Random Sunday: Tagged

 

I keep getting tagged, which is when another blogger “tags” you and you´re supposed to write six things about yourself nobody knows and tag six other people and then do your laundry and invent a moon rocket, and … I forget.  Seriously, I talk about personal stuff on here all the time.  What´s left, my menstrual cycle?  Anyway…

1) My children´s real names are not, in fact, Diva, Enigma, Hecate and Buckethead.  This information is provided as a public service announcement for those of you who think those are my cats, or that I am weirder than I actually am.

2)  I view clothing fundamentally as costume.  I can dress appropriately when required (wedding, church, church wedding) but otherwise all bets are off. I blame my impoverished college years and my petite, curvy dimensions that lend themselves to vintage clothing whoredom.  I probably own more than the average amount of get-ups appropriate for a job as the cocktail hostess in a retro bar.  I have several beautiful pairs of vintage orthopedic lace-up “granny” shoes which happen to be in style right now, but I wear them even when they aren´t.

3) I grew up in the last house on a dead-end street, 30 feet from the county cemetery — the de facto playground of all the neighborhood kids.  We played hide and seek among the gravestones and monuments, built forts on the piles of dirt from freshly dug graves, sledded down the hill on our Flexible Flyers when it snowed, and climbed trees.  My dad still lives in that house.  I never remember how creepy other people find this until I see their faces.  I look at that cemetery and think: fun! 

4) I paint and draw, not because I have mad skilz in that department but because it gives me pleasure.  Today´s illustration – my black and white watercolor study of pears. 

5) I am nearsighted and astigmatic.  Every day I wake up and experience the revelation of greeting the world in 20/20 vision, because every night I sleep in hard contacts that help shape my cornea (there´s a three-week tedious adjustment in sizes, followed by permanent lenses.)  I could not have Lasik for medical reasons, and I can´t tolerate soft contacts for a full day because of my allergies and general dry eye.  I hated glasses, although I wore them for years because I had no other choice.  If you´re interested in this non-surgical and reversible procedure, click here.  I am in no way associated with anyone who makes money on this stuff.  If you have any questions, ask them, I´m happy to answer.

6)  Your turn!   Go ahead.  Tell us something about you nobody on here knows.

  • dinazad says:

    Great pears, I’m jealous of your talent!

    As long as I can remember, since around kindergarden, I wanted to be a redhead (reds have way more fun, in my opinion). And now, thanks to the regular use of henna, I am! :):d

    In third grade I broke off one of my front teeth. I couldn’t get it fixed before my jaws were fully grown. I enjoyed it a lot: as a child because I could do lots of pretty disgusting things with porridge, pudding or similar stuff, as a grown up because I had dentists congregate around me wherever I went. Eventually I did have the tooth fixed, but I rather miss the attention I got from all those dentists.

    I adore the smell of henna: on hair, but especially on skin. I wish they’d make a perfume of it.

    I’ve lived in two places which were haunted (in one of them the ghost was especially fond of moaning from behind the soup tins).

    I love perfume blogs and sites because very often they point me towards interesting books (thank you for that Eiseley poem a while back, March – I’ve bought several of his books since) which have nothing to do with perfume (I love books more than I love perfume and perfume more than scarves or earrings. Which is saying a lot.)

    • sweetlife says:

      Hey Dinazad! People of the Labyrinth’s A-Maze has a strong henna note in it.

      Loved reading all these comments even though I was too late to play…

    • March says:

      So glad to hear about the Eiseley! It’s wonderful to discover a new author to follow. Sometimes, though, I have this weird angry reaction — how could I have lived so long before running across THIS?!?!

      Hmmm, wonder if I should take the redhead survey along with the migraine survey? I think there are a lot of redheads on here, natural and otherwise. 🙂

  • Elle says:

    Wow! Love those pears! I’m w/ you on drawing and painting for pure pleasure. It’s a form of meditation for me. I used to design and build very whimsical children’s furniture (my doctorate was in Slavic Lit. – completely impractical and never have used it, so all my work has always been in oddball alternative fields) and had a blast painting those pieces, but eventually gave it up due to an aversion to power tools and a desire to keep all of my fingers. Another thing very few people know about me is that I was a vedic astrologer, but it’s a bit too fatalistic for me, so that also is a part of my past.
    I love your attitude towards clothing! 🙂 I adore clothes that make me smile and have a real obsession w/ colors and textures in clothing.

