25 Things

There's this task rolling around Facebook - 25 random things about you. I've looked at this thing for weeks - every day two or three people I know post their things, and I generally read them. I find out interesting tidbits that I would not have otherwise known. I mean that's the point, right?

Being "tagged" means I am supposed to reciprocate with my own list of 25. I am never sure if people tag me because they are interested, because they want me to suffer, or because I might be one of the 10 people on the entire Intertubez that has not completed the task.

So here's what I'm thinking. I may as well use my little blog here to see if there is any chance I can find 25 things to report. This may take a while.

1. On my first day of Kindergarten, I wore a dress that matched exactly the dress my mother made for my beloved Raggedy Ann doll. Having red hair myself, the resemblance was uncanny.
2. I was supposed to wear corrective shoes as a child. I threw them out the window every morning (an idea my brother put in my head) until my mother finally gave up. I am still knock-kneed and pigeon-toed.
3. I have been acting for nearly 30 years. Longer if you count the maid I played in some elementary school production of some sort when I was in the 5th grade. I remember the outfit but nothing else. Who put the 5th grader in the French Maid outfit??
4. I believe Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare's plays. But everyone needs a little creative help sometimes.
5. Yes, my hair is naturally red. No, I will not prove it to you.
6. I have been married three times. The first time I was too young. The second time I was too old. The third time is just right.
7. On the day of my second wedding, I totalled my car driving to the church, we had a fire during the ceremony, and I spent my wedding night in the emergency room. But by god it was a hell of a wedding.
8. I used to work at Lewis & Clark College. I had a number of different jobs, and for most of my 10 years there I had an office in the Library. My best friend (who was the Library's Circulation Manager) and I would walk around the library building as she opened up in the morning, doing The Ministry of Silly Walks and/or speaking in Mister Rogers' Miss Kitty language (Meow Meow Dorks Meow Meow).
9. We also discovered an electrical fire in the media services area one morning. Much excitement, no injuries, lots of damage to computers and other assorted electronics.
10. During one performance of Mousetrap (I was playing Mollie, the female lead), I made a quick exit at the beginning of the show, ran my eye socket into the corner of a shelf, and played the rest of the show with a rapidly swelling black eye. Kept the black eye for 6 weeks, and now the shelf has foam on it in honor of my infinite grace.
11. I have an inner Latina. My husband (who is Puerto Rican) does his best to teach me to Salsa and I do pretty well for a woman of Scottish decent.
12. I can do a mean Axl Rose impression. Or at least I could in the late '80's. Once again, a bit of alcohol, fire up Welcome to the Jungle on your iPod, and something disturbing is bound to happen.
13. When I was in the 7th grade, I ran track. No one told me that the 440 (as it was known back in the dark ages) was not a sprint. I won every race I ran... or rather sprinted. So as not to continue the race/throw up cycle, The following year I switched to basketball, and played Center. I was allowed to play only because I was about 6 inches taller than all the other girls. I am not athletic, nor terribly graceful (see #10).
14. I believe that acting is a profound art, and that the process of coming together with other actors to produce a show is a sacred event. So don't f**k it up.
15. I started my job at Intel on December 1, 1997. Two months later - nearly to the day - I was rear ended by a log truck on the freeway. While I waited for the ambulance/police etc., multiple people driving by actually flipped me off for being in the way. Commuters suck.
16. When I started kindergarten, I was able to read well enough that they sent me up a grade or two just for the reading portion of the day. However, I was so socially shy that when asked to read aloud to the class, I crawled under the teachers desk and hyperventilated. Today, not only do I act, but I thoroughly enjoy presenting at large conferences. Go figure.
17. I lived in New York briefly during college. I would move back in a heartbeat.
18. I threw up AND passed out at a David Cassidy concert in 1972. I was 7. When I saw him live 30 years later, I nearly did the same thing. First love dies hard.
19. I can recite a great deal of Eddie Izzard's Dress to Kill performance by heart. And Glorious. And Definite Article. And.....
20. My second husband, Joshua Westhaver, was an incredible man. Goofy, funny, intelligent, beautiful, kind, and a fantastic soul. He died on December 11, 2008. I found out on Facebook. Someday that will make an interesting story. Right now it's still sad.
21. I grew up in the largest town on the Oregon Coast - Coos Bay. For years (since high school) I have visited an uprooted tree that sits on an amazing trail along the cliffs, overlooking the ocean. When I first started visiting the tree, the roots spanned over 20 feet. When I visited last August, it was gone. Time does that.
22. I sing, okay? People ask me and I say no. But I had many years of voice lessons and I sang in various types of choirs for years. So ya, I sing.
23. I played Joan of Arc once. Learned some stage combat - god did I LOVE fighting with a sword. Why won't anyone let me do stage combat anymore? (see #10)
24. I played Lady Macbeth. Stage blood. Mmmmm. All time favorite role.
25. My very first boyfriend was named Bruce Lee. I kid you not.

Okay, so there it my first attempt. Nothing on this list is at all interesting. But I'll look at it for a while and then perhaps I'll post it on FB and be done with that exercise.