Twenty-Five Secrets

I have to admit that of all things, a tabloid magazine inspired this Thursday Diary entry...but not in the way that you all might think. Confused? Read on.

September 12, 2013

Did you know that while I don't consider myself to be one of those “hoarders” that you see on television, I do consider myself to be somewhat of a pack rat?

It's absolutely true.

As of right now, my living space is such that it looks presentable, but it also looks lived in. And, I'm okay with that. I always felt really uncomfortable in places that were obscenely clean. You know what I mean, right? The ones where the floor is so shiny you could eat off of it, and the ones where you didn't dare eat on the furniture because you would get scolded for even leaving behind one crumb.

At my place, if you want to eat on my sofa, you go right ahead. If you want to read a magazine on my floor, I have no problem with that. And if you want to smear spaghetti sauce all over my walls and floors, you're more than welcome to.

Just remember. YOU'RE cleaning the sauce up. Not me.

I guess the point that I'm making is that I don't mind if people wear their shoes inside my living space because I'm far from being a perfect housekeeper. To prove it, I was just going through my closet the other day and I came across a pile of things from my hospital stay in February 2011 still locked away inside!

(For those of you who weren't aware, or for those of you who have just discovered this blog, I had to have emergency surgery two and a half years ago to remove a seriously infected gall bladder.)

But seriously, I found a lot of things in my closet that kept me entertained while I was recovering from surgery. There were a few books that people brought me to read. I have a half-completed word search and puzzle book that I worked on while I was healing from my surgery. And, for some unknown reason, I still have the hospital bracelet that I wore during my entire stay there.

As I said before, I am considered to be a slight pack rat.

One other thing that I found mixed in with the goodies that entertained me during my recovery was a whole bundle of magazines. And when I say magazines, I mean those really trashy ones like the National Enquirer, Star, and The Examiner which feature celebrities that seemingly cause one scandal after another. I'm not one to normally go out and buy these kinds of magazines, but since I had family members and friends who wanted my stay to be as comfortable as possible, I read them...and re-read them...and re-read them some more.

Yeah...if you spend sixteen days in a hospital, you really do get that bored.

But you know what? Whether the stories in those tabloids are absolutely true or completely false...that's not for me to say. But I have to admit that reading the various articles in these magazines sometimes make me feel much better about my own life!

And besides, it's not as though celebrity gossip is the only thing of interest inside these magazines. They also have puzzles, horoscopes, and other fun puzzles and games mixed in amongst the gossip, the scandals, and the advertisements for Hydroxycut.

One of my favourite features in these types of magazines is when celebrities get interviewed by a representative of the magazine and they reveal all kinds of personal info and secrets. I think most of them come in a list of twenty-five mini-confessions and admissions. I have to admit, the pop culture addict in me loves reading all about the secrets and little known facts about celebrities. Some facts didn't seem surprising at all, but others were kind of an eye-opener.

So you know what I thought I would do? If celebrities can be interviewed and asked about the twenty-five things that nobody else knows, why can't I do the same?

So, in this Thursday Diary entry...whether you want to know them or not...I thought that I would reveal twenty-five things about myself that you may or may not know about me. I think it would be a cool way for all of you reading this to get to know me a bit better. And if some of you are brave enough, I thought that maybe some of you could do the same.

(Only I think that 25 facts would be too much. I'll happily accept only one or two!)

Okay, so on with the list.

01 – I have a slight allergy to strawberries. I can handle artificially flavoured strawberry things (which are disgusting, by the way), but real strawberries cause me to break out in hives. It isn't a fatal allergy by any means, but it's uncomfortable enough for me not to ever want to eat a strawberry.

02 – I use a different coloured pen at work each and every day. If one were to look through the safety sweep log books any given time that I am on duty, you would see a rainbow of colours. The reason why I do this is to stand out and be different. And besides...black ink is so...monotonous.

03 – I played the baritone for my school band between sixth and ninth grades. But admittedly I was forced to give it up because my class schedule in tenth grade prevented me from sticking with it. Looking back on it, I wish I had stuck with it just a little bit longer.

04 – I once spent an entire day off watching old reruns of “Three's Company” on YouTube. Not exactly the most efficient way to spend a day off, but it was entertaining. Besides, it rained all day that day. What else was there to do?

05 – My first date was in the eighth grade. I took a girl to the eighth grade graduation dance. Never saw her again after that.

06 – Hmmm...maybe number five explains the absolute hate I have for Valentine's Day. Though the fact that I had my gall bladder removed two days before that day could account for it (though in defense, I did get a blood transfusion that Valentine's Day, so at least I got something red!)

07 – I have a comic book collection that totals well over 3,000 books.

08 – The most embarrassing song I have downloaded on my iPod is the song “Under the Sea” from “The Little Mermaid”. The reason I have it downloaded is because it takes me back to the time in which some friends and I were driving down Bank Street in Ottawa with this song blasting from the car radio! Sigh...you had to be there.

09 – My very first celebrity crush was on Alyssa Milano. And to be honest with you, I still find her unbelievably attractive.

10 – The first time I ever used a computer, I was four years old. I seem to recall going to some sort of computer camp where I designed my own banner. They even took my picture which appeared in the newspaper...but my grandmother was the only one who had a copy, and since she died twenty-two years ago, I have no idea where she would have kept it.

11 – I still save all of the Christmas cards I have ever received (pack-rat, I know).

12 – My dream vacation is to go to Australia. I hope that one day I will be able to make it happen.

13 – I learned how to read before I learned how to talk. I didn't learn how to talk until just before my third birthday. My parents were concerned that I was hard of hearing, or that I had some sort of developmental disorder, but in reality, I was just stubborn. On that note...

14 – My horoscope sign is Taurus. But had I been born three days later, I would have become a Gemini.

15 – I was born on the one year anniversary of the day that Mount St. Helen's blew its top.

16 – My current drink obsession is surprisingly non-alcoholic. I'm really into water that is flavoured with “Dasani Drops”. I personally recommend the Cherry-Pomegranate and Pink Lemonade flavours.

17 – I was once hypnotized on stage and it was broadcast in a television special that aired later the same year.

18 – My current guilty pleasure artist? Admittedly, it's Selena Gomez. At least I didn't say Justin Bieber!

19 – I play in the Survivor pool at work regularly. Out of five attempts, I've only won once. Still, that is a 20% rating.

20 – My all-time favourite candy in the world are M&M's. Plain or peanut butter will do. I also have a small collection of M&M's memorabilia including a beach towel, a T-shirt, a wristwatch, a candy bowl, and a candy dispenser.

21 – Least favourite candy? Almond Joy, Mounds, Bounty, or any other candy with coconut inside of it. Blecch.

22 – I nearly failed grade eleven mathematics. Had it not been for a freak ice storm which grinded everything to a halt, I most definitely would have flunked.

23 – I hold the distinct achievement of actually setting a container of Jiffy Pop popcorn on fire!

24 – I did not learn how to swim until I was twenty-one due to a fear of drowning brought upon by nearly drowning in a swimming pool when I was a youngster. And even then, I am not comfortable in really deep water.

25 – I've never been on an airplane in my life. However, I've rode on more trains than I could count, in part because of the fact that when my dad worked for a railway, our family always got free train tickets. It was one of the perks of my father's job!