So I've been working on answering questions for a blogger who is doing an interview with me to celebrate the release of THE DARK DIVINE in December, and the first item on the list of questions was: "Can you tell us something random about yourself?" Which basically sent my mind a whirling with all of the random things about myself (I am a neurotic writer, after all) and wondering how I can possibly cut the list down to just ONE.
And then I remembered like FOREVER AGO, when everybody I'd ever met sent me one of those "25 Random Things About Me" messages on Facebook, but because I'm so totally Facebook stupid, I could never figure out how to do it.
And then I was reading a friend's blog today where he asked people to tell him something odd about themselves, which got me totally thinking about the million odd things about myself (I am a neurotic writer, after all . . .wait, did I say that already?), and I figured all this thinking about randomness and oddities should probably be channeled into some sort of blog post. . . .
So without any (more) ado, I present "25 Random Things About Bree" (or as many random things I can list before I get hungry and go looking for a snack):
1. I'm very superstitious. I'm constantly afraid of jinxing myself. Which is probably why I'm so tight lipped about good news. And you've probably never met anyone who knocks on wood as much as I do. And if you happen to say something jinx-worthy in my presence, I WILL make you knock on wood.
2. I can't stand the color peach. I will not wear it, nor can I stand to spend much time in a room with peach walls. It stems from my childhood when I wanted my parents to paint my room pink, but instead they painted my sister's room pink, and then painted my room peach and mint green. My mom bought me peach and green bedding, and decorated my room with peach and green paintings. And if that wasn't peachy enough, she kept buying me peach outfits so I'd match my room. About 20 years later, my mom apologized to me for all the peach after she went to a feng shui workshop and learned that you should NEVER decorate with the color peach because it makes people irritable. (Which apparently explains most of my behavior as a child??)
3. I have a dress made entirely out of duct tape. My husband made it for me back when we were (just) friends in high school. He also made himself a three piece suit out of duct tape, and then we wore them to a school dance. If only I had a scanner, I could show you all the pics. (Hint, hint, Hubby.)
4. I'm a tab bit OCD when it comes to locked doors. Before I go to bed at night, I MUST check every single lock. That might not seems all that strange, but I don't just look at each lock, I have to touch each lock in order to prove to myself that each door is actually locked. I try to content myself with just staring at the locked lock from the end of the hall, but nine times out of ten, I know won't sleep unless I go touch the lock. Yeah, I know, I'm weird.
5. I hate potty training. I'd rather be water-boarded, or sit in that roach tank from Fear Factor, than potty train my children. I offered my sister $200 to potty train Kid A for me, but she just laughed. And I even tried to convince Egmont that they should send one of their interns down to do the job while I write my sequel (hey, publishers do random stuff like that for their authors in the movies). But since nobody took the job, I embarked--begrudgingly--on the task this afternoon. Here are the stats from today's potty training session: Times Kid A sat on the potty: 19. Times Kid A peed in the potty: 0. Times Kid A peed on the floor: 5.
Nice.
6. I apparently start almost every blog post with the word "So." I'm thinking of just going with it and making it my signature bloggy thing.
7. I'm a Buffy the Vampire Slayer addict. I've seen the entire 7 seasons all the way through at least 3 times. We're starting in on the fourth go around. (There's nothing on TV this Summer!!)
8.
Um, wow, this takes a lot of time and I'm totally getting hungry . . .and hubby just turned on Buffy so I think I'm gunna call it a night. Perhaps I'll share more random things later this week (If y'all want to hear any more?).
And for putting up with all my randomness, I'll reward you all with a random contest: Tell me something random about yourself in the comments, and I'll enter you into a drawing to win a random prize from my random prize grab-bag (which contains autographed books!). So comment away!!!
46 comments:
I also feel the temptation to start most of my blog posts with "so." And I do the door lock thing, too. And we're starting our boy on potty training in a couple weeks, so I'm feeling your pain. Is that random enough that I have 3 out of 7 of your random things? If not, then wearing black and brown together makes me anxious. I don't really care if other people do it. Just me.
