Friday, May 18, 2007

Too Much Information: Eight Things About Me

Chris from Book-A-Rama, Gentle Reader from Shelf Life and Niki from Keep This on the DL tagged for for the Eight Things About Me meme. I considered sticking to book related topics, but then I would not have any material to save for the Booking Through Thursday questions.



Taking a peek into the life of Literary Feline: Eight Things About Me


Cleaning House - House cleaning can be fun, especially if I turn up the stereo and do a little dance while dusting or doing other chores. I highly recommend it.

Singing - Perhaps it was my mother's influence or my innate love for music. I love to sing. I may not be very good at it, but that doesn't stop me. I began my singing career when I was a wee child, singing in a variety of choirs from the school choir, the Camp Fire Girls and Boys choir, to the church choir. In between my public performances, I belted out the tunes in my bedroom or around the house, sometimes adding a little choreography. While I no longer sing with a choir, I still find joy in singing around the house, in the car, and sometimes, when I am feeling really brave, in front of my coworkers.

Handcuffs - Anjin and I were voted the couple most likely to be married for 50 years our senior year of college. The award came in the form of plastic handcuffs. We were married three years later. I was lucky enough to marry my best friend and we are still madly in love all these years later.

Magical Trunk - It was in the 5th grade that I discovered my love for writing. My teacher (who was often secretly believed by most of the class to be a wicked witch because of her pointed nose and frosty demeanor) brought a big rather plain old trunk into the classroom. She gave us each the task of selecting an item from the trunk, and using that item, we were to come up with some sort of art project. We could draw or paint a picture, sculpt something out of clay, write a poem or a story, or make a paper mache. My object was an old lady's hat. I could not for the life of me tell you what it looked like today. What I do remember is that I came up with a fanciful story about the hat's adventures as it flew from one person to the next on the back of the wind. And I remember losing myself in the story as I wrote out each word and being so proud when I finished it. Although I did not fully understand the significance of discovering a new and productive outlet for my overactive imagination at the time, it is a moment in my life I will always treasure. Note: Mrs. Huser was one of my favorite teachers after that, no matter the names the other children called her.

First Marriage Proposal - I began pen palling during my middle school years, mostly writing to people in countries other than my own. Eventually I discovered a world of letter writers in the U.S. too, but that's another story. My first marriage proposal came when I was in high school, made by a Sri Lankan living in Saudi Arabia. He and I had been writing for a year or two. His letters were always formal and polite. In one letter he expressed his desire to marry me and asked if I would be his girlfriend. I politely declined. Anyhow, he then sent a letter asking me if he could call my brother to ask for his permission for my hand in marriage. To a very American teenage girl whose brother is three years younger than her, this was a hilarious idea of the knee slapping kind. I do not know if his intentions were legitimate or if he was looking for a ticket to the U.S. (which is more likely), but, regardless, that was the end of our correspondence.

Academics - One day during my stint in high school, a letter arrived announcing that I was being given an award by the Black Students' Union because I had made the honor roll. Hmm. The letter instructed me to check in with one of the adult representatives if I was interested in receiving the award. Of course I was! Evidently my maiden name was a common one for African Americans in the community, and so whoever was going through the list to determine who would be getting an award assumed I must be black. I am not. I was told in the kindest of ways that I would still get my certificate, but that I did not have to attend the BSU ceremony dinner where the awards would be handed out.


Early Bird - I am not an early bird. I thought I could be when I volunteered to work the early shift at my office, but so far no luck. I find that I still wake up at the last possible minute that I can with just enough time to throw myself together and get out the door and into work on time. I have trouble going to bed at a decent hour. The problem is, I prefer working the early shift because I get off work earlier and feel like I have more of the day ahead of me afterward. If only I wasn't the kind of person who was at her best with 8 to 9 hours of sleep. Instead I am lucky if I get 6.

Home - I am a U.S. Marine Corps brat. My father, now retired, was a career military man. He retired from that life while I was still young enough to have developed a taste for the nomadic lifestyle and before I was old enough to learn to resent it. I do not know if it is related, but every time I visit a new town or city, my first thought is often of whether or not I would want to live and work there. Every now and then I feel a tiny tug to move on from where I am now, the city in which I have lived for the last 10 years with my husband. I won't. Not for a long while anyway, but the desire is there as if flowing through my veins.

The Rules:
1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.
3. Although I'm supposed to tag 8 people, I am going to open the floor to anyone who might be interested in participating to do so. I am enjoying reading the answers of those who have already participated and I hope the rest of you will take time to share a little more about yourself with me as well.

18 comments:

  1. My husband has to answer to the Marine Corps for another 7 months and I cannot wait to settle down. I've had enough of this nomadic lifestyle myself. I live in a town now that you probably lived in at some point in your life. I call it Hellmouth, SC. Sound familiar?

    http://nicoleblack.wordpress.com

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  2. These memes are interesting and very revealing.

    My friend Sandi Shelton (www.sandishelton.com), another writer, did this same one (and if you haven't read her books, you really should. She writes women's fiction/chick lit with an amazing wit.

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  3. What fun little tidbits about you! Thanks for sharing! (I blast music when I clean the house too. I truly don't think I could do it without music.)

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  4. Great facts! Love your story about the inspiring teacher. And I have to have music while cleaning, otherwise I just can't do it. My house is a mess, by the way...

