Sunday, March 22, 2009

25 random things about me

I was tagged by Lisa Allender to write 25 random things about me some weeks ago. This was an interesting little exercise, I must admit.

Should she choose to do so, I hereby tag the brilliant and beautiful author of secret, fragile skies to create a post concerning 25 random things about her.












1. The first word I said was light.


2. I hope there is no such thing as reincarnation. But if there is then I think I'm a fairly old soul.

3. I've had monthly massage from the same woman for 16 years and she's heard lots of my stories. Recently she said that if she ever came back as an animal that she would want me to adopt her.

4. I love natural hot springs. I've even been known to disregard signs out in the desert, but luck was on my side......... (video runs 31 seconds)




5. The smell of Daphne stops me in my tracks.

6. About 90% of the time in the last year or so I'm neither euphoric nor anguished, and I think that's pathetic.

7. When I walk out my door during non-school hours there is usually some neighborhood kid who will yell hello to me. They all call me by my first name and I've made a point of learning all of theirs.

8. On July 21, 1969, two things happened that I'll never forget. My boyfriend and I were on a double-date with another couple and on our way to Lake Tahoe we stopped at a cabin along the Truckee River to say hello to the other guy's grandparents and parents who were having a family celebration. They insisted that we eat a quick spaghetti meal, an excellent one, because the grandparents were from the old country. The grandfather taught me how to spin my pasta using a fork on a spoon. I've not eaten spaghetti any other way since........

9. .........After dinner we sped on to Tahoe where we expected it would be easy to find a television to watch. It wasn't easy. We were kicked out of several bars because we were underage and were about at our wits' end when we drove by a motel with the lobby windows clearly showing a television on. Time was running out; we charged in and asked the owner/clerk if she would let us watch with her. She was pleased to have the company. Just minutes later the five of us sat speechless as we watched Neil Armstrong become the first man to walk on the moon.
10. I treasure solitude.

11. My father left my mother when I was three weeks old. I didn't meet him until I was 21 and we talked for about an hour. I saw him a final time when I was 35. He was drunk and that visit was horrible.

11. My mother and I were on top of Mt. Schweitzer near Sandpoint, Idaho, when my father died. I know this because I kept the summer chairlift ticket stub with date/time stamp and compared it to the death information.




12. I quit eating mammals 32 years ago, but I still eat seafood and poultry.

13. My favorite type of cuisine is Indian.....but my favorite food is salmon. Every time I eat it I thank the fish.

14. In freshman college English we were asked to write an in-class essay about what we would be willing to die for. Mine was about music.




15. When I was a kid our family went to the 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley. My mother took this shot. Notice the lack of crowds and the simplicity of the Olympic Flame.



16. I had an operation and subsequent period of recovery during the Persian Gulf War of 1990-91. I returned to work when the war ended. It was a short war.



17. I'm pretty sure that I love cats more than anything else in the world. If there's something I love more than cats one of my cats will let me know.



18. I think the funniest movie I've ever seen has to be The Jerk with Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters. (video runs 2:26)




19. I use my middle name at my blogs. My first name isn't especially common to begin with, and my mother spelled it in a really unusual way, thereby ensuring that I have spent my life spelling out a name that never truly seemed like it belonged to me.

20. Mike and I merged our last names when we were married. They each are fully represented in this natural blending, sans hyphenation.

20. I love God.

21. There were llamas in a field that I drove by this week and it made me so sad to realize that I'll never have one for a pet.

22. I am unsure what my favorite color is. I like a variety of colors for different uses for assorted reasons in special seasons.
(Fantastic color wheel here!)








23. My favorite number is 8. It reminds me of the track I had for my HO gauge train set when I was a kid.

24. Spring is spectacular, but my favorite season is autumn.
It feels like home to
my spirit.

25. I took this quiz.......Are You Mind, Body, or Spirit?....... and here are my results:

You Are Spirit



You are resilient, hopeful, and inspiring. You have a lot of emotional, physical, and mental energy.

You nurture and nourish yourself. You know that you need fulfillment and downtime if you want to be your best.

You stay present in every moment. You don't allow yourself to be distracted or flustered.

You appreciate the life you have been given. You embrace all that is beautiful in the world.





Photo of lightbulb: Jeff Lieberman, 2007

Music and autumnal graphics: webweaver

Painting of cats: Henriette Ronner-Knip, Dutch


.

24 comments:

The Acolyte Tao said...

Gotta ask:
12. I quit eating mammals 32 years ago, but I still eat seafood and poultry.

