5 Things That Make Me Unique
The tag for this post comes from GoldenSilence. It was a fun exercise to pick 5 things to tell you about myself that you would probably never have otherwise known. There are probably just a couple of people who would not be surprised by these things.1. When I first learned to write (with my left hand), I wrote from right to left and all the letters were reversed. You had to use a mirror to decipher what I wrote, which was probably my name over and over and over. This was the first indication that my brain doesn't work the same way everyone else's does.
2. When I was 6 years old, I commandeered the sewing machine, making it my most favorite form of enjoyment for many years. At first it was just doll clothes, but by 4th grade I had started making a lot of my clothes. I loved to design clothes by combining patterns and inventing new ones. I made entire Barbie doll wardrobes for $10.
3. I am one of the most unathletic people you will ever run into. But when I was 12, I won a "junior" golf tournament at my country club. I can't say there was an enormous field of competition but I do remember making one round with a girl whose mother was as good at cheating as she was. I still have my one and only trophy. I still occasionally enjoy playing golf.
4. Along with my reluctance to try new technology was my reluctance to drive a stick-shift car. Only at age 34 when we suddenly had 2 cars that were both standard transmission did I learn how. At first I was petrified of getting stuck on a hill, but today I can drive my stick-shift Honda Accord effortlessly. It's my one triumph over a big fear that I'm really proud of.
5. My father's 5th cousin is Sonja Haraldsen, the Queen of Norway. She added red blood back into a very blue line of royalty. The common people in Norway adore their Queen, who is a big supporter of people with disabilities. So you can curtsy or bow the next time you see me!
Instead of tagging specific people, I'll invite anyone reading to reveal 5 things about yourself that I might not know. What a great way to learn more about why we are the unique individuals that we are!
posted by Barbara at 12:32 PM
12 Comments:
I'll try to remember to curtsy. :)
1. When I was in 5th grade I won a regional spelling bee competition but I was sick for the state competition and couldn't compete.
2. When I was a sophomore in high school my date and I won a dance contest. The prize was a stuffed animal: an octopus....that I put on my bed.
3. I could recite the alphabet backwards when I was 3 1/2.
4. I didn't get my drivers' license until the morning before my afternoon doctor's appointment to find out if I was pregnant....1969. My husband sent me off in the car to the appointment--my first "solo" drive.
5. My first flight was to visit a fiance who was stationed with the army in GA. It involved changing planes 3 times. A horrific experience to end up spending 3 hours with him.
Kristin -- Your family is Norwegian also, right? Who knows, we might be related!
Kate -- What an interesting list of "uniquenesses"! My mother was much like you, getting her driver's license the week before I started kindergarten.
One that I thought of later, which is unique to our family but not in and of itself:
For years wherever we lived my husband wrote letters to the editor of the local paper. None of them were ever published. I have written one letter, to the editor of the Washington Post. It was not only published, they had an artist draw an accompanying picture. I don't think Frank has ever gotten over it! :-)
Kate -- Care to share the famous WaPo letter?
I'm too tired for five things, but here's one: I didn't eat tomatoes until I was 28 years old. Just the thought of them made me sick, until one day when I just... changed my mind.
1. I generally don't eat foods that I consider to be mushy, except mashed potatoes. The reason apparently has to do with catching my mom "hiding" some medicine I was supposed to take as a young child into mushy foods that I otherwise loved.
2. When I was 12 years old, I was a ballgirl for John McEnroe. He embarassed me on the court -- but I now love showing people the videotape of it.
3. When I was in college, my grandfather (as I later found out) wrote a letter to newly-appointed Justice Ginsburg praising me to the hilt, letting her know that I was currently without summer employment, and asking if she could find a place for me that summer that would aid me in reaching my goals. He did not get a response.
4. I am an excellent typist. I learned from the best, a typing teacher named Mr. Klick -- he was born to have that job.
5. My maternal great-grandfather was a leader in the Ladies Garment Workers Union in its heyday and had one of the world's largest collections of Yiddish books in his apartment in NY. After his death, the collection was donated to McGill University, and the book about the collection includes some nice history about him as well.
MOTHER OF INVENTION SAID:
I never learned to drive a stickshift!
I am the most untechy inclined person there is..hence dodging the imminent changeover to new blogger by signing ANON! The next time I loging , they said I HAD to switch and I have no idea what I'm doing so I'm leaving it for a day!
It took me a long time before I'd take my feet off the bottom of a lake even with a lifejacket on!
I have lousy printing and writing for a Gr. 3 teacher.
I went to Sunday School partly to get the perfect attendance pin jewelry!
I do not cook well.
I used to ski on snow but never managed to get up and stay up long on waterskis.
MOI -- You are one of the most humble, honest people I've ever encountered. I earned Girl Scout badges much for the same reason that you went for the attendance pin. You and I must have been the last hold-outs on switching to the New Blogger. I did it only when I had to and it really wasn't hard or painful. The only thing that still seems to be a little off is my post time. But that's just a detail. Make the plunge!
I’ll keep my tomato secret to myself I guess, here’s 5 others. No one knows that:
1) I used to be able to control thunderstorms (still can under particular circumstances).
2) Two things that always make me judge other people are littering and parking in the fire lane for non-emergencies (running in to get your coffee is not an emergency).
3) I have partway scaled the outside of Rockefeller Chapel (stupid, stupid, stupid) and climbed to the third floor of Ida Noyes Hall (got locked out of Grey City and had a deadline)
4) I have performed in public repeatedly, fronting a band, coffee shop amateur stuff, part of an ensemble, even acted on stage at the Kennedy Center in an obvious role.
5) I have fucked up in so many career paths on the way to finding my current one.
Quentin --
(1) I'll keep your weather wizardry in mind the next time we're threatened with a thunderstorm. My yellow dog Jake goes apeshit when he hears thunder, so I'm always looking for a way to avoid it. Seriously I'm impressed. You and Reya should talk about this over coffee...
(2) I loved your self description this AM as a litter Nazi. I can just imagine the look on that girl's face when you picked up the garbage she dropped and gave it back to her.
(3) I don't know where these high places are so I don't know whether to be impressed or disgusted at your Spiderman activities.
(4) I can just picture you as a stand-up comedian, but what role did you play at the Kennedy Center?!
(5) The last one definitely does not make you unique. Most of us have fucked up a few times in figuring out what we would be when we grew up. I'm just glad you persevered. I can't imagine coming to you for help with physics...
OI SAID:
Thanks, Barbara! Yes, I am pretty much an open book! You should see the expressions on my face...dead give-aways!
If I had a techy inclined husband like you do, I'd be more confident but I don't even know any bloggers close enough to atually come over and help.
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