The Eleventh Hour . . .

When Raquelita, the Running Historian, tagged me for an  “11 Random Things” meme last week (and go check out hers — the questions, answers, and revelations are interesting and fun), I decided to pick up the challenge. While I’ve generally been of a mind to ignore memes this past while, it’s been quite some time since I’ve done one and perhaps newer readers don’t know all my oddities yet. And perhaps those of you who have stuck with me for a while have forgotten some. And perhaps I’ve come up with new random “things about me” since the last time I did this. 

However, I can’t imagine tagging the requisite 11 fellow bloggers, having tagged some in the past and knowing how busy everyone is. I’m only going to tag a very few and hope other readers might decide the challenge is fun — If you do, please let me know and I’ll link to your post.

The rules are:

1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
5. Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them
6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag people! (As you can see above, I’m bending the tagging rules. Ooooh, the rebel yell!)

First, then, eleven random things about me:

1.  I grew up with eleven younger siblings.

2. My “baby sister” is 15 years younger than I am, 8 years older than my daughter, her niece.

3. My mother and my father each came from families with ten children — my dad was the youngest of his, my mother the third youngest, so I had many, many older aunts and uncles, and at least 50 cousins on  each side of the family.

4. By now, it might not surprise you to learn that I was raised Catholic.

5. I dropped out of university during my second year, somehow managing to pass two of the courses without taking the final exam. I didn’t formally withdraw, and it took a few years to get past those Fs on my transcript.

6. I was over 40 when I completed my BA, over 50 when I defended my PhD dissertation.

7. I once accidentally kicked a hole in a wall in our house. It would take longer than I want to explain this to you, but it’s a true story. And it truly was an accident. There was frustration and sleep deprivation involved and I was standing too close to a wall and the heel I jerked up and backwards punched right into the drywall. I was teased for years . . . 

8. I’ve watched the complete series of Buffy 7 or 8 times and Angel 5 or 6, have a paper on the shows in a forthcoming anthology and will present another paper at an upcoming conference. Bit of a fan.

9.The first perfume I ever bought for myself was Ma Griffe.

10. I met my husband through friends and wangled another chance to visit with him by offering to type (on my Royal manual typewriter) a paper for him.

11. Travelling in Britain on my own as a 14-year old, I arrived at the train station in London puzzled that no relative was there to pick me up, even though I’d written to say when my Glasgow relative was putting me on the train, when I’d arrive, etc. After my initial panic, and after waiting a reasonable period, I decided to take one of those big black cabs, confidently giving my aunt’s address and reassuring myself that I surely had enough cash for the ride. As we drove up to the address I’d given, I heard myself saying “209” instead of “109” and realized why they hadn’t yet got my letter — and why they hadn’t met me. I learned a valuable lesson I rely on still — if you’re lost, a taxi driver can rescue you and it only costs money!

RANDOM enough for you? Okay, now to answer Raquelita’s questions.

1. If you had to enter a different profession from your current one, what would it be?

Hmmmm, had to? Let’s pretend the question is “got to” — I think it might be fun to try a stint in fashion retail, something completely different. Or editing/publishing. We once came very close to buying a bookstore (a 12th random thing!), and I would have loved running it, but thank goodness it didn’t work out given the financial perils of such a venture these days.

2. Apart from running, what is your favorite way to work out? 

I really enjoy walking, and I love the way I feel by the end of my Pilates Reformer classes

3. Would you consider yourself a dog person or a cat person and do you think this reflects in any of your other personality traits?

Definitely more a dog person, although we’ve had a cat in the house for almost 30 years now (two, in succession). I’m sure it does reflect personality traits, but couldn’t specify which.

4. If you could spend the day with one celebrity, who would it be and why?

Kim Raver (of Grey’s Anatomy), especially if I could spend that day with her in Paris, because I once saw her there when Paul and I were having coffee with my friend Andrea, and she was so fluently French-speaking that Paul and Andrea were trying to convince me I was mistaken. And then she switched into English and I was vindicated. I was intrigued by how she could be herself on those streets, escaping any fans, and would love to chat with her about what the city represents to her.

