Sunday, February 25, 2007

Weird things about me

I've now been tagged four times for this one, by Lacey, Josie, Barbara, and Cynthia. So, here we go, 10 weird random things, facts, or habits about me:

1. My love affair with corsets and other restrictive lingerie began when I was a University student and my mother signed me up for a day as a movie extra in my summer holidays. The film was the period romance A SUMMER STORY, and I was laced and strapped into a corset under Victorian garb in order to promenade in the distant background. It was possibly the most boring day of my life, but the corset discovery made it worthwhile!

2. When I was a baby my parents took me and my Irish grandmother to visit the Holy land (her ambition) and they placed my baby botty on the very spot in Bethlehem where Jesus – allegedly – was born and had put his baby botty. As you can see, this did not bestow any sort of purity on me whatsoever.

3. I love cheesy horror and sf movies but also have a low fear threshold. Example: The Ring is way past this limit. I had nightmares for two years.

4. If there is Hummus in the house I have to consume it until it’s all gone. This is the only foodstuff that affects me in this way.

5. When I was a teenager I used to spend summers in the States with my US relatives. On one such trip a bunch of my cousins took me to visit Washington, and we had a stroll by the front of the White House. It was during Carter’s time. All the tourists and paparazzi hanging around with cameras started to run toward the gates, where someone was emerging. I was too hot to chase after everyone else, so gave my camera to my cousin and wandered off to sit down on a nearby wall. As a result, ex Pres Gerald Ford walked right past me, within inches, while everyone else was held back some 40 feet away by his security guys beyond him. He gave me a really funny look. Alas, I didn’t have my camera to capture it.

6. I met the two most important people in my life (my lover, and my critique partner - who introduced me to the US markets where I now get published,) on the Internet. That’s not so weird nowadays, but both times it was on Goth band chat lists. With Mark it was The Sisters of Mercy chat list, and with Bibi it was Rosetta Stone.

7. I’ve been on five continents.

8. This one is courtesy of another of the teenage visits in the US. I had my first ever kiss from a man on a yacht docked in Annapolis. I was 17. It was very glamorous.

9. I’ve ridden on the Katoomba, the steepest incline railway in the world (also known as The Mountain Devil) I was 13. My parents, however, only told me we were going on “a little train ride,” so when I had to brace my feet on the metal panel in front of me to stop from keeling out of my seat, my screams could be heard for miles around. Click HERE for a virtual ride!

10. I've slept in the same bed as Tina Turner, in the very same room where (allegedly) Johnny Depp and Kate Moss took a bath in champagne. How do I know this? My friend won a night in the room, including a bath full of champagne bottles. I was the lucky lady he took with him.

11. ? I seem to have written 11 things! Oh well, you may as well know. I have two degrees and have been known to ask some really stupid questions. Frequently. Men sometimes tell me this is an endearing quality. I'm not so sure.

And apparantely I can't count.

I'm not tagging anyone (since I haven’t been threatened with life and limb if I don’t!) but if anyone fancies picking up the trail, let us know! :)