Games People Play

So there is this gaggle of games in the blogging world and just like the best of childhood play it involves tagging friends. And she who is "it" gets to holler out "no-tag-backs"! I got touched twice this week by two different taggers for two different games.

I am going to play them both in one post.

And I am boldly going to let the buck stop here. And it's not that I am not a big fan of these games, or memes rather, because I really am. I love to trip upon them on others' blogs and read all the cool and juicy tidbits of information the writer chooses to share. The reason I am not thrusting the game upon others is simple. I am only just making friends in this big beautiful blogging world and I don't want to annoy or pester any of these fresh relationships with a meme which someone may or may not want, but would be too nice to complain about. Besides, both of these games call for an unreasonable amount of tags to happen, as in 10 and 8 respectively. And that adds up to: A LOT. To be perfectly honest, I just don't want to have to think that hard about which somebodies to pass it on to.

Lazy? Perhaps. But you didn't hear that from me.

Now, having put all that in print I feel compelled to add this. If you are interested or keen to play one or both of these games then by all means consider yourself tagged. And please tell me when you have posted so I can come by and read the cool, amazing and interesting things about you. Reading that kind of stuff seriously floats my boat. If you would rather post interesting things about yourself in the comments section of this blog, then feel free to do that. Only if it's 10 things, please do it in ten comments instead of one, so it will make my comment numbers soar. That kind of stuff really, really gets the boat rockin' for me.

So, sound the whistle. Start the clock. The tournament now commences.

Thanks for the tag to this game, Brillig. And thanks for the nod on your sidebar too.

And Anno? I twisted your tag just a little and instead of 8 random facts about me, I turned it into, well, you can read onward to find out what I did. I just wanted to shake it up a little bit so this post wouldn't be too awfully boring and long winded.

Oh, right, like I could ever be long winded!

First then: 10 ULTIMATELY INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT ME

1. When I was seventeen years old I did a McDonald's commercial. Really. I was 'discovered' straight out of drama class at Skyline High School in Salt Lake City. I think the talent agents were looking for fresh Utah faces for this campaign and they liked mine. Or rather, what they really liked was my voice. My face they said, after a series of auditions and screen tests, was "too young looking". So they didn't cast me for the screen part, but it was my voice you heard-dubbed in-all over the western United States for the "Your order in less than a minute" ad campaign of 1983. I also did the radio spots. And the follow up tags when they re-ran the campaign later on in another part of the U.S.
That whole face-too-young-looking thing was a total annoyance at seventeen. Having the same problem at forty-one? Not nearly so bothersome.

2. My first major-venue performance was at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. when I was eight years old.

3. I have danced in International venues since then including Sweden and Canada. As well as throughout the United States, with loads of concerts within Utah, which strictly speaking is a foreign place in its own right.

4. I took my 25+ year dancing/performing career and became a P.E. Teacher at Awakening Seed School in Phoenix. I taught there for six years. It was an awesome gig.

5. I can reach my nose with my tongue. Yeah, I have skills. My daughter can also do this which is my only claim that I had anything to do with her looks-just-like-her-daddy genetics.

6. I gave birth three times without so much as a Tylenol. Maybe that's not so impressive until you factor in that labor with my youngest was a 20-hour affair.

No, no applause please. Just throw money.

7. I love to eat green salad and a baked potato. Together. Not just cohabiting on the same plate, but together. Meaning, I prepare the potato by splitting its jacket in the center and tossing in the butter, sour cream, salt, pepper, and other what-not. Then I build a salad on top and crown the whole thing with ranch dressing. The dual effect of hot/cold, soft/crunchy is in a word: Fabulous.

8. I am a voracious reader. I love a book. Almost any book. I have been known to finish total drivel, just because I don't want to be without one. I tend to disappear completely into its world once I have cracked the cover. In Elementary School I often was 'caught' reading my novels behind the history or social studies texts. Since motherhood descended I have to be a bit more discriminate in my timing before I pick up a book and withdraw into the prose. After all, the children need to eat sometimes...

9. I have to be the lamest, slowest, worst SMSer on the planet. Seriously. Every time I try to text it takes me FOREVER to find the letters. It is a ridiculously arduous process for me and my friends on the other end have already finished croissants and cappuccino before I can respond to the invitation "Koffie?" with a simple "Ok".

Here's the perfect example: Today I was attempting to send a quick message to my friend to let her know that Andrew and I were a little late getting to the bus stop and therefore I would be a few minutes behind our scheduled meeting time. (She and I had a spa date while our boys were at peuterspeelzaal). I diligently pushed the buttons on my mobile phone and got myself all wound up and hyperventilating over the fact that I was able to punch in "Bus late" in under five minutes. So then instead of adding "Be there soon" as was my original intention, I typed the same sentence (two words is a sentence, right?) again. So now my message read "Bus late bus late" . Sheesh. I deleted my mighty effort and got the words "but coming" typed in sometime before our thirty-minute bus ride was complete. I sent the message on it's way and I kid you not within seconds, my friend had texted back some novel length reply. I didn't dare send anything in return. I figured by the time I found the letters spelling "C U soon" I would have already seen her, had my toenails painted and arrived back home.

10. I sing in the shower. I have a fantastic repertoire of show tunes and 1940's torch songs. I can also belt out The Star Spangled Banner like nobody's business.

Oh, yeah, I am a diva. A wet, soggy, shower-singin' diva.

And now: 8 RANDOM THINGS I HAVE ACTUALLY SAID TODAY

1. "Are you serious? You threw your yogurt behind the heater? Why? Why? Why?"

2. "I'm not listening to you.... you're crazy" (said in my best Nacho Libre accent.)

3. "Hey dude. The stinky shoes in the front hallway? Can they go away soon, please?"

4. "HOLY CHOCOLATE CAKE BATMAN! This is soooooo good."

5. "Plug the earphones into the television please. No one out here needs to be subjected to The Nanny's voice"

6. "Nee! Nee! Nee! Dit is niet voor jouw!"

7. "Wow, so these wet socks on the radiator? Are these going to be a permanent part of the house decoration or what?"

8. "Uh.... dude? The shoes? Now, please."


And that as they say, my friends, is that. You really read all the way to the end? Now, that's impressive.


UPDATE at 5:03 Kiki played. Who's next?