Thursday, February 08, 2007

How weird do I have to admit to?

Nancy tagged me to share six weird things about me. This is my first time to be tagged. It's kind of exciting, I'll admit. Perhaps Nancy just needed to find six people who had not already done this meme. But I want to think she made a careful selection from among some of her favorite blogs. So while others may moan about being tagged, I feel oddly giddy. A virgin experience. In fact, I think I'm looking forward to this enough that this alone qualifies as #1.

2. Not sure if this is weird or just an intense fear, but I have an unreasonable aversion to snakes. All snakes. Teeny, tiny snakes are as frightening as giant ones. But it isn't just that I don't want to hold them or walk among them. No, I don't even want to see a picture of one. If I'm reading a magazine and turn the page to find a picture of a snake, I get a huge surge of fear. As you can imagine, commercials for the movie Snakes On A Plane almost made me stop watching TV for a while.

3. I went snow skiing one time in my life. In high school, while living in Mississippi, a group of us went to Colorado to ski. I knew nothing of skiing. It looked pretty easy on TV. If they could do moguls and jumps and all that, surely I could slide down the hill. Wrong. I spent the first couple of hours on the bunny hill, feeling silly and falling. And then I got talked into going to the top. What was I thinking? I fell down about 486 times in the first 20 yards or so. My friends tried to help me. Strangers tried to help me. I thought perhaps I could just sit down and scoot to the bottom. Do you realize how far the bottom is from the top? Well, scooting wasn't gonna work. Eventually they sent some rescue boy with a little stretcher who strapped me in and skied down the hill with me sliding behind him. I felt stupid and relieved. And spent the rest of the trip playing poker in the hotel.

4. I love eating potato chips. This is my junk food weakness. And I never realized I had a little ritual about it till people at work starting imitating me. Apparently I select one chip at a time, eat that one chip, lick the tip of each finger that was holding the chip, then wipe my hand on my pants. Then start over with chip #2. I see nothing weird about that...but others do!

5. I have way more women friends than men friends. I don't think of this as weird, but my wife assures me it is at least unusual. Maybe it is because I'm a teacher and work in a building populated primarily by professional women. Maybe it is because I grew up in the south where the majority of men only stopped working on their trucks long enough to hunt....and I know nothing of trucks or motors and can't stand the idea of hunting. I do pump my own gas but that's the extent of my motor car know-how. And I shot a bird one time with a BB gun and then cried when I had to shoot it a second time to kill it so it wouldn't suffer. I don't know the reason. But yeah, more women friends than men friends. Just saying.

6. I'm gonna count this as #6 cause it is driving me crazy...and that is probably weird. I'm supposed to tag six more people. But who? Even should I? Some people don't tag...they just invite anyone who wants to continue. But others tag because that is the rules of the game. Well, I'm very rule-governed. But I don't want to impose a burden. I didn't feel burdened at all by this, but perhaps others do? In an effort to appease all parts of my brain, I'll split the difference and tag three people. And I think the struggle over this whole thing is pretty weird! LOL

Okay....three others to take a crack at it...Tom and his cake of doom, Abby (between classes), and my friend Jill who probably wants to share six weird things like she wants more snow in Texas! My apologies if I've burdened you, but these things do have rules! :)

16 comments:

ZZZZZZZ said...

Great things! Is it weird that I have a weakness for subway turkey sandwiches? I just love the Italian herbs and cheese bread and the american cheese.... turkey... mild peppers... mayo.. oh geez, now I'm starving!!!!

Baron Ectar said...

You and I have the same fear of snakes. I hate them all!

I grew up in Kansas - I can count my friends on one hand and four of them are women.

Radioactive Tori said...

Snakes scare the crap out of me. We had a snake hole (I don't know what it is supposed to be called, but the hole where the snake lives) in our backyard and I whined like a baby for my husband to "do something" about it. Since I don't believe in killing animals, he couldn't do that, so I honestly have no idea what he did, but he assures me they are gone. I bet he lied and they are still there. Or he killed them and didn't tell me.

