Six Weird Things About Lo

I've never been tagged in the blogosphere before, so I offer Brooke my greatest thanks for making me feel like one of the cool kids. I give you 6 weird things about Lo (with a little help from my wife, who kept insisting, "But you're not weird." Yeah, right).

1) I like to read several books at a time. Often I have a novel, a work of non-fiction, and a young adult novel (my excuse is that I teach 7th grade; the truth is that I never stopped reading kids' books) going at the same time. I like the variety. As a kid I used to make stacks of up to six books and read a chapter at a time.

2) I can play any song I hear (on the flute or recorder, my instruments of choice). This might be my early Suzuki piano training. I was taught to play piano, at age seven, only by ear. I was never taught to read music, which frustrated me to no end so I taught myself how to read the treble clef so I could play through my mom's Rodgers and Hammerstein and Song Fest on my own. My dad says his mom, who was a piano teacher, had perfect pitch (which I do not have!). I am no great musician, but I enjoy playing.

3) I hate carbonated beverages. They do not quench my thirst. (Co says I am the only Jew on earth who does not like seltzer.) This also means I don't really like soda. When I was in Europe -- and this was over ten years ago so things may well have changed -- it was very very hard to find non-carbonated water. I learned to say non-carbonated in Polish. (Niegazowana, in case you're interested.)

4) I prefer dogs that are short and long. You've all seen the famous Maggie Mae (and a lucky few have met the beast!) and I grew up with a Welsh corgi. We got the corgi because I fell in love with my grandparents' corgi. I will have to post both corgis' pix at some point...I do love oddly-proportioned canines.

5) I am a Luddite. I do not own an mp3 player of any kind and I don't even use my computer to listen to music (when we burn CDs we use Co's). I own a record player and a used amplifier my dad got me because I prefer to feel the weight of the radio tuner as I turn it. I hate the digital kind. (I'm going to have to fold because it's not working so well, but I'm dragging my heels.) We do have a DVD player, a gift from my mom, but I maintain that both VHS and audiocassette are much more practical media. You can't continue to add material to CDs or DVDs. I far, far prefer editing tape (I've worked in radio) by hand than by computer. It's just so much less....tactile. I'm not convinced that progress is always for the best.

6) I am always hot. I have been known to go outside in a T-shirt in 30 degree weather. My dad tells a story of me going swimming on Cape Cod in December. This leads to some arguments with Co -- who is always cold -- about opening the windows. Since we live in an overheated city apartment, I don't put the T-shirts away all year round.

I tag anyone who wishes to reveal six weird things! And you'll get to hear Co's weird things eventually too, since she's been tagged, too. :-)