Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Queen for a Day

I've been hit with the most free form meme imaginable by laurie. Evidently all you have to do is talk about yourself. I can so do that. Isn't that what I do on a daily basis with my It's All About Me blog anyway? And now it's officially sanctioned? Sweet.

If I were following what few rules there are, I'd start with why I blog. So (since at heart I'm a rule follower and not a rule breaker) I will. I blog...because I can. I started because there were people I felt I was losing touch with and it broke my heart. I continued because it feels good to write again. Writing was my outlet for so long, but I rarely had the nerve to show anyone. You can be brave on the internet even if it's harder to be brave in your life. I keep doing it now because I've made friends who have become very dear to me. I worry about their kids and their dogs and their lives. I worry if they don't post for a day. I miss them when they don't post for a day. And I love the immediacy of commenting. Bam! What started out as a monologue is now interactive. Not to mention the fact that this may be the only facet of my life where people actually listen to me. That...is why I blog.



The second component of this meme is to talk (more) about yourself.
Now, my life is a pretty open book, even when it should be firmly shut. I try to not tilt into TMI territory any more than I have to, but my boundaries on that might be a little lax. I'm pretty game for any subject that comes up, but I've noticed that some topics are hard to introduce casually. It's like telling someone that you're pregnant or going out with someone new. (I'm neither, by the way). It feels kind of abrupt to just blurt it out, but you'd still like to bring it up at some point. Hopefully before the birth or the honeymoon.

So I thought it could be interesting to bring up some of my "orphan" facts here. You know, the ones that are trickier to work into a typical blog post, but are nevertheless a piece of the bigger picture. Don't say I didn't warn you.

~My father was Iraqi, born and raised, the second oldest (and oldest boy) of nine children. He was Catholic, however, and this led to a lot of persecution by those in the religious majority. He moved to the US (by way of Britain) a few years before I was born. Specifically, he was Chaldean, a small group of people directly descended from the Babylonians. The largest concentration of Chaldeans in the world lives in the metropolitan Detroit area. There's a lot of info on Google, but I couldn't decide which one to choose...so I didn't. I could probably get a hundred posts from this one fact alone off the top of my head. I'm sure it could be interesting, though probably not productive.

~I hated High School with all my heart and didn't really feel like I could be myself until college. I loved college as much as I hated high school. Isn't it funny how most people like one or the other but usually not both? Why is that?

~As I was typing this my mammogram results arrived in the mail. All clear, baby. Whew!

~To paraphrase swearingmother, I am a world class worrier. My grandmother (who was the same, and had a bleeding ulcer to prove it) used to describe us this way - "Honey, we worry so much that when there's nothing to worry about it worries us." Yup. That about covers it. Every now and then I get furious with the Film Geek because it seems to me like he never worries. He always has the same answer - "Well, I know you're worrying enough for the both of us." Gee. Thanks.


~If I ever write my autobiography (admittedly a long shot) the title will be Men and Film. I seem to have spent most of my life involved with men who are involved with their cameras. (Wow. Does that sound bad or what?)

~ I hate odd numbers. I like even numbers. I am the only even numbered birthday in my house. Sigh.

~ Stay tuned for another episode of The Gabbies, as I have a slew of awards to dispense later this week.


Are you bored to death yet?

I figured as much.

So...let me quickly pass the torch on to Jen and Mya. (Jo was also on my list, but when I went to her site to copy her address I saw that someone else had already gotten her with a very similar meme. You're off the hook this time, Jo).

Wow. Did you ever think there was so much about me that you didn't want to know?

###################################################################
I take it back. I am tagging Jo on this after all. I just actually read her meme and it's totally different. Thought you pulled a fast one, eh Miss Jo?

24 comments:

Stepping Over the Junk said...

I love these kinds of randomness to learn about folks! Yay on good results of the mammogram!

Kim said...

After I read the even/odd thing, I started looking around my house: lots of groups of three (vases, pictures, candles, copper cups, oh, and a big one, children). That is such an odd little idiosyncracy -- no pun intended!

You're more interesting every day, girl.

Flowerpot said...

great news on the mammogram - celebrate! Fascinating post correspondent!

Jo Beaufoix said...

Yay on the mammogram, and I don't mind another meme. I promise Barbara won't do this one.

Your dad sounds like he's had an amazing life, and the current situation in the world must be kind of difficult for him. So glad he moved so that we got you and the film geek and the boys, oh, and the hounds.
I know that's not why he moved, but I'm glad you're all here, safe.

You write so well RC I could read you for hours. I'm not sure if I ever told you that. :D

Anonymous said...

Another great and interesting post.

The even number thing is wild. I also avoid odd numbers at all costs. I've been doing it since I was a child. I wonder what the reason is behind that?

laurie said...

fascinating in every way. iraqi? what else are you? i should have known you'd be something interesting.

hated high school? i'm with you. loved collegle? ummmmm... not all that much. i was eager to get out in the world.

i love what you and coffee and kaycie did with the vague meme i gave you.

oh, and CHEERS on the mammo. i am relieved for you.

Jen said...

Randomness is fun, and how else would I have learned about your Chaldean dad? I had friends in Canton, MI who ran a store. They were also Chaldean. I remember during hte first Gulf War, the store was vandalized.

Hooray on the mammo. Good news is always good. And I'm glad you liked the pralines!

Madam Crunchypants said...

Random posty goodness is always appreciated.

I also am a complete worrywart. And Beaker is the same way as Film Geek "I might worry more if you worried less, but we don't need 2 people in the house who are constantly sick from it."

Anonymous said...

You are an interesting person, as I always thought. I love reading your blogs.

Excellent news on the mammogram.

Crystal xx

ped crossing said...

