Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Tagged! (photos at the end--please persevere!)

I actually got tagged, by name, for one of those meme things. I was curious about what a "meme" actually meant, so I consulted that tried and true source: Wikipedia. And this is what I found:


Richard Dawkins coined the term meme, which first
came into popular use with the publication of his book
The Selfish Gene in 1976. Dawkins based the word on
a shortening of the Greek "mimeme" (something
imitated), making it sound similar to "gene". The concept
received relatively little attention until the late 1980s
when several academics took it up, most prominently
American philosopher and cognitive scientist Daniel
Dennett, who promoted the idea firstly in his book on
the philosophy of mind, Consciousness Explained (1991),
and then in Darwin's Dangerous Idea (1995).


Interesting, no? (Bonus Fact: I took Ancient Greek my last semster of law school. Eric and I had to do a real song and dance to convince the Dean of Students it was a legitimate request. I got an A. I still cannot write the Greek alphabet).


Anyway, I was tagged by Miss Malice and challenged to reveal 7 random facts about myself. People, there are rules:


Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about
themselves. Those tagged need to write in their
blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need
to tag seven others and list their names on your blog.
You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in
their comments so they know that they have been tagged
and to read your blog.


Ok, I realize this entry is starting to resemble an academic dissertation. Please bear with me.


1. I read in ths shower. Yes, you read that right. I always have, probably always will.


It's simple, if you want to learn how. Just hold the book in your left (or weakest) hand, use your right (or dominant) hand to do all the washing.


Once you get more advanced, you'll be able to switch hands and hold the book at impossible angles so you can continue reading even while rinsing conditioner from your hair with nary a drop of water touching the book.


I can even read magazines and 800 page tomes while enjoying a cleansing shower. I've been doing this since age 6, people.


2. Also related to reading, because that is a huge part of my life, I grew up in a very touristy area of Kentucky, Cave City, and thus, the first word I ever learned to read was "Motel". When I was in kindergarten, I got my photo in the paper for reading a sixth grade book to an actual class of sixth graders.


I'm glad I wasn't a boy because I so would have had my ass kicked on the playground that day.


A few more: when I got in trouble, my parents would ground me from reading and order me to watch TV as my punishment; I would pull out my current book and read between words on elementary school spelling tests.


3. I am a nerd.


4. I am a dyed-in-the-wool (hee!) Democrat. I come from a family of Republicans, and I don't think my parents have ever gotten over me registering as a Democrat the day I turned 18. I ended up majoring in political science in college. I started the Knit Blue KAL (email me to join!).


5. I hate wet bread. It makes me gag. My husband knows this, and when I am cleaning the kitchen and I call him in to push biscuits or pancakes or whatever down the garbage disposal, or rinse caked-on pizza crust off the pizza pan, he doesn't even have to ask what my problem is.


I also hate orange juice. Whether this is due to my mother crushing baby aspirin and spooning it to me partially-dissolved in orange juice, or my orange juice-addicted sister leaving glasses of it around the house to form graceful, yet disgusting, moldy crusts is yet to be determined.


I have a strong suspicion it's a combination of both.


6. I love my husband. Truly, madly, deepy, always. He's the person I turst, the person I rely on, the person who is always on my side.


My parents have been married since 1968, and Paul's parents celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2004. The day Paul and I got married, my mom told me if we screwed it up, we certainly couldn't blame it on them.


I really don't think that will be a problem.


7. Paul says that he thinks it's weird that I can watch a whole movie or TV show, and then just get up and walk away with ten minutes left to go. He also thinks it's weird that I love books, but I hate going to the bookstore.


Hee, this list makes me think I am a weirdo.


Ok, I am going to tag 7 random people from my Bloglines list:


Sheepish Annie

Mouse (currently attending my alma mater!)

Amy

BrownPants

Jill (aka NapLover)

Katie

Criminy Jickets

Ok, photos.


I could add number 8 to the list and say I had no idea wine could freeze:



Whoops!


Also, this is totally my new favorite miter aquare:



Or this one:



Er, or this one:



Thanks for sticking with me! I apologize for the looong post. I vow to be more pithy next time.

13 comments:

Sheepish Annie said...

I'm on it! I've done it before, but I have a vast storehouse of weirdness upon which to draw. It's sort of scary, actually...

Knit and fall back in it said...

Seven random facts about me have been posted. Still in love with all of your mitres. How many have you completed now?

J. Denae said...

I have posted my facts... that was much harder than I thought it would be considering that's what I post most of the time!

Marianne said...

Are you kidding? this was a great post! Reading while taking a shower, amazing! I'm thinking you may just be the only one!

Melissa said...

The pure alcohol won't freeze, but the other stuff will. Take a swig of the liquid and it should be almost 100% alcohol. The frozen part is the sugars and juices which give the wine it's flavor.
Same is the case with a frozen drink. That's why they are always slushy...

Anonymous said...

My husband reads in the shower too, I'm yet to master the skill of reading in the bath without getting the book wet, so leave the shower reading up to him. I did have my nose in a book continuously through school though.

Your mitres are looking lovely.

Leah said...

I didn't know wine could freeze either! Hmmmmm!

Anonymous said...

It's going to be hard to beat reading in the shower!! I'll have to try it, though...

Irie said...

i'm amazed by your talent of reading in the shower! not sure i should try and start this one, as you've already had a lifetime of practice... :)

i have a similar gag reflex to sour milk, or milk that *might* be sour, even milk that is fresh but for some reason i imagined a sour smell when i went to smell it. I have my vegan boyfriend dispose of such wastes, bless his heart, he does it with nary a whimper.

Michelle said...

Oh, the glory of miters! What great random facts. Don't think I could manage the 'reading in the shower' thing, though.

jdenslow said...

I would have never thought of trying to read in the shower, but as soon as my rotator cuff is functioning normally again (uhmmm...yeah...not just baseball players get this...crafters with very heavy boxes stored overhead do, as well), I'm going to pick a book I might be able to bear sacrificing to the dampness and try it out.

Also...my dream is to have a child that must be grounded from reading. One of my favorite students of all time was constantly being grounded from reading anything other than textbooks, but there was no way for his parents to police him as he navigated the high school halls with an open book. He's a bit bitter that he graduated before I began teaching "Reading for Pleasure," which is just what it sounds like. We (my students and I) read for a solid forty minutes everyday.

It's heaven.

BrownPants said...

Aha! Duly noted!

JenW!~ said...

Wow never tried reading in the shower. I have read in the tub though.