Of course, there are also good reasons for wanting to spend such a day with, oh, say, Salman Rushdie, but I’d be terrified of keeping up intellectually. Diana Athill, whose memoir I’m currently reading. . . I have to admit, though, that I’m pretty skeptical about that whole notion of spending a limited time with a celebrity — I think such meetings would be fraught, awkward, and generally I’d be just as happy watching or reading their work from a more comfortable distance.

5. What is your favorite thing to cook?

I love the process of stirring a risotto — it’s slow-cooking at its best, I think, with that patience resulting in a magic transformation. But I’m also very proud of my pie crust and enjoy putting together blackberry pie in the summer, knowing how much it will be enjoyed.

6. Where did you grow up?

In New Westminster, BC, a small city near Vancouver.

7. What is the last book that you read?

I juggled two novels last week, and can’t remember which got finished first: either Timothy Taylor’s Story House which I reread for my class, or Michael Ondaatje’s Cat’s Table.

8. Why did you go to the college that you attended?

Oh, my transcript is such a patchwork, with at least 5 different institutions.  But all were chosen for pragmatic reasons — I needed to make my mature-student-return-to-school work with my family life

9. What is your favorite kind of ice cream?

Baskin Robbins chocolate peanut butter, the kind that has chunks of peanut butter in it, used to be my favourite, altho’ I have no idea if they even make it anymore. There’s a local company The Udder Guys  that makes a magical Coconut flavour. If pressed, I’d call that a current favourite.

10. If money were no object and there was no need for concern about exploitative means of production or harm to the environment, what would you splurge on?

I’d fly all my kids, partners, granddaughter to Paris to join us in the several apartments we would rent so that we could show them what we love about the city. Then we’d follow it up with a week or two at a French Meditteranean chateau, poolside, so they could see another side of the country.

11. Why did you decide to start blogging?

After the dissertation process, I really wanted to get my inner editor off my back, and I wanted to find ways toward a more integrated life. The academic one seemed often to push my personal life out of the picture — conversely, those in my immediate personal life rarely heard much about my academic life. Not sure I’ve managed that integration, but I do think I’ve loosened up my voice a bit, made it more my own, and I know that has translated into my academic writing.

12. What did you eat for breakfast?

Haven’t had it yet — waiting for my guy to come back with the Saturday papers and we’ll probably have bacon & eggs

AND FINALLY, the eleven questions I’ll set for the bloggers I’ll tag AND any others who wish to pick up this challenge:

1. What was your favourite film last year and why?

2. If money were no object, where would you spend your next vacation? and why?

3. Describe the earliest meal you can remember enjoying.

4. If you were dividing domestic chores with a new roommate, which ones would you try to claim?

5. Do you play a musical instrument? If so, which one?

6. When you’re bothered by prolonged muscle or joint soreness that’s interfering with your workout plans, do you visit a General Physician, a Chiropractor, a Physiotherapist, or a Massage Therapist?

7. What activities do you hope will sustain you throughout your 80s and 90s?

8. What was the first important car in your life?

9. What was the most significant course you ever took?

10. If you had the resources, which elementary or high school classmate would you try to track down, and why?

11. Which chef would you like to have come to your house to prepare a meal for your guests — or, alternatively, give you a cooking lesson in that chef’s professional kitchen?

I’m going to tag Lorrie of Fabric, Paper, Threadand Blue Jeans & Black Coffee, both fairly new-to-me bloggers that I’d like to know more about. And Hostess of the Humble Bungalow because she’s always such a good sport and we grew up not so far apart in place and time.  I’d love to see IndigoAlisonreveal her answers and know she’d come up with some great questions. . . But I know we’re all very busy and I’ll understand if any of you say no. And if you aren’t tagged, but would like to take on this meme, let me know and I’ll link you up!