8 Things

One of my favorite bloggers, Leila over at not Jennifer Aniston, has tagged me with a meme. This is the first time I've been tagged without volunteering for it. Yay!

So I'm supposed to write 8 random things about myself. This is one of those exercises that feels like I should reveal something deep, or show how interesting and quirky I am. I feel somehow not up to the challenge, but here goes nothing.

1. I rub my legs together like a cricket to get to sleep, or sometimes just when I'm in bed and sleepy and/or content. What can I say? I read The Cricket in Times Square when I was like eight, and the eponymous cricket rubbed his legs together to go to sleep, which I found charming. Fast forward 25 years and now it's just a bad habit.

2. I hate onions. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this on here before, but it bears repeating. I really, really hate onions.

3. I briefly dated the creator of Ren & Stimpy while I was in college. I was young and foolish and the kind of girl, apparently, who is starstruck by cartoons. It was a very brief foray into the world of John K., but I do remember that he brought me flowers and Godiva chocolates, turned me on to the Mills Brothers while we listened to what was then 570 KLAC, and played me Elvis songs on his guitar. He also took me out to dinner at a place called Chianti on Melrose Avenue where he ordered a side of raw red onions, so obviously it was a relationship that was doomed from the start.

4. I wish I could whistle. Of all the things that make me really jealous, good whistling skills are quite high on the list. I just like people who whistle, especially cheerful whistlers, and have found that good whistlers usually have really lovely singing voices. I can neither whistle nor sing. *sigh*

5. I have an incredibly distinctive laugh. It's very recognizable; I've often had friends find me in a crowded bar because they heard my laugh from across the room. Most people like it. The rest...eh, fuck 'em.

6. I'm named after my sister. In between my brother and I, my mother gave birth to a stillborn baby girl. I was born three years later and I am her namesake, though my first name is spelled differently and I have a different middle name. I remember going to visit her grave on the weekends when I was little.

7. I don't have a passport. This is totally lame. I should have a passport, especially because I was planning on going to Greece this year for my honeymoon, which didn't take place because I didn't get married. My friends have informed me that it now costs more to get one than it did a year ago, plus it takes about six months to receive it. I should probably apply for one soon.

8. I would love to be a writer. All I've ever really wanted is to write mindless drivel that other people pay to read, but I'm terribly lazy and haven't really tried very hard. I've written as part of every job I've ever done and was at one point a contributor to LAist, but obviously I'd rather dick around with Yelp than really apply myself.

Hmm, these eight things started off light-hearted and then got a bit heavier than I anticipated. At any rate, I hope you enjoyed them and learned something about your friendly neighborhood miscreant.

As for who I'm tagging - well, I don't know a lot of bloggers, so I'll say my girl over at Choco & Tomago, my friend Pete Dudchenko, and anyone else who wants to jump on the meme bandwagon. Leave me a comment if you're interested.