That latest meme

[oakenguy]

Okay, I like this:

I know very little about some of the people on my friends' list. Some people I know relatively well. Some of you I hardly know at all. Perhaps you lurk, for whatever reason. But you friended me and I thank you.

But here's a thought: why not take this opportunity to tell me a little something about yourself. Any old thing at all. Just so the next time I see your name I can say: "Ah, there's so and so...she likes going barefoot."

And just because I'm a completist,

As a small child, Disney villains used to *terrify* me. I remember laying awake in bed at night with the covers over my head, listening for the "clop-clop, clop-clop" sounds of the Headless Horseman riding up the driveway.

I'm adopted. When I finally met my natural Mom a few years ago, part of me was selfishly disappointed that she wasn't either rich or part of European nobility.

Through high school and college and a few years afterwards, my daydreams were one continuous narrative, based on an analgram of D&D characters and plotlines and whatever books and movies were influencing me at the time. It was always there in the back of my head, rich and vivid. I thought it was how daydreams just _were_.

While I like the theory of clowns and occasionally think that being part of a clown troupe would be a Good Thing, in practice nearly every clown I've ever met has given me the creeps or made me very sad.

I have three scars on my left hand; two cooking-related injuries where a knife slipped, and one long shallow cut made moving a chair which just never healed for some odd reason.
My longest scar, the only one that ever needed stitches, was given to me by my sister when she put her scissors in a plastic bag, twirled it over her head like a bolo, and clouted me in the lower lip. She was five years old.

There was a time when I thought seriously about trying to make a living as a face painter.

When I was six or seven and riding in the back seat of the car on a trip through the woods, I saw a UFO. It looked like three grey balls linked together, just floating in the air. I yelled and tried to get my parents to stop the car or at least *look*, but they just told me to be quiet and kept driving. I still have no idea what it was.

For many reasons, I've decided that I should have a tattoo of a turtle on my left shoulder. I just haven't a) found the right artist, and b) found the money for it..

Comments

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

When playing cricket, I bowl right handed but bat left.

[bellebet.livejournal.com]

When I was a little girl, I was actually a picky eater. The way my parents would get me to eat was by telling me "Donnie and Marie like ___." I blame the Osmonds with my weight problems.

[keelie.livejournal.com]

I'll combine those previous two:

I play all sports right handed except for hockey when I'm a leftie.

When I was little to get me to eat my McDonald's cheeseburger my mom would take it out of the bun and say "eat your cheeseburger cookie!"

For years after, and still to this day, I have a hard time NOT eating the hamburger first, then the bun. I never knew it was a weird way to eat it till I was like 10

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

My first words ever were, "Coca cola!" (while pointing at a billboard of the appropriate beverage)

Then, just to be even more contrary, I spent a period of some weeks (or possibly months) insisting that the correct word for a spoon was "moise." I was evidently stubborn enough about it that it was burned into my parents' minds for all eternity.

[flynngrrl.livejournal.com]

This weekend I got an inch long splinter in my hand. I thought I had gotten it all out, but it still hurts. Right now it is incredibly itchy, especially when I use the mouse. Here's itching at you when I click on "Post Comment."

[snowwand.livejournal.com]

When I was a child and learning how to speak, I used to have constant ear issues (which were remedied with a tube in one of my ears (which is in my baby book, oddly enough)). The only people who could understand what I was saying were my mom and my older sister valerie. No one else had any freakin clue what I was saying, sometimes I still think this is true.

[asciikitty.livejournal.com]

hmmm....

i was born most of two months early, at 32 weeks. i weighed 3 pounds 9 ounces when i was born. my brother, conincidently enough, weighed 9 pounds 3 ounces when he was born.

i was the second of four children in my extended family to be born quite early- the last two were the twins, born just a few weeks ago.

they are the first set of twins in my family. i don't yet know if they are identical.

and for one more family bit- my father is the oldest of his sibs, but my brother and i are the two youngest cousins.

my favorite thing to eat on pizza is artichokes- this week. somethings it's broccoli.

[simply-juniper.livejournal.com]

When I was little I pretended that there was always a camera on me. I would talk to the audience and act for them. Sometimes I still do..

My father and his friend would call me a good, intense chess player though all I knew was how to castle.

We had a wood stove and a heat vent right near it. I would make myself heat sick by curling up to the stove and putting my feet on the vent. To this day I can't have my feet get too hot without feeling icky.

