Some* Things You Didn't (Want To) Know About Sister

I've seen this "8 Things You Didn't Know" meme on many blogs in the last month. No one's tagged me, but I like the idea so I'm going to do it anyway. I've got bloggers block real bad and regret my last postings. I have to have something to push my most recent posts off the page.

I also like this meme because if I write about things you didn't know about me, then you know them, and that seems contrary. I like being contrary.....but I think you might already know that about me so that one doesn't count.

Some things you didn't (want to) know about me:

1. I don't know what "obnoxious" means. Yes, I can look the word up in the dictionary, read, and understand the lexical definition, but I have no sense of when to use it properly. When is someone obnoxious as opposed to annoying or boastful or anything else? Brother has, in the past, told me not to be "so obnoxious." I say in response, "What exactly about my behavior is obnoxious?" He's said, "This! This is obnoxious." "But what? I don't understand. Tell me why this is obnoxious!" I've never gotten a good answer so I just try to avoid using the term.

2. I only use the cold and hot water settings when I do my wash--actually using the cold almost all the time. I had a friend who told me she exclusively used the warm setting, and I found that jarred my worldview. It never occurred to me to use warm. Why would someone use warm? I don't get it.

3. I'm not a good housekeeper. I often think I might be the worst housekeeper in the history of the world, but then, I remember as a child going to the house of a lady who had about a thousand birds living in her house when my mom answered bird lady's ad to sell her dining room table. Later my mom told me she was freaking out the whole time thinking Brother or I were going to complain about the terrible, pervasive smell. We didn't. And, I'm nowhere near as bad as that lady at cleaning my house, but I'm no Martha Stewart.

4. I like dogs, too. I have cat pictures in my Flickr photostream because I have cats, but I like dogs, too, especially big dogs. I appreciate both cats and dogs for their unique qualities. If it's even possible to compare, I think puppies are much cuter than kittens.

5. I can speak Pig Latin fluently.

6. I'm finally--finally--okay with the way I look. It took 34 years, but I don't feel like I have to keep fighting against nature anymore. For the first time in years, I realized I'm not contemplating the start or failure of a diet.

7. I rarely wear makeup. You can't see my face in my daily outfit pictures, so you wouldn't know this. I usually do something for a job interview or a special night out, but most of the time nothing. There was a time in high school when I wore every shade of eyeshadow available, all at the same time, but when I worked during a college summer at a paper mill, I watched a co-worker arrive each morning in full makeup and by 9:00 am she'd sweated and wiped most of her makeup from her face onto her shirt. I thought, "What's the point of that?" That dissuaded me from bothering with all that most of the time.

8. I'm not a good driver, especially when other people ride in my car with me. I'm not likely to kill anyone, but I "two-foot" the pedals, I drive too fast or too slow, and I don't use my turn signals properly. The only time I come close to good driving is when I'm by myself on an Interstate. (I secretly loved driving the DC and Baltimore Beltways.)

9. I'd vote Republican if the Republican was pro-choice and the Democrat was anti-abortion, but hopefully it won't come to that. I'm a Democrat, but first I'm pro-choice and second I'm a Democrat. (Updated 7-14-07 because I scared Domoni unintentionally and wanted to clarify.)

10. I'm really good at remembering long numbers, like credit card numbers, and passwords.


*I'm doubtful I can think of 8 things so I've used "some" to be purposefully vague.