Sixteen things you didn’t know about GT
Cats: odd things|This meme is going around on blogs and Facebook so I thought I’d have a go. It’s a no-tag meme but anyone can feel free hop on.
1. I’m fascinated – no, really! -by heating systems in buildings. The poor furnace maintenance guys have no idea what they’re in for when they come to my house.
2. In my troubled youth phase, I wore a T-shirt that said Disco Sucks, but secretly I loved disco. Don’t tell!
3. I have white patches on my knees, feet, elbows and fingers. Part albino I am.
4. I was a good speller in school, but with age I’m losing that skill.
5. I had poor penmanship in school, but in later years I taught myself italic calligraphy which looks quite nice when I have the right pen and nice paper.
6. My blog name was borne of the dreaded “And what do you do?” question at cocktail parties. With a resume resembling a dog’s breakfast, I never knew what to say, so I just answered “I’m a typist, a very gifted typist.”
7. I’m a gum junkie. Once I start I have to eat the whole package. I just need more and more hits of that fresh burst. But I can go for months without one stick.
8. In airports, I always get mistaken for Ellen Degeneres.
9. At the time I did not know this, but for a short period I was employed by the Eastern European mafia teaching English as a second language.
10. I was once a passenger in a four-seater single-engine plane when the single engine died mid-air. We were going to make an emergency landing on the road below, but out of nowhere in the Icelandic countryside there appeared a grass landing strip which was close enough to glide for and land on. I remain forever in the debt of Jed the US Air Force P3 pilot who handled the crisis like a real pro and put that little plane down without a scratch. He was putting in hours to get his commercial license at the time.
11. I was married on a beach in Fiji. I didn’t ask my other half to take my name. I’m not threatened by that sort of thing.
12. My little typists are 12 and nine. The 12-year old has always been a 42-year old midget (though lately losing her midget status) and the nine-year old was born on the blue moon.
13. I’m struggling in a co-dependent relationship with a cat who is passive aggressive and harbouring resentment over something, but I’m not sure what.
14. I used to live in a house with an address good enough to eat: Rosebank, Tweentown, Cheddar, Somerset.
15. I’m a sambista on sabbatical due to family responsibilities. I played surdo, tamborim and bells. I miss samba.
16. I’m reading a book called The Great Crash 1929 by John Kenneth Galbraith who is an excellent writer for an economist.
January 6th, 2009 at 1:19 am
Hey, are you having a relationship with my cat?
British addresses are the best! They either have no numbers in them whatsoever, or they have decimals. Ask Al!
January 6th, 2009 at 2:04 am
God, I miss those English addresses!
Mine was Flat 18.3, North Terrace, Spital Tongues.
January 6th, 2009 at 11:39 am
You just keep getting more interesting, and don’t fret about the spelling. It just slows down your typing.
Doc
January 6th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
“I’m a typist, a very gifted typist.”
An excellent choice and so much better than “I’m Gum Junkie.”
January 6th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Or “I’m a David Hasselhoff fanatic”.
January 6th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Actually, GT there are a few things you listed that I did know about you. There is little people don’t know about me. I have long since had a policy to challenge peoples sense of ‘normal’ by exposing them to the world of Dick. Alas, most thing people don’t know about me should probably stay that way. Suffice to say that they involve sex and drugs. I’ll take a crack at it anyway:
I hate bullies.
1) I believe that humans are animals.
2) I believe that Canada is the greatest country in the world.
3) I love beer.
4) I poop twice every morning at a minimum.
5) I am a coffee snob.
6) I fear nothing…yet.
7) My love of life grows with my understanding of it.
9) I generally like poor people more than rich people.
10) I like to help people.
11) I like the police.
12) I am a Canadian Ranger.
13) I have Irish cream in my coffee every morning.
14) I like winter.
15) I am perturbed by selfish people.
16) I am perplexed by selfish people.
January 6th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Dear lord. How have I not followed you home before now? I laughed out loud. Especially #13. I can relate.
January 6th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Having known Dick for many years (like all of them) I would like to add a few comments to his list. I’ll put them in square brackets after each!
