Yielding to the inevitable.
I suspect that seeing as how I've been tagged by approx. 60% of my flist on this, I should give in gracefully.
1. List seven habits/quirks/facts about yourself.
2. Tag seven people to do the same.
3. Do not tag the person who tagged you or say that you tag whoever wants to do it.
1. athena25 finds this weird and strange and annoying, but I have to have cupboards and wardrobes and things that close be impeccably clean and tidy. I'm fine with mess in the room, as long as things that have been tidied away have, in fact, been tidied away, instead of just been put behind a closed door.
I blame my mother for this. Her definition of 'tidy' extended to whatever was behind the closed doors of my toy chest and wardrobe, which made me terribly obsessed with it at a very young age. I also distinctly recall thinking how relieved I was that I had tidied whenever the secret police would to search our house, because they wouldn't just be looking around the room, they'd be rifling through cupboards, and wardrobes, and my toy chest.
The most obvious manifestation of this fixation is that I am inordinately fond of boxes, and drawstring bags, and little hidden compartments etc. Because then everything has it's place, and people who view everything in its place aren't likely realise that there's a false bottom to that briefcase after all.
I guess some habits die hard.
*
2. I used to play the piano. I wasn't terribly good at it, but that's probably because I was 7 years old and didn't actually want to learn. However, my teachers were remarkably persuasive.
When we moved to the UK, I stopped. I tried in school for a while, usually when it was required in music class, but my hands were too small to span a full octave. And they still are.
*
3. I've seen someone die.
When I was thirteen years old, I was with a friend at her house. We were studying for a history project, something about the Nazis, I think. Her grandfather, who was the only adult in the house, had a heart attack in the garden. We called an ambulance, and did CPR, but I strongly suspect that we did it wrong. He died in hospital. The paramedics said that it didn't look good when they arrived; he'd been down for too long. Which made me wonder about why it took so long for them to get there, but...
I never actually saw the funeral or anything. I don't really remember why. I suspect that my father didn't want me to go. My mother would have let me; actually, she would have insisted on it.
She was the one who laid out her best friend's husband's body in the living room. I mean - that came out wrong. When I was younger - seven? eight? - my mother's best friend's huband died. I don't remember why, probably it was a religious thing, or maybe there just weren't undertakers available or something, but the coffin was in our living room before the burial. I remember my mother's best friend on the doorstep, holding her son by the hand and saying "it's over" and bursting into tears, and then my mother making me look after the boy and my younger brother while she went to sort things out.
I was responsible for looking after the boy during the time the body was in our living room, too. I was also responsible for the nuts and refreshments.
*
4. I've been groped by James Marsters. And Amber Bernson. At the same time.
And had my drink spiked by Von Flores. But that's a felony for another time.
*
5. I love languages. My native tongue is Bulgarian, and I have studied the following, for varying periods of time and with varied results: English, French, German, Ancient Greek, Latin, Armenian, Czech.
*
6. I can't really swim. A friend of mine decided to teach me about five years ago in a hotel swimming pool, and so I can now stay afloat, but that's about it.
I had lessons as a child, but that was back in Bulgaria. A combination of the swimming pool not being heated, and there being a blizzard outside as I tried to walk home afterwards, resulted in me coming down with pneumonia, and my mother putting an end to swimming lessons.
*
7. I've always wanted to go to Japan. And Egypt. And spend a month in Rome. When I was younger, I wanted to be an archaeologist. In fact, archaeology and egyptology were serious contenders for what I'd be doing at uni. For about two months, admittedly. But they were intense months.
I finally settled on English Lit and History (later to become English Lit and Economics). But I never quite got over wanting to spend my time knee-deep in the dirt.
*
There. I did it. I tag whoever didn't tag me. Errr, kita0610, yahtzee63, not_a_mouse, spuffyduds, andrastewhite, selenak and weaselator.
*
In non-meme news, I think I caught too much sun yesterday. I spent the night being sick and tossing and turning. And poking myself repeatedly in the eye. That bit was accidental. I think.
