strange facts about ourselves

[RebeccaFog]

When I was a young creature, I thought God was watching all the time, so I was ashamed and embarrassed every time I had to use the bathroom.

[Ell]

When I was a young creature, I thought God was watching all the time, so I was ashamed and embarrassed every time I had to use the bathroom.

So now what? you just let it all hang out?


*sorry! i'm crawling back to my little corner now.*

[Simone Louise]

Both my wife and youngest daughter tell me i'm weird, so I ought to be able to come up with something strange. I don't know if this is it: the story of how I saw two young kids die.

I was out bike-riding one cold, sunny November day with a friend (my closest friends tend to be female, as was this one). We took a shortcut through a condo development built around an old quarry. The quarry pits had been turned in lagoons used by residents for motorless boating. Two kindergarten-aged children, visiting relatives, had launched a rowboat parked on the shore of one of these lagoons and were stranded in the middle, oarless.

My friend and I ran to the shore just as the two stood up in the boat. We yelled for them to sit down, but the boat tipped and they fell in. Wearing winter coats, they sank instantly. I took off coat and shoes and jumped in while my friend ran for help. You write about being afraid; I was sure they would grab onto me and we'd all go under. Unfortunately, I couldn't find them, and the police divers spent about 30 minutes looking until they found the bodies.

The mental image of them going under with no struggle sticks with me. How close death and life can be, and how irrevocable the transition!

May you all live long and love,
Simone

[natalie]

the house i grew up in had lousy plumbing. the one toilet would always clog up. So to fix this i had this funny hand gesture thinggy that i would do every time i flushed that toilet. I would move my hands in a swirling motion and say "down down".

i thought I had magical powers to "will" the toilet to flush, since every time i did that, it worked.

potty talk ;-)

[cindybc]

Hi Simone
There was nothing weird about jumping in freezing water to try and save a couple of young children's lives, I believe that is a very brave and and selfless act on your part. I have had only one experience that has some similarities to yours but this was in June. 

A friend of mine and I were camping by a river near Morristown Tennessee and these kids came onto the grounds in their noisy hotrod. Where we camped was just a vacant piece of property and they built there camp about twenty feet from ours. One of them decided to go for a swim and my friend and I sat there watching the kid dive under then come back up, at this point we thought he was playing a game with his friends, as they stood on shore laughing at him.

On the kids third time down he didn't come back up. My friend and I just peeled our clothes and shoes off leaving them in a trail behind us. We dove down many times but could not see anything, the water was just to muddy. I jumped into my car and drove to the closest house and called the police. The police didn't waste time getting there and they must of hooking for close to an hour before they finally found the body. I could swear it was no further then a couple of feet from one of our dives. 

I know how you feel hon and I do empathise with you.

Cindy

[Emerald]

I awake with a fully mature palate. Traditional Western breakfast foods which are soft and easily digested hold no appeal. I prefer to eat what would be typical fare for lunch or dinner. One of my fave foods upon awakening? A cheese burger, medium rare, with all the fixings and plenty of jalapeños.

-Emerald 

[Ell]

I awake with a fully mature palate. Traditional Western breakfast foods which are soft and easily digested hold no appeal. I prefer to eat what would be typical fare for lunch or dinner. One of my fave foods upon awakening? A cheese burger, medium rare, with all the fixings and plenty of jalapeños.

-Emerald 

You are weird. i like that.

-ell

[Pica Pica]

I have never tried to save someone from drowning, but I have used a toilet.

[Emerald]

I awake with a fully mature palate. Traditional Western breakfast foods which are soft and easily digested hold no appeal. I prefer to eat what would be typical fare for lunch or dinner. One of my fave foods upon awakening? A cheese burger, medium rare, with all the fixings and plenty of jalapeños.

-Emerald 

You are weird. i like that.

-ell

Pssst.... eccentric my dear, eccentric...  never weird. 

-Emerald 

[Pica Pica]

I once had a job where I hid in binbags and jumped out at people 20 quid a jump.
I have taken a portrait of a witches coven.
I have worked in a Saint's House as a shop, 'cos they got the wrong house.
I once woke up with no trousers or underwear and no recollection of taking them off.
I once was Discordian, but grew up.
I once had a greyhound race named after me.


erm....


Oh yeah, I once had people queue up at the stage door to get my autograph.
I once carried a christmas tree into a cornershop and hid it in the corner of a theatre.
I once did a play in latin and in fishnet stockings and suspenders.
I like the music of Rolf Harris.
I once did a performance where there was one audience member, they never came back.
I have acted as a neutron.
I have fed a man mini doughnuts on a wooden spoon.


erm...

[Ell]

I once woke up with no trousers or underwear and no recollection of taking them off.

that is very American Werewolf in London. did you also awake in a zoo?

and gol' darn it, Pica, can you please explain why your androgyne graphic bears the sign of a cross rather than the female symbol?

[cindybc]

Hi Pica did Lady Macbeth steal your trousers on you again?

Cindy

[RebeccaFog]

I didn't learn to drive until I was in my 20's.

I passed the drivers exam in West Germany when I was 19, but didn't know how to drive.  I never got to the road test.  Thankfully.

One time I was in a nightclub in Germany with some friends.  The place had 2 bars, but one was closed.  I went behind the closed one and sold shots to people for a mark.

I accidentally used the powdered form of tear gas on a bunch of guys who were taking a shower.

[Pica Pica]

and gol' darn it, Pica, can you please explain why your androgyne graphic bears the sign of a cross rather than the female symbol?

Cos I drawed it myself and it was the closest I could get. What would make it more female looking?

[Ell]

Cos I drawed it myself and it was the closest I could get. What would make it more female looking?

the comb intersects the handle of the mirror at the halfway point, thus:

[Pica Pica]

well, if you look at the arrow of the male, it doesn't intersect either. And both those points are paler than the central circle with the bindi spot thing. Sposed to be that the circle with the spot (the astrological sign of the sun) is the androgyne one - where men can have mars and women venus.

[cindybc]

I want Mars, that's my pet planet. 

Cindy

[Shana A]

I want Mars, that's my pet planet. 

Cindy

Cindy, how do you keep Mars on a leash??!! 

y2g

PS, I like Pica's androgyne logo!

[Simone Louise]

I guess my icon this time should be a sheepish grin (I'm not sure which that is). This posting is about the aftermath of making my last posting. You may remember that about six years ago I was diagnosed as ADD. That would be consistent with my cluelessness regarding time management and priorities.

I came out of the basement, where my computer is, to discover two angry, glowering women (my wife and our 18-year-old daughter). It was 7 pm. They expected dinner to be served, and I hadn't even started. Nor had I cleared and set the dining room table. Fridays (Sabbaths) I make roast potatoes and chicken and sauteed garlic spinach.

It turned out well, though. We ate in a small, quiet, local Italian restaurant that serves excellent and authentic food (and I promised to make the chicken for tonight's Patriot game--don't let me forget!). The talk was important covering many of the issues in our lives.

At one point, when the daughter lamented the passing of her birthday, my wife said the entire month of January was her birthday-girl month, until February which is my wife's birthday-girl month. I asked which was my birthday-girl month, and they turned on me, saying "You don't get a birthday-girl month." That led to a discussion of my weirdness. It felt great to talk about it openly.

Finally, they agreed to share a dessert. My wife wondered if it would be too much, and my daughter responded: "That's why we bring Dad along--to eat what we can't." And that is one reason I need to keep working at UPS.

Celebrate our strangeness (and keep kids alive and lively),
Simone

[Pica Pica]

We had a chat about time keeping a while ago. I can't remember what was said. I know that mine is dead shoddy...anyone else?