I have not had a meme entry in a long, long time, but the beautiful Miss Lillet insisted, and so I will.

1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

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I.

I believe in second chances, I really do, but I rarely doubt my first impression of someone, and the reason is that after 33 years of sizing people up I can count on less than five fingers how many times my first impression was completely off-base so far. And by less than five fingers, I mean MAYBE one. I do not know if it is a particular talent, per se, but I certainly put a lot of stock in my gut feeling about someone even when signs point the other way. I think there are two parts to why my sensitivity to people is fairly well-developed: firstly, women seem good at this anyway, I really believe; and secondly, having spent my adult life moving and meeting people from different countries and states and language groups sometimes I just have to go on gut because it is the only way I know who to pursue as a friend or colleague or business partner.

Since moving to Dallas I feel that I have wrestled with this a little, as in some cases David has introduced me to a long-time friend of his and I immediately feel something is not right. In one case, I think the person is a really good person, but just seems deeply unhappy. When I verbalize this to David and he does not necessarily agree, it creates an inner conflict for me, because I really believe in my feelings on this, but he is the one who has known the people for a long time, etc. Am I clearer for being the neutral observer, or is he the clearer for being closer to the heart of the matter?

Only time will tell. In the meantime I definitely will go with my gut when making new friends. It’s all I have, really. Can’t ask people for references, after all.

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II.

I am mad for scents. I own eleven major brand perfumes and eleven full size perfume oils from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab (as well as countless mini-sized perfume oils from the same). I shirk from fruity or overly processed smells, leaning toward grassy, spicy, or flowery notes. I swear by Lush’s products though they are very expensive in the U.S. and half my friends cannot go in because they find the smell too strong. I try to always have scented candles burning.

The new house is presenting challenges on the odor front. We had to clean away a bit of mold and I still feel very sensitive to the dampness levels in the house and think I can smell it still in the front room, though David tells me it is my imagination as we got rid of it and all the drywall that had it. There is also something about the water here in Dallas that smells funny and if the clothes in the washer do not go DIRECTLY to the dryer they start to smell dank as well. He tells me this is my imagination too, but I know he is wrong.

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III.

I eat very very fast, and I am actively working on being better at chewing more and eating slowly. David was very surprised to learn this about me, as I do really love good food and have relatively good faculty of taste for a former smoker. My explanation for my fast-paced mastication is twofold:

First, when I was growing up my mother ran late to everything, including taking us to school or dropping us off at the grandparents. Therefore I remember the mantra "Hurry up, eat quickly" as a constant, and I just do now.

Secondly, I’m greedy.

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IV.

I wear skirts almost exclusively. Sure, I have some trousers I like, and a couple pair of jeans, but on the whole I wear skirts and skirts only. I like them because they are always flattering. They can be dressed up or down. I can wear tights or stockings or nothing underneath. Very importantly, I can show off all manner of shoes or boots with them. I love fun shoes and boots, but who can see them under pants?

I never ever ever ever wear shorts. Unless I am working out, and even then I don’t like it. Of all the people I see in the streets of America wearing shorts, 99% easily should not be wearing them. Shorts may be what’s wrong with America.

Well, shorts and George Bush and high fructose corn syrup.

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V.

Just as I eat very fast, I also drink very fast. I can drink enormous amounts of water everyday and usually do; around three liters if not more. Sometimes when I hear of those people who die from water intoxication I wonder if it will happen to me on accident because I love to drink water. I also like Diet Coke, especially first thing in the morning if I am hungover, but it is not a regular fixture around the household. I just make David go get me one whenever I wake up cottonmouthed and headachy from a boozy evening the night before. He’s so good.

Anyway, when I was a very young, not quite a teenager or maybe just around thirteen, I read how drinking a lot of water is very good for you and your skin and keeps you pretty and healthy and all that good stuff. I took it to heart and immediate started carrying around a big bottle of Ozarka water which I drank all day. In high school a teacher actually pulled me aside to smell it. I was so attached to my water bottle (and apparently, acting oddly, though WTF? I was a teenager; they all act oddly) that they began to suspect it WASN’T JUST WATER. Of course it was.

I didn’t start switching out the water for vodka until AFTER college when I started the drudgery of full-time employment.

As a side note, I almost never get zits or blemishes of any variety on my face and I think this is the main reason (though genetics does help, my mother has always had very clear skin).

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VI.

I am often so paralyzed by a fear of failure that I do not even attempt large endeavors.  I think learning new crafty things the past few years has helped me start to get over this, but they are low on the investment scale.

I have been wanting for several years now to apply to graduate school and/or the Foreign Service, but my fear of being rejected from these things keeps me from even trying.

I’m making steps, but I’m still terrified.

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VII.

Some people do not like feet at all, but I do. I think feet are funny and wonderful things. Everyone’s feet are different and have a lot of character. They are the key to people some time. If people do not mind having their feet touched, and you give them a hard squeeze – fingers of both hands flat against the top of the foot, palms cupped around the sides and bottom – they will love you.

I like looking at how women and girls decorate their feet. I love shoes, and open toed shoes in summer especially. On my last East Coast tour the teenage girls were so creative with their pedicures! They had polka dots and stripes and flowers and all kinds of wonderful things on them.

Dramatic colors are what I lean towards. Currently my toes are light sky blue. I never paint them red, not because I particularly dislike red, but I always see a more unexpected color first.

I like my own feet. They are well-proportioned and I take care of them, generally. When I was in high school and did ballet en pointe, I lost my big toenails a few times. I was crushed and thought they would never look the same. I was wrong. I think they are probably stronger now than they were then.

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VIII.

When I can be found on the phone at all, I will be pacing. I do not like talking on the phone, even with friends I have not seen in ages. I want to catch up, I really do, but after the seven minute mark I get very antsy and distracted. The pacing helps. I will stay on the phone longer with some friends because I really want to hear what is happening but it is a struggle. It takes concentration and lots and lots of pacing around the room, circling into different rooms, stepping outside, etc.

But I love text messaging. When I was living in Amsterdam text messaging was already a regular mode of communication by 2000. When I came home for Christmas I asked friends here if I could text message them with details about meeting up. "Can you what?" they said.

Fortunately usage has caught up, and good thing too, because I just couldn’t take not being able to send text/picture messages to Annie & Dabney all the time.

Macaroni.

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I’m not going to tag anyone specifically, but if you feel like doing it, I’ll be reading.