I’m not a meme person (I know, I know. Everyone says that. Sue me!), but this particular meme gives me a chance to share some things about me that I may not think to share under normal circumstances. So without further ado, here are “8 Random Facts About Me”.
- I was adopted when I was six weeks old, and I count myself extremely lucky to have been chosen by the most amazing couple I’ve ever known. As a couple, M&D (aka: Mum & Dad) are an inspiration to just about everyone who knows them, and people often make a point to tell me so, though I am well aware of the fact. I was truly blessed the day the adoption agency called M&D telling them I had a birthmark on my finger and asking if they still wanted me. They still picked me, flaw (singular!) and all.
- I just may have had the perfect childhood. Mum quit nursing when they got me, and Dad was a high school teacher. We adopted my brother when I was five and he was two. Somehow, and to this day I don’t understand how, on a high school teacher’s salary we had a large house “in town” and a second “cabin” on Sugar Island AND a 27″ Chris Craft cabin cruiser (very much like this one). It was like having three homes my entire childhood. Each summer when school ended we would close up the house and move, lock, stock and barrel, to the cabin. Then, at some point during the summer, we would go on at least one boat trip to little towns in Ontario for at least a week. How all this was managed financially, I have no clue.
- In 7th grade I had a computer class for “Basic”. I learned the whole, start, print, goto, end thing and figured out how to place green pixels on a black screen. I haven’t had another computer class since then, and yet I have: 1) become a Cisco Certified Network Engineer and worked all over the country, 2) designed, created and maintained a database driven intranet for a major travel agency, and 3) worked as head of a web design department. I’m good at teaching myself how to do things that snag my interest.
- I am allergic to duck eggs. Are you? Are you sure? Have you ever had duck eggs? It is entirely possible to be allergic to duck eggs and not chicken eggs, so you’d have had to have eaten them to know. Me? I’m extremely allergic to duck eggs. I’ve imagined that one day in the not very far off future, some brilliant soul is going to find that the cure for the common cold or cancer is based entirely on using duck eggs. Great!
- I adore Photoshop. It’s an obsession really. I spend hours just fiddling with images and learning how to do new things. I can watch Bert Monroy video podcasts for hours (and admittedly, I do). Alas, this doesn’t mean I’m at all… good at it. But one day, if I keep practicing! :)
- I went to Art School at the University of Michigan. I thought after high school that I wanted to be an architect. After all, what else would I do with my mad drafting skillz?? Who knew it would take nearly twelve years to measure up to Mike Brady level? So I moved on to Industrial Design. Six years later, and I was outta there… and I haven’t even looked for a job in the field. Not my thing. Ah well. One day I will have the loans paid off for the myriad lessons learned in those years.
- Disney. I can’t write a list of things about myself without mentioning Disney. (In fact I’m watching Enchanted as I type this.) In one of my very first forays into the online world I discovered FDC. The Future Disney Cabinet, an online role-playing community (in MUCK format) featuring Disney characters. I immediately signed up and played Archimedes (from The Sword in the Stone) for several years before FDC sort of faded away as the
original members got caught up in “real life”. :) Luckily, we had become such a tight-knit group that many are still close friends both online and off. My life would have been very different without them. - I miss the water. I consider myself a boater. After all, I grew up living on the waterfront (both addresses) and vacationing on a boat. I haven’t lived near the water since leaving home, and I miss it so much. I’m literally like a fish out of water. From the time I was 5 or 6 Dad promised me a sailboat when I turned 13. When I turned 12 he surprised me a year early with a sunfish, and I was in heaven. My goal is to one day live on the water again.
So there they are, 8 things. This got a little long, so I’ll leave it at that. :)
I’m not going to tag anyone else to do this, because almost every blog I follow has already been tagged by someone else. :) But if you’re reading this I encourage you to join in, simply beacause it’s fun! Here are the rules:
- Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
- People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.
- At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names.
- Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’ve been tagged, and to read your blog.
Leave a comment if you’re going to join in, because I would love to read what you post. And enjoy!
My Gilly, short for Ghirardelli, is almost six years old, and her favorite things in the world are sunshine, me and food (in that order). If she can have one of those things at any one time, life is fantastic! Given two or (God help us) all three at once, she’s nearly apoplectic. I envied her so much at that moment, so happy with just a few rays of sunshine on her face, but then I thought, “Why shouldn’t she be happy with just that? Isn’t sunshine the whole reason you moved south in the first place?” And in fact it was.
I virtually surround myself with people I aspire to be like. Done it for years. Maybe we all do it. Most recently I’ve added several bloggers to my immediate internet circle, and while I just show up once in a while as a blip in their periphery, I do interact here and there. I’m not a blogger, but I enjoy bloggers very much. Hell, I’m not even a writer, but I play one in my mind. Maybe, by writing more often and surrounding myself with these inspiring folks (most discovered via the crafty