No more things after this, I swear!

Even if I don't get to 25, I promise this is the last of the evil Facebook meme! If I'm sick of it by now, I'm sure you are too.

18. I've never been a big Kid Rock fan, but I like him even less after last year's ubiquitous single, "All Summer Long." Every time I heard its opening notes (practically any time I turned on the radio) I'd get excited, thinking I was about to hear Warren Zevon sing "The Werewolves of London" (from which ASL samples). But no. Instead of Lon Cheney walking with the Queen -- his hair perrrrfect! -- I'd get tired clichés about drinking beer out at the lake. Boo. No thank you.

19. I don't believe in the Estrogen Conspiracy -- you know, the world view which holds that women are catty and/or manipulative and want to tear each other down. That perspective never even occurred to me (who grew up with 5 sisters, who always had female friends, who attended a women's college -- which is to say, I've got a fairly large sample of women from which to draw my conclusions) until my early 20s when a female colleague confessed she preferred working with men because they didn't "play games." Games? Like Scrabble? I had no idea what she meant. I've heard the same sentiment expressed since then from other people, and still I think it's hooey. Yes, I've had the occasional problem with women, but also with men; overall, the women I've known have been much more about building each other up and supporting each other than about playing weirdo head games. And that's why I'm all about the sisterhood, baby.

20. My favorite guilty fast food pleasure is McDonald's french fries dipped in their sweet and sour sauce (technically intended for their chicken nuggets). The flavors blend perfectly together -- but only at Old McDonald's! I've tried the same combination at Burger King and elsewhere and have always been disappointed and/or disgusted. Go figure. (And go try some.)

21. I am incredibly gullible. I'd make a terrible police officer; when the detectives question suspects on [insert tv crime procedural here], I always believe their stories and think, "Phew, then he couldn't have done it." And then of course it turns out that the suspect (*gasp!*) lied, and he really is guilty, and don't I feel like a schmuck? The other day one of my children stole my wallet out of my purse. Tres had a rock solid alibi, so I interrogated the other two: Both looked me straight in the eye and very convincingly denied any knowledge of the crime. I knew one of them was lying, but I had no idea which one. Shouldn't parents be able to tell? Shouldn't I be able to outsmart a four and a six-year-old? (It was easier when they blamed things on sharks.) I did eventually discover the culprit after telling them that we could never go anywhere ever again because my drivers license was in the missing wallet. "Hmmm," Dos said. "I'm just going to think: If I were a wallet, where would I be?" And then -- magically -- it turned up in the very first place she looked: Under the couch in the basement. But without her suspicious flash of inspiration and based only on my questioning of them, I'd never have known which kid took it in the first place. :-p

22. I think I'm a bit of a prosopagnosiac -- probably not to any diagnosable degree, but I do have trouble recognizing or remembering faces (which, along with other factors like my inability to remember names, contributes to a general social awkwardness -- yay me, lol). I've probably always been this way, but the first time I remember feeling frustrated by it was in the 5th grade: Two girls in my class were approximately the same height and had the same shade of brown hair and, unless they were standing side by side, I could never remember which one was which. I saw them five days a week from September to May or June and was no better at distinguishing them by the end of the school year than I had been at the beginning. I'm sure if I had gotten to know either of them better, I'd be able to tell them apart; I recognize my friends and family with no problems. But acquaintances? Even frequently encountered acquaintances? Yeeps. The info just doesn't register or stick.

23. It is now time to get the girls from school, so I hereby conclude my 25 Random Things About Me list at number 23. Tough luck.


~RCH~