Friday, February 17, 2006

The truth shall set you free and also - please feed my ego

Thanks all for guessing on the lying meme I did - it was a lot of fun to see what you guys thought I would lie about.

And now, without further ado (crap, I just realized I used that exact phrase in the last post. I need to come up with other phrases, obviously), here are the answers and a bit more detail about the experiences:

1. When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answers were: Writer, Gangster's Moll and Super Friend.

True! I was obsessed with the Super Friends and had a huge crush on Aquaman (He talks to fish. I'm a Pisces. Obviously we were meant for each other). This was before I realized that my true love was (and still is) Batman, especially when portrayed by Adam West. I'm not so sure why I wanted to be a Gangster's Moll but I think it had something to do with I love the music and fashion from the 1920's and the Molls were usually portrayed wearing polka dotted dresses. I like polka dotted dresses from the 20's. And we all know that I like bad boys but gangsters from the 20's were so much cooler than what we have today. They dressed in suits.

Isn't it nice to know that the only thing keeping me from becoming a hardened criminal is that I find gangsters today aren't fashionable enough? And that I don't look good in polka dots?

2. At the urging of a former boyfriend, I joined the Minnesota Naturists and participated in a swim event. The first time I met his sister was when she jumped out of the swimming pool, completely naked. I also watched nude volleyball. Although I wore a swimming suit, about halfway through the evening, I felt weird being the only one wearing clothes and finally went au naturel.

True! It was a very weird experience for me. I went there with my former boyfriend and his mother (which was weird enough, that he would be running around naked in front of his mother). When we first walked in the door, the people taking the money are clothed but then you walk into the next room (after entering the glass door completely covered with brown paper) and there are all these naked people walking around. Minnesota Naturists are clothing optional events so there was absolutely no pressure to take my clothes off. After awhile, I started becoming a little uncomfortable being one of two people still wearing clothes (former boyfriend's mother was also clothed) so I pulled my bathing suit down to my waist but I wasn't planning on going completely naked. Until I went to the bathroom and tried to get the wet bathing suit back on. That didn't work so well. I ended up walking back to the room naked.

It is very odd to realize that, if you are surrounded by naked people, you will feel completely out of place wearing clothing. And the really nice thing about this is that there wasn't any judgement or sideways glances or whispers about my weight. Every one there is treated like a person, not a potential sex partner. The Naturists were a great bunch of people and I enjoyed the evening. I think the funniest part was watching nude volleyball. Four men bouncing (literally) around a court. Hi-larious!

Johnny, for the record, I only went to the one event which was indoors. They did do a lot of outdoor functions, including canoeing (referred to as "canudeing") but it apparently difficult to find places that will allow people to be naked outdoors. And it would be insane during the winter.

3. I once met LaVyrle Spencer at Waldenbooks. When introduced to her, my mouth dropped open and I could not think of a single word to say to her, including how much I loved her writing. She laughed and hugged me. That was the best day I had working at the stupid Mall (which is pretty sad when you consider I worked there for ten years).

True! She was very nice. I usually found myself at Waldenbooks either on my lunch break or between my two jobs. I was trying to convince the manager to hire me but jobs there were filled up quickly and they didn't have a high turnover at all. Plus, and I'm sure you'll never believe this, but I love to read and can spend hours in a book store, just looking and touching books. I wrote a poem about what it was like for me once but I have no idea what I ever did with it.

Anyway, LaVyrle Spencer was talking to the manager and I overheard their conversation. It was about her newest book and she was describing the plot. From what I overheard, I thought they were talking about the movie "All I Want For Christmas" in which these children try to get their parents back together. LaVyrle (as I always think of her, don't know why) said "No, it's the plot of my newest book." The manager introduced me and that's where my mouth dropped open. I am sure I stood there like an idiot for a few minutes. So embarrassing.

I cringe to think what it would be like if I ever met Nora Roberts. I think that I wouldn't embarrass myself terribly with Mil Millington because I have exchanged emails with him and he also sent me a scene that had been cut from "A Certain Chemistry" (which I lost, damn it. The email, not the book). I am sure that if I ever met him, we would get along fine. And then I would embarrass myself when I started talking in an English accent which I seem to pick up whenever I read his books.

4. Many years ago, when I was younger and much more firm, I was dared to stand on a bridge over Highway 94 and flash my chest. I accepted the dare. I did not stop traffic, although there was one guy that pulled over and tried to get my phone number. I declined.

False. I was trying to come up with a good lie and Jodi suggested this. Sad, isn't it, that I couldn't think of anything myself?

5. I have had prophetic dreams come true, including one the day my uncle's body was found in which I knew he had died. I also dreamt that a guy in one of my classes would be in a car accident on the day of our choir concert. He would end up in the hospital in a coma and his cousin Robin would visit him there. The next day I asked him if he had a cousin named Robin and he didn't believe so. He wanted to know why I asked and I told him about the dream, asking him to not drive the day of the choir trip. Two weeks later, he tells me that his brakes went out on his car, the day before the concert. A week after that, he tells me that apparently he did have a cousin named Robin...two cousins named Robin, one born the night I had the dream.

True! There's nothing more interesting than having your entire class look at you as though you are a total freak when you tell someone they shouldn't drive their car. I don't remember my dreams that much anymore but there were a lot of times I found myself feeling complete deja vu and then remember that I dreamed about the situation.

I hope you enjoyed this episode of To Tell the Truth. I am looking forward to seeing if anyone else will do this.

Updated:

Hey! There's this thing that Beth and Teri and Johnny did. It's this box thing and you say stuff to describe me and you should probably click it and tell me stuff about myself because that would be cool. This is the link to my unique Johari thingamabob.

If you're the type of person who needs actual descriptions of what you're going to go and click on, please read what Beth had to say. Or actually what someone wrote and Beth copied.

"The Johari Window was invented by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingram in the 1950s as a model for mapping personality awareness. By describing yourself from a fixed list of adjectives, then asking your friends and colleagues to describe you from the same list, a grid of overlap and the difference can be built up."