Seven weird things about me
I've been tagged with a meme by The Spicy Cauldron and it's one that I've decided to respond to. The meme? Write seven weird things about yourself. Given that my email address is JamiWard at WEIRDNESS dot com, how could I resist? But I will warn you in advance that these are things I consider to be weird about myself and not things that others have told me that they think are weird.
1. I do not remember ever NOT knowing how to read. I don't remember learning to read; I have simply been a reader for all of my life. In junior high school I was on the speed-reading team (yes, there really was one). And I can read upside down and backwards, too.
2. I have faster-than-average reflexes - physical reflexes, anyway. They're not as fast as they used to be, given the ravages of advancing age, but I'm still pretty quick. I'm not graceful and co-ordinated, though - just fast.
3. I can find my way in total darkness (or with my eyes closed) without feeling my way along or bumping into things as long as the obstacles in front of me are head-high and I don't walk very fast. I can just kind of feel when something is about one to two feet in front of my face.
4. As klutzy as I can be at most things and despite not ever having taken any lessons, I've always been very good on skates; inline skates, quads (roller skates) and ice skates. I'm not a figure skater or a trick skater, but I AM a good skater.
5. I can easily find four-leaf clovers; sometimes five-leaf and even six-leaf clovers. Despite that, I've never been all that lucky.
6. I can fit more stuff into a given space than anyone else I know. When I help people move, my job is to tell everyone else where to put the stuff in the truck/trailer/rail car/auto in order to maximize the stuff per load. My family refers to this as my Spatial Reference Orientation skill. (I don't know where the term came from.)
7. There is a period of my life that I not only do not remember but cannot remember. This period was several days long, and I cannot be any more accurate than that because even after being told all the details of the period - repeatedly - by others, I can't retain the knowledge. Here's as much of the story as I do remember. About thirty years ago, I was very sick with a very high fever. I was out of it, probably delirious, for several days and then I got better and everything was OK. The only thing that I have retained from others telling me about the incident was that my spouse was VERY worried about me and her telling me that if my fever didn't break, the neighbors were all set to take me to the hospital ER where the doctor would administer repeated ice-water aspirin enemas to cool me down. Apparently I started to recover within minutes of that threat. But despite repeatedly being told these details, I still can't remember when it was, what I had to make me sick, how long I was sick, what my temperature actually was or anything that happened during that time. It's as if the fever just wiped out a part of my memory and then locked it so nothing about the data it contained will stick in my head.
I'm not going to tag anyone else for this meme, but if you want to take a shot at it then go for it.
1. I do not remember ever NOT knowing how to read. I don't remember learning to read; I have simply been a reader for all of my life. In junior high school I was on the speed-reading team (yes, there really was one). And I can read upside down and backwards, too.
2. I have faster-than-average reflexes - physical reflexes, anyway. They're not as fast as they used to be, given the ravages of advancing age, but I'm still pretty quick. I'm not graceful and co-ordinated, though - just fast.
3. I can find my way in total darkness (or with my eyes closed) without feeling my way along or bumping into things as long as the obstacles in front of me are head-high and I don't walk very fast. I can just kind of feel when something is about one to two feet in front of my face.
4. As klutzy as I can be at most things and despite not ever having taken any lessons, I've always been very good on skates; inline skates, quads (roller skates) and ice skates. I'm not a figure skater or a trick skater, but I AM a good skater.
5. I can easily find four-leaf clovers; sometimes five-leaf and even six-leaf clovers. Despite that, I've never been all that lucky.
6. I can fit more stuff into a given space than anyone else I know. When I help people move, my job is to tell everyone else where to put the stuff in the truck/trailer/rail car/auto in order to maximize the stuff per load. My family refers to this as my Spatial Reference Orientation skill. (I don't know where the term came from.)
7. There is a period of my life that I not only do not remember but cannot remember. This period was several days long, and I cannot be any more accurate than that because even after being told all the details of the period - repeatedly - by others, I can't retain the knowledge. Here's as much of the story as I do remember. About thirty years ago, I was very sick with a very high fever. I was out of it, probably delirious, for several days and then I got better and everything was OK. The only thing that I have retained from others telling me about the incident was that my spouse was VERY worried about me and her telling me that if my fever didn't break, the neighbors were all set to take me to the hospital ER where the doctor would administer repeated ice-water aspirin enemas to cool me down. Apparently I started to recover within minutes of that threat. But despite repeatedly being told these details, I still can't remember when it was, what I had to make me sick, how long I was sick, what my temperature actually was or anything that happened during that time. It's as if the fever just wiped out a part of my memory and then locked it so nothing about the data it contained will stick in my head.
I'm not going to tag anyone else for this meme, but if you want to take a shot at it then go for it.
On 2/04/2008 1:35 PM,
Rhea said…
You would make a great burglar (the darkness thing).
On 2/04/2008 11:21 PM,
Anonymous said…
I have a period of time I literally cannot remember. It was during college. The joke is that alcohol had something to do with it. Either way, I have no memory of this certain period of time. It's kind of scary.
As for skating, I have little skill. And now, I have fear. I had a rollerblading accident on a health trail - I was going down a hill that ended at an intersection with the road. I could not slow or stop, so I steered toward a post, grabbed it, swung around it and hit the ground. I tweaked my ankle and cut my left breast. It was awful because every.single.person. at that intersection witnessed it. I haven't been on skates since.
On 2/05/2008 1:48 AM,
Anonymous said…
Those are some pretty cool weird things about you. From some of these I can deduce that you, my friend, are in fact a mutant with X-Men powers who would be great to have around in a power cut! x
On 2/05/2008 12:21 PM,
Jami said…
@leslie - Oh, I have scars ...
@spicy - Shhhh! You're going to out the whole secret identity.
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