I tag you all!

Summerset tagged me, so, here goes:


If you are tagged, you
1) Post 5 things about yourself that you have never posted
2) Tag 5 people whom you'd like to know more about

I have no idea what I've posted or not posted ... feel free to Google and call foul on me in the comments.

1) I was the first, last, and only (as far as I know) National Junior Classical League Ambassador. This was way back in the late '80s. My "job" was to encourage the study of Latin (and Greek, too, I guess), but there was some kind of power-play between the outgoing student JCL president, who had thought up the position, and the main adult sponsor, who didn't think it was such a good idea, so I didn't end up doing much of anything. I did get a snazzy pin, though, and it looked great on my college applications.

2) Speaking of college, I ran a coffee shop when I was in school. This means that every person who was at the University of Chicago when I was there thinks they know me -- I look so familiar! That's because I served them coffee every day. My favorite part was running the express line, with the ritual call of "Express Line: No soup, no pizza, no twenties, no waiting!"

3) Speaking of coffee, I don't actually drink it. I mean, I like coffee-flavor, and I love coffee candy (especially Pearson's Coffee Nips, which will break your teeth as sure as shooting), coffee ice cream, the smell of coffee (if people at the coffee shop asked me if the coffee was good, I would say "it smells great!") ... and I will drink the occasional mocha frappuccino (aka the coffee milkshake) but I don't actually like the taste of hot regular liquid coffee. I always assumed that one day I'd be grown up and would drink coffee, but I guess I never grew up enough.

4) Another thing my childish self figured I would do when I was grown-up "enough" was smoke. My folks both smoked; that was just what grown-ups did, right? I even figured I'd smoke gold Benson & Hedges, just like my mom. Needless to say, if I never managed to grow up enough to drink coffee, I also never managed to grow up enough to smoke cigarettes. By the time I figured out that I wasn't smoking, there I was, a non-smoker. And thankfully, both my parents have also been non-smokers now for more than ten years!

5) And speaking of my forebears (well, the ones going back a-ways), I am supposedly a collateral descendant of a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas McKean. (Collateral here means "descended from the same stock but by a different line", that is, I'm descended from the signer's brother, not the signer. What I really like about ol' Tom, though, is that he managed to hold multiple public offices at the same time. "One can scarcely believe the number of concurrent offices and duties this man performed during the course of his long career." So whenever I think I can't do everything I've signed up to do, I remember my illustrious forebear, who did so much -- in several different states, simultaneously, and without indoor plumbing!

Now for the tagging part. I want to know more about all of you! I know a lot of you don't have blogs, so why don't each of you (who want to, of course, this is not compulsory) post something about yourself in the comments? If you do have a blog and want to do your five there, post a link in the comments. I promise to visit them all!

Comments

[the_lazymilliner]

1) Like Erin, I don't drink coffee either but I love the taste in candy, ice cream, chocolates, etc. I especially like General Foods International's Cappuccino Coolers, available at Dominick's. 2) I have eleven nieces and nephews.3) Two of my brothers graduated from West Point.4) I own a 1940s-era pink and green Art Deco dollhouse originally from Marshall Field's.5) While I'm left-handed, I crochet and knit with my right hand!I tag Bella Donna, Knitgirl, Lydia, Erica B and Dr. Sue.

[Nancy]

http://tilegirl.blogspot.com/2007/01/tagged-5-things-about-me.htmlThat was me, right above, deleting my comment because I made an error in my blog address.Anyway, fun idea Erin, thanks!I love your blog!

[Barbara at Cat Fur Studio]

Hi, Erin - Not a week goes by that I don't check out what you're doing! Love your stuff. I was recently tagged, too; here are my 'five things', as written in my blog: http://catfurstudio.blogspot.com/

[Barbara at Cat Fur Studio]

Hi, Erin - Not a week goes by that I don't check out what you're doing! Love your stuff. I was recently tagged, too; here are my 'five things', as written in my blog: http://catfurstudio.blogspot.com/

[Joni]

Heh. Latin. Six years of Latin (including in college - apparently it's a necessary skill to be a chemist) and all I can remember is 'Cave canem.' Sad.I have a great vocabulary, though ;-)

[Kiba]

I'm a Latin teacher who came up through JCL and am very excited to see that you were not just a member but someone whose job it was to recruit people! Good on you!I'll drop another comment once I've made my 5 things post.

[Amira Colter]

1. I have a six-year old nephew - Macky - who I love very, very much. He's a smart kid, on top of his class and is both naughty and sweet. 2. I have four sisters and one brother. 3. My idea of good times are:a good book; solitude; sorting out my stuff; chocolates or spaghetti(my favorites) at the end of a lousy day and hanging out with the ones I love.4 & 5. When I was around 10 or 11, I saw a part of a romantic movie entitled 'Starstruck' on tv. It was way past my bedtime and Mama told me to turn it off. The thing that stuck with me all this time was what the grandmother character told her grandson about never letting the one you love 'get away'. She went on to say that she married a good man but that until that time and already in her 70s, she still wonder about a man that she once danced with - 'the one that got away'. And darn I didn't get to finish watching that movie! Thanks Erin. It was fun.