    • dinazad says:

      I did Slavic literature and languages as well (I only finished with an MA, though). A very nice field of study, but it doesn’t really leave you with many alternatives when it comes to choosing a profession after you’ve finished your studies, does it?

      • Elle says:

        Exactly. I really did love it, but DH was also in academia and, frankly, it’s almost impossible to be hired as professors at universities in the same town if you’re both in liberal arts (he was in Poli Sci). I’m still somewhat bemused by how many years I put into something that I’ve never used and, even at the time, sort of knew I never would.
        Oh, and I share your desire to be a redhead. Both of my parents had red hair, so I think it’s brutally unfair that I don’t. I’ve tried *every* possible shade of red, but none look good w/ my skin – again, very unfair! I’m also w/ you on loving books more than perfume and I have an awkwardly substantial collection of scarves. I simply can’t resist them.

    • March says:

      That is … the coolest thing. I love the furniture building. Although I hear you on the fingers, I know a couple people, cabinet makers and handy people, who are missing bits and digits. I hear they come off in a flash but are more difficult to put back on.

      Colors and textures. Sigh. I have bought things that are ocmpletely impractical and ridiculous and don’t fit simply because they are beautiful. I don’t want to wear them. I want to look at and touch (and sometimes smell) them.

  • Aparatchick says:

    My claim to fame used to be that I spoke Russian. This was back in the 70’s when only CIA/NSA spooks or professors did. Now every 3rd person I meet does, so it’s not anywhere near as impressive. :-w

    So…

    1. I used to work in a zoo. No, a real zoo. With animals.
    2. I was once one of those “princesses” you see waiving at people from parade floats.
    3. I play a mean game of croquet.
    4. I spent years convincing my little brother that Santa was real so that my mother would have to continue to buy “Santa presents” for all of us.
    5. I’ve been fingerprinted more times than I can count.
    6. I can’t cook. I don’t even know how our oven works.

    😮

    • Louise says:

      Oooh, I am so curious about #5. For my current job (high school teacher), I needed to be finger printed…my first time, I think. And sadly, I am told I have no printable ridges, no prints at all (they needed to do FBI check, etc). So, what did they print you for /:) ??? Can you tell :-ss ???

    • March says:

      Of course Santa’s real. What are you suggesting? 😕

      I’m guessing some suspicious part of the govt’ like the CIA, but then, why over and over? hmmmm…..

      I have a dear friend who cannot cook a thing. Her husband was out of town a couple years ago and she was having people over for cocktails. They’d lived in that house 15+ years. She had to summon me at the last minute because she had no idea how to operate the oven — the stove she’d sorted out at some point, I think for the kettle. 🙂

      • Aparatchick says:

        As you may have guessed from my screen name, I’ve worked for various government agencies from time to time. Nothing as interesting as spy stuff 🙁 , always financials. So I’ve been fingerprinted so much that I can actually do fingerprinting myself!

        • March says:

          Financials! Of course. I should have guessed. I worked for a financial services company. They fingerprint everyone, to the extent that some of the newbies seemed surprised about it.

  • chayaruchama says:

    I love the pears !

    I’ve been a weightlifter for over 30 years; I lifted almost up until delivery.The firefighters would ask for a spot, then RUN LIKE HELL…

    I’m the most terminally serious person you’ll ever meet, and probably also the most psychic.And geekiest.

    I adore color, even though I wear a poopload of black; I don’t know why.

    I’m a closet Carmelite, and would make a fine Vatican 1 Catholic.
    I love religious ritual of all kinds.

    My favorite saints are St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Dympna, St. Jerome [ love those geeky cranky hermit types with nasty toenails- see Ruben’s painting, LOL].
    Also, Hildegarde of Bingen and Teresa of Avila.
    And Reb Sussye, the kindest tsaddik ever.
    And the current Dalai Lama- he sooooo hot !

    I’m a gregarious loner.