1) I believe that humans are animals.[and under the right circumstances one shouldn't be squeamish about eating them]
2) I believe that Canada is the greatest country in the world. [in no small part because it is one place where you can do your own thing unencumbered most of the time - particularly in rural BC]
3) I love beer.[and most other intoxicants]
4) I poop twice every morning at a minimum.[we're not talking artificially pinched off here to maintain numbers - these are stand alone events]
5) I am a coffee snob.
6) I fear nothing…yet. [this man in largish, amiable, oblivious to pain, never panics and is more than passingly versed in various disciplines in the mixed martial arts (MMA) world]
7) My love of life grows with my understanding of it.['love of life' captures his attitude beautifully]
I hate bullies.
9) I generally like poor people more than rich people.[at one point he went to an exclussive private school where he spent much time defying and modifying the social mores of the place]
10) I like to help people.[drink their beer?!]
11) I like the police.[he means the band!]
12) I am a Canadian Ranger.[Cockney rhyming slang for an anarchist]
13) I have Irish cream in my coffee every morning.[does this fit with coffee snobbishness?]
14) I like winter.[it's a body temperature/hursuteness/persperation thing]
15) I am perturbed by selfish people.[Dick is generous of spirit and material to a fault]
16) I am perplexed by selfish people..[Dick is generous of spirit and material to a fault]
January 6th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
And having known GT for a long time too:
1. I’m fascinated – no, really! -by heating systems in buildings. The poor furnace maintenance guys have no idea what they’re in for when they come to my house. [support groups for home heating techs inevitably spring up in her wake!]
2. In my troubled youth phase, I wore a T-shirt that said Disco Sucks, but secretly I loved disco. Don’t tell! [that would explain why when a funky beat develops you can be seen doing 'the bump' with anyone willing to indulge you]
3. I have white patches on my knees, feet, elbows and fingers. Part albino I am. [good for keeping notes on - ever see the movie Momento?]
4. I was a good speller in school, but with age I’m losing that skill.[true, forgetting how to spell 'that' does constitute a deterioration]
5. I had poor penmanship in school, but in later years I taught myself italic calligraphy which looks quite nice when I have the right pen and nice paper. [There are Medaeval monks whos blissful eternity has been disrupted by this development]
6. My blog name was borne of the dreaded “And what do you do?” question at cocktail parties. With a resume resembling a dog’s breakfast, I never knew what to say, so I just answered “I’m a typist, a very gifted typist.”[a great line that tends to dissipate the sometimes intimidating presence of this impressive Renaissance woman!]
7. I’m a gum junkie. Once I start I have to eat the whole package. I just need more and more hits of that fresh burst. But I can go for months without one stick. [her kids hide their gum ... and as for months without ... hahahehehahewhawhoahhhahahahaha
8. In airports, I always get mistaken for Ellen Degeneres.[this is very true ... but positive ... because most people love Ellen]
9. At the time I did not know this, but for a short period I was employed by the Eastern European mafia teaching English as a second language.[curiously the 700 Series black beamers, the drivers all called 'Pavel', their penchant for tight black leather jackets and gloves and powder blue turtle-necks, and a salary more than that of a Czech neuro surgeon didn't cause the penny to drop!]
10. I was once a passenger in a four-seater single-engine plane when the single engine died mid-air. We were going to make an emergency landing on the road below, but out of nowhere in the Icelandic countryside there appeared a grass landing strip which was close enough to glide for and land on. I remain forever in the debt of Jed the US Air Force P3 pilot who handled the crisis like a real pro and put that little plane down without a scratch. He was putting in hours to get his commercial license at the time.[and she still loves to fly]
11. I was married on a beach in Fiji. I didn’t ask my other half to take my name. I’m not threatened by that sort of thing. [truth is she couldn't spell his last name]
12. My little typists are 12 and nine. The 12-year old has always been a 42-year old midget (though lately losing her midget status) and the nine-year old was born on the blue moon.[they are their mothers children - Lord help us all]
13. I’m struggling in a co-dependent relationship with a cat who is passive aggressive and harbouring resentment over something, but I’m not sure what.[the cat doesn't tolerate polygamy!]
