This week I asked people in the Writing Circles to jot down Random Things about themselves, as a way for us to get to know one another better at the start of a new writing season. Here are some of the things that some of them shared.
Thanks to these contributors, listed in random order:
Deanalís Resto Rita Feinstein Peggy Stevens Maude Rith Ana Ramanujan
Gabrielle Vehar Sue Norvell Barbara West Janie Carasik Molly Sutton Sara Robbins
Tara Shanti Kane Lynne Taetzsch Diana Kreutzer Zee Zahava Susan Lesser
Sylvia Bailey Sue Schwartz Mo Owens Kathleen Halton Perri McGowan
Rachel J. Siegel Barbara Anger Barbara Cartwright Lottie Sweeney
I like to giggle.
I feel empty and listless without bread and chocolate.
I don't do small talk.
I wish I could write fiction but it's always about me.
I like being old and using elder privilege.
I often read three books at a time.
I am a light sleeper.
I worship spring.
I grew up with wretched excess.
I paint my toenails red.
On occasion I've been known to get stoned and watch trash TV like Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Wife Swap, or Mob Wives.
I used to write in secret notebooks.
I think about the past too much.
I'm obsessing on a pair of shoes I will never buy.
I have a radiated breast.
I love to swim.
I sleep under a down comforter.
For many years I lived in the country and used an outhouse.
I get distracted easily.
I have a few grey hairs coming in and vacillate between thinking it's cool and freaking out.
I would love to get a big, huge dog to hug and sleep with but I don't think that my kitty-girls would appreciate it.
If I could, I would eat desserts for all my meals.
My favorite number is 18, because that's the date when both my brother and I were born.
I love having traveled, but I hate getting ready to travel.
I'm fascinated by Stonehenge, the Indian mound builders, and Mesa Verde.
My knitting project is stuck because I can't find my mistake — I know it's there somewhere, I just can't find it.
I have decided to stop falling down.
I love corduroy, cotton flannel, and suede; I'm not a taffeta, satin or lace person, except for satin linings of soft wool coats.
I wish I were a piece of hard candy, sweet on the inside but with a hard coating that would protect my vulnerability.
I had to grow into my name because I always thought it was too formal and didn't fit me.
I once won a dance contest and the prize was a 45 rpm of Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.
I never liked the crusts of bread when I was a little girl, so when my mother turned her back I threw them behind the refrigerator.
My husband and I flew to Las Vegas after work one Friday, got married, flew home, and were back at work on Saturday morning.
I am fearless, and I am also scared.
I am open-minded, yet sometimes I am narrow.
Watching others eat lemons makes me uncomfortable.
Sometimes I forget how to sleep.
When I was seven years old I wanted to be a missionary.
I never make anything from a recipe listing more than 10 ingredients (not counting salt and pepper).
My high school boyfriend has sought me out on Facebook and I am thankful to remember those long ago years and know that we both ended up in exactly the right place without each other, but also because of each other.
I have an English muffin with swiss cheese every single day for breakfast — time to break out of the rut and go for a bit of bacon.
Sometimes I think I would like to go someplace where everyone dressed up in silk and sequins and jewels, but I have been in Ithaca too long and I wouldn't know what to do but gaze and stammer.
My favorite thing to do is nothing.
Watch out! I bite.
I'm beginning to find the idea of reincarnation comforting.
I wrote the best metaphysical comic strip you'll never see.
Preparing my taxes is an act of creative writing.
I once felt something in my chest, as solid as an iron gate, clank shut.
I wanted to be an archeologist, oceanographer, cowgirl, monk, writer, poet, serious artist.
I used to be able to hold my breath so long you'd start to worry.
It's possible I went months, even years, without fully relaxing.
I divide people into those who adore Leonard Cohen and those who don't.
I learned to knit when I was 10 but my first knitting project failed because I used two different sized needles.
I once thought I wanted to be a professional violinist, until I realized I really did not like practicing all that much.
My brother is the person who I love the most, who makes me the angriest, who is my best friend, and who is there for me most consistently.
I used to run outside in the summer, in my nightgown, to dance in the rain.
I learned how to read from a series of books inaccurately portraying a family of birds, called The Word Bird.
The first poem I ever wrote was about the night sky, and it was terrible, so I never really tried again.
I once hit myself in the eye with my knee while trying to get a pair of orange Halloween socks off my feet.
I am not good with numbers — one minute I put zeroes where they are not required and the next I randomly take them away.
I am not as tall as I used to be.
I prefer dogs to cats, birds to fish, and flying insects to the kind that crawl.
I sucked my thumb until I was in my late teens.
In middle school I wore entirely too much glitter.
I often wonder if I have more conversations in my head than in my real life.
I love drinking pickle juice.
When I was eight years old, I was offered a Boy Scout magazine after a bad haircut.
I hate the American modern poets; the best thing about Ezra Pound is that half of his name is half of pound cake.
When I was younger, I was literally moved to tears by the heart-throbbingly epic adventures of my toys.
I’ve let go of all my grudges but one.
People always ask me what’s wrong and usually it’s nothing, but the sympathy is so enticing I’m tempted to make something up.