    I wear makeup only to protect myself from evil… SERIOUSLY.
    For its talismanic, shielding effect, so that I can keep mnanipulative forces at bay.
    I can live with myself as I really am.

    • March says:

      Chaya, hey, sweetie. How are you? <:d<

      You have the most beautiful eyes and skin, and I should have known about the weights — you look very strong (I was distracted by the red red lipstick, a great look on you.)

  • Musette says:

    Just came back from a gorgeous ride (gorgeous pears, btw – March you are too severe upon yourself; you have real talent. Keep at it!) and I realized one of my 6

    1. I love autumn (I am an avowed Tropicalista, so this is sort of shocking to me) – weirder still, I love autumn in the country!:o

    Others I already knew:
    2. I love hand to hand combat, preferably with a larger, stronger opponent
    3. I am terrified of icky things indoors (like unfinished basements or attics, bad plumbing, or holes in walls with the potential for scary stuff to come out)

    4. I have a wildly inappropriate love for pale, English roses (I live in the harsh Midwest) and pale, romantic colors and fabrics (pale pink silk organza?), which suit me Not At All.

    5. I’m embarrassed to say that I’m no longer into raising puppies, though they are charming. We just rescued a little boxer mix, smart as a whip – and his Puppyhood can’t morph into Dogdom quick enough for me!:”>
    6. I adore vintage Bollinger and would drink a case of it, were I able to afford it.

    xo>-)

    • March says:

      Oh, I don’t know. I think it would have to be the right pale English rose. I bet you could grow them in the right microclimate — you’d have to protect them in some southern-facing area. And okay, maybe not an entire pale pink dress but I can see a shirt, your nails, a scarf, etc.

      I was just talking with a friend today — the only thing that appeals to me about the idea of kickboxing is being able to kick and hit on something. You, on the other hand, could basically break me in two. 🙂 So I’ll feed you scent samples and paint your nails instead.

      • Musette says:

        Which is why I love fighting guys over 250, gets a lot of the aggression out – though Chaya can probably give me a run for my simoleans. I know this is in the wrong place but Chaya: YOU LIFTED ALMOST TO DELIVERY? That must’ve been the shortest delivery on record!!! Dang!

        However……March, I suspect that you would be able to kill the life out of anybody (and I mean ANYBODY) who put your kids in peril. That’s the funny thing about motherhood, innit? Size Does Not Matter.

        xo>-)

  • mollypenny74 says:

    I love those pears! Nice work. For sale?

    What the posse doesn’t know about me is, err, everything. So for starters, I work for Albuquerque’s alternative weekly newspaper, Alibi. And even though I hate numbers and finance I’m a bookkeeper. And something more interesting about me is that my newly ex-husband lives with a former good girlfriend across the street from my current boyfriend. 😮

  • Olfacta says:

    The wierdest job I ever had: Selling slides of graphic sexual activity to school districts so they could use them for developmentally disabled kids living in group homes and institutions. Apparently, pregnancies were a problem, so these slides were supposed to enlighten the kids about what “sex” was. This was my second job out of college.

    Also, I think I might be allergic to oakmoss.

    • March says:

      Hah — so the oakmoss allergy is TRUE! Hmmmmm.

      That sounds like an … interesting job. I was a college intern at the US Public Health Service right at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic and my job was to scan gay magazines for stories that might mention the USPHS, general AIDS info, etc. I learned all sorts of fascinating cultural and sexual information.

  • MarkDavid says:

    Hmm, lets see…

    1. I think the man I am today is due, in no small part, to the Gin I had yesterday. And the man I’ll be tomorrow? The gin I’ll have today.
    2. I love frogs. I used to raise Poison Dart Frogs and rare gliding tree frogs from Borneo.
    3. I would love to vanish for a year to some remote indigenous location and live amongst the people. African wilderness or some island in the South Pacific or something. Or even just be raised by wolves. Some experience drastically different than what I know. Mongolia, maybe?
    4. I love to wear hats. Trilbys, fedoras, etc. But I get “hat head” after only 30 seconds of wearing one. So I rarely wear them b/c I could never bring myself to wear one inside. So my hat collection has been resigned to my 1-block walk to the mailbox to drop off Netflix.
    5. I secretly hate perfume. It’s true.
    6. I decant all of my liquor into crystal decanters. I think liquor bottles are unsightly. I also take all of the dustcovers off of my books before displaying them. Interior Designer or Anal Retentive? I’ll let you decide.

