Got tagged by former client/friend/coach/over-all fabulous woman Carol Ross. Perfect timing too, cause I've been pretty uninspired by blogging lately and a meme's just the ticket for direction/inspiration. (and might help me get some momentum going ... so ...)
Five Things Most People Don't Know About Me. (in chronological order)
ONE - I was born 3 weeks past the day I was due. And from the time my mother's water broke to the time I came out? One hour. My father says he did not believe the nurse who came to the waiting room to tell him that his wife had delivered. He said he protested: "It can't be; they just wheeled her in 20 minutes ago." But nope, it was me. Takin' my time ... just hangin' and then ... whoom; out. (could this be where the previously mentioned foot dragging/"i'm not ready, ok now i'm ready and let's go" tendency began?)
(oooh; deep-i-osity ...)
TWO - When I was a kid I began "doing voices" ... it started with our next door neighbor. She was an old woman (i wonder how old she was, really ... she seemed ancient to me at the time) who lived alone, and she had a very distinctive voice that I would imitate. Apparently it was pretty damn good, cause my parents would often ask for command performances: "Do Miss Angle," they'd say, and I would affect the voice and recount the story of the time a bat got in her attic and she thought it was a bird.
As I got older I became fascinated with comedians who would do impersonations and I'd beg my parents to let me watch Kopy Kats - an irregularly produced variety show where Rich Little and Marilyn Michaels would run through their various characters in silly little skits. Although the rule in our house was just two hours of television a week, exceptions were occassionally made, and I'd get to see it.
I tried doing celebrities myself: my Barbra Streisand was OK - you definitely knew it was her (and it wasn't just the crossed eyes and the way i tossed my make-believe page boy); and I could get Julia Andrews spot-on for the first bars of The Sound of Music: "The heells ad'a alive with the soundov muuusick ... withe soogs they'ave sung foda thousandheeahs, " but I couldn't get much farther than that. So while the celeb impersonations never got better than almost-mediocre, I had "the ear" and have always been able to pick up/imitate a lot of accents and dialects.
When I moved back to the US from Australia, a number of family and friends commented on a 'lilt' in my voice, and I'm sure I'd picked inflections and ways of pronouncing words that had a bit of Aussie influence, but I know I still sounded 100% Yank to the Aussies.
THREE - When I was in grade school/junior high, 75% of my first crushes turned out to be gay. These guys made the perfect first boyfriends for us pre-teen straight girls because after they'd kiss you, they'd still want to talk to you ... unlike the pre-pubescent straight boys who either wanted to climb on you ... or have nothing to do with you.
Many of these former junior high crushes are still friends. As I often say (and may very well have said here on the blog before), I was a fag hag before I knew what one was.
FOUR - I worked on a cruise ship between my senior year in high school and freshman year in college. (and then again between two of my other three summer breaks in college ...) My uncle had the concession for the gift shop on several ships in the Chandris cruise line, and that first summer my cousin Sherm and I worked on four different ships taking inventory. We decided from the start of the summer that we'd work like mad at the beginning of each of the cruises to get everything done, so the remainder of the time we could just play unencumbered.
We traveled all over the Mediterranean: Greece, Italy, Spain, France, Egypt, Israel, Turkey, Africa. We did some crazy stuff and when we talk about those times we often marvel at what we did/went through. We also marvel at the things we didn't do; we were 18 at the time, and beaches and clubs were just as exciting (and often more exciting) than the historical sites or places of real note. We do have a photo of us sitting on top of a camel in front of the pyramids in Egypt though.
Not all the adventures that summer were delightful (it was the best of times, but it was also the worst of times), and yet, they've all combined to create one of the most mind blowing, life altering experiences ever.
FIVE - About a week before I moved back to the US from Australia, I got a tattoo. I'd never had any desire to get one; my decision was almost spontaneous (ie: i only simmered with it a few days before i did it).
Daf was the one who wanted to get one; he'd been saying that he wanted to mark his next milestone birthday with a tatoo. This birthday was still a year or so off, but still, every now and then he'd say: I'm thinking about fill in the blank for my tattoo, as though he were trying on the design possibilities in his mind before he branded them onto his skin. I found myself doodling some of the things he'd talk about, and occasionally adding some of my own ideas to the pot. I'd often say: you should incorporate the Southern Cross in the design. I thought that this constellation that you can only see in the Southern Hemisphere - that also shows up on the Australian flag - would be a pretty cool thing to have in the design. It was one of the possibilities that he was tossing around, and I was lobbying pretty hard for its inclusion.
When we learned that we would be leaving Australia two years before his assignment was supposed to end (we were crushed), he starting thinking about getting it done before we left. He made an appointment at a place where some friends of ours had theirs done. As the day of the appointment neared, he still hadn't decided what the design would be and I continued to lobby for the Southern Cross. By this time, I ditched the idea of incorporating it into a design - I thought the constellation on its own would be enough.
When he said he didn't want to rush to a choice and would probably pass on doing it before we left, I realized that maybe it was ME who should be getting the Southern Cross tatoo.
Daf, being the good friend and partner that he was, tried to provide a little push-back: "What if you regret it?" he asked me. Well then, I said, I guess I'll be reminded of how amazing our time was here, how much it changed me, and how crazy in love with the country I was that I would brand my body with the stars on its flag.
We kept the appointment at the tatoo place, and I was the one who got inked.
Two years later, Daf got his tat: a Kokopelli on his ankle. Me? I have the five stars of the Southern Cross on my left shoulder blade.
(and i don't regret it.)
Tagging whoever wants to play. (but i would get a kick out of hearing what will, leah, marilyn and kerstin might reveal ...)
I'm totally on deck to do this. Just finding the time! I'll report back in a bit when I've been able to do it. :-)
Posted by: Will | December 21, 2006 at 03:26 PM
Next time we meet I want to see the tattoo! These are very interesting answers. Would you be a different star sign had you been born on time? My sister was six weeks early and is now a Capricorn instead of Pisces, I have often wondered about this impact on her astrological personality. (My knowledge of astrology is limited but I love it!) It's a good thing we are more careless when young, otherwise we'd be missing out on a lot of valuable and great experiences, such as your amazing sounding cruises. I haven't done this meme before, so just completed mine. Take good care, Deb, Happy Holidays and a wonderful New Year! Kerstin x
Posted by: Kerstin | December 19, 2006 at 12:29 PM
These are all fabulous answers! I think I've done this meme about three times...and, seriously, I've completely run out of things to tell. :)
Posted by: Marilyn | December 16, 2006 at 02:57 PM