1. It makes me nervous when I am getting off the elevator on the same floor as a woman I don’t know. The reason is because I’m enough of a gentleman to let her go first but that, by definition, puts me walking behind her and I’m sympathetic to the fact that having a strange man walk directly behind you down a long empty hallway can be uncomfortable for many women. It’s a conundrum because I feel like I’m being rude either way.
2. Before I was old enough to work for pay, I got a volunteer job operating the Touch Tank at the Virginia Living Museum. Few “junior volunteers” (those under the age of 16) got to work in positions that interact directly with the guests, but they let me in one because it was what I wanted and the interviewer noted that I was quite “articulate.” Ironically, when she told me as much, I had to ask her what the word “articulate” meant…
3. I used to be very “warm-blooded.” It could be 32 degrees and I might have a single blanket on me but my foot would be kicked out. In the last year or so, I’ve gotten to the point where I can’t handle being in so much as short sleeves if it’s under 72. This is a bit of a problem since my wardrobe has very little with long sleeves in it. Right now I’m sitting in my office with the heat on high, still wearing my jacket.
4. I could swim before I could walk. My mother is mildly afraid of the water so she was determined that her children would not be. I was put in swimming lessons as early as they’d take me, and my mother still has a clipping from the local paper with a photo of me swimming, unassisted, at an age still counted in months.
5. I’m allergic to red wine. Oh, how I hate being allergic to red wine. For awhile I would get the random splotches of dry inflamed skin on various places of my body and I couldn’t figure out why. I went several months without drinking any alcohol (not for any purpose, I just only drink socially and wasn’t in any situations where I was drinking for that time frame), and noticed I hadn’t had any outbreaks of the dry skin splotches. Later I had a single glass of red wine and woke up with a huge patch of dry irritated skin ON MY FACE. I haven’t had a glass of red wine since and haven’t the skin splotches since, but I do miss my red wine.
6. I must sleep naked. It’s COLD in our house at night lately, but I just pile on the blankets and hit the sack in the buff. When I’ve tried to wear something to bed in the past, I find I’m able to get to sleep but I somehow wiggle out of whatever I’ve got on in the middle of the night anyhow, so why fight the inevitable? Interestingly, I also cannot sleep uncovered, and a sheet won’t do; I need at least a comforter, over at least my “swimsuit area,” so I guess you could say I always sleep naked, but never exposed.
7. I used to often say that were I to ever need contacts (knock on wood, my eyesight is still great unassisted), I’d get the kind that make your eyes look like cat eyes and wear them everyday as my normal contact lenses. I still think I would, except that I’ve read they wreck your peripheral vision which wouldn’t be so hot for every day use. Still I think it’d be great especially if I could find them in normal eye colors so when people looked at me they’d recognize that something was different but hopefully it wouldn’t be immediately obvious. It’s be a good conversation piece.

Ok, I should tag others, but I’m gonna fall back on my standard open tagging method. If you read this and want to participate, do so, then leave a comment and I’ll add a link to your post here.

Ok, I’m at work, so bear that in mind as you read my sentences and their source (this ain’t my casual reading):

Marketing will get you to the dance. Once you’re at the dance, you have to do your own dancing. Marketing generates leads, makes the phone ring, causes people ask[sic] for your product.

Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days by James Levinson & Al Lautenslager

As for tagging five people, I’ll stick to my normal rule. If you read this and want to do it, consider yourself tagged. Leave a comment when you’re done and I’ll link to your post.

Also participating: Lee from Digital Nicotine