    • mollypenny74 says:

      3 reasons why you’re awesome-
      “Or even just be raised by wolves.”
      “I decant all of my liquor into crystal decanters. I think liquor bottles are unsightly. ”
      “I also take all of the dustcovers off of my books before displaying them” :)>-

    • March says:

      I love your hat head conundrum! Good for you for not trompling around inside in one. And I like frogs too although am sad because I hear they are disappearing, along with turtles. And bees. And a fair number of other useful and wonderful creatures sensitive to climate.

  • Shelley says:

    I was getting ready to write, when I was stopped dead by the advertisement that shows at the moment: Obituary Archive. Which started me pondering, how in the world did the match algorithm place obituaries with perfume…and I looked back up at the title of the post…

    “Tagged,” indeed.
    =))

    I’ll come back later, when I’m not so stiff…

    • Shelley says:

      Okay, all better now. 🙂

      I tend not to have the weird jobs, but know/be friends with those who do. But I can tell you the fascinating details of the journey of effluent, from its initial entry into the waste stream through the completion of its treatment…courtesy an instructional video I made for a major international waster hauler and treatment company.

      March, I’ve had fantastically fun times when visiting a house on a lake with a graveyard behind it. Talk about the ultimate round of Ghost in the Graveyard…

      • March says:

        The Journey of Effluent!!!

        Wait, did they call the video …. “Sh!t Happens”?

        Sigh. Probably not.

        BTW I am pretty sure some of our ads scan the daily copy and try to match it up, so would not be at all surprised by the obituary ad.

  • Erin T / Tigs says:

    Well, being the chatty Kathy that I am, I’m not sure there’s much I haven’t let slip at one time or another. Hrm. There *is* my odd employment history. It continues to be odd, but my university years are probably most interesting: I was in cooperative education all through undergrad and I was variously:
    a) a copy writer at a small internet company that was doing a Swedish porn site;
    b) a technical writer editing a manual for correctional facilities on how to accurately test for pyschopathy/antisocial personality disorder;
    c) an assistant field biologist who used a backpack generator to electrically stun salmon (and sometimes myself) in order to tag and sample the fish for conservation purposes.

    Would happily hang your pears in my house.

    • Louise says:

      Are the pears related to Lynne1962’s #3? :d/

    • moongrrl says:

      LOLing at the vision of you attempting to stun salmon. 🙂

      I thought I had done some strange and undignified things in the name of science, but you have trumped me!

    • March says:

      You have me totally beat in the interesting jobs department. And I hope your latest interesting job is over soon. >:d<

  • Lynne1962 says:

    1. I’m an old, old broad with a new appreciation of “niche” (that’s why we’re all here—to get our perfume obsession fix!!)
    2. I play piano
    3. I have 2 things in common with Dolly Parton
    4. I don’t have the gift of gab,,unlike you, March :))
    5. Love dogs!!
    6. My DH thinks all the new packages are swaps, not purchases!
    Love your pears!!

    • March says:

      If 1962 is your birth year and not, I don’t know, your favorite random number, then you are not old, old.

      I love dogs too. Our poodle never makes it on here. He’s a 10-year old sub-standard (joking, joking! the size is “moyen” I think it’s spelled) with a wonderful personality and a little too smart for his own good.

      Hah, the SWAP scam! Also, I get various other small pkgs on eBay (kids shoes etc) and am always careful to point out to husband, this is NOT perfume. [-(

      • Francesca says:

        1. I love very dry martinis (gin, of course) with a twist;
        2. I also love frighteningly smelly cheese (one favorite is called Stinking Bishop);
        3. I’m a practicing Witch.

    • Olfacta says:

      OMG I thought I was the only one who pulled the swap scam on my DH!

      • Lee says:

        Matt sees thru all that chicanery straight away. I’ve given up on it.

        • March says:

          Agh, remember the “going to London for perfume” drama?