Love randomness, when I finish the wedding story I might try it myself.

All our birthdays are even, but my house is filled with oddness. It is a decorator thing.

Ducky is the worrier and I am the one that thinks he nuts for worrying about everything and nothing and driving me crazy in the process. The fact that I don't worry, drives him nuts so I guess we are even.

Yahoo about being in the clear!

the rotten correspondent said...

stepping over the junk - I'm really big on the random memes too. I don't know why - maybe it's the unexpectedness of them.

kaycie - well, if you read all the decorating magazines, three is the way to go. Harmony and balance and all. It's funny in that I have 3 kids and 3 dogs. I just tell myself they add up to 6. Helps me sleep at night.

flowerpot - I was very relieved. I was supposed to get a call or a letter no later than Saturday, so I had myself all worked up by yesterday.

jo - this sounds really weird, but my dad died very suddenly in August 2002 and I'm almost relieved. The current world situation would have killed him. He still has (had?) a fair amount of family there.

And thanks a bunch for the very sweet compliment. Back at ya, babe.

auntie barbie - okay, same birthday, same number foibles...you don't like cream cheese and onion sandwiches, do you??

laurie - my mom is Scotch-Irish, from a (non-practicing) Southern Baptist family in the Deep South. They divorced when I was eight.

I have my dads light olive skin and dark eyes, but my moms features and reddish cast to my brown hair. No one EVER thinks I have middle eastern blood, which has led to more than one moron telling "towel head" jokes that I'm never quite sure how to deal with.

I went to high school with a girl who was Japanese and Iranian. She was striking.

jen - the party stores and grocery stores of Farmington Hills, Bloomfield Hills, Southfield and the old 8 mile area are stacked a mile high with my relatives.

It's funny, but since you've lived in Michigan you get the Chaldean thing. My dad's store was firebombed after 9/11 and then someone threw a brick through their huge living room plate glass window. Not pretty.

And those pralines? snarf. chomp. sigh.words escape me.

thalia's child - does that not make you crazy?? Sometimes he says that when we split up all the marital duties I jumped in and snagged worrying, taking it off his plate forever. Not. Fair. And I don't know about you, but my job does NOTHING to ease my worrying.

crystal - thank you. I'm a lot more interesting on the internet. In real life I'm like a matron in a housecoat.

the rotten correspondent said...

ped crossing - it is a decorator thing and I will admit that I do have groups of three things in my house. But they worry me deeply!

So...what is it like being the one who gets to designate the worrying? I've always wondered.

laurie said...

my best friend is half japanese, half german. he jokes that his family was on both of the wrong sides during world war ii. (though actually it's no joking matter-his mother's family fled germany, and his father was in one of those internment camps in califoria.)

oh, and i'm a worrier too. so is doug. except when he worries, i tend to talk him down, and vice versa.

Anonymous said...

Cream cheese and green onions on toast :) I am sure I have frequented your family’s party stores. I know quite a few families from the Middle East.

Swearing Mother said...

I got my mammogram results too! All OK, so why did I burst into tears then? Oh the tension. For at least a few days/weeks/months then, I can stop regarding my boobs as unexploded bombs, just waiting to get me. So glad your grammy is OK, we must have had the waffle-iron treatment on the same day. Ouch!

Your MEME was fab. I think the more vague the instructions, the better. I like to encourage randomness on all levels.

Brilliant.

Deb said...

Yay for even numbers and college! Congrats on the mammogram news.

wakeupandsmellthecoffee said...

I like even numbers too. I was born on an even day in an even year but an odd month. But threes and fives intrigue me too.
So you're Iraqi and Greek? I'm picturing someone with dark hair and maybe brown/green eyes?

Happy in the Abyss said...

WONDERFUL ABOUT UR BOOBIES...

I acutally posted today, don't get bored!

LOVE U

Devon said...

Loved your random post... I have a thing for order and even numbers, yet I am very bohemian hate to conform!!!!

Congrats on the mamogram!!!

the rotten correspondent said...

laurie - that's the problem with multi-ethnic people. way too many world events you feel you need to apologize for.

auntie barbie - maybe we are twins separated at birth (and exactly one year later). You probably have run into my relatives. They're everywhere!

swearingmother - I think it is the relief, because I was a little teary too. I have a real problem with "routine tests". They so often bite you in the ass.

deb - yay! I'm so glad I don't have to get flat ironed for a year.

wakeup - I'm Iraqi and Scotch Irish. No Greek blood (although I loved My Big Fat Greek Wedding and thought they could easily have been my relatives. All that yelling and carrying on). Very pale olive skin, reddish brown hair and light brown eyes with a fair amount of green in them. You'd never pick me for Middle Eastern.

HITA - well, it's so much easier to do a mammogram on me. It only takes one panel.

the rotten correspondent said...

devon - conformity isn't my strong suit either. And even numbers just make me happy.

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

This is an automated blog comment: “I am sooooo far behind! I’m catching up on all my blog reading this afternoon but don’t have the time or energy to be creative with my comments. I read. I loved. You’re fab. Seriously.”

Susan said...

I think suspicious mammogram results are conveyed very quickly, so if they haven't called me withing 48 hours of the mamm. I figure all is fine. It cuts the worrying WAY down. Try it next time. The air is clearer here today, rumor has it the I-5 is open, the winds are dying down, and all San Diego reltives are planning to return home tonight. That means there will be two less teenagers in my house tomorrow. I actually think the cousins all had a really nice time together, even under the cirucmstances, which they are probably somewhat oblivious to. With any luck life will be back to normal here when you arrive!!!

Akelamalu said...

Mammogram fine - GREAT NEWS!

I love reading more about people, I prefer even numbers too :)