Hayden Tompkins recently did the ~enormous~ favor of tagging me for a “meme” list. I put memes in quotes because I’m not entirely comfortable with the sociology/internet-based appropriation of the word, which was originally coined in a more rigorous sense by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins; this may just be my snobby life science background looking down on sociology as a quasi-science.)

I often ignore such requests because (1) I already have a page or two on this blog with all sorts of personal information in that vein, and (2) I tend not to be forthcoming. However, I’m making and exception because (1) this particular iteration is modest, only 7 items, and (2) Hayden has been very nice to and supportive of me and I feel I owe her something.

So, with only minor ado, let’s move on to the main event:

  • Link to your original tagger and list these rules in your post.
  • Share 7 facts about yourself in the post.
  • Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names and links to their blogs.
  • Let them know they’ve been tagged.

Okay, both parts of the first bit… DONE!

Next…

  1. According to a recent survey* I’m either considered weird by 75% of people and not-weird by 25%, or I’m 75% weird and 25% not-weird. It’s unable to be determined if, in the latter instance, I am considered to be so 100% of the time. In fact, the two interpretations of the data aren’t mutually exclusive, so the results are even more nebulous.
  2. I was born with a large oval mark on the sole of my right foot. Consequently, growing up I relied overmuch on this birthmark to tell my right from my left; whenever and wherever I was asked to tell left from right I would stop whatever I was doing, sit down, remove my socks and shoes to examine my feet. This behavior probably retarded my ability to differentiate the two but I eventually “got it” and no longer relied on the crutch. Fortunately this was before the birthmark was removed as a precautionary measure (somewhere around age 15). The experience, however, may have led to my sole-searching nature. (Insert >groan< here).
  3. I can juggle three items of different sizes, shapes and weights. I can even juggle three chainsaws, but only this kind.
  4. In high school, I took the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) test purely to get out of a bunch of classes. My results turned out to be so good that for the better part of the next year I was plagued by telephone calls from Navy recruiters, who frequently assured me that I “could be the captain of a nuclear submarine.” Now, as much as I adore submarines (for example, my cell phone ring is an authentic sonar ping), I had to repeatedly and emphatically posit that I wasn’t interested. Anyone who knows me, my anti-authoritarian nature, and abject refusal to do something without knowing why can see how ludicrous it would have been.
  5. I have six toes. Five of them are on my left foot and one is on my right, along with the other four.
  6. I make odd noises to entertain myself. Although it isn’t constant, I do this regardless of whether I’m in public or not. No mere sussurations, these assorted clicks, clucks, and bzows! (another of my coinages– a future post will explain the full extent of bzows!, both my personal ones and those elsewhere) are also produced while falling asleep or when on telephone-hold. Yes, I have been “caught” in all of these situations. This isn’t any sort of nervous tic, Tourette’s-like symptom, or pathological behavior. It’s completely controllable and I do it, as I said, purely to entertain myself.
  7. I have never seen the movie Gone With the Wind, nor have I read Margaret Mitchell’s book and frankly, I don’t give a sh*t.

Second bit… DONE!
Next…

I tag

  • Rambleicious – she’s in Vancouver, is fun and interesting, draws hilarious stick figures and most important to this venture, hasn’t posted on her blog since March 6th.
  • Planetross – he doesn’t write about himself enough.
  • dkpresents… – I barely know him and don’t expect him to respond on this but my blog connections are already dwindling. I like his taste in music and he has interesting things to say.
  • The Daily Dish – No, not the big-time blog by Andrew Sullivan over at The Atlantic Monthly. I’m talking about the recently-relocated-from-Philadelphia-to-Portland-Maine-and-kind-of-missing-in-action-friend-who-needs-to-get-back-into-blogging-so-her-online-blogging-buddies-won’t-be-dispirited Daily Dish. That Daily Dish.
  • Ten out of Ten – Someone else whom I don’t really know but whose blog I enjoy reading. He’s an ER generalist, probably far too busy and or important to bother participating in something as frivolous as this.
  • CurlyWurlyGurly – nevermind.
  • I feel unusual -  S. Le’s blog about life as a librarian in Ohio. Always new stuff to learn about S.
  • Sue Scheff – Until I clicked the (random) ‘next blog’ link (the little arrow at the top margin when you’re signed in to WordPress.com; you can also use this URL:“http://wordpress.com/next/”) I knew nothing about Sue Scheff. She’s the founder of Parents’ Universal Resource Experts. I have a strong suspicion that she’s also too important and busy to participate, but I can’t tinker with randomness. That would throw the whole concept of entropy into chaos.

Third bit… DONE!

I’m going to publish this post and then do the fourth bit, letting the tagees know they’ve been tagged, on the incredibly remote chance that any of them are so eager to find out what yet another “meme” is all about that they try to view this post before it’s available.

*A completely unscientific poll comprised of too few respondents (12) to be of any statistical validity. Furthermore, the poll was on this very blog so those respondents are of course self-selected and therefore biased, totally undermining any potential value.