7 things about me

Julie entaggened me with this meme to list seven random factoidals about yourself...so without any further ado:

1) One of the earliest things I remember wanting to be when I grew up was a veterinarian. I was so into the idea of being a veterinarian that my mom even arranged for me to be able to come spend the day at our local vet's office a few times, and man, those guys were having a great time up there. For serious. They let me do little stuff here and there like prep exam rooms, sit in on examinations, help hold massive beast dogs while shots were administered. I once pulled a Doogie Howser and walked into an exam room where a lady was waiting with her dog and totally started in with all the usual questions that I'd heard the vets ask. I didn't know the significance of the answers, but I nodded my head seriously all the same. I think they even let me come back after that little stunt.

2) Completely without meaning to, I tend to pick up on the most random lines of dialogue from movies and plays. I get the clever catchy lines too, sure, but for some reason the tiniest little throwaway lines will get stuck in my head. I suppose it could be from having written a few plays and having an appreciation for how much work goes into even the simplest of exchanges. Of course, when I do say something even remotely clever, people usually want to know what movie it was from. They always seem disappointed that it was just me. Maybe I'll start making up answers to that question.

3) I LOVE to tie knots. Not to mention splices and lashings. Gimme a decent length of rope and I am el ocupado for a good while. What this means, of course, is that when there is a demand for a knot to be tied, the expectations are high. You sure as hell don't want to have to tell people about how your Ikea bed that wouldn't fit in the back of your Outback went flying off the roof because your knots sucked. I think they take away your Eagle Scout if that gets out. Oh look, bonus fact: I'm an Eagle Scout.

4) One of my favorite breakfasts in the world is a little something I call the Halitosis Special. It basically involves really spicy breakfast tacos (the 3 Alarm Tacos at Magnolia Cafe are perfect) and piping hot coffee. That jalapeno spice burn coupled with hot coffee, mmm good! Of course, it's mostly decaf these days, but the effect is still there.

5) I won first place in a spelling bee in first grade. I won first place in a science fair in 8th grade. I was going to a Baptist school at the time, but my project didn't have anything to do with creationism vs. evolution, so I think it's still an honest win. It was something about electromagnets.

6) The house I grew up in had mirror tiled ceiling in the bathroom. Kinky, I know. When I was little, I used to look up at the ceiling constantly while I was in the shower to make sure nobody was sneaking up on me, which there never was because I was an only child, but since I was an only child I was left alone to imagine all sorts of things like people sneaking up on me in the shower. I was very thankful to have the mirrored ceiling there as a warning system. Then I learned that vampires didn't cast reflections in mirrors and it was no longer sufficient to just check the mirror, I had to actually look out the curtain.

7) Every time I'm driving down the road and I see somebody dressed up as a corporate mascot dancing around and trying to get people to pull in and try the chicken, eggrolls, Michelins, whatever, I am very disappointed in that person and I want to yell at them to get some self-respect. I know, it's probably some kid, but still.

So there's 7 about me. I'm tagging Jason and Jeff.