[Nancy (nanflan)]

Thank you for playing. Unfortunately, I have no lovely parting gifts to offer.However, I do have a baker's 1/2 dozen entries to the tagging game at my blog, http://sewwest.blogspot.com/. Enjoy!

[Tlingitangel]

Let's see if I can find 5 interesting things....1) I started sewing when I found out I was pregnant with my 1st son (almost 13 yrs ago) I was broke and it was easier for me to make all my maternity clothes. I just picked up a pattern and haven't stopped since then. I find with each project I complete I get better. I just wish I had more time to make all my projects that I've started in my mind.2) Funny you should mention coffee...I went to work at Starbucks about 6 months ago because I could give them my availability and they would work around it. I do drink coffee, but only one cup a day. 3) I work 4 days a week, homeschool my two older boys, have an online business and go to school on top of being a wife and mom...talk about keeping busy!4) I decided to go back to school to get a degree from the Journalism and Public Communications Department at the University of Alaska, Anchorage (thank goodness I already have 2 yrs done!!!)5) I hated computers and the internet until about 7 years ago when I just sat down one day and figured it out. This has made the world a smaller place because I can access places and people from all over the world.I'm so glad that I did since I have found your Dress A Day sight. I enjoy it immensely and look forward to reading what you put up every day!

[oracle]

I'm a freelance writer on many subjects.I love dogs.I believe that true, freely chosen, and naturally arrived-at peace is possible between all peoples.My preferred healthcare modality is homeopathy, and if faced with one of many kinds of viral or bacterial epidemics, that is the kind of treatment I would seek out because I am certain that it would have the greatest chance of saving my life.I finally made it into my sewing room today, and I must get back up there right now while there's still time to get some more stuff done tonight!

[erma]

Erin, I remember you from Cobb coffee shop days (== days of classes with Professors Dahlstrom and McCawley.) The price of coffee seems to have gone up quite a bit since then.1. I learned to sew from my mother and through 4-H. My mother was the sewing group leader. 2. Speaking of 4-H, I stayed with it throughout childhood, attended National 4-H Conference (twice), and even left college a little early to work at the National 4-H Center.3. I took Latin on Saturdays in 8th grade, and I always thought that when I was grown up I would know Latin, Greek, German, French, and maybe Italian. Never occurred to me to consider any Asian languages, including the language of my childhood (Korean). The way it turned out: I've studied French, Latin, Japanese, a little Chinese, and Korean but can only really say that I know Korean.4. I was inspired by this blog to try to write every day about a topic that I am very familiar with. However the discipline and the interest were short-lived (the topic was my daily bus commute).5. The name Erma is a variation of Emma (Peel). My counterpart is John Sneed.

[Kristen]

here's my 5http://woolforbrains.blogspot.com fun times.

[Laura]

1. I was in NCL, as well. My school's team (captained by moi) actually won some kind of Indianapolis-area quiz bowl thing when I was in HS. There was much adolescent chuckling around the "island of Lesbos" question.2. I've never seen Titanic or any of the Rocky movies. I did see Gone with the Wind recently and thought it sucked.3. I learned how to sew from my mom, who learned from hers....ditto, all in Appalachian farming towns (except for me). So until a few months ago, the bulk of my sewing skills were about fabrics and techniques available before WWII.4. I believe most of the US, and possibly the western world, is sleep-deprived, and if everyone all slept more they'd be much less destructive.5. I feel guilty returning books to the library if I haven't gotten around to reading them.

[htwollin]

1) I was almost thrown out of home ec in the 7th grade because I refused to sew the drop sleeve blouse in the order that the teacher perscribed. I also "used bad language" when frustrated, according to her. Damn.2) I was brought up in a home where the favorite phrase from my father was "A clean colon is a happy colon". This is also the man who kept the newspaper in the bathroom and hid boxes of prunes around the house.3) When my great aunts died, I inherited their stash of fabrics and trims from when they worked in a lingerie factory in the 1930s and 40s; when my mother died, I inherited HER stash. At this rate, I will have to either open a store or build a barn to hold all of this stuff. 4) I have a sister in Virginia who neither sews nor knits. Somehow, she missed out.5) I have a deep and abiding respect and wonder at the genius of Gail Griggs Hazen for coming up with the revolutionary theory that most of us are an entirely different size in the back half of us than we are in the front half. I figure I could have saved several lifetimes of tearing out basted stitiches on muslins if I'd only grasped that earlier.

