just in case you're not a fb friend

I've succumbed to the "25 things" meme that's traveling around FaceBook like a virus. Here is my take --

[you're supposed to paste this preamble into the beginning of the note]
Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I have a hard time following directions. Hence, in this note, I've tagged one person -- the person who tagged me, and no one else. So sue me.

2. For a living, I write instructions that I expect other people to follow. I'm off duty right now.

3. I've never wanted to bear or raise children of my own. I tremendously admire others who choose to do so.

4. I was bat mitzvahed but didn't have to learn much Hebrew (those modern takes on religion - feh).

5. One of the few Hebrew words I remember is shekkit, which means shut up. This came in handy one night in the countryside in Ecuador.

6. In addition to Jewish Sunday school, I've attended Unitarian Sunday school and an Episcopalean high school.

7. A friend would consider me a savage, at least on most days, but hopefully a sweet one. He'll probably be deeply disappointed to read this about me.

8. I was once nearly arrested driving across Michigan's UP (upper peninsula). After being followed for miles by a cruiser until I was convinced he'd lost interest, he finally turned on his blue lights. We were immediately blocked from leaving the parking lot where we'd pulled over and suddenly men were rushing at us with guns. No, I didn't notice they were in the safety position. They took one look at our licenses, apologized profusely and explained that we were not the felons they were looking for. I made my friend take over driving after that -- I was shaking too hard.

9. Later, in New Jersey, I was nearly arrested with the same friend who was arrested that time. Suddenly, our car was surrounded by state cops -- where did they come from? When the car was released before my friend, he had to explain how to start it (something to do with fiddling with the carburetor) with his hands cuffed behind his back. My mother's lawyer finally wired us the bail money.

10. I love going to Cape Cod in the winter. I have friends who go the same weekend each year and we stay in the same B&B together. We hardly ever see each other during the rest of the year.

11. A friend who has a zuni bear tattoo has inspired me to get a zuni cat tattoo, or at least to talk about it a lot.

12. I've always loved cats, even though no one else in my mother's family much likes them. I seem to have gotten it from my father's side. My brother's daughter loves cats too, and I feel very proud of any small contribution I've made to that aspect of her personality.

13. One of my current cats came to us so frightened that we named her for the Hawaiian word for courage -- Koa. Think about it -- how many girls' names mean "courage"? How many boys'?

14. I swim a mile twice a week. Lately, I've been trying to extend one of my weekly swims. Yesterday, I covered one-and-a-third miles. Nice accomplishment given that when I first started, I couldn't do the crawl across one pool length without feeling hopelessly out of breath.

15. My husband and I have separate phone numbers. His parents and his ex-partner are the only people who knowingly call the right number to speak to one of us. (not that it really matters -- we both answer both phones.)

16. In the summer, we belong to a CSA (community supported agriculture farm). I lug home vegetables and cook like a demon. I think I've become a better cook as a result of getting in so much practice.

17. I have many friends who've left the priesthood for a variety of reasons (the tipping point for one friend was that he finally met the man of his dreams). I have one friend who left, then recently went back. I deeply admire all these choices -- bold and conscious.

18. I used to hang out with a bunch of lesbian former nuns. I always felt like they had left the church, but somehow the church hadn't left them. It was the only social group I've ever been part of that held religious ceremonies (but not from a "standard" religion) as part of their get-togethers.

19. I love talking to and supporting people who are in the midst of making huge changes in their life -- be it around work, spiritual life, or living situation.

20. Most of my truly profound life experiences have involved helping friends die. It's not the most fun that can be had, but the experiences have left me profoundly humbled and grateful.

21. I was haunted by nightmares for years until I trained myself to have them again with different outcomes. I now rarely have a scary dream.

22. I try to eat chocolate every day, even if it's just a small amount. Definitely one of the minimum daily requirements.

23. One of my favorite forms of artistic expression is making dance camp buttons. They're name tags put through a button machine. We each make our own, often out of collages or clever excerpts of pictures from magazines. I have a fairly large collection and I love picking out just the right one to go with my outfit or to honor one friend or another.

24. When I first moved to this area, I decided to take courses in subjects I could never have studied at college. My first course was in car repair. Although I don't understand modern computerized cars, at one point, I had a fairly good understanding of how a car worked and could do a lot of the work myself.

25. For a short while, I earned a minuscule living making costumes for the Boston Ballet.

26. Did I say I can't follow instructions?