I also directed a performance of Equus in college, so maybe I was venting some pent up emotions I didn't know I had.

I agree with Dana that it's the connection you feel - whether to a cat, dog, or horse. I was crazy for horses from a young age and have never lost that. I found out soon enough that horses (hunters/jumpers, anyway) are for rich people only and my family wasn't even close - but I still love horses and riding. I loved my chocolate Lab, Molly, and I've loved many of the cats I've cared for and bred - not every single one, because they're individuals like all animals. I gave each one my best but there are some that touched my heart more than others. I love the intelligent ones; they connect emotionally just as dogs do.

1. You guys know everything about me.
2. I still can't think of anything I haven't told you
3. Holy shit, my entire life is on the cellar
4. I'm tempted to do something awful so I can reveal it here
5. Nope, I talked about that
6. I'm out of ways to say this

I saw Equus on Broadway twice. Once with Anthony Hopkins and once with Anthony Perkins. My dad thought it would be funny to be able to say he saw the play with each Anthony.

Ahhh, Equus.

I remember the buzz that went round our class when word got out we'd be watching Equus in class. The boys were all terribly excited about seeing Jenny Agutter in the nuddy.