1. List seven habits/quirks/facts about yourself.
2. Tag seven people to do the same.
3. Do not tag the person who tagged you or say that you tag whoever wants to do it.
1. athena25 finds this weird and strange and annoying, but I have to have cupboards and wardrobes and things that close be impeccably clean and tidy. I'm fine with mess in the room, as long as things that have been tidied away have, in fact, been tidied away, instead of just been put behind a closed door.
I blame my mother for this. Her definition of 'tidy' extended to whatever was behind the closed doors of my toy chest and wardrobe, which made me terribly obsessed with it at a very young age. I also distinctly recall thinking how relieved I was that I had tidied whenever the secret police would to search our house, because they wouldn't just be looking around the room, they'd be rifling through cupboards, and wardrobes, and my toy chest.
The most obvious manifestation of this fixation is that I am inordinately fond of boxes, and drawstring bags, and little hidden compartments etc. Because then everything has it's place, and people who view everything in its place aren't likely realise that there's a false bottom to that briefcase after all.
I guess some habits die hard.
*
2. I used to play the piano. I wasn't terribly good at it, but that's probably because I was 7 years old and didn't actually want to learn. However, my teachers were remarkably persuasive.
When we moved to the UK, I stopped. I tried in school for a while, usually when it was required in music class, but my hands were too small to span a full octave. And they still are.
*
3. I've seen someone die.
When I was thirteen years old, I was with a friend at her house. We were studying for a history project, something about the Nazis, I think. Her grandfather, who was the only adult in the house, had a heart attack in the garden. We called an ambulance, and did CPR, but I strongly suspect that we did it wrong. He died in hospital. The paramedics said that it didn't look good when they arrived; he'd been down for too long. Which made me wonder about why it took so long for them to get there, but...
I never actually saw the funeral or anything. I don't really remember why. I suspect that my father didn't want me to go. My mother would have let me; actually, she would have insisted on it.
She was the one who laid out her best friend's husband's body in the living room. I mean - that came out wrong. When I was younger - seven? eight? - my mother's best friend's huband died. I don't remember why, probably it was a religious thing, or maybe there just weren't undertakers available or something, but the coffin was in our living room before the burial. I remember my mother's best friend on the doorstep, holding her son by the hand and saying "it's over" and bursting into tears, and then my mother making me look after the boy and my younger brother while she went to sort things out.
I was responsible for looking after the boy during the time the body was in our living room, too. I was also responsible for the nuts and refreshments.
*
4. I've been groped by James Marsters. And Amber Bernson. At the same time.
And had my drink spiked by Von Flores. But that's a felony for another time.
*
5. I love languages. My native tongue is Bulgarian, and I have studied the following, for varying periods of time and with varied results: English, French, German, Ancient Greek, Latin, Armenian, Czech.
*
6. I can't really swim. A friend of mine decided to teach me about five years ago in a hotel swimming pool, and so I can now stay afloat, but that's about it.
I had lessons as a child, but that was back in Bulgaria. A combination of the swimming pool not being heated, and there being a blizzard outside as I tried to walk home afterwards, resulted in me coming down with pneumonia, and my mother putting an end to swimming lessons.
*
7. I've always wanted to go to Japan. And Egypt. And spend a month in Rome. When I was younger, I wanted to be an archaeologist. In fact, archaeology and egyptology were serious contenders for what I'd be doing at uni. For about two months, admittedly. But they were intense months.
I finally settled on English Lit and History (later to become English Lit and Economics). But I never quite got over wanting to spend my time knee-deep in the dirt.
*
There. I did it. I tag whoever didn't tag me. Errr, kita0610, yahtzee63, not_a_mouse, spuffyduds, andrastewhite, selenak and weaselator.
*
In non-meme news, I think I caught too much sun yesterday. I spent the night being sick and tossing and turning. And poking myself repeatedly in the eye. That bit was accidental. I think.