Saturday, March 22, 2008

7 Things About Me

Okay, Randal tagged me for this meme ages ago and I am FINALLY getting it posted. I will not bother to list the full rules or tag anyone else for this meme (hanging head down). Essentially, the meme was to post seven things about myself/yourself that others might not know about you. I've done something like this before and had the same problem then that I do now: what seven things to post that are remotely interesting or even odd. There are plenty of oddities, believe me, but each time I tried to compile a list, I repeatedly found myself feeling bored or dissatisfied with what was chosen. I fear the list below is a product of such but here they are:

1. I use men's deodorant. I don't know exactly when this started but it was likely back in the early days of living with my ex-husband. I have always disliked women's deodorant. It seems that they all have this disgusting unnatural baby powder smell and leave a white residue (yes, even the non-scented and clear ones!). So, one day, I just started using his Old Spice deodorant and I've never gone back to women's. I've heard that women's deodorant has come along way since then, but still, I'm not buying it. I'm quite content with my Old Spice Red Zone Pure Sport.

2. As with Randal, I too wanted to be a fighter pilot when I was about 9 years old. My father had been a flight deck supervisor in the Navy and my uncle a pilot in the Airforce. I loved listening to their stories and the thought of soaring through the skies. My uncle would send me all these posters detailing the Airforce air fleet and I would hang them up all over my room. Flying has always appealed to me in general. I think it has to do with my love of the sky and my head being perpetually in the clouds! More than anything, I think it had a lot to do with my natural wanderlust. Anyway, yes, the reality of warfare, politics and conformity eventually put me in check. That and the absence of a decent hair colorist and extensive makeup counter on an aircraft carrier!

3. I am infatuated with the moon. I'm sure I've mentioned it repeatedly on this blog but I am just so enamored with the moon. It has such a powerful effect on me. I love it when the moon surprises me, which it often does. I'll be driving through the windy hills and without realizing it, the moon just appears right before me. I love full moon nights when the moon just lights up a dark roadway. Harvest moons are my favorite... those huge, low in the sky, round moons that are yellow-orange. The moon never ceases to captivate me, either. Even at home, in the various places I've lived, I will sometimes be laying in bed and feel a faint light upon me. I excitedly go to the window and sure enough, there is the moon! In fact, just last night, I was driving home from feeding my sister's ferret while she was out out town, and as I was headed back towards my place, the moon surprised me... there it was... full and mystical, a really pale yellow, low moon. I had a rough day and was really tired out. But as soon as I see the moon like that, everything else just dissipates so easily.

4. My younger sister and I ate a whole HUGE bottle of Flinstone chewable vitamins in one sitting when we were young. When my older sister found out, she freaked out. The three of us were home alone and this was back when cell phones were non-existent for the most part. My older sister's panic started to freak us out and I vividly remember sitting on the bathroom counter with my younger sister, waiting for my mom to get home and thinking that maybe we were going to die or at the very least, be violently ill. Neither of us really wanted to cough up the vitamins by throwing up, so we just sat there, very still, waiting for something that never came. I think my mom took us to the doctor when she got home but I really don't remember anything happening after being in the bathroom for what seemed like an eternity. I just have this vivid recall of sitting in the bathroom and having this very ominous feeling.

5. I hate mayonnaise and ranch dressing. I think I am the only person in the United States that does not eagerly anticipate ranch dressing for salads, fries, onion rings, veggies, etc. I really, really dislike mayonnaise and ranch dressing. I also dislike tartar sauce (naturally). My dad still gives me a hard time about this because when I was a child, anytime we would go to McDonald's after mass on Sundays (this was a treat!), I would order a fish fillet with no tartar sauce. Each time I would order such, we would always be asked to "pull forward" to a grill order parking spot, to wait longer than usual for them to make a fresh fillet sandwich with no tartar sauce. My dad still jokes in a whiny voice, "please pull forward."

