Quirks, Foibles, and Fears

After reading other people's posts sharing their personal stories for the Get To Know Me #challenge, I decided to join in the fun and share 10 things most people don't know about me (although arachnophobes should probably skip #9).

1. I am a People's Court addict (and yes, I felt devastated when it was canceled). It's the only court show I enjoy watching because I learn useful information, especially about contracts. As a full-time freelancer, I have used those lessons more often than I can count. I also blame some of my packrat tendencies on People's Court because I need to keep all of my piles and piles of documentation just in case someone decides to sue me. But I can't lie: Part of my addiction comes from seeing just how many people don't understand fundamental legal concepts. The defense that makes me laugh the most? When a litigant says the other person pissed them off, so now they don't need to repay that loan.... Uh, no. That's not how the world works.
2. I was in the crowds demonstrating outside the Russian White House in Moscow during the 1991 coup leading to the fall of the Soviet Union. Unsure what was happening, I asked a few people in the crowd, and they decided that I was a foreign correspondent covering the event (despite having no camera or recording equipment). They pulled me up onto a concrete barrier (similar to a Bremer wall but a bit shorter) so I could get a better perspective of the crowds. I still have the scar on my shin that scraped along the concrete while being pulled up. I cannot remember how I got down.
3. I always thought I was a big city gal but, looking back now, I should have always known that being alone in nature is my jam. My first encounter with the natural world occurred when I was kindergarten age. It was summer, and I was walking around the neighborhood barefoot, as I always did (and still do to this day). I stopped on the corner next to my neighbor's house, which marked the farthest boundary where I was allowed to roam by myself. I stood there, looking to see if could find where my friends had gone. My legs started itching and, when I looked down, hundreds of fire ants were crawling all over my exposed skin. I was standing on their ant hill, and they didn't appreciate the uninvited guest. Now, as an adult, I completely understand the disdain for uninvited guests.
4. That same summer I almost drowned in the Atlantic Ocean. We lived near the beach, and my favorite activity was what I called "jumping waves." The goal was to keep my head above the waves without letting them push me back toward the shore. I had no fear when it came to wading out into the ocean and often would go until the calm water reached my shoulders, which made jumping the waves even more challenging. Thankfully, my parents were more cautious and required that an adult accompany me. That day, my two uncles (both well over six feet tall) agreed to take me out, but soon we were farther out than I had ever been and I could no longer touch the ocean floor between waves. I decided to swim back to shore, so I dove under the water and swam as hard as I could. I remember opening my eyes (I still feel that burning salt water!!!) to see if I was making any progress. Suddenly hands were pulling me from the water. A beach lifeguard escorted me back to my mother to inform her that we had been caught by the rip current. Amazingly, everyone survived (thank you, lifeguards!), but what sticks with me the most is the disbelief in the lifeguard's voice as he told my mother that I had swam directly against the rip current until I had managed to get pushed to the side and make it back to shore. I no longer jump waves, but not because of the near-drowning. It was the opening of my eyes while underwater that turned me off to swimming in the ocean---that, and a (totally healthy) obsession with Jaws.
5. I have never seen/read any of the Harry Potter, Twilight, or Titanic movies/books. I can explain never seeing Titanic. I was just finishing my service as a Peace Corps volunteer in Central Asia and returned home right before the movie's opening weekend. I missed all the media hype and could not understand why anyone wanted to see the movie. I mean, we all knew how it ended: The ship sank. Regarding Harry Potter and Twilight, I think they just became too big too fast for me to be interested.
6. I despise celery. I imagine that eating celery is like eating live cockroaches. Crunchy on the outside, stringy and wet on the inside.
7. Several people have accused me of being too honest, as if that is something bad. I am not talking about being honest in a blunt or disrespectful manner, but simply being open about the truth. Yes, it's true, I am honest. I don't see a reason to lie, although I totally understand when it is appropriate to be a bit more circuitous and indirect when sharing information. I'm not an ogre. (No offense to ogres.) But I don't see being honest as a negative trait. I also don't trust people who cannot be honest with themselves. Related to this, in my creative writing work, my narrators are almost always described as being "brutally honest," which readers seem to enjoy for the most part. Of course, my narrators are usually really messed up individuals, so that brutal honesty can also be deeply disturbing for readers....
8. One of my biggest fears in life is falling backward. Tripping and falling on my face or jumping out of a plane doesn't bother me, but even the thought of falling backward sends me into cold sweats. My hands are shaking while I am typing this out. I have no explanation why. I have never fallen backward that I can remember. I figure it must be a past life experience. Maybe I died after someone pushed me off a cliff. I probably said something too honest for them.
9. I am not bothered by spiders beyond the initial startle factor. In fact, several spiders have become permanent visitors in my bathroom. I figure they are keeping the other bugs out, so that's cool. But I have had my share of unexpected spider encounters. Once while I was working at the computer, giant spider legs came down from my forehead. It seems a golden orb weaver had hitched a ride when I took the dog out for a walk. I'm not gonna lie, there was some screaming involved because this spider's legs were as long as my fingers. The creep factor was through the roof. But both of us survived and I managed to relocate the friendly visitor to a more appropriate location outside the house. Although I can handle spiders, spiderwebs scare the bejesus out of me. Falling backward into a spiderweb would likely be instantaneous death for me.
10. Finally, I was bullied my entire senior year of high school. My "friends" observed the bullying firsthand and literally laughed at my frustration. The bullying was a pain in the patootie, socially speaking, but I eventually found ways to avoid it until she got bored and moved on. My "friends" did the real damage, which probably contributes to my tendency to lurk in situations that involve too many (read: any) people. It's a matter of trust. I trust my dog. I tell my cat that I trust her because otherwise she will kill me in my sleep. (Cats!) But people? Nope, the trust does not flow easily in their direction.

This peek into my quirks, foibles, and fears is brought to you by Kayleigh Fraser's Get to Know Me #challenge: