You know it well by now.
We list eight random facts/habits about ourselves which others do not know.
It's so nice to have a command performance forum in which to focus on the most interesting phenomenon in the universe - me.
I'll not tag anyone, but invite all bloggers to participate and then PLEASE drop in to let me know you've done some thinking. It so humanizes these remarkable blogs sifting through the ether.
1.
My goal is to develop a better sense of humor. I'm sixty years old and like all the old fogies you've ever known - I too, just can't believe how fast it went.
2.
Like my blogging buddy Laurie, at DMMGMFM,(Laurie, did I dream this?) I played taps at funerals when I was a kid. I hid, trembling, behind tombstones waiting for Mr. Day's cue. I also played the organ for daily mass. I trembled a lot up in that choir loft, too. Only in a small town with a small talent pool could this happen.
3.
Regrets. I've been thinking a great deal about regrets. I think you do this as you age in an effort to move on. I wish I'd had a closer relationship with my dad. I was one of seven children. He had his own regrets that may have hampered his ability to connect. I knew he loved me.
4.
TV - a love/hate relationship. I don't watch the news. I've never seen American Idol. Antique Roadshow may be my favorite program. I don't own any true antiques (maybe a pot, here - a figurine, there) My hubby dislikes old things. I find them painfully poignant. You know - whose hands have held this item, cherished it?
Maybe that haunting is why he dislikes them.
5.
I hate shopping - for anything. I'm not sure what that is. It just seems there are so many more interesting things I could be doing. Maybe it's that I have to make decisions.
6.
I feed the critters in my back yard in Ohio. It's stupid. It's a compulsion. It's upsetting some of the neighbors. HELP ME!
7.
I've experienced telepathy. Sometimes dramatic - sometimes silly. My grandmother was telepathic. As I age it occurs much less frequently.
8.
I wish people would read poetry aloud to me. It doesn't happen. I don't listen to music. Music by-passes the mind and goes directly to the heart. I think the human voice, speaking the words that carry the experiences of the heart, does for me what others allow music to do for them. Poetry is not as inchoate. It more specifically explains, enlightens, or simply nods assent. Am I weird?
9.
I don't like arbitrary boundaries. Rather than choose to delete one of the above facts in order to share my favorite childhood memory - I push the envelop - the meme mutates:
Early morning. I follow my kid-brother on his bike. I'm helping him with his Sunday paper route. The grass is wet. My sneakers are filled with dew. We do not speak. A gray cat sits on a sunlit windowsill. I feel the warmth on its white paws. . .
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22 comments:
Ahh--Cathy--take an 8 random facts meme and make it your own! Almost poetic in creation, and even in form.
But, like the other 8 random facts that I have read by bloggers, yours reveals much about you. Not all--of course not, but much.
I would love to read poetry aloud to you. I love to read it aloud & have no audience! Except for the times I teach lit., then I always read poems aloud.
What a lovely post. Thanks so much for sharing with us. I feel the same sense with old things, but for me it is a love affair. I delight in things that belonged to my grandparents, or even great-grandparents, whom I never met. And telepathy too...my mom and me...if one of us thinks of calling the other, the other one often beats us to it.
I find 7 and 8 very interesting.-When you say that you wish someone would read poetry to you-What exactly did you mean? There are books on tape,so there must be poetry on tape.-
As far as telepathy-I could go on for a while about that.-There have been many instances of this in my family.-There are some things that are just too unlikely to be pure coincidence.-It seems that telepathic experiences can happen randomly though so that it can be tough to prove in a controlled situation.
I like the Roadshow too.-mainly for the historic background that is given on the antiques.
A beautiful and personal post, Cathy. I do feel like I know you better;- a very sensitive and thoughtful person. It is interesting the common threads through many of the 8 random facts.
Ruth
It's nice to learn more about you Cathy! I love poetry read out loud. I had an ecology professor who wrote poetry, and he'd break out in one of his poems and I was just awestruck everytime he did. I hate shopping, too. They are always moving things around in the store - such a waste of time trying to find what you want.
I agree; it does go so very fast.
I also agree that you are weird. Aren't we all?
Donna,
Then some day we'll do it. You'll come through Toledo on your way to points west. You choose the poem - I'll listen.
So, you read poetry aloud - alone. It must satisfying to you in much the way singing is soul-satisfying. Perhaps I'll do a bit more vocalizing.
This self-revelation is seductive.
Thank you.
Three Collie -
You're so lucky to have those precious items from your ancestors.