6. My mom enrolled my sister and I in a young nuns club. I can't remember exactly how old I was at the time... perhaps I've blocked it out? Maybe 10 years old? But I do remember how agonizing the experience was. We didn't choose to join this "club" either. My mother really immersed herself in Catholicism when my younger sister and I were growing up and so we went to mass and Catholic gatherings quite often. Truly, I do think my mom wanted us to become nuns. Anyway, for this young nuns club we mostly did dishes and cleaning at a convent and had to listen to lectures on Catholicism, etc. And to make this experience even more miserable, we had to wear these horrible brown nun outfits. I did like the architecture of the convent. I enjoyed wandering off into the chapel, exploring little nooks and archways or meandering down the long corridors leading to rooms for people that came to the convent on retreats. I always hoped that I could have the convent to myself for a day. Alas, neither my sister nor I became a nun!

7. I love, love, love Edward Norton. Okay, this might be a sad way to end this already sad list but I really do love Edward Norton. His movies are brilliant for the most part and he is just so damn sexy to me. Do I need to say anymore about this other than... please strand me on a desert island with him?!?!

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

1. I knew a guy who used woman's secret deodorant.
2. I knew you were cool!
3. the quiznos commercial comes to mind with the little creatures except there was a spoof made online. A verse goes like this: "we like the moon because it in the sky! It's very high!..."
4.i used to like peptol bismol.
5. ditto with the ranch
6. Oh vey! You could have been Fraulein B
7. he's a cutie

Randal Graves said...

Okay, I'm going to copy.
1. I have never used woman's deodorant.
2. Do we feel the need, the need for speed?
3. The moon is indeed groovy, part of why I like winter because there's more darkness and you can still see it in the morning sometimes.
4. At least you didn't mutate. Too much vitamin B can cause extra arm growth and third eyes!
5. Woo, you rule! Thousand island is the ONLY dressing I'll eat!
6. And I thought I had it bad simply being an altar boy. Yikes!
7. He's certainly an excellent actor.

La Belette Rouge said...

I love your list and I am sad I did not find it sooner.
1. Strong enough for a man but made for a man. What is wrong with that. After all it is 2008. You can use any kind of deodorant you want.
2. I will be on the ground praying that you and Randal will make it home safely. I guess that qualifes me fro #6.
3. Symbolically the moon is the feminine.
4. Wow!! Did it leave you with the ability to propel a card forward with your feet? I ate a whole bottle of baby aspirin and a massive amount of raspberries from my grandmother's tree. My overdose required me to get my stomach pumped.
5. Blue cheese is my first choice. I do like mayo and if pressed I will eat Ranch.
6. Nun outfits!!!!
7. Oh, have I got news for you!! I cannot wait to tell you! Hee-hee!!!

Anonymous said...

LBR,
Since this is my first post responding of the day, i have to ask regarding your numbers...

4. You grandmother had a tree that grew aspirin AND raspberries? WOW.

7. Damn you woman!!! What is your great news!

B said...

Function of Time... You started something wonderful here, you realize? ;-) I shall respond accordingly:

1. Wow... really? Did he make any claims that it worked better for him? Maybe sensitive pits? :)
2. Aw... thanks. Takes one to know one!
3. I've never seen that commercial. Cute.
4. Peptol, eh? It never tasted bad to me but I'll take cherry Nyquil over that any day. When I was sick recently, I was a little worried about how good generic cherry Nyquil tasted to me!
5. YES!!!! There are others out there! Thank God!!!
6. Haha. Yeah... the nunnery did nothing to convince me that I was a bride of Catholicism!
7. Isn't he?!

B said...

Randal....

