Eight Random things about me

I got tagged by flawedplan over at Writhe Safely for this meme. I swore last time I got involved in a meme I wouldn’t do another, but I had to respond to flawedplan if only to draw attention to her awesome site. The last meme I did was for the Thinking Blogger Award. It was that meme that annoyed me. It linked back in each and every award winning site to the originator of the meme. This inflated this persons stats considerably and I think that was what it was all about for the originator. (Granted I greatly appreciated being awarded it by people who meant it three times–that was truly exciting and inspiring so I may simply be a cynical bitch!)

This meme doesn’t have that at the core of it’s inception, so I will make the exception to my rule against meme playing. Now I just have to come up with eight random things about me after having done a “100 things about me” post. I am challenged to come up with eight specially interesting tidbits.

I think I’ll follow flawedplan and return to childhood for this one as I’ve already covered a good part of my adulthood.

1. I swam competitively from ages 8 – 12 when our local national team tried to recruit me–I had been swimming at the local pool. I had a dream of going to the Olympics and was a damn good swimmer. My parents refused to drive me to workout at 6 am in the morning twenty minutes away. Who knows–maybe they were justified, but I took it as one more instance where I learned I couldn’t follow my hearts desire.

2. Virtually all my friends in highschool were homophobic, sexist, racist conservative redneck assholes (I managed to have some kind of fun with them anyway.) They put up with me while thinking I was very strange and I sharpened my argument skills as well as my sharply differing views–though I convinced no one of my radical leftist beliefs. (I can’t say where in hell they came from–not my family)

3. I have only vague memories of my entire childhood–with vivid interludes. One of those interludes is remembering the violent hatred I had towards my father (though I don’t recall the abuse–with some key exceptions–except in a vague felt-sense way–I know it happened as my sister has vivid memories.) I was five years old and didn’t understand why I was different from my friends who seemed to love their fathers. I felt grossly flawed and guilty.

4. My first language was Italian. Though I was born in the United States, we went to Italy before my first birthday for my fathers job (he is also an Italian immigrant) our family spoke Italian exclusively while in Italy. I’ve lost most of my Italian because though my father still only speaks to me in Italian I respond to him in English. That was a way to rebel against him as I matured when we returned to the States.

5. I, like flawedplan, had a Jesus freak period but not until age 17. I found comfort in the clean fun I had in a Christian youth group (singing and camping and such) after a year of cocaine and alcohol abuse during my 16th year. I got pretty screwed in the head over the Jesus issue.

6. Throughout elementary school I was generally the best student in my class and it was something I wore like a badge. I didn’t get positive reinforcement elsewhere. In elementary school I had a confidence in my social and academic milieu I’ve never had again. (shit where did that come from? I did have confidence in my academic ability, but I was grossly insecure socially–what made me write that–how could I forget?)

7. I read compulsively throughout childhood and was reading adult classics by the age of 9. I sometimes stayed up all night reading with a towel blocking the crack at the bottom of the door so that my light wouldn’t be seen. I seldom watched TV.

8. I was an athlete in Junior High and got most valuable player in both basketball and volley ball the same year at age twelve. My organized team athletic career ended there for reasons I won’t go into.

I’m not going to tag anyone specifically, but please feel free to leave your eight random things in comments. Would love to read them–really!!