I'm always a little reluctant to mention telepathy, but invariably people respond as you did: we 'know' something is happening that can't be explained by chance.
And, thank you.
Larry,
I'm so glad we agree on the Road Show. Yes! The history is wonderful.
Yes - a recorded poem would be fine, but a 'live' presentation by a another human being - sharing the 'now' of the experiencing of the poem . . . well, I guess it's like attending a live concert as opposed to listening to an orchestra's recording. It's the connection - something that happens between brains - like telepathy.
Ruth -
Thank you. Yes - we do reveal ourselves in this process. Perhaps a little risky, but the exploration is interesting and the kind responses - very pleasant.
So you found common threads among the facts. Maybe I'm more consistent than I imagine :0)
Pam,
Thanks. It's so nice to share my major pet peeve with you! I get crazed (torqued?:0) when I get into a store and they've rearranged the items.
How cool was that to have a prof break into a poetry recitation!?
AC,
Yeah. We're weird and we probably wouldn't change even if we could. I guess our personalities are like an old shoe - it's what we know - it's what we do. I'm glad we agree.
Facinating, it's fun to get to know you better. And I can relate.
Pam,
Thank you. I've enjoyed getting to know you at Mind Trips. I hope you found my comment about your October 2006 'Season's Change'. So lovely.
Dear Cathy,
This was the most beautiful meme I've ever read. You offered yourself (not info about yourself). I don't understand why you want to have a better sense of humor. I think yours is very keen!
Your sensitive soul not only feeds the critters but feeds us when you grace our blogs and post nice things.
Your writing style took me along the paper route on an early summer morning.
Hugs,
Sweet Mary,
So, you felt the knife-edge of my rapier wit! :0)
Thank you. Thank you.
BTW - as far as being a sensitive soul - may I suggest that it takes one to know one.
I'm so very pleased that you came along on that summer's morning. Truly. It has always stayed with me. You know - I may post a question to fellow bloggers about moments indelibly imprinted on their mind's eye and in their heart.
Cathy: Do that, please!!! I have little images of the past that will NEVER leave me under any circumstance. Seemingly insignificant but very vivid and meaningful. But don't ask me what we had for dinner two nights ago...
Sincerely, I was with you on that quiet warm summer morning.
Hugs
I agree about poetry. I enjoy classical plays much more than modern ones because of the poetry. I wish I knew more people who carried books of poems with them or who could recite poetry. I think it's a sign of passion for life.
Cathy - Thank you very much. I'd forgotten about it and will post it again while I wait for my Dragon.
Tim -
Wasn't it John Adams who told his son that he'd never be lonely if he had a book of poetry in his pocket? Hmmmm. Maybe that was just any 'book'.
I'd pass out if I saw someone pull a book of poetry out of a purse or backpack. Really. I'd be out cold.
Pam -
I'm so pleased you re-discovered that poem. It really is beautiful and I will watch for it.
No, dear lady, you did not imagine it, I also played taps at funerals in my youth.
I completely agree with you on Antiques Roadshow and I always wonder about the previous owners of the items I own and the ones I see on the show. That's probably why I studied history in college.
We have other things in common as well. I've never seen American Idol and I intensely dislike shopping of any type.
I'll save the telepathy story for another day. :-)
Laurie -
I'll bet your Taps was better than mine :0)
I'm so glad we agree on ARS - I've tried to find it on DVD, but for some reason it's just not out there (probably a legal thing about getting a release from the participants) I did find 1 DVD - sort of a 'Best Of' - but I'd like more.
So you've had some ESP experiences? Cool.
Hope your week isn't too bad - I'll check for posts.
What a wonderful version of this meme! I'm not a shopper either -- I hate it. The only shopping I like is in winter when my eyes are starved for green -- and then I will go to a good produce department and just hang around pretending to be shopping for awhile, when I'm actually just there to be in the midst of green stuff. (weird, huh?). (-:
I like old objects, but do wonder about the person who owned them and that can make me feel quite sad. I also get that way thinking about people putting a lot of work into something and then they're gone (a garden is a good example).
Telepathy - I've had a couple of weird experiences that defy explanations of coincidence.
Btw, I would rather have gone to the fisherman's party than the one at the snobs on knob hill -- but I'll be you knew that already. (o:
I just love reading what people chose to share in these memes. Yours was a total delight to read and discover!!
You are a sweet, sensitive soul, Cathy, as this post indicates. If you don't listen to music, I'm sure you must enjoy wind-chimes, and the songs of the birds.
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