z tagged me with a meme

from the merriam-webster on line dictionary:

Main Entry: meme 

Pronunciation: \ˈmēm\

Function: noun

Etymology: alteration of mimeme, from mim- (as in mimesis) + -eme

Date: 1976

: an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture

I've been tagged by z from geeeeeZ, who's a long time commenter at big girl pants and a great friend, to boot.  she has tagged me to tell her and my other readers eight random thoughts or factoids about myself.  this is totally stream of consciousness, and likely it's useless information, but maybe there's a tidbit here or there that you'll find interesting.  if some of you already know some of this information, bear with me and look for something else.  enjoy!

1. i am deathly afraid of birds, well and bats and sometimes even butterflies if they take me unawares.  i know that this is a completely irrational and totally illogical fear, but as a very close friend of mine says by way of acknowledgment "it's my anxiety closet and it doesn't have to make sense to anyone else."  it wouldn't seem like this would be a big deal, but it's often paralyzing just walking down the street.
   
   my guess is that unless you are afraid of birds, you never realize how prevalent these flying rats are no matter where you go.  oddly enough i collect rooster stuff.  not live roosters - or even formerly live roosters, but rooster images, figurines, fabrics, etc. 
   
2. i never get within 100 miles of philadelphia without going to jim's steaks at second and south street.  and i mean never.  even when flying from someplace to newark or philadelphia and then flying on from there, i ALWAYS make the layover long enough so i can make a trek to south philly and get my fix.  and it doesn't matter when i go, there always seems to be a line.  but trust me, it's worth the wait - and the trip.
   
   y'all can keep your pat's or geno's - i'll take jim's any day of the week and twice on sunday over any other version of cheese steak.  there is just no other food on the face of the planet that can compare - well except for my mom's liver and onions, but that's not something that others can really appreciate. 
   
   when you go to jims it's like your stepping back in time and getting a party in your mouth all at the same time.  i ALWAYS order my steak with grilled onions, cheez whiz (yes cheez whiz - anything else is a sacrilege), tomatoes and ketchup.  not your standard fixin's but it works for me.
   
3. the THING that makes me happiest in life is a good thunderstorm.  i'm serious.  whether it's sitting on the porch swing or dancing in the rain with a good friend, it's the thing i like best.  the shear power of the storm - from the lightning to rolling thunder to the rain coming down, it moves me.  and besides, there are no birds around to bother me when there's a thunderstorm raging so i can enjoy the time outside without fear of being molested by one of those flying rats.
   
4. i have read the novel 'catch 22' more times than i can remember.  i stopped counting at 25.  when i was 17 years old my good friend, mr. hart, gave me this book to read.  he, being eight years older than i, apparently felt my education lacking because i had never read this book.  since my first reading, i simply cannot get enough.
   
   for those of you who have read this book by joseph heller, you know what i'm talking about.  every time i read the book i see something that i've either previously missed or previously forgotten.  for those of you who have not read it yet, i can't recommend strongly enough that you grab a copy and read it - at least once.  it's logic, satire and "history" at its best.  no kidding.
   
5. i named my oldest daughter for my heroine, katie scarlett o'hara.  yes, i KNOW scarlett o'hara is a fictional character, but she's everything i've always wanted to be as a woman and was always too much of a tomboy to accomplish.  i wanted to actually call my daughter "scarlett", but my mother convinced my ex-husband that everyone would call her "scarlett the harlot" or some such stupidness.  whatever, she's definitely a "katerina" now that i know her - and i wouldn't trade any part of her (even the annoying parts) for anything in this world.  neither would i trade either of my other two for anything either - well some days i might trade my son, but he IS getting better as he gets older...
   
6. my daddy is just about my favorite person in the whole, wide world.  and he is daddy.  when i was a little girl i thought he knew everything - this belief is still primarily intact today.  we don't get the chance to talk or see each other very much of late, but he's never far from my thoughts and he's always in my heart.  i hate to think that there will ever be a time when daddy isn't on this earth, just in case.
   
7. the best time i've ever had on a vacation was with my very liberal friend, mary.  yep.  we went to seven countries in 23 days and took only two suitcases and my laptop between us.  we started and ended in london for two and three days respectively.  in between we went to the czech republic, austria, hungary, slovakia, poland and germany.
   
   we slept in [what amounted to] a flophouse in budapest, we got lost in poland and didn't make it to our hotel and slept in a just-being-built sub-division (yes they have those there, too) just south-east of krakow (we learned later we were 7km from our hotel) in our skoda.  everywhere else we slept in hilton's or equivalent and that was almost boring after hungary and poland.
   
   we consumed fresh produce in slovakia and hungary until we were nearly ill.  we ate more sausages than 10 men would have eaten in poland and germany and i'm pretty certain we never said no to a pastry that we passed.  and we walked.  and we met people and argued and debated and had the grandest of times.
   
   i expected that i must have gained at least 10 pounds - even though none of my clothes were any tighter, i was convinced.  when we got back to kc, i stepped on the scale only to discover i'd lost seven pounds.  that in and of itself was a reason to LOVE that trip.
   
