Lynn "pseudo-tagged" me for this (And I agree - I hate "tagging" people because it feels like you're obligating someone...to me, it's not that far off of those "forward this to ten people or you'll have bad luck DON'T BREAK THE CHAIN" things.

But anyway.

The rules are as follows:

• Each player creates a list of eight random personal facts/habits.
• At the end of your post, list eight people who you want to tag to also do this meme.
• People who are tagged will write their own list of eight personal facts/habits and, if they have a blog of their own, post these rules and their list.

So here are my eight random facts:

1. I have fairly strong and very flexible toes. If I am barefoot and I drop something, I do not feel it is at all odd to use my toes to pick it up rather than bending all the way over to get it (e.g., picking up a dropped razor in the shower while shaving my legs). My parents used to tease me when I was a kid and say that I had "prehensile toes." (I do draw the line at picking up food with my feet; that's just gross.)

2. I used to eat a banana every day with my lunch when I was in grad school; now I seem to have developed a food intolerance to them (they upset my stomach; my allergist has said that some people with bad ragweed allergies don't tolerate bananas well - apparently there are some proteins in common between them).

3. I didn't get my drivers' license until I was 18 and I didn't really feel comfortable driving until I was almost 30. (Pretty much from age 18 to 30 I lived in places where either you didn't need a car, or a car was actually a liability - like downtown Ann Arbor, where it could cost almost as much to house a car as it did to house a person.)

4. I remember where things are based on where I put them last. Thus, if I move too many things around at once (for example, if I clean my office), I forget where I "put things last" and I can't find anything. Therefore, it is more efficient for me to leave my office cluttered.

5. I can often name a tune in just a few notes, or identify who the composer of a not-familiar-to-me piece is from the style. So much so that I've been puzzled on occasion by the choice of tunes used in advertisements. (Right now, there is a car commercial that uses "Holiday Road" - which may have not originated with, but which I completely associate with, "National Lampoon's Family Vacation," and I find myself wondering if that song was the very best choice they could make to promote their cars. You know, considering "metallic pea" and all)

6. By the same token, I tend to remember very obscure lines or gags from movies and shows that I've seen (see: "metallic pea" above). I can also pretty much quote a line from the Simpsons for any situation I may find myself in. (not that I DO, but I CAN).

7. If I had all the time in the world, I would love to spend it learning stuff:
learning to speak German (well, better than I do now - I can basically order dinner and ask where the train station is, and in my mind, that's not really speaking the language)
learning to speak Irish Gaelic
learning to spin
learning to weave
learning how to dance, really really well, and taking the time to get good
learning to play the violin
learning (again) how to play the piano
learning a lot more than I know now about genetics
learning a lot more than I know now about geology
learning how to identify the birds
learning entomology
learning more about ancient cultures...

and on, and on.

8. I'm kind of afraid of bees and wasps. Not as badly as when I was a kid, when the mere sight of a bee would make me burst into tears. But I still get spooked when I hear buzzing around me. I chalk this up to the fact that I had some very bad experiences with getting stung when I was a little kid - the house I grew up in was invaded by yellow jackets and I used to get stung in all kinds of unpredictable places (like, for example, I was reading on my bed and I rolled onto a yellow jacket that had crawled under a blanket).

I'm not afraid of spiders at all, though.

I'm not going to tag anyone - if you've not done this and you'd like to, consider yourself tagged.