So.... Wow. Bree, you're really strange. You touch all the locks? Really? That's just creepy.
My thing: I'm fascinated by evil people and love books and docs on them. Especially Hitler and serial killers.
Okay, I'm creepy, too.
OOH, a random fact about me is in 5th grade, I ran for secretary (because I kept losing when I tried out for VP) and I dressed up as a cat. Oh yeah, I even had a tail (I think I still have it somewhere in my closet)! Then, when I finished my speech, I meowed. In front of the entire student body. Yeah, I had a lot of guts back then.
Luckily for my self-esteem and my mental well-being (since I lost the elections two times already), they were laughing with me (I hope) and I won! Then, my teacher used me as example of never giving up when we were reading a story about a rooster. So, I guess it all works out in the end =D
Wow, I really rambled a lot XD
I cannot NOT respond to email. It's like the door locks for me (although I do that too).
I always cook/bake the most when I am on a diet and can't actually eat any of it. It's a special kind of torture.
I have a passport that shows me leaving Japan (where I am not a citizen) but never entering Japan. And no they didn't forget to stamp it when I entered. I was conceived and born in Japan( My parents always threatened to tattoo "made in japan" on my bum). But my Mom is Canadian and my Dad is a US citizen so I have citizenship in both of those countries. Oh and I was born on the 4th of July (though I think with the international date line it would still have been July 3rd in the US).
In 7th grade I came in 7th in my county spelling bee in MI. In 8th grade I won the middle school spelling bee and went on to the Scripps Spelling bee (I think an elimination round for the really big bee not the actual final bee). I got knocked out very early with the word niece. I still have issues with IE words. I know there's that nice rule, I before e except after c, but there are exceptions and that throws me off! For some reason my brain lacks confidence with it's ie and ei combos in words.
I hate calling people on the phone. People must call me because I am always worried that I will be interrupting something important that they're doing. Apparently I never do anything important though... :s
Also, I am really freaked out by ladybugs and other bugs that are hard to kill. And big spiders. I know they can't really do anything to me, but when they are near I can think of nothing else.
I hate it when people touch my eyebrows. Like my boyfriend who thinks it's funny when I freak out.
Yeah, I'm really weird... its a sad thing to admit to yourself. :)
9 times out 10 if I take a moment to respond or just smile tightly its because I'm thinking of polite ways to leave the conversation. It's very easy for me to become uneasy in a conversation, but good manners (beat into me from an early) dictate that I shouldn't show how uneasy I am because its rude.
Doorknob is still my favorite insult in the entire world. And recently I found a book where the MC used it as an insult--I felt vindicated and crowed about it to my sister for weeks after.
Funny, I often want to start a blog post with hmm...not sure if that is because it reflects that I'm wondering how I should really start my posts. Anyway, that wasn't the random thing I planned to post. LOL. I am a total trekkie but that doesn't make me a nerd! :) dasuzuki at yahoo dot com
Love your random thingees Bree! again, another testament to our destiny as friends.
Random fact about me: My teeth repel my gums. It's to do with the enormity of my teeth compared to the relatively smallness of my mouth.
I've already had gum surgeries, and look forward to a lifetime of more. (Does the sympathy factor get me entered into the contest several times? I won't tell...)
I am completely OCD about getting every single cover of a book. If a book reprints with a new cover, I MUST get it. I MUST. It's totally crazy and ridiculous, but I do it all the time!
OMG I am soo a Buffy geek also! I looove the series, even buying the 8 season on comic books(yes, they are doing the 8 season on comic book, and no its not going so well)
I knew random fact number 5! (twitter) lol
Cool post ^^
Oh ICK! The peach and mint green portion of the eighties.
The fung shui info makes complete sense. Obnoxious color.
Hi :)
Thank you for sharing. This was a great blog post.
Something random about me is I am a homebody, very shy, and hardly venture out - but when I do I am glad I did (mostly).