I would completely regret my first kiss if not for the writing material.
I usually drool when I laugh.
I love and hate blank notebooks.
I wish Americans had British accents.
I used to have a weird habit of patting my stomach for no reason.
I would love to have an automatic pie dispenser.
When I played make-believe with my Barbie doll I used to pretend that she was a priest.
I'm saving one of my cat's whiskers that fell out in the night.
Rosewater and orange blossoms are my favorite scents.
I am conflicted about fur coats.
I always wanted to wear glasses because I thought they would make me appear smarter.
I'm an introvert, but I feel better after interacting with people.
In kindergarten I ran around with a journal, pretending to be Ann Frank.
I want to walk with a sexy, confident swagger, like my cat.
I used to eat Milk Bones.
When I was a girl I caught frogs and put them in my dad's wet socks for safe keeping.
I don't have many close friends.
I like the color brown better than any other.
I love amusement parks.
I'd like a pocket-sized Kindred Spirit to carry with me everywhere — she does, of course, look like Anne of Green Gables.
One of my favorite memories is of night creeping in on me in my canoe, my canoe over the lake, the lake covered in mist, the mist hiding the bats, the bats churning my soul, my soul engaged with the music — that's the teenager I liked.
I have a few regrets.
I've spoken with a spirit walker in human shape and wolf form.
I don’t like to clean my house, but I do like to live in a clean house.
I do everything fast, even things that should be done slowly.
I am very competitive, but I will try to cover that up by acting like I’m not, or pretending I don’t care.
I am in the middle of chaos, so I may appear one way today and another tomorrow.
I always cry when I hear stories about animals, especially animals who are lost, hurt, exploited.
I am in the process of reinventing myself, which could be a very exciting time if I let it be.
I wear my hair short because my mother's hair was always messy, not stylishly messy, but neglected messy, and I never want anyone to think that about me.
I am very strong for a 58-year-old woman.
Here is my recipe for red cabbage, which I cook at least once a week: slice the cabbage thin; add lots of onions and ginger, and balsamic vinegar, and a generous does of applesauce; stir and cook together until cabbage is soft to your liking.
I've had many nicknames over my long life but not one of them has been exactly right, so I keep trying out new ones even though this confuses my friends and they don't know what to call me anymore.
Apostrophes drive me bonkers.
I am bossy and I say I'm trying to get over it but I don't think I am trying hard enough.
I like those times when I'm a little bit out of control; a little bit out of myself.
I have a weakness for old-fashioned, sentimental, happy-ending novels.
I don't know what to do with my anger.
I once loved David Cassidy and I cleaned the apartment of my oldest sister's neighbor when I was 11 to make money to buy his album, Cherish.
When I was 16 I listened to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon on 8-track cassette, over and over, lying on my bed in the dark.
I used to wear a felt fedora hat and a scarf, like Dylan wore during his 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue tour.
My biggest musical regret is that my mother refused to let me use her car so that my oldest and dearest friend and I could go see Bruce Springsteen in Augusta, Maine.
I'd make a terrible camper or pioneer.
I have a scrap of peach fabric hanging in my closet and no plans for it.
I think makeup on little girls is scary, even for dance recitals.
I thought about the Magna Carta in the shower this morning.
My handwriting is terrible.
This is something I believe: if you put an eyelash on the back of your hand, close your eyes, make a wish, and hit your hand three times and the eyelash disappears — you'll get your wish.
If I weren't a teacher I would grow flower gardens and sell bouquets at the Farmers' Market.
When I was in fourth grade I wrote and produced a school play called The Cat and the Magic Duck.
I so love greyhounds!
At five, I got in big trouble for peeing outside between the houses; I think it was my first ever experience with shame.
My best friend from high school stopped talking to me when I came out in 1974, but last year she friended me on Facebook and “likes” all my gay marriage posts.
Sometimes I feel guilty that it is often easier to love my dogs than it is to love my daughter.
I saw a hawk killing a rabbit on my morning drive today, and I had to open the car windows because it made me light-headed and nauseous.
I love this time of life; there is an absence of angst and stress that feels right and appropriate, and I feel like I’ve earned it.
I have wild curly hair and have always felt that it was a part of my personality and an appropriate introduction to me.
I love sappy country western music, it gives me goosebumps and sometimes even makes me cry.
I think about numbers all the time and measure everything in my head.
I love that all dining tables are 30" high, counter tops 36" — I love that stairs have 8" treads and 8" risers in old houses, 9" treads and 7" risers in newer houses.
In fifth grade my teacher told me I read at a 12th grade level; I looked at her and quite seriously said "Good, then I guess I can go home now."
I got kicked out of high school 17 times; I held the record for a girl.
I do not believe in a higher power but I do believe in an inner power and I think most people try very hard to squash their own powerful selves.
When I am walking alone I feel 12 years old.
I was the first female taxicab driver in Ithaca in 1975.
I am a good actress; I think most women are.
When I am old I think I might try being a stand-up comedian.
Somedays I feel so sad that I think I just can't do this anymore and somedays I am in awe of my wonderful life.
