Spare a Dime

Today I responded to a friend who is stuck in one location with a shattered ankle. She forwarded to me 25 facts and goals about herself, and she wanted me to reply with the same number about me.

I won't bore you with all 25 of the items I provided. But I am going to offer, say, 10... on the condition that some of you must respond with 10 of yours. (Don't you hate these sorts of emails?)

What I value about this exercise is that I suddenly recognize not only my commonalities with all, but also, narcissistically, such oddness in myself. Once, a question in a survey asked me what I had on the walls in my bedroom. I felt sure I was the only person in the survey to respond with "maps of shipwreck sites." I hadn't thought before about how peculiarly 'me' that was.

My facts follow. Now which facts make you peculiarly 'you'?

1. My biggest pet peeves are short-sightedness, especially in policy, and only getting bits of the whole story.
2. I only get up when my clock shows an even number, and keep my Inbox full of an even number of messages.
3. I need several projects, including creative/artistic projects, to be in progress at once.
4. I think that the manufacture of 'new' plastics and paper needs to be outlawed.
5. I am fascinated by tales of man’s arrogance and folly (e.g., disasters at sea).
6. I think that cars, with their many unfortunate impacts, symbolize our arrogance.
7. But I love my car, a manual Toyota Echo, purchased used, that gets nearly 40mpg.
8. I would love to learn Portuguese, and then Spanish.
9. I think that care in spoken language is more vital than people realize.
10. I hate air conditioning.