Tuesday, December 2, 2008

7 Random (and Sorta Weird) Facts About Me


Right before the Thanksgiving holiday,Miriam Salpeter tagged me for this meme, but I was rushing out the door for time with family, so I'm just getting around to playing along. Here goes:

1. I know firsthand the pain of layoffs. When I was a college senior, my Dad was laid off from a job he'd had for more than 20 years. The refinery employing more than 900 people closed, devastating my small town. I managed to piece together some scholarship money to finish the last year of school. My Dad, 10 months from retirement, lost his entire pension. For the next several years, he ran a gas station to make ends meet.

2. I hate wooden spoons. And popsicle sticks. Just writing about them makes the hairs stand up on my arms.

3. I had a '72 Cutlass when I was in high school. I now kick myself for getting rid of it whenever I watch those muscle car auctions on television. Who knew that today some fool would pay $7 million for it?

4. I've never had writer's block. Go ahead, hate me.

5. I never get tired of interviewing people. Being paid to be snoopy? Heaven.

6. I once had a woman write me a letter about her miserable career, and say she wanted to kill herself. I immediately called the local authorities. I never did find out what happened, but I think of her often whenever I write workplace stories. I know that people often are truly in a lot of pain.

7. I love turtles. During the summer, when they seem to want to cross the road all the time, I'll pull my car over, get out, pick up a turtle and carry it to the other side of the road so it doesn't get run over. I can tell you I don't do the same for armadillos or possums. They're on their own.

Here are the people I'm tagging for this meme:

Marsha Keeffer

Robyn McMaster

Ian Tang

Virginia Backaitis

Dan McCarthy

Diane Danielson

Lindsay Olson

Here are the rules for my fellow bloggers:

• Link your original tagger(s), and list these rules on your blog.

• Share seven facts about yourself in the post - some random, some weird.

• Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.

• Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs and/or Twitter.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

great reading as always from you. I found this facinating, we share a hate for wooden popsticks on teeth ugwwwwh. And a love for snooping and interviewing people.
I love dogs though.
My next post will be this meme.
Thanks for the entertainment Anita.

Anita said...

Donna,
Ha! I got wooden spoons as a gift one time, and I promptly threw them away. I like dogs, and even have one. But I'm really a cat person. One day I'll be that weird lady with 30 cats who talks to herself. (I'm well on my way.)

Robyn McMaster, PhD said...

Hi Anita, this looks like fun and let's see what ingredients I can stir into the soup. I think I might have done this previously, but it might be fun to process again.

Anita said...

Robyn,
I had also done it before, and between that and Twitter, I thought I didn't have much more to reveal about myself. Guess I do!
Thanks for playing along.

Anonymous said...

Anita -
Thanks for playing! While I can't say I'd stop and rescue a turtle (never really had the opportunity, come to think of it), my college roommate gave me a stuffed turtle to help me write my senior thesis. (Don't ask.) Anyway, since then, I have a soft spot for turtles.

So, maybe we're uncovering something here...You love turtles and have no writer's block...A turtle helped me write my thesis...Gotta be something scientific in there!

Anita said...

Miriam,
OK, if you ever get writer's block, then all you have to do is channel the turtle and all will be well, right? :D

Jannie Funster said...

OMG I hate the thought of a wooden spoon or a popsicle stick scraping across my teeth.

Now I'm sorry I even thought about it. (But of course, you brought it up!) Must try to switch now to thoughts of happy little kittens asleep in a basket. Or bunnies frolicking in the spring grass.

Anita said...

Jannie,
You know, I'm beginning to think it's a miracle they sell ANY popsicles based on how people feel about that wooden stick. Aack!

Anonymous said...

Anita, uh oh, this will be fun! I too hate those wooden spoons. But popsicle sticks! I used to chew the sticks to pieces when I was kid just to make sure I got all the flavor out.

Anita said...

Lindsay,
OMG, I literally shivered when I read your comment. Now you've got to share what makes YOUR skin crawl!

Anonymous said...

Hi Anita,

Looks like we have a lot on common.

Ditto about wooden popsicle sticks being icky (but wooden spoons don't bother me).

I had a '72 Cutlass, too. Mine was gold with a white vinyl top. But my first car (in high school) was a '67 Mustang. Wish I'd kept that! (Even with the floorboards rusting out.)

I do get writer's block sometimes, but only when I've been assigned to write about something I don't want to write about. Must be some sort of mental rebellion.

I had turtles when I was little (the tiny ones most kids have, in with the little plastic, palm tree decorated turtle habitat). I also had salamanders (caught those myself). They got along fine with the turtles.

I am a lifelong cat person. Willie is the cat currently running our lives. And I'm also a dog person (though I'm currently dogless).

Very interesting getting to know you better - thanks for sharing!

Anita said...

Bonnie,
Wow! Thanks for sharing so many things about yourself! It's fun getting to know you, also.

Anonymous said...

Ohhh, chalkboard scratching is what gets me. I could barely get through class as a kid hearing the chalk on the board. I don't even like to touch chalk. Dry erase boards are the best invention ever!

Anonymous said...

That was painful reading about your Dad--so close to retirement only to lose it all. :(

I thought maybe you were going to share that you eat only blue M & M's or something like that. :)

Anita said...

Karen,
It was a sad time for my family, but I think it's helped me really understand what people are going through right now.

I think everyone knows all my M&M secrets now...although the blue ones are best for low-energy days...

Floyd Davenport said...

Nice. I can never think of the simple things that make us who we are.

Anita said...

Floyd,
Why not play along? If you have a blog, let me know so I can visit it and read seven things about you. Try it -- might be fun!

David Benjamin said...

I've really enjoyed these 7 Random facts meme. Nice to learn about the people we say we are looking to build working relationships with.

Now, with that being said. Wondering if you'd like to get s popsickle on a wooden stick with me sometime?

Anita said...

David,
Oh, that was low! :) Now the hairs on my arm are standing up again!!