Meme: The Filthy Blog Cootie Bug

Having been tagged by Hoosier Army Mom and Revere Rides Again, here are my eight random thoughts:

1. I am an only child. My mother was 36 when I was born, my father nearly 41. I was a sickly baby and a bull-headed child. I'm not sickly anymore, but people tell me that I am still bull-headed, a veritable "dog with a bone" once I get an idea.

2. When in school, I had two major fears: writing and public speaking, the latter to the point of having to be given tranquilizers the night before and day of a scheduled speech. I got over my phobia of getting my ideas down onto paper in fifth grade when I wrote my first research paper, "Themes in the Tragedies of Shakespeare"; my fear of public speaking disappeared without explanation around the time I turned 40.

3. I have one significant phobia today: a terror of centipedes. Merely the sight of a centipede is enough to elicit a bloodcurdling scream and flight on my part. Unfortunately, this old house frequently allowed centipedes to enter via the bathtub drain until we had the bathroom remodeled a few years ago.

4. When sightseeing, I always check ahead of time so as to learn if there are any nearby cemeteries. The first time my best friend and I visited California, we spent days on end touring cemeteries on our own. Probably the out-of-town cemetery I have most frequently visited is Oakgrove Cemetery — the burial site of Lizzie Borden and her parents.

5. Through my cousin's Administration of Justice instructor in 2000, I got special permission to visit the local medical examiner's office to view and attend a morning of autopsies. Most visitors that day were squeamish. I wasn't. I didn't balk even at watching the infant's dissection, but I did leave a bit ill following the autopsy on the reeking burn victim, whom I identified as a woman even before the medical examiner did. I based my conclusion on the x-rays, which revealed a woman's jewelry etched into the deceased's bones by the searing fire.

6. Mr. AOW and I started dating in January of 1972 and married in June of 1972. In all fairness, however, I have to admit that we did know each other for one semester in high school. We couldn't stand the sight of each other back then! He was a poor student and Peck's Bad Boy; I was the opposite.

7. Before 9/11, I worked the newpaper's daily crossword puzzle, read epic novels, and had an absolute abhorrence to watching the news. In other words, I didn't pay much attention to politics, especially world affairs. Now that I'm a counterjihadist, I spend most of my spare time reading nonfiction about politics and Islam as well as the news on the web — and blogging.

8. I'm obsessive-compulsive about following the rules of grammar mechanics. On many occasions, I've taken out my red pen to correct errors on menus. I do occasionally break the rules of grammar, but I know full well that I am breaking them.

This meme requires that I tag three more bloggers, but I typically don't tag others. However, I'd love to see Beamish's, Mustang's, and The Merry Widow's responses to this meme!