Friday, June 29, 2007

Talia's Tag - Again

Even though I know this list is a very bad idea, will be used against me…

1. My middle name is Alien. It’s pronounced Elaine. This is the result of giving drugs during childbirth. Both of my children were born without the helpful influence of drugs. Their names are less creative, Thomas Eugene and Jocelyn Elaine. I hope they will be able to manage.

2. I despair of ever becoming a really creative person, despite my great beginnings at birth, because since then I have shunned the use of legal and illegal drugs. This is surely going to come back to bite me someday. I do enjoy a nice cold beer on the back porch; however, this may not be enough to tip the scales in my favor.

3. Once, as a teenager, I backpacked across Europe for six weeks, rode the Eurail, stayed at youth hostels, clung to a copy of Europe on Five Dollars a Day.

4. Hands down, I prefer live theater and live music to anything captured in an electronic form. I want to be close enough to feel the performers breathe.

5. I once saw eight plays in seven days in London. It was kind of like marathon sex when you’re young, something to boast about later, nothing I’d try in this decade of life. I can only remember the names of two of the plays.

6. I started out my college career at IU Bloomington in the theater department, in lighting design. I used to climb high into the rafters with a harness on to adjust the stage lights. I was the person shining the spotlight on Miss Sally Bowles in Cabaret.

7. I know how to milk goats and wash and blow dry chickens. Blowing dry a chicken is not half as much fun as you might think.

8. When I was 16 I hitched a ride with some North American Vanline truckers between St. Louis and Chicago. They put my broken down VW Rabbit in the back of their empty truck. To quote one of Andy Mozina's characters, "Don't nobody try this."

Bonus answer -- I want to see a moose in the wild before I die. The moose does not have to see me. In fact, I would probably feel a lot better about it if the moose didn’t see me. I hear they have bad eyesight, so there is some possibility that I will not die without this wish being granted.

4 comments:

Jennifer said...

Funny you mention seeing a moose, because the last time we were in Maine I was dying to see a moose. But then I changed my mind after thinking I could be wishing to see one without realizing one could just walk out onto the highway and smash us as we were driving. That would be my luck of wishing to see one. Never did get to see one but I'm sure we aren't done seeing Maine.

Talia Reed said...

Great list Charmi! Charmi Alien! Charmi Alien?!

Charmi said...

I really want to see a wolf, too, but that is a little scarier. They have better eyesight.

Charmien Alien, actually. The end of Charmien is pronounced like the real word alien. Spellings vary, but Charmien, Charmaine... was Cleopatra's handmaiden, the one who handed her the grapes with the asp.

naoko fujimoto said...

Charmi,
I like your 8things! I will post my 8things soon! --Naoko