:)
Love From Canada
twitter.com/RKCharron
xoxo
Oh something random about myself...
I have to be doing 3 things at the time, if not I feel bored. I can watch T.V. while reading, while drawing, while posting on my blog and/or surfing the web!
Taschima- I totally agree. I was writing out half a novel in reply about the season 8 comics but then decided it made me sound like a crazy fanatic. Which I'm not. Really. Well... maybe just a little. Ok, ok, I'm borderline nutso. I blame Bree. She's the one who got me started on it.
Ramdom fact about me - I could watch Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman all day. Almost did once when a marathon was on the Travel Chanel. Not that its great TV, I just get sucked in so easily. Must be some kind of repressed need to eat fried spiders and crickets on my mexican pizza or something.
oh, I'm so glad to hear that most of you are as strange as I am!
I keep thinking of new random things about myself when I read these. I may have to do a follow up post after all. But here's a quick one: I don't like when people touch my neck (I can totally relate with the eyebrow thing). My siblings would always torture me with threats of "I'll touch your neck if you don't give me your candy!" or something like that. And my hairdresser always laughs at me because I can't stand that cape she snaps around my neck. Shudder.
So, I didn't read the last part...about entering random stuff.
I used to have a pet snake named Ginger.
I am also a "so" overuser when I blog!! It's such a good transition/starter word sometimes : )
Something random about me: I was on a Nickelodeon game show (it's one no one remembers though) when I was in 4th grade.
Thanks for the fun contest!
That's a pretty good list. Random things about people are addicting.
My random thing: I dip my plain potato chips in ketchup.
Or how about this one: When I turn up the volume on anything I'd prefer to stop on a 5 or 0. I cant stop at 17 I have to go up to 20 or back down to 15.
I love this! I can't wait until you post more random things about yourself.
Anyway, about me... I think I like humiliating myself, so here we go: I never crawled. I know, EVERYONE crawls. But I never did. My mom says that instead I used to just scoot around on my butt, wiggling and pushing a bit with my arms and legs. Because of this, it took me ages to build up the strength in my legs and learn how to walk. No wonder I'm so clumbsy now!
Kristin
(email = dazdnconfusd@comcast.net)
My weird thing is i absolutly hate the cape that my hair dresser puts around my neck I don't like anything touching my neck not even my own hand.
email: arimah.natalie1@gmail.com
Hello Bree,
my name is Szilvi, I'm writing from Hungary. Although this is my first comment to you, I've been reading your blog since a month ago.
Something random (and weird) about my self:
Well, I can hit with my head almost everything. I mean accidently.
Yeah. My first heading was cca. at my age 10. I was riding my bike, I looked back, and boom, I ran into a reinforced concrete pillar of a bridge. I hit it with my head.
I had my next bigger accident when I was about 20 years old. We were at a College Mensuration Camp (Geodasy class). We had to make a shell of a boat house. We used 5 m high wood columns. The boys droped accidently one of the columns.
Can you guess who was hitten by it? Exactly! Me! On my head! I'm never gonna forget the face of the teacher. He didn't want to belive that I was ok.
My latest bigger heading was about 2 years ago. I got up late at night, because I had to go to the toilette. I didn't want to wake up, so I didn't turned up the light. Who needs it? Well, I didn't realize, that the bathroom door was half open, and I.... yes. I hit the edge of the door with my head. Next morning my mother saw the thick red line on my face and forehead, and asked me: "What the hell did you headed again and when?" :)
And I do have small accidents all the time, too. But they are realy small ones (like the car door, the edge of a table, the edge of the kitchen counter etc...)
