Thirteen Random Facts About Whatever: 2023 Version

[ER]

I liked the old thread, it's been half a decade, let's do another:

1. I think orange is an underrated color.

2. Wherever I am I am likely within reach of a tube of Chap Stick.

3. I like to color but I'm not very good at it.

4. I have never broken my wedding vows, and have a near-mania about keeping my word.

5. I am a little safer from pursuing lions, since I can outrun my friends.

6. I think mirrors have the capacity to be extremely creepy things.

7. Almost everyone I know has had some preternatural experience.

8. I believe I have been psychologically tortured.

9. I try not to exceed 30 grams of sugar a day in my diet.

10. I think Star Trek blows Star Wars out of the water, but Star Wars is doing a much better job these days.

11. When I was a child I grew up meeting a fair number of famous and well-known people.

12. With firearms I am an excellent shot, but try as I might mastering archery eludes me.

13. I dislike killing so much I try to catch bugs in the house alive and let them go outside.

[RCMerchant]

1. There are 3 Ronald Merchants in my family. My Uncle (now dead), my cousin and me.
2. I met Verene Troyer (aka Mini Me) in rehab.
3. I hitchhiked from Michigan to NY.
4. I drew a comic strip for the local paper for 10 years.
5. I've been arrested over 20 times. No felonies!
6. We have had 2 suicides in my immedite family. My brother Richie, and my cousin Ricky.
7. My grandfather Merchant divorced my Grandmother before I was born, and married an American Indian woman. My Uncle Eddie and my Uncle Doug both married Mexican women. I lived for many years with an American Indian woman and a black woman.
8. I have never been married, but have 2 children and 5 grandchildren.
9. I used to get drunk in Poe Park, the Bronx.
10. I knew 6 murder victims, and one murderer.
11. My mother was adopted.
12. My great grandfather was a silversmith in Norway.
13. My older brother was in prison for attempted murder.

[Trevor]

1. I was born in a country which now has a different name.
2. I was an unwanted child and was raised by a childless couple who are the only parents I have ever known.
3. I am the son of a feminist and a former juvenile delinquent who later became a cop 
4. I lived through a deadly bush war.
5. I had my first movie experience at the age of 6.
6. I went to an English Public School although not in England.
7. I am an abuse survivor and would unalive myself if I ever hurt anyone the way I was hurt or any way at all.
8. I nearly killed a school bully and everyone left me alone after that.
9. I got arrested in February 1987, a month after coming to South Africa for not having an ID: thankfully I had my passport with all my permits on me.
10. I have worked on over five hundred films, including an Oscar winning one.
11. I have a niece and nephew who are the only young peeps I allow to call me Uncle.
12. I am a trained projectionist and archivist.
13. This is my second home.

[Rev. Powell]

1. I don't like talking about myself.
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[claws]

Repost from yesterday. Added a few other things.

1. I'm a social drinker but don't like alcohol. Never developed a taste for beer (gross), but I will drink one when out with colleagues or friends.
2. The older I get the more obsessed I am with rain.
3. I'm a winter and autumn person. I hate summer. I can't function when it's hot.
4. People always tell me I'm funny. I probably should have been a comedian but I clam up and feel unease when there's a crowd. Plus see 7.
5. I never go to bed without socks.
6. I was a very tall teen.
7. I don't like to be the center of attention.
8. I quit watching TV in the early 2000s.
9. I don't believe in karma.
10. I only befriend people on FB I know personally. You are not missing out as I don't post anything (anymore, for many years now).
11. I sometimes make funny faces at work when no one is looking.
12. I could eat sushi every day.
13. I just recently learned the 'h' is silent in herbs.

[Alex]

1) I've survived multiple stab wounds.

2) Because of the way I walk I have overdeveloped calf and shoulder muscles.

3) I firmly believe that any gods out there should be held responsible for their creations, both good and bad.

4) When someone says "We need to educate people more", I hear "We need to train them to think like us" regardless of who and where it comes from.

5) I have twice refused to meet Ozzy Osborne, once by accident once deliberately.

6) I have met a number of other famous people though. My favourite was Lemmy.

7) I've never had sex with anyone from Africa, Australia  or Antartica. At this point I figure that is unlikely to change.

8) In general, I'll take cats and books over people. There are a few exceptions though.