[Susan]

That was fun, Erin! I'd added mine to my blog:www.benice.wordpress.comI don't drink coffee either, but I love the smell of it, too!

[Raven]

I'll play...1) I cannot eat with three pronged forks. They freak me out.2) My first sewing project? My junior prom dress. I refused any help, and my mother was terrified the whole time because we dropped 80 bucks for the materials. It worked out just fine, and I continue to sew in the same no fear manner...if only I had more time for it.3 & 4) I will only drink my coffee black, or maybe a very dry cappuccino. This is all irrelevant since I stopped consuming caffeine about six weeks ago.5) My blog (which is desperately in need of an update) is blog.etherea.org

[oracle]

I love that sleep thing (Laura).

[Zoltar Panaflex]

I had typed up way too much, but Blogger had an error and it's all gone.Here's my blog anyway -http://henryclaytrumbull.blogspot.com/I'm transcribing the Civil War diaries of the Reverend Doctor Henry Clay Trumbull. Long story, but right now I own six of his diaries straddling the Civil War and a good pile of his letters and other documents.I have several major interests, sewing (and collecting vintage patterns), H. Clay Trumbull, and genealogy.

[Diatryma]

Hi. I'm diatryma on Livejournal, too.1) While I really like hearing about sewing and dresses, it fills me with anxiety to contemplate what might have to be done to actually take part. I don't own a sewing machine and I've never used one. I work in a lab, and labs are usually... not so much the dressy, yes? And those of you who remember my rude freakout some time ago... yeah, with the freaking out. I don't like to be looked at or paid attention to unless I'm in control. So I want to learn to sew, but will feel guilty about taking time from work to do so. Instead, I made the mother of all laundry bags from almost two yards of blue canvas, some heavy-duty thread, and big imposing needles. It is a wonderful laundry bag and I expect it to last at least a decade. If it does not, I have more heavy-duty thread and I'm never throwing away the big needles.2) I am crazy. Not actually crazy, not quirky crazy, but the inside of my head is a strange and scary place. 3) I don't eat vegetables if I can avoid it. Mostly, I can.4) While I feel guilty using time I might be working to do anything like learn to sew, I'm perfectly fine with using that time to read books. Lots of books. A truly ridiculous number of books. If you get me into the dealer's room at a con, I will walk you through every publisher and give short reviews. 5) I write science fiction and fantasy. Mostly short stories. This has caused some tension in my department, not from my friends or advisor, but from one particular professor who doesn't understand that my creative writing is not my lab writing and that I already know that, and that the reason my lab reports were so bad is that I didn't understand the math. Maybe over the summer I'll try sewing something that matters.

[Lorinne]

Erin!!! I did one, yay!

[Lorinne]

The new and improved link to my LiveJournal!

[mamafrog]

What a fascinating bunch of women you guys are--especially Erin!! I've learned so much from you and Erin, and it's nice to know other women who have a passion for fabrics and clothes, whether or not they sew!1. This is actually the first blog I ever read or participated in, I only became comfortable with my computer two years ago!2. I've been sewing over 40 years now--started out sewing by hand to make doll clothes as a kid, took home ec in junior high, and inherited my grandmother's love of sewing, and her sewing machine (sadly, now defunct) and fabrics when she died.3. I have a teaching degree in music (band director), but never taught because I'm slightly deaf from playing the flute for about ten years!4. Can just barely tolerate the smell of coffee thanks to my oldest daughter! I was pregnant with her when someone made it for my baby shower, now the smell makes me sick every time. Definately can't drink it.5. My first grandchild was born last year and I really look forward to teaching her about sewing like my grandmother did!

[Helen]

I was tagged a few weeks ago and I decided that that was the point at which I had arrived!! It's on the 4th January post (Vanity is the Spice...) at my blog linked above. I was so excited to have been tagged by one of my favourite bloggers - Sprink London!!How tragic am I!!??

[Kim P.]

Let's see....1) I'm a rare book cataloguer who has never taken a day of Latin (please don't tell on me!)2) I am trying to convince my 12-year-old son (a math/science guy) to take Latin next year (!) Any good arguments I can use?3) I was my school's spelling bee champ in 4th and 5th grade4) I used to sew; then I wove; now I knit. I love to view, visit, touch, covet, own all manner of vintage fabrics5) The very first car I owned was a 1957 Nash MetropolitanLove your blog, Erin!

[Carrie]

Great post! And congratulations on your parents who quit smoking! Yay! Here's my list:1. I'm a direct descendant of Robert E. Lee.2. I'm a Native American Indian, by percentage. I love a melting pot, I do.3. I can't go outside after dark, because I'm afraid of small animals that bite.4. I love teaching and sharing things I know with people.5. I didn't think I would like blogging. =-)! Ha! Thanks for your list!