seven odd facts about mimi [tagged again]

Yes, I’ve been tagged again, this time by the wonderful and witty Melissa of Cords and Fleece. To play by the current ‘rules’ of tagging, I need to tell you “seven weird or random facts about myself.’

But I’ve told you so much already!

Here’s more.

1) My mother’s mother’s name was Esther, and my father’s mother’s name was Jenny, so if my parents had wanted to name me after their mothers, they could have named me Estrogen.

2) I used to have crushes on female teachers. When I was in fifth grade, I had a crush on Mrs. B., one of my two homeroom teachers. Now what exactly does that mean? you ask. Well, it meant that I spent a lot of time writing “I love Mrs. B —” on pieces of paper and writing poems about her (sounds a bit like falling in love, doesn’t it?). I can still remember one dreadful line from one of the poems, which was about watching her lead my classmates in a line from one part of the school to another: the last line was Yet who befells the mysteries of a woman?

Befells??

Oh dear.

And one snowy Saturday afternoon my friend Ronny and I went to hunt out Mrs. B. (and her husband) at their house near Washington Square Park. The balls we had! — but they were innocent balls. We rang the door, went inside, and actually visited for a long time! I can’t remember any more than that.

I actually keep up, sporadically, with Mrs. B., and — you will be astonished to hear this — actually got a Christmas card from her this year. The year of the crush was 1957…

3) I have the opposite of SAD (seasonal affective disorder): I love winter, overcast skies, and rain (viewing it from indoors, not walking in it). If I have work to do and a deadline to meet, it’s much easier for me to get things done if it’s grey out. I love greyness, grey light, grey skies, dark grey clouds.

I do feel ‘SAD’ — in summer. A bright sunny day in winter can get me down also.

I don’t know why; I’m just wired that way.

4) My nursery school and kindergarten class (same kids, more or less, for two years) was full of future celebrities. Among the children was Danielle Schulein, later to become Danielle Steel, the very famous very wealthy author of zillions of romance novels. All I remember about her is that she wore clothes that were a bit too dressy for play, such as a light blue winter coat with a velvet collar and matching leggings.

I guess kids don’t wear leggings anymore, do they?

Also in my class was Ruthie Reichl, my best friend then and a good friend for many years to follow, later to become Ruth Reichl, the restaurant critic for the New York Times, the author of many wonderful food-oriented memoirs, and editor of Gourmet Magazine.

And finally, there was Rockie Brynner, the son of Yul Brynner, at that very time starring on Broadway in the (new!) musical of The King and I.
My only memory of Rockie is that one day he brought a python to school, and he let it slither around his neck and down one of his sleeves, its head reappearing at his wrist. Needless to say, I was terrified.

Why on earth would he have been allowed to do that?

5) My body is full of parts not originally mine. I have lenses in both eyes from cataract surgery; my left (I think it’s the left) jawbone had to be replaced and is now made of ‘artificial’ bone, itself made from ‘bovine’ bone and the bones of dead people — so said my maxillofacial surgeon, then the official maxillofacial surgeon for the Philadelphia Flyers. And then there are all the caps on my teeth.

So who am I then?

Mi(Not)Mi

6) There are a number of types of people who irritate me so much that I often wish I had little cards printed out to hand to them, urging them not to do what they’re doing.

Who are they?

People who
– stand in front of subway doors and block them, making it difficult for people to get on and off quickly. These are usually men and usually large.
– ride bikes without helmets, often twisting in and out among cars and buses. In July 1976 in rural France I saw a helmetless young man on a motorcycle hit by a car as he turned at a stop; the car I was in was so positioned that I saw blood pouring out of his head onto the road for a very long time. I don’t know if he survived.
– smoke. Actually, rather than cards, I’d like to give them DVDs taken in cancer wards of hospitals, so they can see what’s ahead of them. Don’t they believe the evidence? do they think it doesn’t apply to them?
– don’t wear seatbelts. After Governor Corzine and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, how can people do this? Incredible.

7) I’m going to have my first salsa lesson on Friday 14 March.

Readers of this blog know that I’ve been taking swing-dance lessons for quite a while and love dancing, though no one has ever told me I’m any good at it. I’m not. But Plan C loves dancing, especially Latin dancing, and I love dancing with him. His quite-individual dancing style is something I haven’t yet gotten used to, but he’s coming to my lesson on Friday, and we’ll see what transpires. I’ve never before, ever, had a boyfriend who was a stylish dresser or a good dancer. I had to be 60 for that…

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You know what?

This is a hell of a lot more than seven facts.

* * *

I hereby tag the following bloggers and print the tagging ‘rules’ below.

amore & vino

cute jewess tells all

funky brown chick

lolita wolf

loverville

single girl in the south

the erotic journal of juno henry

1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post THE RULES on your blog.
3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

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