Thursday, February 28, 2008

housekeeping


Trying to catch up on a few of my outstanding memes. Tash tagged me once again for the six things about me meme. Maddie's Mom tagged me for a meme where you can either (1) share five random and/or weird facts about yourself; (2) share the five top places on your “want to see or want to see again” list; (3) share five things you never pictured being in your future when your were 25 years old. I picked the first alternative, which means I’m listing 11 facts about myself.

1. I have no tonsils. They weren’t taken out. They just never grew in the first place.

2. One night when I was three, sitting under the dinner table and listening to the grown ups tell jokes, I decided to chime in with my own original contribution. This was the first (and probably the only) joke that I ever made up::

Q:What has eight legs and does not go around the house?
A: Two dead donkeys.


3. I signed all my kindergarten artwork with both my name and brother’s name. I didn’t want him to feel left out because he was still too little to go to school. I also carved his name into the piano, just above the keyboard, though my motivation in that case was probably somewhat different.

4. In our fifth grade play, I was given the role of Carrie Nation, the militant prohibitionist who roamed the midwest in early 1900s, toting a Bible and using a hatchet to destroy establishments that served liquor. I was disappointed that I had to make do with a cardboard hatchet.

5. The pediatric practice I went to had two physicians, a husband-wife team, who both went by Dr. Green. On one visit, I saw the male Dr, Green but, at the next, the female Dr. Green was the one who examined me. Afterwards, I commented to my mother, “You know, she used to be a man.”

6. It’s exactly six inches from the place where my palm meets my wrist to the tip of my longest finger – a fact that I’ve frequently found useful.

7. I have only one first cousin.

8. In the 1980s, I had one of those oh-so-trendy asymmetrical haircuts, crewcut-short on the back and left side, with one long piece of hair falling into my face.

9. As a child, I loved watching tv so much that, as soon as I woke up, I would turn on the set and stare at the test pattern until it was time for the Early Morning Farm Report.

10. After I graduated from college, I spent a year in southern France working as an au pair. Because the father was a fireman, I lived over the fire station.

11. When my third grade class took a field trip to the state park, I got lost in the woods. Eventually, I found my way to a highway and hitchhiked back to the main parking lot, where I waved down the school bus as it pulled out. No one had noticed I was missing.

I won't tag anyone in particular, but if you ever need inspiration for a post, feel free to use one or both of these memes.

27 comments:

wannabe mom said...

i enjoyed reading these. i especially liked the last one, i can just imagine an 8 yr old, nonchalantly hitchhiking, but i didn't like that no one noticed you were missing.

S said...

that joke you told at three? quintessential niobe, even then.

as is the story of your third-grade hitchhiking. calm, cool, and composed, even at eight, eh?

Which Box said...

Yeah, hitchhiking in third grade. Can you imagine the hysteria that would cause now?

Which Box said...

Oh, I forgot to say I am really curious to see your 5 hotties list. I know you've been tagged more than once on that one. Will Rob Lowe make the list? Judd Nelson? Or completely opposite? I know, William S. Buckley??

I have to believe it'll be intriguing, as only a Niobe post can be.

ewe are here said...

Awwww, you signed your brother's name on your artwork, too? so sweet.

EmmaL said...

I enjoyed reading this one - and I loved the joke you made up! It just made me laugh! Our fifth grade play was the Wizard of Oz and I was the wicked witch of the west. I have to say, the video is pretty amusing.

Lori Lavender Luz said...

My hand serves as a half-ruler, too.

I can just see that haircut.

Anonymous said...

I like that you signed your brother's name to your artwork. I wouldn't have done something like that, I didn't like my brother much when I was in kindergarten.

niobe said...

Which Box: I'm still thinking about that meme. It's an especially hard one for me, because my mind doesn't seem to work that way.

Julia said...

Is that a broom in the picture? Because if it is, I'd like to know where you got one of those as I am in need of a good broom like that. My crappy supermarket ones are not doing it for me.

Love the monkeys joke. Two, count them, two twists. We are currently subjected to a lot of knock-knock jokes. Kindergarten is so educational.

Why was there a prohibitionist in your fifth grade play? And was she a hero or a villain? Both possibilities are disturbing to me in the context of fifth grade. But I do have to agree with you-- either way you slice it (ha-ha!), cardboard hatchet is not a great prop.

Maggie said...

You are so interesting!

And you have small hands. Because after I read #6, I totally broke out the ruler. I have short fingers, but mine is 6.75 inches...which I think might be slighly less useful...

Rachel said...

My favs? The joke and the hitchhiking.

Sunny said...

I so see you and number 8. I can't believe the last one. I hope the teacher got in trouble. :)

niobe said...

Julia: It is a broom, but, though I took a picture of it in nice light to make it look pretty, it's just a cheap supermarket broom.

Unknown said...

I'm dying at the Mr/Mrs. Green one. Dying. These were great to read. I am bitter that I can never get any of my pictures to look Niobe-esque, no matter now hard I try. And I've been practicing a lot. DRAT!

c. said...

#5 is very comical. Very.

Anonymous said...

#3 is sweet, #10 is interesting, but #11 is scary.

the dragonfly said...

"You know, she used to be a man."

Priceless.

Angela said...

I got inspiration to measure my hand. It is seven and a quarter inches between the tip of my longest finger and the palm/wrist border. Much less useful.

christina(apronstrings) said...

i heart you...you interesting chicka.
i love people who are different and introspective and have a slight darkness. the donkey joke is hilarious.

Magpie said...

You have tiny hands.

No tonsils? I think that means you're on the cutting edge, evolution-wise. Who needs 'em, anyway?

Antigone said...

I can't find a ruler!

Anonymous said...

I love reading all these things. :)

Hugs
xxx

painted maypole said...

wow. and that is why i'll be attending a field trip with my daughter next week. yikes.

WendyB said...

I bet your joke is a classic family story that gets told and retold.

Monica H said...

#11- so sad.

Anonymous said...

You never cease to amaze. Fun and interesting list.