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

When I was little I pretended that there was always a camera on me. I would talk to the audience and act for them. Sometimes I still do..

The same hour I read this, I read this paragraph in 'Running With Scissors':"...in desperation, pine trees can become Panasonic cameras. Their broken branches, boom mikes. This allowed me to walk down the dirt road we lived on, imagining that there was always a camera trained on my every move, zooming in close to capture my facial expression."

[spenceraloysius.livejournal.com]

These are all the answers you have given so far. Does that mean you intend to provide more tidbits about yourself?

I want to invent some deadly disease and force the world to bow to my wishes. This isn't happening any time soon.

It's sad when wee ones drink

[malterre.livejournal.com]

I had my first hangover at age two. I was caught when Mother found me in the dishpan under the sink, singing. You see, each time she would ask my father to make an Old fashion (sp?) he'd pour it, put in on the kitchen sink counter, I'd reach a hand up from underneath, cop it, replace empty glass, she'd complain, cycle would begin again.

Went through a pitcher of them. *hic*

Re: It's sad when wee ones drink

[meesto.livejournal.com]

I only met the Old Fashioned when I was 35. It's just as dangerous now as it was then. Smooths all the rough bits off my brain and leaves it rolling round and round my brain pan.

[amare.livejournal.com]

I like to run my fingertips over the spines of the books as I walk down the rows of shelves in my library stacks. It's one of the small joys. I also sometimes run full tilt down the ailes because I can and because it makes my peripherial vision tickle.

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

I remember that from my time as a book shelver in college! I used to love shelving the legal section and the Congressional Records because of the texture and heft of each one.

excuses, excuses

[freyja.livejournal.com]

... to be honest, i think if you read my journal you know too much already.

and man, i have great stories but whenever anyone asks for one i go completely blank.

and i wouldn't want you just knowing me for one trivial thing anyway.

BUT

i just thought of one, and it's simple, and it's just that i taught myself to sing. without those dorky exercises-- just singing along to all sorts of stuff for years. and my range can change with a small amount of "practice". i think i just have a lucky throat, but there you have it.

[xcentrikka.livejournal.com]

When I was a kid, I had a desperate and violent fear of having my face painted. Hah, I guess you and I would have been mortal enemies, had your career aspiration come to fruition.

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

As if the peanut butter thing wasn't enough!

[xcentrikka.livejournal.com]

Haha, yeah, we might have to duel!

[aberdeen.livejournal.com]

The first book I stole from my mother was Laughing Gas by P.G. Wodehouse. I was 8. It was my favorite book for about a year - until I stole The Tempest.

[meesto.livejournal.com]

I was napping a couple of years back and woke to this little voice calling: "hellooooo...". It happened a bunch of times and when I opened my eyes it stopped. The little people having me on again? Yeah, that's what I thought too.

I drove for an hour in my sleep in Kansas once. Woke up without any clue where I was or which way I was headed. Called out on the CB-Radio "I'm looking at the moon. Which way am I going?"

Oh - that and I've worn Viggo Mortensen's underwear.

Well, c'mon!

[anneth.livejournal.com]

You can't just drop that out there and then not tell the whole story!

Re: Well, c'mon!

[meesto.livejournal.com]

It was in early July that I got a 5am call up time for being an extra on LOTR ROTK. One of many very early mornings of showing up at sparrow's fart in the dead of winter. We'd all sign in and get told what we were going to be for the day. With our bright yellow, water proof bag and name tag we would proceed to the changing area and be handed some polypropelene underwear and (as I was an orc that day)a spandex body suit to hide our natural skin tone. As I blearily shucked off my clothes and pulled on the poly's I noticed a little name tag sewed in at the waistline. It said "VIGGO". I don't know about you, but there can only be so many Viggo's that were important enough as to get their name tag sewed into their clothes with this project. I felt extra cosy as I lay there in the freezing cold mud, with a rubber head zipped over my face, not breathing while they did the battle scene pick up shots. I think that day's shooting may actually make the final theatrical cut and I might be able to see myself. I'll let you know if I do.

Thanks for sharing!

[anneth.livejournal.com]

What a great story - and totally feeding into my ridiculous excitement over LotR. I get to see it after my last final, the day it comes out, and wee! I'm all excited.

Thanks again! Keep me informed!

I friended you in part because your icon is adorable.

[anneth.livejournal.com]

But, the point is, I have a terrible fear of falling over backwards. So I love to rockclimb, but rapelling back down to earth totally terrifies me.

