sounds like something you do to an old freight car stuck in an alley. Elise tagged me and so I shall respond. Rules & 8 things about me below the fold…but I’m not sure I can come up with 8 people who have blogs and that I could tag (like, I could tag dooce, but who am I? and Geekologie? I don’t think they’re just one person). I would tag John (of MoF) and his beautiful wife (who was also tagged by Elise); John W. (also already tagged); Bored in Vernal; nee; and Elaine; in no particular order. A very incestuous list and that’s only 5, so I’ve broken the chain, but I think I can live with that. I’d also feel like an ass randomly commenting on a recent post of theirs about the tag, so maybe I’ll just send them emails so they know. Ready to learn 8 things about me?

The Rules: “Each person posts the rules before their list, then they list 8 things about themselves. At the end of the post, that person tags and links to 8 other people and then visits those peoples’ sites and comments letting them know that they have been tagged, and to come read the post, so they know what they have to do.”

Blogging Most of the others start with this, so I will, too. I started blogging when my friends & I bought a domain name ending in “dojo”. We had a Sensei and some other Japanese words, so I chose Miko. My part of the site included a jinja and zen garden. I occasionally blogged like a journal but mostly reviewed movies, books, games, and posted recipes. I’d never been successful with a journal (although my first password was for a diary on my IIGS and it was the only word that I could remember & spell that wasn’t my name, I know that much about passwords: o-r-e-o; I never put much in there, but it felt good to have a “secret” place…I was…8?), but I really did get into blogging. I was still using the online-persona of “Miko” when I found MoF and an outlet for my new addiction.

Upbringing Y’all know I was raised Catholic, but that’s only half the story. I was born in Germany and left at 5. Went back for high school. Grade school was all Catholic and I had no idea that non-Catholics really existed except as sort of a nebulous “other” until I moved back to Germany. I feel like my personality was formed there and I often feel like an outsider at “American” things because of it. I think it can be a good thing, although it’s gotten me into trouble at times, since I don’t always know the right expression for something (”middle school” for instance has taken me these last 8 years of knowing my husband to figure out).

I’m also both the youngest of 6 and an only child, since my sisters are so much older than I am that most of them were gone from the house by the time I can really remember them. I have vague memories of everyone living together, but for the most part, I got my parents all to myself for the greater part of my upbringing. This often has the effect of my sisters being about a generation apart from me (my first nephew (I wish English had a word for niece-or-nephew) was born when I was 12), in terms of how we think & what we grew up with.

Spiders Are my favorite animal. When I was a kid, my imaginary friends (maybe I shouldn’t be telling you this…) were a swarm of spiders. There were a few distinct personalities, but they didn’t have their own names, and I referred to them collectively (when telling my parents what they thought of certain things) as “my spider friends”. I don’t know what my parents must’ve thought. I still like spiders and keep various spider-shaped objects around. I think they kinda weird my husband out but he generally doesn’t say much about them.

Tattoos I have a tattoo of a yin yang on my lower back. I was going to get it on my ankle but changed my mind at the last instant. I’m very glad I did because it’s much easier to hide, if necessary. When I decided that’s what I wanted (which was 5 years before I got it, I followed the rules), it was because I thought it was cool-looking, but the longer I have it, the more I like the placement (just opposite my hara) and the symbol itself. As discussed previously, I’m partial to the notion of two sides of a coin.

I’d like to get another one, on my foot, of a spider (see above).

Baking I occasionally talk about sewing, and I do a significant amount of it, but I also bake. My husband does most of the cooking, but I deal in breaded goods. Which is to say, of a morning, I will mix the batter & he will make the pancakes (I would just burn them). A favorite kitchen item is a set of silicone baking cups, which I fill with muffin batter, freeze, and then place on a tray in the toaster before hopping in the shower. When I emerge: freshly baked muffins for two! I’m all about the short cuts. I voraciously read Cook’s Illustrated, an ongoing Christmas gift from my step-father-in-law, and just discovered a new way of making scones (one of my favorite baked goods), but have yet to combine it with my favorite recipe for same to create My Special Scones. I’m renowned for my pumpkin pies & the other pumpkin-flavored goods I make (the secret is the spice).

Expensive Habits Besides Apple computers and their ancillary goods & services, I have a taste for the hard-on-the-pocketbook activities. Including skiing, although I just discovered golf, arguably the two most expensive sports one could come up with. I enjoy a good fountain pen and am the proud owner of an astonishing number, including some old, some rare, and some simply obscenely expensive (but my favorites are fun: the fountain pen that’s a ballpoint, the lipstick that’s a fountain pen, and the itty bitty ones). Some how, for the most part, I’ve managed to get people to give them to me, so I’ve only bought about half my collection. But of course, I can’t write on just any paper with these pens, which fosters a habit for expensive papers. My tea habit is the one that I’m currently justifying spending unconscionable amounts of money on (especially since I currently am unemployed): I frequent Teavana, which sells single-servings of tea around the same price as Starbucks sells coffee, but also sells it loose, and will provide you with utensils you never knew you needed. When I think about it concretely, I feel very guilty, but I’m not the kind of person who buys a lot of shoes and I don’t wear any makeup…ever (which I suppose I could count as A Thing About Me, but I won’t), which is how I justify it. I also, when I had a job, contributed to my local NPR station, supported my aunts in the Race For The Cure, and gave to United Way (both in LA and in Germany). Which still may not justify my habits (does buying organic or fair trade count as an expensive habit? I would say yes, but not in the same way as buying Mont Blancs does), but at least I’m not just being a stupid First Worlder.

Apple That I’m a voluntary whore for Paulaner cats on the planet, I don’t really like cats. I like dogs. And it’s my not-so-secret dream that someday, when I grow up, I will have a house with a yard! And in that yard, I will grow things and let my dog run free! And maybe I’ll take it jogging of a morning, or biking, or really just everywhere I go. I’ll leave it up to DH, though, to pick out, since I picked out cats I could live with. I can live with just about any dog.