Also, I have way more friends that are guys than girls. Interesting.

Angel said...

What is it with guys and snakes? Baron is afraid of snakes too!

I'm afraid of clowns.

You need to tell my husband that a man CAN be "just freinds" with a woman...he seems to think it impossible.

carmilevy said...

I've always found it easier to be friends with women than with men. I think they're simply more rational, less likely to be guided by machismo.

Either that or I'm a wee bit too sensitive for my own good.

Whatever works, I guess...

Anonymous said...

Here from Micheles,
Snakes me too.
Skiing, I learned as an adult & after my second lesson my ex took me to the top of the mountain, I ended up walking down & had a 12 year old punk kid jeer at me for it. (very humbling experience)
My ex had more women friends than men though that's not why he is my ex now.

Anonymous said...

Hi: I'm here after visiting Michele's site. I too have a deep love for potato chips. There's all sorts of gourmet flavours out there now: Salt & Pepper; Curry; Sweet Chili and Sour Cream; Chipotle (sp?) - one no longer has to be limited to Salt n' Vinegar or Ketchup.

whimsical brainpan said...

LOL @ #3! When I was ten I went downhill skiing with my neighbors. I went down the bunny slope once (very badly) and decided that if I wanted to kill myself there were better ways to go about it. I sat in the lodge and drank cocoa the rest of the day. I've never put on another pair of skis.

Bardouble29 said...

All my good friend are guys, so that makes us about even. And I hate snakes also.

Jazz said...

The skiing thing? I've never seen the point onf standing on two sticks and throwing myself off a mountain.

And snakes.Love 'em, absolutely love 'em. I should post the pic of myself I have from Vietnam with a 10 foot python strung across my shoulders. She was awesome.

Anonymous said...

I eat my potato chips like that too, only I pick out the curly folded over ones first.

Anonymous said...

...and eat them first I mean.

They're better than the flat ones.

Kati said...

Ok, loving the fact that somebody else is that scared of an animal. I don't have a problem with snakes (though I don't like seeing them fed), but I freak about spiders. I mean, at work, I won't even shelve books that have pictures of spiders on the cover. Seriously! (The exception being the "Miss Spider" children's books.) But, I totally don't believe you're wierd for not liking snakes, if I can't handle a teensy, weenzy picture of a spider on a book. ;)

As for skiing, I've never tried downhill skiing because I'm afraid of heights. My parents & sisters assure me that I'd never leave solid ground, but it's still solid ground that's higher than I want it to be. So, I've never done it. At least you've had the guts to try it!!!

I've got a wierd chip thing, too... I like getting barbeque or spicy chips & dipping them in sour cream. Don't know what it is, just that combo of heavily seasoned & creamy sour cream... YUM!

Nope, you're not weird. Not at all!!! Or, at least, you're as normal as the rest of us!

thethinker said...

I can't ski either! The last time I went to a ski resort, I slid down the snow with an inner tube.

(And snakes scare me too.)

Anonymous said...

I don't think any of those are so weird. Except maybe wiping fingers on pants in #4. And then in #6 admitting you are rule-governed while proceeding to make up your own rules. Oh, and the skiing thing in #3 -- I don't ski either, because I don't like pain or cold; but being taken down the slope on a stretcher by a rescue boy?

I almost forgot -- right up front in #1, your public giddiness over being tagged for the first time, your "virgin experience" -- now THAT is weird! My mom has that same fear of snakes that you talk about in #2, and I think she is weird; but for you, a man among men in all other respects? As for #5, I have always had more women friends than men friends, so I do not think that is weird. But like your wife says, "unusual", or as mine puts it, "unhealthy".

Otherwise, I don't think you are weird at all.

BTW, where in Mississippi?

Nancy said...

They say you never forget your first ;) I'm honored.

And, of course you were carefully chosen - I'm not that kind of girl!