And my other weird thing: My face and name memory is really terrible. I used to talk to people on the street whom I was supposed to know from somewhere. But I couldn't remember their names or their faces. So I always let them speak, and maybe I'll get an idea where I could know them from... I need a little time to recognize them (new people in my life), but there's sometimes, when somebody doesn't belive me, that I couldn't identify her/him, and that's why I walked past them on the street. :(
But I'm really good at smelling and tasteing. And I easaly recognize voices, too. :) My mother's best friend and my father never could mock at me on the phone. :) They always tried to change their voices, but always failed. :)
Szilvi from Hungary
PS: I've read the first chapter of Dark Divine, and I can't wait it. :)
Sorry for the long comment.
I start a lot of blog posts with "so." I have no idea why. Okay, random thing about me . . . I know how to tap dance.
Thanks for all the comments, guys! Keep them coming.
Special greetings to Szilvi in Hungary! I love Hungary. I spent some time there when I was a teenager. I even stayed with a Hungarian family for few days. They were so wonderful to me, and the food was great!
I don't like other people's kids, unless they're related to me, and even then.....
Thanks Bree! :)
I'm really glad you like my country! :P
My favourite hungarian foods are: Goulash-soup (yamm yamm my mom cooks great) The Rigó Jancsi cake (Classic Hungarian Chocolate Sponge Cake with Rich Chocolate Mousse Filling)
And Túró Rudi of course! (Chocolat bar filled with sweet curd cheese)
Great! Another long comment! :P
Szilvi
I love Goulash! I could eat it 7 days a week. It is so hard to find good Goulash in America. I wish I could find a good recipe.
Those desserts sound divine. I can't remember if I had them or not.
You're my sister, so you already know all my random things, like I've NEVER touched raw meat, I'm a New Zealand citizen and I have a pathological fear of driving next to semi-trucks. Hmm, no surprise we're related. I want to be entered in the random drawing anyway :)
Also, I never realized I got the pink room you always wanted. I remember announcing I wanted a red and black room with penguins and bow ties, but thank goodness I never got that one!
Bree, I sent an email to you.
Fun to read more about you. Thanks again for coming to my shindig. It really was sweet you you guys. It was great to see your cute family. And you got me all excited about your book. My fam is still talking about it!
Take care...
Mistie
Oh, something random about me is that i HATE hair. I have a phobia of it and freak when i see it hanging around in odd places. (to clarify...mostly afraid of others hair that isn't on their head- but is sitting around in random places like the kitchen or bathroom!)
LOL i heart your random list. GO BUFFY! Also, go duct tape dresses! I have a top made out of it - and many of my engineering friends made their own bras out of duct tape. I couldn't go that far lol
Random thing about me: I don't even notice this, but apparently, I meow during lulls in conversation. Which is a lot more embarrassing than starting blog posts with "so" =D
Duct tape bra?! Wow, that is taking it a bit too far. That stuff isn't exactly breathable.
Hi Mistie! It was so fun to see you at your b-day party. Your kids are so cute.
Oh, my gosh, I have so many.
1. I have to have this one type of pencil or pen when I write things. And the one pencil, I can only use the ONE pencil. I have four others exactly like it, but it bugs me to use the others ones.
2. I have a cow clock that moos, and it's the only thing besides my mother that can wake me up in the morning.
3. I might have to get braces. But if I do, I don't want them to straighten this one slightly pushed out bottom tooth that I like because I think it has character.
4. I'm soooo clumsy. I can (and have) tripped over air.
5. I can't touch raw meat, either. It's too yucky. I use tongs.
6. I also have some issues with face and name memory. There are a ton of people who know me - and know me by name - who I do not know.
7. I plan on making earrings out of Jones caps soon.
8. I hate bugs. With a passion. The other day I chased one from my kitchen into the porch with bug spray, then out the door when I left. If I HAVE to kill one, I get shuddery for ages.
9. I have little black cat salt and pepper shakers on my TV in my room. One of them is wearing a nosewarmer Sarah Quigley made as a hat.
10. I have lists and lists and lists and lists of books. I'm not even gonna go into it it's so bad.
Okay, that was alot! Lol.
(Also, is this open to Canada? If it is, Laina1312@gmail.com)
Let's see.. something random about myself...
