I am, however, going to be a gigantic slacker on the passing the award on--I have only recently begun actively blogging again and pretty much everyone I "know" well enough to pass this on to is already on someone else's list. But I will highly recommend clicking over to Word Nerd's list of 15 and checking out some of the great writing and great bloggers listed there.
And of course, I would love to get to know better some of the bloggers who are not on that list who have recently been stopping by here. Anyone who is game, feel free to grab the badge (No cookies necessary--I'm more of a cupcake girl.) and link to your seven things in the comments here.
And now, at long(ish) last, my seven things:
1.As I pulled into work this afternoon, I was listening to the theme song from "Welcome Back Kotter". On purpose.
2. I did a 20 Things About Me post in 2005. I was going to cheat off myself and repost some of them, but I'll just link to it here instead.
3. I work at a halfway house for recovering addicts and alcoholics. My biggest struggle at work is dealing with residents in their late teens or early twenties--near or at the ages of my own sons. They always break my heart a little. Sometimes they break it a lot.
4. My DVR is set to record every episode of The Young and The Restless. I am currently 23 episodes behind, but I know I will eventually binge and get "caught up." Most of the time, I have no idea why I watch it even while I'm watching it, but I have so far been unable to stop.
5. For weeks after I finished Wally Lamb's The Hour I First Believed, I couldn't talk or think about the book without getting actual goosebumps. It was the closest I've come to writing a fan letter since the one I sent to Melissa Gilbert in fifth grade. I still kind of regret not following through.
6. The fan letter I sent to Melissa Gilbert in fifth grade was part of a school assignment and had less to do with Melissa Gilbert herself and more to do with Melissa Gilbert as the embodiment of Laura Ingalls Wilder, whose books I read over the summer between fourth and fifth grade. I still feel a weird attachment to Melissa and even read her memoir, A Prairie Tale.
7. I consistently mix up fours and sevens. Despite my ever-advancing age, I still have a pretty good memory for names, faces and numbers generally, but somewhere in my brain there are some crossed wires between sevens and fours--my mind retains them interchangeably and has for as long as I can remember. So I never quite trust myself with any number that includes either of those two digits. I have the same problem with the words "lawn mower" and "vacuum cleaner"--it requires conscious effort on my part to spit out the correct word.
Ha! great post - I like learning more about you. It is very early here in California and I have a zillion things to do before I head out to work at 7:30 but I will catch you again when I am chillin this evening. I am currently working my way through the six or seven seasons of Northern Exposure (having watched them all when they were first aired) - via Netflix - that is, if I can stay awake through the entire episode. It's a struggle sometimes.
ReplyDeleteMy husband has a weird attachment to Melissa Gilbert.
ReplyDeleteI fell hard for Wally Lamb when I fist read She's Come Undone - about twenty years ago. I don't remember the details of the story but I do remember that he was a masterful storyteller and everything got woven together by the end.....
ReplyDeleteAAAHH!!!! I had no idea Wally Lamb wrote another book!!! WEEEEE!!!!! Excitement!!
ReplyDeleteI never heard of anyone who had that type of brain malfunction, which mirrors my own. My two words are umbrella and wheelbarrow. I keep trying to figure out a way to use the two simultaneously.
ReplyDeleteAh, Little House on the Prarie. Loved the books, loved the show, loved Melissa.
ReplyDeleteYeah! Congrats on the award. I love Wally Lambs "She's Come Undone" - so much so that I tried doing a rendition of the cover of the book as part of my senior project in college, it didn't work out. I still have it though, it's up in my craft room as a reminder that my really, really awesome ideas don't always turn out like I'd imagined them in my mind. I swear my mind gets me in the most trouble. Anyway - congrats!
ReplyDeleteYAY! I'm SO glad you did this too :).
ReplyDeleteWally Lamb and I had that goosebump-y moment after I read "She's Come Undone" although, unlike Steph, I never tried to attempt my own rendition of the cover art. I've not read "The Hour I First Believed" but now I think I'm going to have to.
Also? What's wrong with the "Welcome Back Kotter" theme? I listen to the theme from "The Greatest American Hero" sometimes too.
This is great!
ReplyDeleteYou've just added a book to my reading list. I just loved Lamb's I Know this Much is True, and She's Come Undone, so it's a pretty good bet I'll like that one, too.
ReplyDeleteWelcome Back Kotter? I feel better about having that whistled tune from The Andy Griffith Show on my iPod now. :O)
Oh, and oatmeal raisin would be nice. The chewy kind.
Thanks everyone! As for Lamb--I've read pretty much everything he's written and recommend it all for different reasons, but Hour is my personal favorite. If any of you gets the chance to read it, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.
ReplyDeletesebtown294--I loved Northern Exposure and totally identify with the issue of staying awake--even to watch something I want to see.
S. Stauss--Does your husband's attachment have literary motivations or purely non-literary ones? ;)
Mark, Jane & Word Nerd--Thanks for revealing your dark secrets. I don't feel so alone now. ;)