I find myself Gracie-tagged

And I am happy to oblige. Ten random "me" things you may not have known (and probably don't care).

 

1) I was conceived at a frat party at Oklahoma State University. Father unknown, teenaged hippy mother ran away to Haight Ashbury to smoke pot in the streets and sing cool Bob Dylan songs. At the time of my birth, she was tripping on acid. I don't believe it has had any effect on me, though. (shut up!)

2) I was subsequently adopted by her parents, my grandparents, making them my parents and her my sister. So all my nephews and neices are really my cousins and my brothers and sisters are really my uncles and aunts. Except my little brother Adam, he is my biological half brother, except by adoption he's my nephew because his mom, who is my real mom, is my sister now.

3) I never place my purse on the floor. I cringe when I see others do it. This is my only true superstition, and it began one Thanksgiving when I visited my sister Alice down in Baton Rouge. She married a coon-ass, whose family are bona-fide French-speaking Cajuns. They gotta lotta Creole voodoo beliefs and such down there, yeah, and my brother-in-law's grandma noticed me setting my purse down on the floor. "Don't put your purse on the floor, no child. You lose your money." Well we all laughed and I ignored her. One week later, I left my purse hanging on the chair in a restaurant and when I returned for it, it was $70 lighter. Now, coincidence maybe, but it got my attention. I had never had anything ever before in my life stolen from me, never lost so much money all at once before in my life. Regardless of whether I believe in it or not, this superstition has a hold of me and I cannot bring myself to put my purse on the floor. You do it if you want, but you've been warned. Now that you know about it, it'll get a hold of you too. Count your money.

4) Two out of three of my sons are color blind. They have different dads so I must be the carrier of the defective gene that causes color blindness. (The reason color blindness is almost exclusively a male defect is because it lives on the X chromosome. A male type person only has to have one color blind gene on his X chromosome while a female type person must inherit the color blind gene on BOTH of her X chromosomes in order to exhibit the trait. If she has only one color blind X chromosome, then she's a carrier (like me) and can pass it on to her children.)

5) I used to play the clarinet in marching band until I fell out of a carnival ride at the fair and broke my leg.

6) This was my first love:

I still think he's very hot, though he's all grown up now. My god, he has grown up. I guess that means I have too.

7) I've never had sex in public (can you believe that?? I can't. As progressive and uninhibited as I am, one would be surprised at this, no?)

8) I made out with a rock star once (not gonna tell you which one). He was not that good of a kisser actually. I also briefly dated a professional wrestler.

9) I've owned two motorcycles, a Ninja and a Harley. Two very different rides, but I loved them both.

10) I don't do well emotionally when it's cloudy or rainy for more than three days in a row. Almost to the point after a week of it that I can't function and definitely my mood makes me unfit for human company. I think this is probably pretty common; I only mention it because I've never heard anybody describe it the way I actually feel it. After too many cloudy days, I begin to feel…stepped on. Squashed. Suffocated. With an underlying sense of panic and a desire to flee (flee what, I don't know). I have a tendency toward impulse spending all the time, but during these panicky, stepped on, jesus-help-me-I-need-sunshine periods, I'm a lot worse—I spend money trying to escape (flee) and feel better. The thing is, it actually works.