Is this for health reasons or morality reasons? And if morality what's the difference between cows, pigs, etc. and such than fish?

Namaste!

Lydia said...

@Acolyte Tao- For a mix of reasons. At the time my ex-husband was in law school and we were so poor that the only meat we could afford was awful ground beef. I couldn't stand it any longer. I thought I may give up poultry and fish later on...for those morality issues you mentioned...but my I guess I'm too lazy to go all vegan and deal with the intricacies of making sure enough protein is eaten daily. Besides I love fish.

I have a friend whose 11-year-old daughter announced one night at the dinner table that she "no longer eats anything with a face." It's a quote for the ages....... :)

The Acolyte Tao said...

Haha very cute.
I would LOVE to go vegan for morality reasons, I just absolutely can't for health reasons. I can eat 3000 calories of fat a day and I'll lose 3 pounds... I can't ever eat enough calories and vegetables only couldn't fulfill that for me. And I also do not exactly care for vegetables so my diet would be extremely limited which does make me sad.

Lisa Nanette Allender said...

Hi Lydia,
I used to be a rather strict ovo-lacto-vegetarian, and then added shrimp and fish back. I eat much more variety now, but could never eat a pig. I guess because I want one as a companion. There really is no difference between species, really, though I believe "cold-blooded" species(fish, shellfish) are "easier" to eat, because we do not feel as "connected" to them as warm-blooded animals, or mammals...
The "Does your food have a face?" question is a great one, and I first heard that from PETA, many years ago, though I personally have my own "Does your food dream?" question. Every animal dreams, though I don't know if shrimp have large enough(complex enough) brains to dream.
Your "25 Random Things..." is quite touching--especially the bits on your father, and where you & your Mom were, when he passed. I'm sorry for that loss(both when he was "present", and then, passed), but you seem to have developed tremendous empathy and a great deal of conviction(I loved the "I Love God" statement--it feels not only truthful, but vulnerable, too--and that's a nice thing!!) and often, we learn from our losses, as well as those who are able to give us love(your Mom sounds like a gem!)
Peace, woman.
Oh--I loved that story about watching the lunar-landing--I knew the date, so I knew why you were looking for a TV set, but what a cooooooooool way to have seen the first man on the moon!

Darlene said...

You are an interesting lady, Lydia. Your random thoughts are fantastic.

I don't want to eat mammals for a moral reason. They are intelligent and share some of the same emotions that humans do. I do not think this is true of fish. Their brains are tiny.

I have to say, though, that I am not a vegetarian and would eat red meat if I was a guest at someone's dinner. I just don't buy it myself.

Looking to the Stars said...

Love the post! The Jerk always makes me laugh, its one of our favs too. If there is reincarnation then I think our paths have crossed many times. I am not much of a meat eater because the taste is not enjoyable.
1960' Winter Olympics, neat pic and neat memory.

Adam said...

this may sound a bit strange that I know this, but my english teacher proposed to his wife in lake tahoe.

this list taught me a lot about you, I would like to see more of this kind of thing in your posts :)

~Adam

Lily said...

very interesting answers!

I wonder. Why do you hope that there is no reincarnation?

Love, sarah sofia

Lydia said...

@Acolyte Tao- I do understand, having seen the video you made of yourself at your blog. You are that ultra thin body-type, most definitely. I wonder if you have tried drinks blending vegies and fruit juices/green teas, etc. in a juicer? Might be a way to get the vegetables you need but don't love. :)

@Lisa- Thank you for your so thoughtful comments on the post that you tagged me to do! It really was interesting to me the things that popped into my mind...and I relished the concept of randomness. So that's something for me to pay more attention to.

I rarely deal with the issue of my father in my mind so I must thank you for freeing me to do so. And also, thanks for freeing me to be (as you said) vulnerable in expressing my love for God. You're right, my mom=amazing. She died in 2000 and I miss her companionship. She was great company and we laughed so much together. And you're right, I learned a lot from losing her.

I do wonder if you'll have a pig for a pet. They are supposed to be so smart. Also, are you an historian? I ask because you said the lunar landing date was already familiar to you and I think that's impressive! Your "does it dream" statement is amazing and really gripping. I think that eating mindfully is the most important thing we can do, no matter what we eat. :)

@Darlene- Why, thank you kindly! I sure think you're interesting, too. :)
You'd be a better guest than I, as I can't imagine eating beef, pork, or lamb ever again. I've been asked about this social issue. So far I've been fortunate to have been invited where people knew what I eat, or who served enough variety that there was more than enough to select.