1. This is a safe place. Go ahead and try your wife's and get back to me!
2. Hell yes we do, Iceman.
3. Exactly. The mysticism of the sky in winter also makes the moon just so somber and beautiful.
4. Who said I didn't mutate? :)
5. YES!! Another anti-ranch dressing! I thought I truly was the only one and now there are three of us! I'm partial to Caesar and Vinaigrettes.
6. Altar boy, eh? Oh, could we commiserate! At least there was something kind of cool about altar boys. Believe me... nothing cool about the little nun's club... not even the uniforms. These uniforms were not like our school uniforms... the cute little plaid numbers. The nun outfits were the stiffest and ugliest brown starched things.
7. Yes, he is. I'm not only partial to his looks. Much of his appeal is his acting and general vibe/character.

B said...

LBR...

1. Damn right I will. And I think that will be my new personal anthem: strong enough for a man but made for a man. :)
2. Great. Will you also be mixing up some jack and cokes for our return while down there?
3. Yes, it is. Interestingly (or not at all), I often feel at odds about whether I regard the moon as feminine or masculine.
4. Haha. Yabba dabba doooo!! Wow... was this aspirin and raspberry consumption in one sitting and what even possessed you to do such? For us, we just had so much fun eating the little Flinstone characters, we went nuts. But the aspirin and raspberries? Sounds a bit Sylvia Plath. :)
5. I still love you!
6. In a word... HIDEOUS. Not cute in the least!!
7. News? As in, Edward Norton is your cousin and he confides in you with all his dreams, namely the recurring dream of he and I lying in tall grass together, reading poetry and staring into each other's eyes for days? SWEET!!!

Seriously, something tells me this news has a little something to do with a Texan gentleman?!?!? I can't wait to hear it, even if it isn't Edward Norton. :)

CG said...

1. I went through the stage of men's deodorant only. Then I got married and well my husband's deodorant smells disgusting on me!
2.My father wanted me to join the Lithuanian Air Force, nevermind they only have to fighters... Unfortunately I was always afraid of heights!
3. Who isn's infatuated with the moon, it's the symbol of femininity through and through as LBR has mentioned, I am a witch and I walways wait for full moon, to practice my good world peace magick...
4.I once ate a whole bottle of Multivitamins or something similar that my uncle from Canada brought me as well as medication from flu in box loads, and over dozing with paracetamol couple of years back when I had tooth ache, you can't win :P
5. My mum loved mayonnaise, she would cook a bucket load of pasta with a bucket load of mayonnaise every night for a long time and force me to join as there was nothing else. Unless it's hellman's that came on top of a hard boiled egg, it's a no-go for me!
6.I wasn't a nun, a baby nun or anything, but when I was 16 I really wanted to go to nunnery!
7.Who is that guy? I used to love certain actor called (this is REALLY EMBARRASSING) Di Caprio when I was 14, fortunately I grew out of it... I'd die if my husband found out!

P.S. I missed you, your blog and I'd love to chat with you sometime!

La Belette Rouge said...

Colleen:LOL!!!!! OMG. yes, I guess I did make it seem like my grandmother had a raspberry/baby aspirin tree/bush. But rather, I gorged on raspberries and then decided to top it of with a bottle of baby aspirins.

B: You are so deeply and profoundly funny. I love how you make me LOL!! You are right. It does sound very Sylvia Plath. I was only three years old--or close to that age when I overdosed. I love that--I overdosed at three.LOL! I wonder if I left a suicide note. No, I couldn't write yet. I bet suicide attempts at three are pretty rare.
My guess at my *real* motivation was that I thought the baby aspirin were candies.

Anonymous said...

1./ I didn't there were male and female deodorants. How do you check the sex on these things?
2./ I wanted to become a pilot too as a kid - until i took a plane from Toulouse to Paris. I didn't like it at all.
3./ Until 30 seconds ago i thought 'infatuated' meant 'to be made pregnant'. Thanks to you i learned a new word.
4./ Since you obviously survived, i'm thinking about creating a dessert recipe based on Flintstone vitamins.
5./ I like to splatter my french fries with mayonnaise and call it health food.
6./ I think more women would sign up to be nuns if Marc Jacob would re-design the outfit.
7./ I like him but not in the same way you like him. I have no interest in seeing him naked. ;-)

B said...

