Well, I was wondering what I would blog about, and now I know. Lillian has seen fit to present me with an award.
Of course there are conditions attached to the award. You are supposed to nominate seven other bloggers for it, who can then do with it what they will. The other portion of your assignment is to blog ten little known and interesting facts about yourself.
So, immediately I shall nominate bloggers for this award. All of you are to remember clearly that if you don’t want to participate, you are free to ignore the award. And the award goes to: Silverstar, Sledpress, Wandering Coyote, Frances, Goddess in the Groove, Alice Audrey, and Nursemyra. I am only nominating you for this award because I am incurably nosy and wish to invade your privacy.
The blogging assignment will be the most difficult, of course. Those of you who have been around this blog for a while will know that there are not a lot of things that I have not already revealed about myself, and finding ten interesting facts that are new may be more of a challenge than I can meet. But I shall make the good ol’ college try, nevertheless.
- I have now lived in this state longer than I have ever lived anywhere before in my life, and in this house longer than I have occupied any house in my life including my childhood homes.
- When I was 8 years old I read Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” and immediately conceived a desire to be a marine biologist when I grew up. Pursuing this desire was complicated by the fact that we lived at 8400 ft elevation in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains.
- I have been a gardener since I was three years old. By the time I was 5, I knew what “Cultivate the artichokes” meant and could perform the chore.
- The only time when there has not been a cat in my life was the 4 years I spent in college in the dormitories.
- When I was sweet sixteen I went on a trip to Europe. It was a 6 week tour, including four weeks of education at London’s Royal Academy of Music, run by the American Institute for Foreign Studies. It was my first experience of the privileged class. I paid for my trip myself by working as a baby sitter, maid, fast food worker and dry cleaner’s alterations and repair seamstress, and was excited to do be there. The other kids in my chaperone’s group had been going to camp and on summer “educational” trips for years, paid for by their parents, whom they knew were simply getting them out of their hair for the season that school was out. They were a particularly cynical group, but very nice to little ol’ mountain child me.
- I chose my alma mater largely on the basis of the ratio of men to women enrolled, which was an intriguing 7:1.
- I can sing, read music in all clefs, play the violin, viola, piano, flute, oboe, and cello. I have made noise come out of a french horn, trumpet, trombone and conch shell. I have maracas, a rainstick and a dumbek. I love to pound on my drum.
- I believe Micky Hart is a God, specifically the God of Percussion. Despite the focus of my musical career on strings, percussion is my favorite section of the orchestra.
- Hector Berlioz is my favorite composer of all time. Not only because of his grand music, but because of his life story. Whether you are a musician or not, his “Memoirs” are fascinating reading. If it wasn’t all documented, you would swear he made it all up. Also because the tympani depicting the wrath of God in the Dies Irae of his “Grand Masse des Morts” is nothing short of electrifying.
- I don’t use insecticides and haven’t since we attempted to kill the fleas in our apartment back in 1986. It didn’t noticeably affect the fleas but it sure as hell made me sick. When I worked at the condominium/townhouse management company back in 1991, I noticed that of all the contractors I gave checks to for their services, it was the pest control guys that were twitchy, unfocused, paranoid and just plain weird. And they were supposedly using those chemicals in the proper way with proper protection.
Well, there you have it. Ten facts about Ms Healingmagichands that I hope were illuminating and amusing.
Wow Hands, it is so cool to read all of this stuff about you. I love have Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum CD and love it, even though I am not musically gifted in any way, but still love music. The trip to Europe must have been great. I bet you enjoyed it way more than the others, having earned the money yourself. You are way more lucky than they for having done that. Thanks for including me in this, it is a meme that is full of fun. I did it on my two year blogaversary here:
Scrappy Blogaversary.
I will add a link to you in the awards page on my sidebar. 🙂
Frances
Honest scrap? You bet I’ll accept! I’ve been wanting one of those for my sidebar for a while now. So what does “cultivate the artichokes” entail?
I lived in Missouri longer than I have lived anywhere yet as well, and yes I believe that Hector Berlioz and Micky Hart rock. But what I want to know is how did they know about all that scrap???? See ya next week, Sweetie!!!!!!!
I have to figure out what to do about this. Whenever I think of an offbeat fact about me that I would let out in the first place, I recall that I have already blogged it.
I’d like to hear more about #6
😉
Thanks for the award…I will do this, just give me a bit of time!
Thank you for the award. I have taken up your challenge.
Very interesting facts! I am rather envious of your musical abilities! I didn’t realise you could play so many instruments or read in all clefs!
That’s what happens when you play piano and viola. All clefs become as one. . .
Thanks. I just had to find and listen to the dies irae. Quite electrifying and very obviously influential.