Tag, I'm it! Seven Wacky Things

My cousin Cassandra tagged me! Here are the rules:

*If you are tagged, you must first post the rules:
*Write 7 strange characteristics about yourself. They interest us all!
*Tag 5 other people at the end of your Post.
*Visit everyone that you have tagged and leave a comment on their blog to let them know that they have been tagged.

This is my first foray into this tagging business, so we'll see how it goes! But I have plenty of strange characteristics, so...

1. I secretly want to be a brickmason. I actually asked my dad once in college if I could build him a brick grill in his back yard and he turned me down. I think he thought I was crazy. It's something about the way they fit together so perfectly...

2. I have a weird penchant for picking up foreign languages. In fact, my last two years of high school, I was student of the year in both French and German--I never got anything below an A. I'm still pretty fluent in French, remember almost no German, and now speak a tiny bit of Spanish and can read a fair bit of Italian... but don't do anything at all with this ability.

3. If you put me in front of something SUPER dusty, I will play in the dust. It's like a tic. I can't help it.

4. The first time I ever rode an airplane was when I was 17, all by myself, to Paris, France. I thought it was boring, except when we hit turbulence. I thought that was fun. :)

5. In spite of my mild-mannered appearance, my college years were filled with concerts where I stood on the outer ring of mosh pits and had my listening enjoyment interrupted by pushing people back into the pit when they ran into me. I actually still really love some of those *very* hard rock bands, like the Deftones--my all time favorite band, believe it or not!

6. I wasn't spanked as a child. Grounded, yes, spanked, no. One of the most embarassing moments of my life came when I was grounded and restricted to my playroom (horrors!) where all I could do was play with my Barbies (cruel mother!). My mom came in to check on me after a while, and as I was telling her what I had been doing, I explained who each Barbie was and what her deal was. When I got to one very dressed up Barbie, I told my mom: "And this one, she thinks she's hot shit!" Yeah. I was about 8.

7. I name my cars. In order, they have been: Laverne (1981 Honda Civic, Silver), Shirley (1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais, White with Maroon Top), Kira (1999 Nissan Sentra, Black) and Sabine (2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse, White). Laverne and Shirley and I were super close, because we had lots of heart-to-heart discussions when they were feeling down and out. I can think of several times where just hearing their names made those girls push it a few more feet so I wouldn't be stuck in the middle of the road... may they Rest In Peace.

And for the tagging:

Frane: My college roomie Jen needs to update her blog more often, because she finds the best stuff! (I call her Frane. Her name's really Jen.)

Sue: My boss's list could just be seven crazy things that have happened to her during the month of August!

Jynxd: My coworker has been slackin' on her bloggin' since she got back from vacation and turned 40. Must be old age settin' in. ;-)

Mymsie: Because I know she's got crazy stuff to say about herself. :)

Brie: I am always learning stuff about this girl... now I get seven more chances!