And, kittens. I love kittens.

Re: I friended you in part because your icon is adorable.

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

With me it's falling over forwards! So if they let me sit backwards on a rollercoaster, I'd probably do a lot better.

*remembers the Superman ride and shudders*

Re: I friended you in part because your icon is adorable.

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

Oh, and welcome. :)

[kittybrat.livejournal.com]

first: check out Precision Body Arts in nashua, nh. Their tattoo artists are Kevin and Nick, and they ROCK. (The piercer, Ryan, is awesome too, but you mentioned the tattoo, so... :) )

Anyway...
When I was in 2nd grade I had an older friend, and she was my first friend to have a stepparent... she had a stepmother and i was deathly afraid of meeting her because of Cinderella.

i cried the night shannon hoon (from blind melon) died.

my first celebrity crush? jason david frank, the green/white power ranger. i was 14 years old.

when i was in 8th grade, i wanted to change my name to kimberly, and i insisted that everyone called me that, and i even introduced myself as that... up until 2ish years ago. (when i was 19/20ish.)

i love photography. i love taking pictures.

i don't know what else to say. :)

Several tidbits...

[kissedbythegods.livejournal.com]

I plan to adopt my children. I once did at return for a clown while working at Staples. I think I may get a Maple Leaf tattooed between my shoulder blades someday. I work as a hostess/bartender in the "casual" resteraunt of a swanky hotel.

[akycha.livejournal.com]

When I was little, I used to feel terribly guilty over the fact that I knew perfectly well that if offered the opportunity to visit a wonderful magical land (in a wardrobe or whatever), "but you can never come back!" I'd do it in a heartbeat. I thought this meant I was a horrible evil person for being willing to abandon my family for fabulous magical adventures.

At the age of four, when I read the first Laura Ingalls Wilder book, saw the name on the cover, and put two and two together, I had a voice in my head narrating my life for months. I couldn't get rid of it even when I wanted to. I put this down to completely not understanding in my little fuzzy child brain why she was using the third person.

Despite never having had a job that takes advantage of this, I am mechanically inclined. I used to take doorknobs and clocks (well... one clock) apart, and put them back together, too. And they worked!

Other Rose

[badassfaerie.livejournal.com]

Hmm.

Well, you may or may not have gathered this from my journal. I am a clown. I haven't been really active in a while, but I am one. :) :) I'm not scary or sad, promise.

Uhm. Thinking of the Wee- drunkie that posted earlier- I have this great picture of me- and I'm under a year old, drinking some shitty beer. My mom was mortified that my dad took that picture, swore they were going to end up with me taken away- didn't happen. :)

I used to love mustard, and would eat the whole jar if left within my reach of my grubby little paws as a toddler. Then I hated it for years and years and years, until the past few, where I have rediscovered the joys. (And have even visited the International Mustard Museum, 2ce!)

I used to be McGruff the Crime Dog. I would do it for summer events. The costume is cool, because it has a battery operated fan in the muzzle of the dog. Visibility was always an issue- occasionally I'd be walking around and suddenly I would feel a crash- and I would have some small child attached to my legs, in some sort of embrace. But hot hot hot. Nothing like a DOG SUIT and a TRENCHCOAT in August, to make for good times. Take a bite out of crime.

Whenever I tell people that story they ask me to say that. I try to explain that most of the time, mascots and such don't talk.... for a reason. I also tried to explain that if I did talk I would put the fan on, so it would help disguise my voice. To this day, when I help out with the local baseball team, doing the "Fun Patrol" I help out our mascot, and make sure that they are safe, and know where the kids are, etc. Kids will gladly come up and walk right out of vision, and then get so terribly disappointed that they were ignored by said mascot.

The first thing I ever wanted to be, was to work on Sesame Street, as a puppeteer, or character.

I had a weird ant phobia for a long time, which I'm much better about. It stemmed from living in the country, nothing like Honey I Shrunk the Kids, or anything.

When I was in the third grade, I brought a knife to school. (accidental, I swear) But if I had been in elementary school now, instead of then, I would have been expelled.

My most interesting looking scar was from a dog. an evil evil evil dog. But it left a scar that for the longest time, looked like an anchor on my right bicep.

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

you may or may not have gathered this from my journal. I am a clown.

I haven't seen you perform, but I'd be willing to bet you're much better than the local clowns (who seem to think that rainbow-colored fake teeth and names like "Willie Snotbucket" are the way to go).