          • Musette says:

            Tell ALL! I once went to San Francisco for dim sum but I think you got me beat.

            xo>-)

          • March says:

            I’m not sure I should say … we had him sneaking off to London to buy perfume (it’s a hoof from where he lives) and one day his SO found a train ticket and, um, wasn’t buying the “shopping for perfume” explanation.

          • Lee says:

            Matt thought I was having some tempestuous affair with a youthful city hunk. I wasn’t. I was buying perfume. And that’s why being honest’s easier – if I hadn’t concealed the perfume buying first of all, he wouldn’t have thunk I was up to shuffling shenanigans and jiggery pokery….

            Love my daft man, even in suspicious mode.

  • Louise says:

    March, I’m not sure there’s much you don’t know about me, or that the rest is of interest to others…but here goes :d/

    1) I remain a hard-core Westerner; whatever “gloss” you see is a thin veneer over the Oregonian gal
    2) I prefer black licorice to chocolate
    3) I drink Scotch neat-my only booze adventure
    4) I beleive I was born a redhead, and aliens changed me to brunette shortly after birth, and thus am bound to restore my Natural Match regularly
    5) I dropped out of high school, then got a doctorate
    6) I am far more eccentric than anyone could imagine, but still the most “normal” in my family

    • March says:

      I did not know most of those things! You licorice fiends are hardcore. 😮 Do you like those scary salted ones? :-ss

      I think you and I are both spiritual redheads. ~:>

    • Vasily says:

      I too am a licorice fiend. Think of the crazed marijuana fiend piano player in Reefer Madness with licorice sticks hanging out of his mouth instead of doobies. Here is Licorice International, a great source for licorice:

      http://licoriceinternational.com/

      And of course the Magic of Licorice, a nonprofit dedicated to promotion of (what else) licorice:

      http://www.licorice.org/

      Regarding salted licorice: do you prefer single, double, or triple salt? I’d eat it more often if it weren’t for my blood pressure. Licorice is bad enough, but adding salt to it … 🙂

    • MarkDavid says:

      “I dropped out of High School, then got a Doctorate.”

      You rock. I love this.
      And I love you! Muah!

  • Lee says:

    Marvellous pears.

    1) I have a thing for pyjamas. Of the matching top and bottom suit kind. Buy me winciette and I’m yours all winter.
    2) I love quinces.
    3) My favourite winter drink is a whisky mac – blended malt with ginger wine. I save the single malt Islay for special occasions.
    4) I’m a heavy duty Americanophile, shaped by too much postgraduate study. This means I’m obsessed with your election.
    5)I can’t choose between sea and mountains.
    6)I’m a good dancer.

    • March says:

      Oh, I love pjs on men! I wish I could get the Cheese to wear them. He sleeps au natural … which is just fine too. 😉 I’m sure he’d be delighted to see I put that detail in here. And I have never eaten a quince, although I love the smell of the fruits, I used to live near a quince tree. What do they taste like?

      • Lee says:

        Oh, pjs are strictly for daywear!;)

        Quince – it’s more the smell as they ripen in your house than the taste. I don’t think you eat them raw – I love membrillo, that thick spanish jam paste that you have with salty cheese… yum scrum!

        • Amarie says:

          We have a lot of old quince trees in Tasmania- remnant of our colonial past. They are a lot like a furry pear but you have to cpoach them and then their creamy white flesh goes a beautiful soft pink.:x

          • March says:

            I keep smelling them in my mind. I wonder whether anyone makes a quince fragrance?

          • Quince Lover aka Dusan says:

            March, about quince frags – I know just one and even that one doesn’t have quince in it as an official note, well, not to my knowledge anyway, but it’s there, trust me 😉 Laura Biagotti Venezia, a discontinued gem, is what you’re looking for – tart quince, sandalwood and vanilla goodness, really fab. I do hear (can’t remember where I read, maybe Basenotes?) that (a smart) someone bought off the license and that the ‘new’ Venezia (going by the same name) is every bit as lovely as Biagotti’s. Me, I love the fruit AND the frag!

          • Lee says:

            I love that soft off-pink colour!

  • carlene says:

    Please don’t dismiss your artistic talent like that. That pear study is beautiful!!