9) Only my family know my real name. I changed it when I was 12 and haven't had any contact with anyone who knew me before outside of them. Combined with my early records going missing, not having any debt until I got married, not paying any taxes until my mid 20s and being missed off three consecutive censuses there is a lot less information on me out there than most people. I often wonder what some future genealogist will make of this lack of information on me combined with my military service. I think it will look much more dramatic than the reality.

10) The first concert I went to see was Motorhead, supported by The Almighty. It was at The Barrowlands in Glasgow which remains my favourite concert venue.

11) In the past month I have achieved 3 major life goals, one which I set my mind on as a child.

12) Every time I fly or go on a rollercoaster I am convinced there is going to be a major accident. I still do these things though.

13) I dislike the taste and smell of both coffee and fish.

[ER]

1. I'm writing this downstairs because my husband's asleep and I'm, uh, not.

2. If I could I'd give claws karma for sharing my fascination with rain.

3. I've been kissed by a man who later got murdered in prison.

4. I think I'd make a disappointing prostitute, because I'd want to talk to the clients.

5. As I write this my left knee hurts and I have no idea why.

6. I'm convinced Oscar Wilde's wife knew all about the buggery and wasn't really shocked when it all blew up around her.

7. I was once so hungry I went into a supermarket looking for samples to eat. There weren't any. That was a bad day.

8. I think rich people are better looking than poor people, but poor people are more interesting.

9.  I feel deeply conflicted about the Vikings. Also about the movie Howard's End, which I thought was a porno.

10. My daughter plans to be a surgeon, and has a paid subscription to a site for medical students that shows instructional videos about operations. That sort of freaks me out.

11. My friend Clare does sweet things after she gets over her brief episodes of being mad at me, but sometimes when I'm listening to her I remember once I was with her brother and she left him a happy answering machine message about getting some amazing shoes at the mall, and her brother actually started laughing about how happy she sounded about her new shoes, and I don't know if she even remembers those apparently awesome shoes from the 1990s but I've never told her about him laughing at her message like that, because I think her brother has become a sacred figure in her mind and I wouldn't want to intrude on that. He loved her dearly but he sort of made fun of her behind her back too.

12. I've tried to imagine George Washington and Abraham Lincoln being intimate with their spouses, but quit because it made me feel like I was invading their privacy.

13. I spent a week excited as a four year old because my parents said I could stay up with them and watch the finale of MASH, and it was so long and boring I finally voluntarily went to bed on my own.

[Alex]

You have fantasies about dead American presidents having sex? That is some strange head porn right there, but hey no kink shaming here.

[ER]

Yeah, baby, a threesome with a tall, cadaverous prairie lawyer, and an old dude with wooden teeth. Just don't ask where I'd get splinters....

(OK even I'm embarrassed by that one!)

[indianasmith]

I was going to post a list but ER's last comment drove rational thought from my brain . . . .   

[ER]

Thirteen random things about my husband....

1. He's 6'2".

2. He wanted to be an architect but hated school, so skipped a long process and started restoring 19th century homes, mostly self-taught.

3. He was born to an unwed teenage mother in eastern Ohio and adopted by the married couple who raised him from infancy; he was in his forties before he knew who his biological father was.

4. Except for being close to his cousin Vince, he existed for most of his life with mainly female friends.

5. He shagged a lot of them.

6. Despite all that he says he had only one serious long-term relationship before me, a woman named Corrie, who, sadly, died a couple years ago.

7. Unlike me he has no belief in God, and to diverge even more from me, zero interest in whether God is real, or what follows this life: my obsessions!

8. He's been a great father, even though he was worried he wouldn't know how to bring up a boy.

9. He's an incredibly honest person; so much so that if he tells me something, I believe it.

10. He and I understand one another extremely well, which has helped us a great deal in the rough patches that come with marriage.

11. He spent well over a year in sexless pursuit of me in a difficult time in my life, and we were together for almost eight years before we got married.