I used to have blue hair in high school.
I only went to prom with my friends, no boys.
My second toe next to my big toe is bigger than my big toe - I heard that has it's own scientific name. Sometimes it hurts.. it feels like they get twisted together, but they don't.
And I tend to squeal a lot when I'm happy - I'm told I can be VERY silly.
I actually finally gave in and bought all the seasons of Buffy (amazon was having a sale, and they were 15 each, so I had no excuse not to). Something random about myself...hmm.
I love singing into a hairbrush and dancing around my room. This drives my cat insane, however, so she will usually lay down on the floor and stretch out to try and stop me.
Good luck with the potty training!
Random Tidbit About Me: When I was a little kid, I once crossed paths with a baby black bear. Aware mama bear couldn't be too far behind, I booted it back for home and refused to wait for the bus at the stop that day. My principal had to drive to my house to pick me up. I was deeply embarrassed once I got to school.
Water is my drink of choice.
I was a sister-in-law at 10.
I am a night person, I can stay up till 5:00 AM before I even start to feel tired.
I have two favorite numbers, which are 7 and 4.
I usually don’t eat breakfast
I eat gummy bears by tearing them limb from limb and eating their heads last.
I think it's frustrating that ChapStick tastes good when you put it on your lips and lick them, but if you just bite the ChapStick, it tastes like poison.
Something random about me is...
WHen I get bored or anxious or when things get awkward or quiet I will make a random noise. Usually it's something like "meep" or something like that, or a squeak of some kind. It's weird, it's random, and it's just something I do!
HarlequinTwilight@gmail.com
I start or interrupt almsot any conversation w/ "wait."
ex: my friend: the movie was awesome!
me: wait what?
i'm so random. I'm w/ u on the locked doors,and having a tv obsession. mine is Bones. yay addicts!
A Random Thing About Me: I hate the taste of chocolate. No, I'm not allergic to it, I just don't like the taste. It makes me want to gag.
Also:
- I love webcomics.
- I've been trying to write (and complete) a full length novel since I was about seven (with many attempts), but I have yet to finish one.
- I am obsessed with the idea of parallel universes.
paradoxrevealed (at) aim (dot) com
paradox- you hate chocolate?! Man, that's practically a blasphemous statement around here! But you are forgiven since you are obsessed with parallel universes, because that's just cool.
Random Korianne fact: I hate think of random facts! No jokes! I started putting them at the end of every blog post as a fun little tidbit people could read along with my reviews and memes and now I despise thinking of a new random fact. But I will do one just for you! Ok, so my random fact is that I have an obsession with the word lovely. I sign all my emails Lovely, Korianne, I just created a new signature for some of my blogs that says the same and I use the word quite often in my life. I have even been tempted to get it tatooed on my foot many times, and might possibly still do it.
Also, I apparently start almost every blog post with the word "So.", too. If not so it's "Ok." I also do that far to much when I tweet. I think I feel the need to type as I speak and I often lead of with those words when I talk.
Shawna Lewis
weloveourdogs@juno.com
I love to float the canal we have near my home It is so much fun most people think I am crazy because I'm 38 but who cares right.
I also love dogs if I was to go to the pound I would bring them all home with me!!!
I have a pet(if you want to call it that)Salamander his name id Herbie. I have had him (I think it's a him) for 4 years and if it gets any bigger people will think it is a Kamodo Dragon ;o)
Well it's been fun. Thanks so much Winks and Smiles, Shawna
Hi, I'm Sarbear, geekettesarbear(at)yahoo(dot)com.
Okay, something random about myself:
- I was born with pupils that are two different sizes. They still haven't changed. I was assessed by doctors and they realized I was just fine. No brain damage, just some fluke of nature.
- My sister and I are completely opposite colors -- I have tan skin, dark hair and light eyes. She has light skin, light hair and dark eyes. I was born at 6:13 p.m. on June 19th and she born at 6:13 a.m. on December 19th. Kind of a weird coincedence!
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