Wheat tagged me with the “8 Random Things” meme. I did this last spring when I was tagged on my critique group blog, so I’m going to have to dig deep so as not to repeat myself.

The rules of the meme are, more or less:

1. Blame it on someone (I blamed it on Wheat above)
2. Post the rules (you’re reading ’em!)
3. Make up, er, I mean list 8 random things about yourself
4. Tag someone else so the game continues–I’m changing this rule. The game says tag EIGHT people, but that’s HARD. As far as I know, there are no meme police, so I proposed, voted, and approved this change unilaterally.
5. Leave a comment on the tagged person’s blog so they know they’ve been tagged, and link to that person from here.

Roger Dodger.

8 Random Things About Me

1. I’m afraid of bees. One day in college, my friend Cathy insisted that I not freak out at the buzzing insect that was flying around us. She said that if I ignored it, it would go away. It actually landed on my leg (I was wearing shorts). Cathy told me to sit still and all would be well. I sat still. I didn’t even breathe. It stung me. Cathy thought that was very strange. I still love her, but I no longer take her advice on bees.

2. Never once has so much as a drop of coffee passed my lips. Coffee = Bleh!

3. I made chili yesterday.

4. I have never been to Maine, Vermont, or New Hampshire, but I look forward to getting there someday.

5. I petted an alligator. See?

6. Years ago, I read an article about puzzle-making in a children’s-writing newsletter. The article quoted an editor who offered advice on things to watch out for. She related 2 incidents when a puzzle she’d published turned out to have errors that readers caught. Both of the examples she gave were from my puzzles! The magazine had been publishing my puzzles for a number of years.

One of the errors was that I attributed a quote to Cinderella, and it was really from Snow White. It didn’t affect the puzzle solution, but the quote id was indeed wrong. I don’t remember what the other error was. I still have that newsletter somewhere.

7. My first car did not have a key ignition, but rather was started with a flathead screwdriver that I kept under the floor mat.

8. I have 7 different fabric glues on my desk right now.

And now I’m going to tag…drumroll…Allura. Since I’m tagging just one person, instead of 8, that’s some pressure.