Superfluous Information

Now and then I see a blog where a number of facts are revealed by the blogger. This is usually because they have been tagged and requested to do it. I am not a fan of tagging. I don't much like obligating others to do something and dislike the pressure I feel to perform on command. On the other hand, I do like the idea of revealing things about myself and reading things about others. We humans are so contradictory, aren't we?

Anyway, without any prompting or tagging, I decided a few months ago to make a list of ten facts about myself and finally got around to finishing it today. Well, actually, I wrote the whole thing today because all I had written was the line:

"Ten facts about me."

1. I prefer to be alone more often than being with others. This probably is genetic. My father was the same way. He never told me why so I have had to work out my own reasons why I am this way.

2. I am afraid to swim in the ocean at night. I believe this has a lot to do with what I have seen in the ocean during daylight.

3. I flunked my first road test for my driver's license. My sister took me to the DMV for the test and put the emergency brake (as it was called then) on before exiting the car. There were no warning lights or indicators for the brake in those days. I ignored it since it was so out of adjustment as to not impede the car at all. The tester announced I had failed already as I approached the first intersection but told me to continue anyway.

4. I used to plan major crimes in my head when I was a teen. Not just robberies or burglaries, either. I never carried any of these out as I always found flaws which would have made sure I got caught eventually.

5. I was 15 when I got stinking drunk for the first time. I recall puking out the window of a friend's car soon after we left the party. He dropped me off about a mile from my house at 3 AM and I had to walk the rest of the way. You'd have thought I would have learned from that. I didn't.

6. I sometimes feel like I am trapped inside my head. Literally. That I am peering out through two openings and am just along for the ride, strangely detached.

7. I am fascinated by the period between the mid 20s and late 40s. I watch movies and TV programs and read books that are based on that time frame as often as possible.

8. I grew up assuming I would die at age 65. My mother once told me that my grandfather, great grandfather, and great great grandfather all died at that age.

9. I weighed 133 pounds and stood 5'11" tall when I enlisted in the Navy. I had gained only 12 pounds by the time I left.

10. Compliments make me feel awkward and uncomfortable. I do not know how to acknowledge them. I appreciate them but I would rather not feel that discomfort.


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