Meme: The Filthy Blog Cootie Bug

Having been tagged by Hoosier Army Mom and Revere Rides Again, here are my eight random thoughts:

1. I am an only child. My mother was 36 when I was born, my father nearly 41. I was a sickly baby and a bull-headed child. I'm not sickly anymore, but people tell me that I am still bull-headed, a veritable "dog with a bone" once I get an idea.

2. When in school, I had two major fears: writing and public speaking, the latter to the point of having to be given tranquilizers the night before and day of a scheduled speech. I got over my phobia of getting my ideas down onto paper in fifth grade when I wrote my first research paper, "Themes in the Tragedies of Shakespeare"; my fear of public speaking disappeared without explanation around the time I turned 40.

3. I have one significant phobia today: a terror of centipedes. Merely the sight of a centipede is enough to elicit a bloodcurdling scream and flight on my part. Unfortunately, this old house frequently allowed centipedes to enter via the bathtub drain until we had the bathroom remodeled a few years ago.

4. When sightseeing, I always check ahead of time so as to learn if there are any nearby cemeteries. The first time my best friend and I visited California, we spent days on end touring cemeteries on our own. Probably the out-of-town cemetery I have most frequently visited is Oakgrove Cemetery — the burial site of Lizzie Borden and her parents.

5. Through my cousin's Administration of Justice instructor in 2000, I got special permission to visit the local medical examiner's office to view and attend a morning of autopies. Most visitors that day were squeamish. I wasn't. I didn't balk even at watching the infant's dissection, but I did leave a bit ill following the autopsy on the reeking burn victim, whom I identified as a woman even before the medical examiner did. I based my conclusion on the x-rays, which revealed a woman's jewelry etched into the deceased's bones by the searing fire.

6. Mr. AOW and I started dating in January of 1972 and married in June of 1972. In all fairness, however, I have to admit that we did know each other for one semester in high school. We couldn't stand the sight of each other back then! He was a poor student and Peck's Bad Boy; I was the opposite.

7. Before 9/11, I worked the newpaper's daily crossword puzzle, read epic novels, and had an absolute abhorrence to watching the news. In other words, I didn't pay much attention to politics, especially world affairs. Now that I'm a counterjihadist, I spend most of my spare time reading nonfiction about politics and Islam as well as the news on the web — and blogging.

8. I'm obsessive-compulsive about following the rules of grammar mechanics. On many occasions, I've taken out my red pen to correct errors on menus. I do occasionally break the ruls of grammar, but I know full well that I am breaking them.

This meme requires that I tag three more bloggers, but I typically don't tag others. However, I'd love to see Beamish's, Mustang's, and The Merry Widow's responses to this meme!

Put the Blame on Meme

Jaco, thou varlet, it's 70 degrees and sunny out and there's a beach somewhere with my name on it and I'm stuck in here with a meme cootie! OK, here's 8 things at least some of you don't know about me that might help to explain what the hell the story is with RRA...

1. I'm a "war baby", born in 1944, and am fulfilling my lifelong dream of becoming a cantankerous old lady. Everyone on both sides of my family lives into at least their 80s (my dad and 3 of his siblings into their 90s) so there should be lots of time left to hone those skills. My dad was career Army, my mom is 89 and can outrun me, and my brother voted for Obama and I went all big sister on his a$$ about it.

2. I am a native New Englander and live in a historic coastal town I've always loved. Am also a New Yorker, having lived in NYC for 13 years, 1966 to 1979. As the song (I forget which one) says, "no money could take those memories from me, no money could make me return." I was involved in the NY Libertarian Party but my ex and I bailed out once we realized the inmates were running the asylum. I've been conservative-Objectivist ever since which means I'm pro-capitalism/individualism and liberty/America/US military/Western values/US Constitution/choice/defeating the Jihad.

3. I gave up tv over 5 years ago because I decided I could either do tv or the internet and that was no contest. I'm a total cyber-squib but I love the net so I sort of wing it. I like talking to people about things but hate "small talk". I love classical music, jazz fusion, New Age background wallpaper music, classic rock, and a couple of weird musicals. Favorite contemporary authors include are but not limited to Rand, Cline, Pratchett, O'Brien, Perry, Stephenson, Simmons, Flynn, Peters, King (no, not him) and Rowling until that wretched 7th book in the HP series blew her cover. I am a disaster junkie and read enough about volcanos, conflagrations, hurricanes, plagues, and the Titanic to know that nearly everybody stands there like a deer in the headlights until it is too late.

4. I don't like confrontation either because I get into fight-or-flight mode too quickly. I don't argue well extemporaneously so I tend to resort to sarcasm and/or try to back people into corners. I should be locked up for about a week with a continuous loop of Liz Cheney's current interviews and learn how to do it right.

5. Marriages: 1. Divorces: 1. Kids: 0. Degrees: 2. Careers: 3 -- designer, editor, antiques and collectibles dealers. Books published: 1. Rent-payer jobs: too numerous to mention because I have ADD (or whatever it is) and am too scattered to run a business or function well in corporate environments. Head-on car crashes survived: 2. Wear your seat belt. Ex-boyfriends from Hell: 2. (Jaco and MR know about one of them -- the rest of you don't want to, trust me -- so they can can attest to the accuracy of that designation.) Ex-boyfriends not necessarily from Hell and some actually rather nice: MYOB. Interest in growing old with any of them: zilch.

6. I have a BFA in fashion design and Masters in Classical Civilization. I put the first one to use working as a designer for yarn companies and knit/crochet magazines in NYC and haven't used the second for much of anything, but it was great fun getting it. I love buying and selling antiques and collectibles and keep telling myself I'm going to learn to do mosaic.

7. I've studied Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism since I was about 19 and have been atheist since about age 17. I am totally at peace with being an individual human being with a finite lifespan in a natural universe and I find life full of meaning. Imagination plays a big part in my enjoyment of life, but will not substitute wishful thinking for what I perceive as reality.

8. While I greatly admired Rand's heroic characters, my personal lifelong (from age 11) fictional hero is Captain Nemo from the 1954 Disney film of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea". You want to know what makes me tick, go check him out. I love what Edward Cline said about fictional heroes in "Hugh Kenrick" from his Sparrowhawk series, that a hero captivates the soul and serves as a projection of the innermost self and as an idealization of successful living, even though he may die in a story... living or dead, a hero is the stylistic embodiment of living on one's own terms... "

On the other hand, I hope I will have the sense to get the hell off the deck if anyone is ever shooting at me.

OK, that'll have to do. Ooops, nearly forgot the nominations: Always on Watch, Grant Jones, and Bosch Fawstin