Seven Weird Bits of Stuff About Me

I am not quite ready to tell you about how I became a published playwright this weekend (I’ll do that next time).

So it’s really very handy that Fragileheart has tagged me with one of those Meme things where you have to reel seven things off about yourself.

She strongly feels I should tell you seven weird facts about myself, or else she’s going to end up calling me 'Pupple Knickers' for the rest of my life.

Seems fair…

As I type now, very tired after a long drive, I have no idea even what 'number' one 'weird-thing' is going to be about but let’s just see what emerges.

Incidentally, this is all a bit similar to another one of these memes I did some time ago - My Munificent Seven – I think I may have used up all my weirdness on that one.

Anyway, let's get to it:

1) hmmm… one is really hard. Let’s start with two. (Handy writer’s block tip there…)

2) I am going grey remarkably slowly. I thought I’d be white-haired by now but I’m not. Strange but true...

3) When I type – hunt and peck – I never have to think about where a key is but if someone asks me to tell them where a key is, I have no idea – except for QWERTY.

4) I can remember an awful lot of detail about pretty much every visit to the cinema I’ve ever made – what I saw, who I was with, where I saw it? It’s a bit spooky.

5) I only ever own one pair of shoes – you can read a little more about that particular foible here.

6) Dogs do what I tell them to do. I think they smell their own fear.

7) If I’m ever walking along by myself and I have a particularly entertaining thought, that thought will often stop me in my tracks while I think it out. I’ll only actually realise I have stopped walking after the thought has been adequately dealt with. This can look extremely strange to a passer-by, I think... … (sorry, where was I?)

8) Which is really (1): I don’t think of myself as wearing glasses but I’ve been doing it fairly regularly for over ten years now.

Okay, so I’ve left out all the stuff about the 'levitation' and the 'serial killing' – I’ve got to hold something back for future posts, you know.

I’m choosing not to tag anybody else for this fun game. Do please take it and play with it if you fancy it and please let me know if you do.

I’d like to see what weird things you come up with.

Alternatively, perhaps leave me one weird thing in the comments section, or else fifteen if you’re Matt Urdan.

Joking… I’m joking.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Odd that I would be the first to comment. LOL. Maybe that is my weird thing. But that wouldn't tell you much now would it? My weird thing is that I think with a southern accent (southern like Charleston...and I am not from the south). How's that?

Your answers were fun. I can relate to the glasses one, too.

Ellie

DineometerDeb said...

I was hoping for some really odd factoids Ken, like that you are half porpoise, half French or something ;)

An odd thing about me is that I am paranoid of memes and assume all were started by some sneaky hacker trying to figure out your passwords and security questions. Sure, you laugh, but be very afraid the next one goes around asking your favorite pets name. ; )

Matthew S. Urdan said...

Are you actually implying that my comments to your post are too long? Or is that just a weird thing about me, that I reply at length and in detail?

#3 seems to be a bit of a stretch, Ken. But I don't know where the keys on a keyboard are either. I don't need to know. The fingers know where they are when they're punching out words at 90 words/minute and that's all that matters.

hope said...

I have maintained my childlike curiosity well past the point of most adults. Not nosy, just interested in stuff. Mom always said, "Go look it up," and I still do.

"WHY?" is my favorite question. I just know how to phrase it now so I don't get sent out of the room. :)

Side note to ellie: the south thing isn't that odd..well, to me. I love accents [and although I live 2 hours from Charleston my accent is nowhere near that deep] if I'm reading something where the speaker is from another country, I "hear" the dialog in that dialect.

Sorry, too much confession. Don't want to intrude on Matt U's territory. ;)

Ken Armstrong said...

Hi Ellie, that's a nice one - I definitely think with an Irish accent.

Hello Dineometerdeb and Welcome!

'Factoids' sound a bit uncomfortable - a bit like if you had haemorrhoids and there was no doubt about it. :)

Matthew! I am implying no such of a thing, young man. Your comments are always precisely the right length, in my opinion.

Hope - you've maintained your childlike curiosity, which is wonderful. I hope that Curiosity maintains her childlike Hope.