12. Still, he says I love a dead man more than I do him. (No, not Jesus.)

13. There's a chance he saw my grandpa's ghost on the stairs of our house, but he just shrugged it off like, "Whatever."

[indianasmith]

OK, I think I can try this now -

1.  I'm 5'11" and weigh . . . more than I'd care to admit at the moment.
2.  I have briefly held an Australian death adder.
3.  I survived a collision at sea that tore a huge hole in the side of the USS Lockwood in Dec. 1985.
4.  I have seen a Soviet aircraft carrier on the high seas.
5.  I've been buzzed by Russian MiGs. (On the same deployment)
6.  I climbed Mt. Fuji but didn't make the summit because I got altitude sick.
7.  I also swam in the Dead Sea.
8.  Although I had written several short stories, I had never completed a novel until 2012.  Since then I've written seven more.
9.  I have loved snakes since I was a small boy and have several pet ones.
10.  My snake Napoleon has his own Instagram (Napoleon the History Snake!).
11.  My best friend is someone I have never once met face to face.
12.  My wife and I met in second grade, and we were sweethearts all through elementary school.
13.  We have seen every single STAR WARS movie in the theater, as a couple, since 1977.
BONUS FACT:
  I hold a third degree black belt in Okinawan karate.

[retrorussell]

1. Ugly houses or cars annoy me.  Especially either that rancid tomato soup red or baby poop green I keep seeing on SUVs.
2. Now that I'm over 50 I make sure to take my 4 vitamins at least a couple times a week (they get too expensive to take them much more): Garlic, Calcium+D, C, and Multi.
3. NEVER doing non-chewable vitamins.  Bleck!
4. My happiest relaxation moment: a Coke (or reasonable store-brand facsimile), easy chair and internet or video games.  Acceptable substitute: eating a yummy cheesesteak sandwich.  Or hugging, kissing, petting and scratching a happy doggie.  And cat purrs.
5. I almost never cry.  I just don't get sad about things.  The death of my dog last year got the waterworks going.
6. Don't drive.  Never liked it; I have enough expenses currently.  Have most things I like/need within walking distance.  May get a scooter sometime.
7. Not a fan of big changes in the workplace (hospital).  I try to keep things looking neat and bright and shiny in my wards so they don't try to move me.  It's pretty clear no one else on the crew can do what I do-- when I'm off for a short while it's obvious when I return that things weren't done very well, or at all-- so I'm confident that won't change.
8. Pretty antisocial.  Any attempts at work by the powers that be to try to get me to be more interactive with other housekeepers doesn't end well.  I'm not rude to them but I certainly won't be going around asking what movies they've seen or whatever.  I have a very busy schedule to keep-- one of the busiest, having to manage Dialysis and Chemo units and more-- so I just want to get working as soon as I can.
9. My #1 goal in life right now is nothing special-- I just want to pay off my house.  Many homeowners flip their property for another home; makes sense in a lot of ways.  I just like my neighborhood (which has greatly improved in quality over the years) and don't want to sell; I put a lot of money into it and am happy where I'm at.  Not selling despite many inquiries.  Looking forward to simple property tax payments and utilities, and saving money.
10. I refuse to go get a haircut.  I can neaten my hair up here and there on my own, but I don't care about it enough.  It's all falling out anyway..
11. When I'm not at work my eating schedule goes to whack.  I often just do one big meal, then peck at things other times of the day.  Doesn't seem to be terribly bad for my health, I just watch what I eat.
12. My allergies are such that if I eat too much at once, I start sneezing like crazy.  Kind of a helpful way for my body to tell me to stop, rather than crapping myself or throwing up.
13. Love to sing (karaoke); above average.  But it frustrates me that I can't sing like I used to.  I was crazy good in my 20s/30s.  Never had lessons (apart from some lame choir class in Junior High, which I honestly don't think contributed to my ability).
Bonus: I do get pretty mad about certain things, like asinine people blasting music, my sports teams playing crappy, sustaining stupid injuries or playing particularly difficult video games.  People doing stupid things around me or saying stupid things to me I can just walk away from.

[RCMerchant]

OK, I think I can try this now -

1.  I'm 5'1" and weigh . . . more than I'd care to admit at the moment.

5'1"? I stand 5'2", so I guess I'm taller than you....? 

[indianasmith]

OK, I think I can try this now -

1.  I'm 5'1" and weigh . . . more than I'd care to admit at the moment.

5'1"? I stand 5'2", so I guess I'm taller than you....? 

Typo!!  I'm actually 5' 11". Went back and fixed it.