Quirky Me.

Ellie tagged me to tell the world six quirky things about myself! I asked Matt to tell me what my quirkiest quirks are (I wanted this to be REALLY juicy!). He laughed and said, "Everything about you is quirky! I love it!" Everything? "Yes! Everything!" Wow. That's a lot of quirkiness. Hehe. Matt only offered one example, though—I'll put it first.

1. I have a driving hunger—a need!—for drama! Not just drama, but melodrama! And tragedy. Melodramatic tragedy. YES!! The more tragic the better. I'll shudder and shudder with the biggest grin on my face (it's probably pretty silly looking, but I can't help it!) if a book or story or play ends this way. I first recognized this aspect of myself while learning about mythology in 4th or 5th grade. I loved—I can't SAY how much I adored!!!—the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Just before they're to be married, the very day!, Eurydice is bitten by a snake and DIES. Orpheus can't accept it, so he valiantly works (with the help of his amazing lyre skills :)) to cross every impossible barrier between the world of the living and the underworld and fetch her back—the first mortal ever (maybe the only?!) to successfully cross the river Styx and enter the land of THE DEAD. Creepy. Hades is so impressed that he makes a deal. Fine, I'll let you have Eurydice back. But you must leave the underworld without looking back at her. If you look back, she's here FOREVER. And thus begins a walk with the greatest potential for riveting melodrama of any story I can think of. Imagine the torture! He walks and sweats and walks and sweats, wrestling in his mind—is Hades just tricking me? He is Hades after all! I'll have come all this way for nothing! But what if she's really there? I can't look or she'll be gone! He makes his way back and, just as he's about to step into the mortal world again . . . (aahhghhahah! oOoohohsohoOOOH! Arrrrrghghahaaaaahhhh! What will he do? Oh the stress for poor Orpheus!) . . . he . . . TURNS AROUND AND LOOKS! And, YES! She was there all along!! She screams out "Orrrr-pheeeeee-uuuuuuus!!" as she vanishes (at least, that's how I picture it :)), sucked back to Hades forever! Oh, the beautiful horror! I never knew I could love a story so much. :) Years later I discovered that I love opera for the same reasons (plus the great music in the good ones). And guess what it turns out the very first opera was? Yep. Orpheus. I'm not alone! Hehe. (I especially love Puccini. When the curtain closes to the sounds of weeping...? Oooohh.... Yes.... With incredible music to make it all the better. Ever seen Moonstruck? Ha ha! GREAT movie! When they leave La Boheme and Cher says "she died!" and Nicolas Cage grins and says "yess..." with a sigh—that's ME!!) I also write in my journal in a way that it amuses me for the melodrama of it. My posterity is bound to have the ALL wrong impression. Oh well! I can't help but try to laugh while I pour my heart out. Hehe.

2. I say "thanks" differently from how everyone else says it. Or, at least, this is what I've been told. I only believe it because SO many people have mentioned it. You know that episode of Friends where Joey is trying to learn French from Phoebe...? He'll repeat her French with something like an earnest "poo-lee-poo-poo." And then Phoebe, astounded, tells him ok, that's not what she said. And Joey, equally astounded, says "Really?! They sound exactly the same to me." THAT'S how I feel about "thanks." I ask people to say it their way and then say it my way, and I swear! They are both exactly the same. Being so grossly in the minority about it, though, I'm willing to believe I'm wrong. I just don't understand how.... 

3. I have an utterly insatiable desire to doodle whenever I have paper in front of me. There's a major problem, though.... I don't know how to draw! At all! Every time I set my pencil on the paper to doodle, I briefly intend to...doodle.... But what comes out instead is my signature. Then I sign it again, while I continue to consider what I should draw. Then again and again...! And I never think of anything to draw besides maybe some circles and squiggly-lines that are ugly. They dissatisfy me so much that I turn the page to something fresh, and.... Sign my name some more. Hehe. When I'm bored with signing my own name, and reconciled to the reality that I'm not going to think of anything to draw, I start signing the names of my "future children." Ha ha! The greatest thing about all this is finding old notebooks—page after page of my name. And then, oh yes, years before Matt and I were even dating, maybe a few pages of "Auburn Williams." Hehe. I also quite enjoy seeing the kids' names I was signing a few years ago, or six years ago, or 10 years ago.... Hilarious! (It's fun, too, to see Seth Gabriel Williams all over a page years before he was born and think, wow, he really ended up existing! As to whether some of the others will exist.... Uh.... I don't think so. :))

4. I'm mortally afraid of sour milk. Once our milk is down to the last few cups in the carton, I can't bring myself to drink it unless someone tests it out first. Too scary. Or to be in someone else's house and drink their milk...? If I didn't see that it was just opened, I have a very difficult time using it. Good thing it usually turns out alright! Sour milk is traumatizing. Hehe.

5. I am a champion radio channel-surfer. I'm really very skilled at it! I am fundamentally opposed to listening to a dumb song when I don't need to—and with six or more pre-set stations, why would I ever need to? My skills were really put to the test in Denver where the radio stations (and especially the morning and afternoon shows!) were amateur and horrible—there were never, EVER two good songs in a row. And very rarely was there anything great playing anywhere on the radio. I know this because I'd scan through them all. Hehe. Anyway, I've heard at least a second or two of probably every song known to man. I listen until I'm not interested anymore, and then I look for something else. Songs that are country, sung by Neil Diamond, threaten to make my brain explode, or are Feliz Navidad or I'm Proud to be an American interest me so far left of zero that the moment of playing time they DO get is very regrettable to me. Sometimes, even a song I love will cease to interest me after it's halfway done, and so I'm on to something else. If you have a need to hear whole songs, never, EVER get in a car with me. I'll drive you insane!

6. I found out only a little while ago that I cut food in a funny way. Jordan, who was staring at my plate while I cut a steak, said "fascinating.... I've never seen anyone cut like that." And my parents, without even having to look, said "oh yeah! She's been doing that forever—it's so cute." So cute? I looked down to see what in the world they were talking about. Apparently it's not "normal" behavior to stab your food with the fork, then cut with the knife going between the fork prongs. Hehe. Who knew? It makes sense to me—a nice little barrier to keep you cutting nice and straight...! :) When I asked Matt later if he had noticed the way I cut things he said, "yeah, it's funny, you go through the fork!" I never knew people noticed how people cut their food (I obviously never watch other people cut things), and I definitely didn't know the way I did it was unique. :)

Well, I don't know how juicy that was. But hopefully now you know I'm even quirkier than you thought. I tag...BRIAN AND JANELLE (I don't even know that you have a blog, but now you have to! You've been tagged. :)), and Matt! Ha ha! I think I'm supposed to tag 6 people, but they're quirkier than you're average Joe, so I think they each count for two. :)