I'm working on a long and ranty post based on recent news reporting and translations from the MEMRI website, but it's not ready yet and I wanted to get something posted this morning while I wait for the contractor to show up and fix the yucky leak under the kitchen sink. I've decided to pick up on a meme I've seen floating around and list 13 interesting (or odd, take your pick) things about me...
1. I was born and grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I have also lived in University Park, PA (while going to college at Penn State); Denver, Colorado; Bossier City, Louisiana; and Wiesbaden and Berlin, Germany; before finally settling down in Northern Virginia.
2. My undergraduate degree is a BA in Linguistics, with a minor in German (Penn State); my graduate degree is an MS in International Relations (Troy State University, Europe).
3. I speak, read, and write German with relative fluency (though not quite as well as I did while actually living in Germany). Germans knew I was a foreigner, but usually thought I was Dutch, rather than American.
4. I have a very short and nasty temper that I spend a lot of time keeping under control.
5. I have a wild and bizarre sense of humor and a maddening (so I've been told) love of puns.
6. I'm the world's most inept handyman. I'm like comedian Alan King, who wrote years ago that if he tried to kill a cockroach with a hammer, he'd have to finish it off with a screwdriver. My father is a marvelous craftsman and tinkerer, but the gene went to my brothers rather than to me.
7. I love to read and write. I got that gene from my mother. She was also a great punner...I got that gene, too. You can see a few of my favorite books on my profile, but the list gets longer every day.
8. I love ballroom dancing. My favorite dance is Tango, with Waltz a strong second. I'm better at the smooth dances (Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Quickstep) than the Latin dances (Rumba, Cha-Cha, Mambo, Bolero), mainly because I just can't do that Latin hip motion without looking like I have some sort of nervous disorder.
9. I love music. My tastes are very wide-ranging, and I like a little of almost everything except rap/hip-hop and heavy metal. For background music while writing and reading, I prefer classical music or Gregorian Chants.
10. I love movies. My profile lists a few of my favorites, but the list is much longer than that, and is worth a blog post of its own.
11. I think hairy arms on a woman are very attractive. I may be in the minority of men on this one, but hey - someone's got to be different.
12. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. It's good to have at least one day a year to take stock of all the things I have to be thankful for...and the list is very, very long.
Finally,
13. I enjoy people-watching. Okay, women in particular, but people in general. It helps to pass the time on those days spent in stores while I wait for Agnes to try on endless combinations of clothes for my review and comment (and that's a subject for a blog post all its own).
Okay, that's 13 things about me, almost all of which I've blogged about before, but never consolidated into a single list. How about you? What are some of the interesting or unusual things that make you who you are? I'll look forward to knowing.
Have a good day. More thoughts coming.
Bilbo
6 comments:
Nice to get to know you a little better.
Ref. #6 my philosophy is: They pay me well to do the job that I know how to do, I ought to be willing to pay somebody else well to do the job that they know how to do. Yellow pages are your friend.
Ref. #11 mmmm...never mind.
People watching is most amusing. I used to do that every day at lunch when I worked at the mall. Oh the things you'll see at the mall.
Thank you very much for sharing. It is always interesting to know a little more about the bloggers I read.
Y'know, you're the 2nd person I've come across who finds hairy arms on a woman attractive. I must tell the other guy I know that he's not alone.
Linguini? No... Lingsticstics? hahah, that's a funny word for me to say. Linguistics... I love it!
I also love Virginia. I've been there several times, mostly around Cedar Creek and Winchester. Fond memories include Harper's Ferry, Reenactment of the Battle of Cedar Creek (Civil War battle my great(-great?)-grandfather died in), a quaint little farmer's market in Shenendoah Valley, and a scenic drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains. Winchester is still my favorite.
Ah, a pun-warrior, eh? My husband would get along great with you!
I may steal this for future blog fodder.
That's an interesting list. Why do many think that hair on a woman is awful? It looks fine to me. Very natural.
Great list. I really liked the part about the hairy arms, as I have hairy arms. i am glad to know that there is more than one man in the world who finds that attractive. I have tagged you for a meme over at my place, because I am suffering frome meme fever.
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