16 Random Things About Me
I don't know why anyone cares about these things, but I want in on the fun, too.
1. When I was 9 years old, I asked my mother if I could convert to Judaism. I wasn't real sure what Judaism was, but I knew I wanted to be one.
2. I had an encounter with a psychic in Charlotte, NC once who told me about a visit from my dead father that NO ONE else had ever known about. He recountered the incident in excruciating detail and opened some wounds I thought had healed some sixteen years earlier.
3. My dear Aunt Eva, may she rest in peace, told me when I was about 15 that she had never known such a pacifist person in her life as me, that I seemed to be at such peace within myself and that i constantly strove for peace for others.
4. My dad was a criminal defense attorney in Richmond, VA. He was also an alcoholic in the truest sense of the word and once brought home a take-out pizza that he dropped in the drive-way and let the neighbors eat, grit and all.
5. I have a scar from twleve stitches in the back of my head where hair won't grow. My first husband was physically abusive and struck me with a belt buckle because his chicken wasn't done.
6. I wanted to be a marine biologist when I was young. That gave way to wanting to be an airline stewardess, which gave way to wanting to be an attorney. How I ended up in rehabilitation is anyone's guess.
7. Every report card I got in grade school had the same comment on it: Janet talks too much in class.
8. Growing up an only child was supposed to be tough, but I liked it. I felt fortunate that I didn't have to share my parents or my clothes, or my room with anyone else. I was kind of a selfish little kid, I guess.
9. My dad died when I was 10 and my mom moved us to South Carolina to be close to her family. I have often wondered how differently my life would have been if my dad had lived and I would have gone to high school and college in Virginia.
10. On a dare, I stole a car when I was 15. I drove it from Five Points about a mile to near my high school. I think I almost had a heart attack when I sideswiped a parked vehicle.
11. My parents used to call me "The Great Entertainer" because every stunt I pulled was preceded by "hey watch this, look at me".
12. My very first day of high school, I fainted in English class. Only time in my life that I have ever actually fainted.
13. Like Kay, I have a slight OCD with open cabinets and not-quite-shut drawers, among other things.
14. I am a bad-ass billiard player when you get a few drinks in me.
15. I once won a Miss Brickhouse contest dancing on the bar at the Twilight Lounge. My winnings were unlimited drinks for the rest of the night and $50.
16. In 1992, I was named the champion of the Grits Cook-off for South Carolina for a dish I threw together out of desperation. In 2001, I participated in a chili cook-off at a college bar, Group Therapy, and was judged the judge's favorite for my "Ass Kickin' Chicken Chili".