Kat Mortensen said...

Every single memory I have can always be connected to a meal or food item. My thought-processes always think of what I ate. I'm a small person, but I have a HUGE appetite.

I sometimes forget my age. I've been doing this since I turned 20.

I never drive anywhere without mentally planning out my route - and I stick to it. Detours often throw me for a loop.

I will not drive on a major highway.


Kat

Anonymous said...

I'm a mimic. I have a "genteel drawl" when I'm not talking to someone with any other kind of accent, but get me in conversation with a New Yorker or Midwesterner and I gradually drift into their accent. It's not a conscious thing, I just do it. I would imagine that if you and I were to converse that no matter how heavy your Irish brogue (is it a brogue if you're Irish or is that reserved for Scottish??) I would match you idiom for idiom and even understand your slang.

I never learned to read music either, but can sing a tune if I've heard it. (on key and everything).

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Anonymous said...

I love how quickly you responded to this Meme! And after a long drive at that! Ken, you sure know how to make me happy.

The grey thing isn't that weird. *His* Dad is 65 and he's barely grey! Though he is a pretty special case considering all other fathers I can think of.

LOL I don't hunt and peck but my hand has memorised the keys so much so that when I start off on the wrong key, the whole word follows suit.

#4 is very spooky... #5 is just wrong, I remember reading your little story about #6.

As for #7 it depends on whether you make gestures or funny faces when you stop to finish your thoughts. If you simply stand there and look far off into the distance, I'm sure we've all been guilty of that!

Glasses? LOL That's not weird! But I'd like to see you in your glasses!

Thanks for playing along Ken!

Jim Murdoch said...

My wife and I were actually talking about the cinematic quality of my dreams this morning. Apart from the scope of most of them – no drawing room dramas for our Jim – they're usually peopled by…well, last night the stars were the cast of the X-Files with a guest appearance from Nichelle Nichols. I don't remember each and every visit to the cinema like you but I have always loved the experience discounting my first ever visit where I sobbed my heart out because I thought Lobo the lonely wolf had died. What surprises me, considering how much I love sci-fi, is the fact I've only once attempted to write a science fiction story and it never made it by the first chapter.

On the glasses front, someone once asked me why I'd never considered laser eye surgery. The simple answer is that I've worn glasses for so long – since I was three or four – that I wouldn't recognise my face without them. Besides they break up a huge pink expanse and give it a bit of character.

Rachel Fox said...

Well, of course one person's weird is another's totally logical, rational and sensible. Though your shoes thing - in this era, at least - is fairly unusual. Admirable though.

Anonymous said...

Funny about the shoes, Ken, I do the same thing with the particular style of shoe that I like most. They're really cheap things, and not stylish, but they're comfortable, and I get a pair of them and wear them for damn near everything until the sole is worn through or my wife says "It's time for you to get new shoes."

Matthew S. Urdan said...

@Hope--go ahead and intrude. It's not like I'm going to cry to the United Nations and demand assistance in a military retaliatory strike, you know.

And why aren't you on EntreCard anyway?

@Ken--keep it up, fuzzball....

Daisy said...

Hunting and pecking? That's how I get my foods. Well, it's actually more of a gobble than a peck. Never mind.

hope said...

Matt, thanks for not calling out the troops. Might spoil my attempt at a vacation. If you and Ken explain EntreCard to me perhaps I can look into it whilst I've actually got a little time on my hands.

Debbie said...

more, I want more! Ken, I need all the facts you can dish.....

Debbie said...

and a picture of you in glasses!

Right Fragilereggie?

Ken Armstrong said...

Hi Kat - 'Memories and Meals' - there's a poem in that methinks!

I like plotting routes too - these sat-nav devices are *not* impressing me.

Hi Margaret: We Irish do 'Brogue', the Scottish tend to veer towards a 'Burr' like what Sean Connery does.

I'd like to hear you mimic me. :)

Hi Reggie, I *did* do this quickly, didn't I? (Reggie had just mailed me about five minutes and the post was done) I find it liberating to just rattle something off now and again - inappropriate comments on that last bit are not encouraged. :)

*His* dad is definitely dyeing... 65??? No, 'Dyeing' not 'Dying'.