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  5. I love the story about the teacher too. Last year I was at a writing workshop, and the coordinator did exactly that - he brought a trunk full of strange/old/unusual objects, and he told us to pick one and write a story about it. It's a good way to get creativity flowing. It's good that you got to experience that at an early age.

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  6. Really enjoyed reading your answers, interesting! Thanks for sharing.

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  7. Very interesting answers. I remember an English teacher I had in 11th grade. She read the class a headline about a lion mauling the trainer and we had to write about it. I wrote it from the lion's viewpoint when he was standing trial. That teacher gave me a real interest in writing.

    Oh, I love to sing when I'm working around the house - so far I haven't broken any windows or had complaints from the neighbors.

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  8. Great answers! I really enjoyed reading about you.

    I married my best friend too and we have been married for 22 years. :) I highly recommend it.

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  9. Those were excellent! Thanks for playing.

    I loved the Academics and the pen pal story. Too funny.

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  10. Hi, I really enjoyed your eight things. Someone sent that one to me, and I never got around to posting. End of school thing here. I loved reading your sidebar and will make many happy returns. You've opened my eyes to many lovely possibilities!

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  11. I like the marriage proposal story! When I was travelling through Malaysia, I was proposed to once by a guy that owned a sari shop near the place we were staying. I said no, but I still wear the saris I got there!

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  12. I love to read people's answer to this Meme! It's so revealing. I think it's nice to get to know something about the people I've been spending so much time with lately!!

    I'm still laughing about your award from the Black Student Union!!

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  13. Hey Wendy, thanks for sharing with us. Enjoyed reading it all.

    It is through these memes that we get to know more about our blogger friends! :)

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  14. I absolutely enjoyed reading your meme, Wendy, it's been so much fun getting to know you a little better. I have also been tagged to do one, I hope to finish it sometime today or tomorrow.

    I am an early bird and it bugs my family that I cannot stay up to chat into the wee hours of the morning. I'm out cold by 9:00pm. For most of my working life I have done the early shift like you do now.

    Another thing we have in common is a love for pen palling! My first penfriend was a girl in Saginaw, Michigan. I have since lost touch with her, but I would love reconnect with her sometime.

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  15. Thanks for stopping by everyone!

    Nicole - We never did make it to South Carolina, or very far east for that matter. I can just bet you are reading to settle down. I have a lot of respect for military wives. It isn't easy with all the moving, the separations, and if you have kids, sometimes having to be the single parent.

    Karen - They are interesting, aren't they? I'll have to visit Sandi's blog and check her responses out (and maybe her books too). :-)

    Suey - It was not easy settling on what the write, but I'm glad I did it. Music definitely makes the housecleaning more bearable, doesn't it?

    Gentle Reader - Thank you! Right now my house is clean thanks to a weekend of cleaning, but that won't last long, I'm sure. LOL Although I had no one teacher that I would call a mentor, I've been lucky to have several in my life who inspired me in one way or another. I have great respect for teachers. It has nothing to do with the fact that my mother and brother are teachers. :-)

    Nymeth - Thanks! The trunk idea was a great idea, I agree. I can see how it would be perfect for a writing workshop. I especially liked the fact that my teacher gave us the option of what sort of art project to do based on our object. It gave us children and chance to explore ourselves a bit more.

    Quixotic - Thanks!

    Lynne - LOL - I haven't yet broken any windows while cleaning and singing yet either.

    Your writing assignment in school sounds interesting. That's another great idea for challenging young people to show off their creativity and improve their writing.

    Amy - Thank you. Congratulations on 22 years of marriage (and counting)!

    Chris - Thank you for tagging me!

    Julia - Thanks for all the kind words! Good luck with the end of the school year!

    Nyssaneala - That's a great story! I bet the saris are beautiful.

    Stephanie - I've enjoy reading everyone's responses too. :-)

    Melody - Thank you. :-)

    Lotus - Thank you so much. I look forward to reading your responses.

    As much as I hate getting up early to the alarm, I am always up early without it and so it seems that perhaps I've become more of a morning person than I want to admit.

    Every once in awhile I hear from my first pen pal. She lives in Spain. I used to think she was so sophisticated. She would draw all over her letters and envelopes, men smoking, with the smoke curling above their heads . . . Haha

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  16. This was so much fun to read, not only because I learned so many fun things about you, but because it brought back all sorts of memories for me too...I also had numerous pen pals growing up, an art form that I think is lost with the advent of the internet (though we've gained other great things). I also had a few teachers who made different impacts on my writing, most positive, some negative, but I always remember each and every one of them. Oh, and I don't sing, cuz, it's scary if I do, but I really wish I COULD sing...lol
    (if this posts twice, I apologize, I had a glitch!)

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  17. Fun! I loved reading your answers. I feel ya on the military pull to move. My father retired from the Air Force when I was 9 and when I was 12 I remember begging my parents to move because it was "time."

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  18. Karina - Yes, letter writing does seem to have gotten lost with the advent of the internet. E-mail just isn't the same. As you said though, we've gained other things through the internet though--like blogs! Haha

    Teachers have such influence over their students, don't they? It's sad when the experience or influence is negative.

    Nikki - Thank you! I don't think I ever begged my parents to move, but I know I felt that way sometimes. Even now, about every three years, I wonder why we aren't getting ready to move.

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