8. i once competed in a contest for 'miss democrat of charles county maryland'.  i don't think my father has ever truly been ashamed to claim as his except for that contest.  i swear to you that my granddad, a few of my cousins and an uncle called to wish me ill luck and tell me how stupid i was.  but, hey, what did i know?  at the time i thought liberalism was a good idea.  then i grew up.

i am certain, that like z, the minute I publish this, 12-zillion other better ideas for this post will come to mind.  oh well.  i always think of the BEST comeback three hours after the argument is over.  i hope you have enjoyed this little bit of insight as much as i've enjoyed writing it.

z tagged Susannah, Bloviating Zeppelin and me.  i'm looking forward to their posts, because i KNOW they will be incredibly interesting.

if i could have a drum roll, please... i am officially tagging the duo of defiant infidel and miradena(together known as the defiant infidels), papa frank, donald from american power and jungle mom from the jungle hut.  i know that anything any of these put up will be far more interesting than anything i've just written.

Comments

[Z]

WHAT fun to read, Heidianne!
"flying rats" just slayed me! You must be a BIG Tippi Hedrin fan (heh!)
NEVER HAD A PHILLY CHEESE STEAK and have always wanted one! That sounded SO GOOD! I hate to admit to never having read Catch 22, either. Isn't that the one with Yossarian the Armenian in it? WHERE have I been? I might get that book and read it.
I really loved this..thanks so much! Great job!
flying rats...heh!

[elmers brother]

I like the Catch-22 movie.

I love what you said about your father. I hope someday my girls will feel the same way. Athough I've admitted many times to them that I'm less than perfect.

[heidiannej]

think about it, z. they carry disease. they eat whatever they can find. and the leave filth and mess wherever they go. sheesh.

i'll bring you a copy of catch 22 tomorrow. yes, this is the one with yossarian the armenian. and major major and a whole slew of others. well worth the read.

and i cannot understand HOW tippi hedrin did NOT commit suicide in making that movie. i certainly would have done.

[heidiannej]

elbro - the movie? really? oh the movie was OK, but it SO cannot compare to the book. read the book, man!

as to daddy, i know he's not perfect, but he's a perfect father for me...

[the merry widow]

Tippi Hedron also did some movie with about 20 lions in the house!

I still say you must have seen, "The Birds" at too young an age!

I read, "Catch 22", umpteen years ago...it struck me as kind of sad and lost.

My Dad wasn't perfect either...#3 on mine...then when we went to Cali, I got used to the drive between Santa Cruz and San Jose and the 880! Zoo, zoom, zoom, zoom...

tmw

[FJ]

Catch-22. Phew! For I minute there, I was thinking Catcher in the Rye from the movie "Conspiracy"

[heidiannej]

bite your tongue, fj - pbthft - ewwww.

[Always On Watch]

I've never read Catch-22, though I've seen the film, of course.

As for Katie Scarlett O'Hara, she's one of my favorite characters: strong, invincible, and committed to survival. We could use a lot of Scarlett's today!

I loved what you did with this meme, Heidianne!

[FJ]

So... you're not really afraid of birds, you're more afraid of things that fly (roosters can't fly)?

[heidianne jackson]

aow, thanks - that's my view of kso'h, too. and believe it or not, it's a pretty good representation of my eldest daughter, too...

and as i said to elbro, the book is SO much better than the movie...

[heidianne jackson]

no, more birds than anything, but i classify bats in that same realm. and roosters can fly, fj, if they're of the free-range sort...

[FJ]

You need a pet parrot...

[ZZMike]

excellent blog!! it does seem a bit odd to be afraid of birds but not thunderstorms. but then, whatever works...

birds aren't "flying rats". only pigeons are. i'm convinced that pigeons are immortal. have you ever seen a dead one? or a pigeon chick? of course not.

yossarian lives!!

[G-Man]

It's not a "Philly" cheese steak unless you have it "wit whizz".

Here's another funny coincidence for you... I used to own a Skoda when I lived in Germany. It was the biggest piece of crap excuse for a car that I ever owned...

[miradena]

Heidianne- Apologies for the long lapse between commenting but I want to formally thank you for the tag! DI and I had a blast with our meme. I actually have a few meme items in common with you (although the bird thing is a real headshaker;) It must have made it hard for you to attend any Eagle's football games in Philly having to contend with that giant replica of a flying rat dancing the mummer's strut in the stands;)