Carra... HI!! You're back! I'm so happy! :)

1. It can't be any men's deodorant! And it really does depend on how it smells on you personally, especially with all the other lotion and perfume we use!
2. Your talents are best used elsewhere anyway!
3. No, I appreciate that people like, even love, the moon. But I am GAGA over it. Not only do I see and appreciate its beauty, it captivates me in an almost spellbinding way.
4. Wow, so apparently eating entire bottles of vitamins and aspirin truly is a childhood rite of passage. No wonder they invented those tricky bottle caps... not that we couldn't outsmart those anyway.
5. Pasta and mayo? Ugh. I'm so sorry you had to endure such. Pasta with butter on it? Great. Mayo... yuck.
6. Did you want to go because of the solitude and great architecture? That's what appeals to me about a nunnery... the ability to read and write in a gorgeous, peaceful convent. It's the Catholicism that ruins it.
7. Who is that guy?!?! Please tell me you are kidding! Edward Norton is an INCREDIBLE actor and really the only celebrity that I truly do follow and adore. Fame usually turns me off completely but he is such an exception! Some of his best movies I'd start with if I were you: American History X, 25th Hour, and The Illusionist. Leo, eh?

I have missed you too. Looking forward to catching up with you!!

B said...

LBR... Haha. A raspberry/baby aspirin tree/bush. We are taking Sylvia Plath to a whole new level!! Ah, so the raspberries came first? I love raspberries. This encounter so has to go in your upcoming autobiography! :)

OD'ing at age 3? Perhaps you left a suicide finger painting? Just imagine... with your knowledge of symbols now, think about how profound that finger painting could be!!! :) Oh, no... I'm laughing out loud again. My cheeks still hurt from yesterday!!!

B said...

Zen...

1. I suspect you are being cheeky or odds are pretty good that you have worn women's deodorant before!
2. Oh, that just sounds so romantic. A flight from Toulouse to Paris? Heavenly. But I think I understand. I was on a little prop plane in Tahiti and can't say I enjoyed that flight at all!
3. Really?! Too funny. Seriously though, so glad you learned a new word. And I'm sure you can teach me many great French words, so don't hold back on me!
4. A Flinstone desert. Very interesting. If anyone could make that delicious, it would be you!
5. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck.
6. Yeah, if Marc Jacobs redesigns the outfit and we eliminate Catholicism or any religious rule from the whole concept, sure.
7. Haha. Now, did I ever say I wanted to see him naked? :) Okay... you win!

Anonymous said...

I love being the creator of a trend.

Richard said...

1) I use as mildly scented an antiperspirant as I can find (at the moment, Speedstick Sport - very mild talcum smell - though, sometimes I find it too much). I am not averse to using a woman's antiperspirant if I can't find something suitably muted in the men's brands. I dislike strong scents; they make my eyes water and my nose itch.

2) well, I am a boy and yes, I am strongly drawn to anything with power and speed. Piloting a fighter jet would be awesome.

3) I would love to explore the moon. But, right now, my preference would be to explore Titan.

4) depending on the kind of vitamins, there could have been more or less toxicity. Sorry, but I have never ODed on anything (unless you count consuming aspirins to the point of nausea when I have migraines).

5) I am not a fan of creamy dressing or dips of any sort (unless it is nice and sweet real whipped cream). I like and am willing to eat most foods, but balk when it comes to cold creamy stuff.

6) I have been to retreats in seminaries, but it was my own choice to go, my parents never enrolled us or encouraged us in any way - other than to make sensible choices. I have to confess, that despite being a pretty staunch RC, I balk at the notion of a "young nuns club". Ok, so I am quite iconoclastic in believing that children should be raised with appropriate moral upbringing, but be left to their own when it comes to career and vocation development. Besides which, I am strongly opposed to cloistered orders.

7) ok, I have no idea who he is.