I got tagged by a fellow blogger…for random information. So it works like this: I offer up ten random bits of background doody about myself and then tag others to keep the game moving. You’re supposed to play nice and ask first, so I guess I will. Since that would be the polite thing to do. Uh huh.

*shuffling feet*

Or…I may just blow raspberries (phhhfffttttt!) and tag random people who can then choose to answer or not. Breaking the rules is SO much more fun. Rebel that I am. Stop laughing. I can hear you from here.

Ten Random Bits o’ Me:

1 – I love beads.
I have a few…somewhere in the neighborhood of two million. Yes, you read that right. Almost all of them are very small (seed beads), in every color of the rainbow and a few hues that don’t occur in nature. I bring home a handful from every place I visit and nowadays even make my own via lampworking.

2 – I adore the old stuff.
The older the better, as in prehistoric, but that doesn’t mean I dismiss the historical stuff. Architecture, bones, artifacts…rich and wonderful remnants of cultural development appeal to me. No offense, but I prefer my people dead. They’re usually more interesting that way. Give me a time machine and I’d be whizzing back to eras before people started making up calendrical systems.

3 – I have several pets.
Our furred and feathered babies include two dozen hens (unnamed and they don’t care), one extremely tired but happy rooster (Frenchie), a polydactylus cat named Darwin (sorry Charles), and a three-legged cat named Lame Kitty (yes, I know this is not PC). I don’t count the deer or the gophers, both are legion. Occasionally the neighbor’s horses and cows come to visit, but I refuse to count them either. I should probably count the mouse that lives in our ceiling.

4 – I use several aliases.
Not for any really good reason either. I use my middle name in coffee shops and when ordering take-out because it’s hard to mess it up. I use my maiden name at work. I use a hybrid of my first and middle name for writing. I use my married name at home even though I never actually changed names when I got married. Variety is fun.

5 – I spend ridiculous amounts of time commuting.
I travel a lot. By car, plane and train. Don’t ask, it’s really stupid. I’d rather retire but since social security won’t lower the retirement age, that’s not going to happen. My Dad keeps telling me to write a blockbuster novel and retire. I’m onboard with that idea but somehow it just hasn’t happened.

6 –  I have a bit of a thing for handbags.
Well, to be honest, it extends to any kind of bag. I dunno why. I just like bags – that organization thing. I’d have a bag for everything, given the opportunity. I’m a champion packer when it comes to travel. On a trip to Vegas, I packed three days worth of clothes in my wheeled briefcase for me AND my husband. Oh yeah!

7 –  I desperately long to be bilingual.
Or tri-lingual. Really, I want to know ALL languages but I’m too lazy to do it. I just want to wake up knowing, or get a babelfish dropped in my ear. It’s not like I haven’t tried. I can currently curse in 15 languages but that’s all I know how to say. Not very effective.

8 – I think bats are cute.
I’m especially fond of tube-nosed fruit bats. Once upon a time I lived in a tiny old house with a little brown bat (pipistrellis). I named him Charlie and he slept in the attic. Occasionally he’d fly inside through an open window and hang off a lampshade in my living room. Too cute for words.

9 – I enjoy flowers.
Every color they come in and every lovely scent, even the stinky ones like geraniums. The process of watching a bud form and the bloom unfurl is nifty. I’m not particular about my flower choices either. Freesias and lilies are some of my favorite because they smell divine, but any kind of flower makes me happy. Even the humble dandelion is allowed to flourish in my yard. Thistles too.

10 – I believe in spirits.
One of the oldest memories I have is of the man who lived in our attic. Of course I knew he didn’t actually “live” there but that was the direction he entered when he visited. I was maybe four years old at the time and in my memory he looks like Abraham Lincoln, tall and gaunt with a full beard. When the thunderstorms came, he’d sit with me and talk. It was comforting. Even now I remember him when it storms.

…so there I am.

NEXT:

The following people are up on the chopping block…er, I mean the tagging list:

Rebecca Ryals Russell
KT Hanna
Alica McKenna Johnson
Virginia Ripple

Feel free to ignore the tag. You can pretend it never happened. You might even stamp your foot, shake your fist, and holler “I’ve already done this six times! Sheesh, enough already.” It’s your choice. Do whatever makes you feel better…but inquiring minds want to know.