14. I used to live in a house with an address good enough to eat: Rosebank, Tweentown, Cheddar, Somerset.[and sing .. the next address was Aria, The Hayes, Cheddar]
15. I’m a sambista on sabbatical due to family responsibilities. I played surdo, tamborim and bells. I miss samba.[in that case from now on we will all refer to you as Miss Samba]
16. I’m reading a book called The Great Crash 1929 by John Kenneth Galbraith who is an excellent writer for an economist. [like I said, an impressive renaissance woman!]
January 7th, 2009 at 12:06 am
Cool list. Really. Your life is way more interesting than mine.
BTW I hope I don’t ever run into Ellen Degeneres because I’m going to ask her repeatedly if she’s a gifted typist
January 7th, 2009 at 9:03 am
Barbara, ah, the passive aggressive cat. What do we do them?
Allison, that’s brilliant, you must’ve loved writing that on your return address.
Doc, can’t seem to remember the simple words, especially the ones that end in …cal or …cle
Cormac, but I am a gifted gum junkie, no?
January 7th, 2009 at 9:07 am
Megan, that fact would take up 15 or your 16 things
Dick
Dick Dick Dick, I may not have known the details of your morning routine but none of these “things” surprise me – as you say – you wear it sleeve.
Tonardo, you’d be pretty qualified to say
Lisa, welcome to GT. BTW, you are my new BFF!
January 7th, 2009 at 9:07 am
Tonardo 2, not sure whether to thank you or ban you from this blog
Cube, ask her if she’s THE gifted typist
January 7th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
If she’s not THE gifted typist, I will be taken away by security
January 7th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
I love that whole samba thing…remember this summer when I put on some of that brazilian music at the cottage…that’s when I learned that about you…you groovy fabulous chick!
January 7th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Hi Tonardo! Miss you!
January 7th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Here are 16 things you didn’t know about Tonardo:
1) He thinks he’s funny.
2) He has a mangina.
O.k. two things, but it doesn’t make him any less of a man.
…and thank-you for your kind words.
January 7th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
I take umbrage with #16.
January 7th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Does this mean that you live with someone who looks like Portai De Rossi?
January 7th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
You forgot to mention your summer of discovery when you learned of the phenomenon of “gunt” and doing a “buck 20″ on the 401. Then you taught us all about pointilism. For that brief moment, you were all the rage in Pickering (and that includes Ajax)
And everyone in my house is surely appreciative for teaching l’il bro all about 70s music and then proudly exclaiming, “He gets that from me”. I am sure there is a certain Swedish foursome that thank you for that when they get their royalty cheques too!
January 8th, 2009 at 10:14 am
Cube, don’t risk your own security for Ellen or me!
Espanya, my inner hippie thanks you
Espanya2, Tonardo misses you too
Dick, mangina = soul patch, just in case people think he’s had a sex-change op.
Lynn, oops! Caught out by the disparaging remark on economists (who I find a more interesting lot than most!) Obviously I was thinking of the Stephen Harper type of economist.
January 8th, 2009 at 10:15 am
Chance, you know, he sort of does look like her
Anne Boone, aw yes. My summer of discovery. I guess that’s my payback for your ABBA education of the 70s
January 8th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Maybe if you stopped dancing around in your fancy sneakers, people wouldn’t mistake you for Ellen.
I still think you look like Patricia Wettig.
January 8th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
What a great meme. Your list is both fascinating and hilarious. I’m pretty sure all cats are passive aggressive though. Except for the rare moments when they want something from you. Then they’re either one or the other..!
January 9th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
BeckEye, alright already, I’ll get rid of the sneaks. BTW, others have agreed with your look-a-like assessemtn
Kimberly, welcome to GT and yes, I entirely agree about cats. They are shameless opportunists
January 11th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Here’s two things I know:
1. I am sorry you got removed from my blogroll by Google and you’re back now.
2. You are a total babe.
January 11th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Monkey, she totally is! I aspire to be as fit and wicked!
January 13th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Dr. M, you say that to all girl-bloggies
Espanya, would that be ficked?