I'm nothing special in my glasses, trust me! :)

Hi Jim, oddly enough (and this next bit is true) I don't think of you as wearing glasses either, yet there you are...

One of my theatre plays is very much about sleep and dreaming... a character in it 'dreams in Technicolor and 70mm Dolby Stereo'. So long as it's not a horror movie I guess that's good.

Hi Rachel: 'Unusual but Admirable' - carve it on my stone. :)

Ah, Mike, a kindred spirit at last. The liberation of only having one pair of shoes is fantastic, none of your 'what shall I wear on my feet today?' malarkey. :)

@Matt: I intend to :)

Hi Daisy, nice to see you (meow). I guess it's not really 'hunt and peck' because I don't have to hunt for the keys... so long as I am alone. When alone, the words just appear as I watch the screen but if somebody's watching me, I have to hunt for every damn key.

Hope: Entrecard took my little blog from one reader (me) to it's current happy state of affairs. I recommend it highly. Look into it. Do.

Debbie! Darlin'! I thought you'd hate me for the shoe thing - can you imagine one pair?

As for me in glasses, I shall dig around although I enjoy this fallacy that I am in any way passable-looking - something that any newer photos will probably dispel (and you know I love the attention).. :)

Kim said...

very funny post Ken..
lol at the Matt comment length..
I secretly admire bloggers who have the power to comment at length :)

tashabud said...

Lucky you, you don't have to dye your hair. Men always look more distinguished in grey hair, but not so lucky for us, women. We just look plain old without the darn thing.

I'm not sure about #5. Are you sure you're not stretching that a bit? You can't be wearing your office shoes to when you go out climbing over fences out in the country, would you?

Well, it might be a little disconcerting to people around you when they see you suddenly stop in the middle of a heavy traffic when you happen to have one of your "thought-entertainment" episodes there. LOL.

My greatest frustration, which I'd consider one of my weirdness, is that I can't seem to learn song lyrics just by listening. I have to sit down and literally have to memorize them before they stick with me. It's so unfortunate because I love singing along.

Okay, I think I took over Matt's territory, so I better say good night for now.

Tasha

Anonymous said...

Hello Ken,

Your items are a mixture as usual...some make me think...really???

Anyway, something weird about me is that on weekends, I wake up at early dawn and write and then go back to sleep during the day.

Is that weird enough? lol

Happy blogging.

Debbie said...

@ ken,

I could never hate you! Besides, I now have a reason to buy more shoes, to make up for your lack of support to the worlds cobblers!

Matthew S. Urdan said...

@Kim--Why thank you very much!

@Tasha...I think it's cumulative over time, so you're safe.

Ken Armstrong said...

Hi Kim: Matt and I are always up for a little friendly banter, ain't that so Matthew?

Hi Tasha: About the shoes... I have wellies for the field trips (and I do mean 'trips') and I have a pair of Nike Trainers for when I go running, otherwise, it's my beloved 'Docs' all the way.

I find it easy to learn lyrics but I forget most other things. I bet you sing nicer than I do. :)

Jena Isle!! I can't imagine you *ever* sleeping. :)

Debbie: Buy more shooooes... buy more shooooooooooessssss... :)

And do talk among yourselves, I love that!!

Anonymous said...

When I can't sleep at night I fantasize about winning the lottery and it puts me right to sleep. So I guess instead of counting sheep, I count money.

Dave King said...

I knew you were an interesring bloke - just didn't realise how interesting.
I enjoyed that enormously.

Ken Armstrong said...

Hi Carlae: If I fantasised about winning big money, I'd then have to sit up and figure out what to do with it all. :)

Hi Dave: I don't think I'm any weirder than the next bloke - just a little more willing to brag about it. :)

Matthew S. Urdan said...

@Ken...Yes, that is so, Kenneth. And better here than in the drama-infested EntreCard Forums!

Carol said...

Only one pair of shoes?

Wait. I'm going to have to stop and think about that one for a minute.