@Looking to the Stars- I'm glad you enjoyed the post. Interesting you'd say that about paths crossing...because I've wondered if that might be why we connect with the people we do on the internet. Who knows? I do know I'll think of you when I see The Jerk from now on. :)

@Adam- What interesting observations you make! I'll think about trying more randomness in some posts in the future because this really was a free-flying writing experience.
A proposal at Lake Tahoe would be very romantic. My ex-husband and I spent our honeymoon there, and my sister and her husband were married there!

@Sarah Sofia- Glad you thought my answers were interesting!
Your question is a good one. Why do I hope there is no reincarnation? For one thing, in spite of having much hope for the future I'm not sure I'd want to see where the present is leading us. Also, as a firm believer in population control I wonder how the Earth can sustain a constantly-rotating population of the formerly-deceased-now-returned who are intent upon multiplying their latest gene pool once again!
On the other hand, I really love the idea of souls reconnecting in continuing lifetimes.....

RB said...

So much interesting stuff--and I usually find these lists boring. I'm practically a vegan but now as these comments are making me think I should eat fish.

Also, I've never seen the Jerk, but I love steve martin. I fell even more "in like" when I wrote this bio of him [http://www.findingdulcinea.com/features/multi-day/net-profiles/52-steve-martin]

My favorite quote: "I believe entertainment can aspire to art, and can become art, but if you set out to make art you are an idiot."

Thanks for sharing. I look forward to more thoughts on fish...

Anonymous said...

Lydia: I'm a meat eater, but if you come to visit me I will cook vegetarian meals for you.

Steve Morozumi said...

holy crap! my brain's exploding with how much i learned about you and from you! and it was ultimate awesomeness! thanks so much for sharing Lydia!

by the way, did that white space advice i gave you end up working for you?

have a week of awesome!

-Steve @ fluxlife

Lydia said...

@RB- It tickles me that you liked the post. I just returned from reading your excellent article about Steve Martin (left you a comment there, too). Your link needs to be pasted, so for everyone who'd like to read RB's article click here!
Actually, you should have a nice fish entree the next time you go out as a reward for your hard work!

@Hattie- Oh you are so sweet! If we are ever planning on visiting Hawaii (and I'd love to) I'll let you know. You must introduce me to poi, whatever that is!

@Steve- Because of your enthusiasm for this post I am also tagging YOU to do a "25 Random Things About Me" post. I'd be most interested to see what pops out of your brain.
You know what, I need you to send me the second email again. I made the mistake of deleting it and all I can remember is
but nothing about the examples you gave. I was fiddling around with stuff last night and I created some blank space by making a line of periods (.) then turning them into white color so they wouldn't show up on the page. It worked ok but I'm afraid that it's not proper html or css or whatever and that it'll come back to bite me in the form of dropped feed data or something like that.

I figured out why all my feed data dropped last Friday. It was the day I added to my right-hand column a painting for Spring, featuring a mother horse and her colt. I fell in love with it online and copied it over. Big Mistake!

Unknown said...

I could have told you all of that before the test :)
Plus the test missed a very important point.
You are the most wonderful friend!

Lydia said...

@Buddha- O, you made my day with that comment! You know how I value your friendship. :)

The Acolyte Tao said...

I drink v8 juice!
=D
So I think that helps some, but it defiantly isn't as much as I need...
As with teas, well, I drink 1 green tea a day 1 of american ginseng and once a week of panax ginseng.

Lydia said...

@Acolyte Tao- Good! V-8 juice is good for you. And I think your variation of fine teas is admirable. Your body loves you for it.

Erin Davis said...

I think the fact that your first word was "light" says so much about you. I also feel like autumn is my seasonal/spiritual home. I really enjoyed your list...much more in-depth and compelling that some I have read. :0)

Lydia said...

@Erin- Thank you for your interesting comments. If you come back to read my reply......TAG! Your turn to write 25 about you!

Erin Davis said...

OK, Lydia. I did it! Thanks for the tag...

Erin

Lydia said...

@Erin- And it is darned wonderful! :)

Lydia said...

@Wayfaring Wanderer- YOU are!

Elizabeth Halt said...

I loved this list! Lots of interesting stuff on it ..

I learned that fork/spoon/pasta trick once and was amazed at how much simpler it made pasta eating. I think I dropped pasta on myself the other day though so clearly I'm not using it right now. ;)

Lydia said...

@Elizabeth- Thanks. :)
So funny about your pasta maneuvers. Get out that spoon next time!

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