5 Random Things

I have taken it upon myself to be "tagged" by tk to have to tell 5 random things about myself. At least, I think that's the exercise. Here goes:

1. I am drawn to this exercise because I love lists. I make To Do lists with things that I have already done on them, so I can cross those things off. In the movie High Fidelity, I was so distracted by the lists (and not by John Cusack's sexuality, which I felt certain was hetero), that I mentally started making my own lists during the movie, in my head. I was also distracted by the Steve Walters rock posters, which impressed me as being so authentically Chicago indie rock that I could almost ignore the geographical inaccuracies in that movie. Other lists have gotten me in trouble. When I went to college, I had a list of guys I had kissed written in a journal and my two best friends discovered it, and I still hear about it (mostly because I am married to one them - the best friends, not the guys . . . I mean, my husband is a guy, but I don't think he was on the list at that time.) I have books full of lists I have made just sitting around.

2. My decision to move to California was motivated in large part by a knee injury I had suffered the winter before I moved out here from Chicago. I was walking Flynn, and I slipped on some of that thick thick gray ice, hyper-extending my knee. Four months of physical therapy. When I got a job offer at this random place in Oakland, one of the first thoughts I had was, "No more ice, no more freezing cold." Strangely, it took a few minutes to think, "What about your boyfriend, your car, the fact you're taking the IL bar???" which I think means I was ready to leave Chicago.

3. When my mom moved my sister and I away from Indiana to New Jersey, I was so angry. In retrospect, I know I was angry about a lot of things, but the way I expressed it at the time was to be angry about leaving Indiana. "You are ruining my life!!" was a common refrain. My feelings of anger and isolation were deepened when my new fourth grade teacher in NJ made fun of me for saying, "Connect-i-cut" rather than "Connett-i-cut" (it's subtle, but say it out loud and you will realize what a rube I was).

4. I've probably never even talked to TK and yet I feel like I have known him for over 13 years, which is how long I've known JFB. Met JB in 1992 at a frat party. He was wearing a Big Black t-shirt, and I thought "flirting" was making fun of Big Black. Ahh, life was simple then. Actually it's even simpler now. JFB has also spoken highly of TK but my lasting memories include such gems as, "What's it like to be a fucking moron?" Truly brilliant, TK. I [heart] your blog.

5. University of Chicago: I went to the U of C for three reasons (another list): a) In The Bell Jar, Plath writes that she met some young men from Chicago and they were very wierd; b) It was far far away from New Jersey, and specifically my classmates at the all-girls' Catholic school I attended; and c) when I was sophomore in high school, E, a senior who I looked up to (she was one of three 'punks' that year) got into Princeton. Her mom rushed to school with the acceptance letter, but when E saw it, she burst into tears and said, "But I want to go to the University of Chicago!" (She did). Other reasons include a decent financial aid package and the rare opportunity to seem like the most socially adjusted person in the world.

Okay, that's it. I tag Seamus, T&A, M and the other M.