Costumes in the summer heat can be brutal! I used to live down in VA, and one summer the local clown (there was only one, Freckles) passed out while doing an outdoor puppet show. It took everyone a few minutes to realize what had happened, since the only things visible were her big motionless clown shoes poking out from under the puppet booth.

[badassfaerie.livejournal.com]

(rofl)

That was a great story.

I'm one of those anti-balloon animals and face painting clowns.

Don't get me wrong, I like to face paint, I just refuse to do it as clown. I refuse to learn how to do balloon animals, although I've contemplated learning it, I again, wouldn't do it as a clown.

I primarily do improv. My character doesn't wear big clown shoes, or a clown nose, or some rainbow wig, either, nor a giant big suit- although I was given one, and also have a more typical clown costume for when I did a white faced character. I am more of a hobo type character. I don't really talk, make up sight gags as I find them/they come to me... I do and have some skits, for use when working with other clowns.

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

I'd ask for pics if it wouldn't be hypocritical since I haven't posted the Halloween ones yet.

This is exactly the sort of clowning I love!

[bmajors.livejournal.com]

I cannot snap my fingers, skip, or even whistle. To tie my shoes, I simply make two loops and then tie them together instead of doing it the ever-slightly more complicated way. Last week, I scalded a portion of my leg while making soup in bed.

[enidenvy.livejournal.com]

i went to band camp, so i can say "one time, at band camp..." and not be telling a joke. does that count?

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

It does!

Was it like the movie?

[crossbonestyle.livejournal.com]

I tried to give myself a Tattoo when I was 13, now I just have an odd scar on my left hand.

-I cut off most of my hair because my heart was broken when I had to leave my friends at summer camp, and probably never see them again. I did that because I read in a Manga series that in Japanese culture, when a person is in mourning, they cut their hair off, At the time it was past my shoulders, now its around my ears

-I dyed my hair to look more like my dad who was Italian, and now my hair is black and wont fade back to the brown I had it.

- I still wont go in my basement after dark, its scary.

-Sometimes I carry around my Nana's rosary beads in my pocket even though I left the Catholic Church.

-I wish I was a cat.

-LauRen

[sistahraven.livejournal.com]

(oh, and if you're looking for an amazing tat artist, I can refer you to mine... she's amazing, and relatively inexpensive for the quality of work she does!)

I find the "decapitation" of strawberries unnerving (when one cuts off the greens instead of using it for a handle). Decapitation of Strawberries is ok it the strawberries are getting further sliced...

I once wanted to be a nun

I have weird freckle-like things on my eyes.

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

On your eyelids, or the eyes themselves??

[sistahraven.livejournal.com]

eyes themselves...

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

Wow!

A tidbit about me, eh?

[hazeleyedfae.livejournal.com]

I love photography and drawing, but don't wish to go to school for either, really.

The person on Earth that I admire the most is my dad who went from "having it all", then having it taken away, then truly learning what it means to have everything. It's something I learned from him, and I still do try and apply it to my life.

Although I'm a Christian, the idea of reincarnation appeals to me, but only if we can actually remember all of our past lives and find our old friends and such once again, and if we happen to be animals I hope we'd still be able to understand one another. Otherwise, what's the point? ;)

I've had many a man in my life, but only two boyfriends, both which shared the same first name.

Giving people something to think about and challenging them with my performances (no matter whom I'm playing) is more important to me than them coming up and saying, "Yah... it was a great show."

I love the colors purple, silver, and gray. If I could wear it every day, I'd rather be wearing jeans, boots, a blank t-shirt and a plaid long-sleeved flannel.

[empheliath.livejournal.com]

I play 4 musical instruments at at least a competent level, but have only received training in one. I was taught to play the clarinet, and proceeded to teach myself flute, saxophone, and piano. (Although, to be fair, a family friend did teach me my first piano scale and fingering. I just did the rest on my own.)
I have a weakness for musical instruments, and therefore own an ocarina, two bamboo flutes, a bamboo saxophone, and a set of pan pipes, in addition to my clarinet and piano. I can play all of those, but am not very good at the ocarina or the pan pipes.

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

A bamboo saxophone???

[empheliath.livejournal.com]

Abso-fraggin-lutely. It's very cool, and I like its uniqueness a lot. I'll show it to you next time you're down my way, or next time I see you up here, if I remember to bring it with me.