Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Tagged, My Top Ten


Okay, only for you, Joyce.

My lovely friend, Joyce, has tagged me with this meme. You describe 10 "weird or different experiences in your blog," and then must tag 10 of your friends to do the same. Here are mine:
1) I have a serious dump truck fetish. I blame my grandfather for buying me a shiny metal one when I was two. My dad recently built me a wooden one by hand (see picture). I also paid a lot of money for a B&W photo of a dump truck by a NY photographer. Strangely enough, there is also one that's been parked on a hill behind my house for a few months now which the sun rises behind every morning, and I take as a small gift from the universe.

2) I have experienced that invisible web that connects us all. When I was seventeen I had a terrible dream that my mother's cousin, who lived in a different state (we'll call him John) had kidnapped me and assaulted me in an abandoned coal mine. It was so vivid that I wouldn't even go back to my room. The funny part about this was, I had never even met "John." I just knew instinctively it was him. A few weeks later, my grandmother sent us news that John had been arrested for this crime. It even took place in an abandoned coal mine.

3) I have experienced the full fury of nature. Its name was Hurricane Andrew. I was living in Ft. Lauderdale, and when the winds were gusting at 175 miles per hour, I thought I would also die there. Some beauty did come out if it as the aviary at the Miami Zoo was destroyed and we had gorgeous tropical birds landing in our yard for weeks afterward.

4) Growing up in Florida, I have stepped on both a pygmy rattlesnake and a sand shark.

5) Three years ago, I took a belly dancing class and was hooked. It is now my favorite form of exercise.

6) Six years ago I became a vegetarian because of a disturbing dream I had in which I bit a lamb. Yes, bit. Hard. Drew blood. I know, it's a weird thing to change your lifestyle because of a dream but it was irrevocably etched into my psyche. I can still hear the poor thing scream.

7) A bit of irony. I have lived and driven in four different states but have received my only speeding ticket in the state that I was born in (Pa.) while driving through cross country.

8) From my senior year Algebra class window, I watched the space shuttle Challenger launch and then explode. It was a shocking event. Not only for the live's lost but for the loss of innocence and the lesson in life's unfairness and mortality, even when things are planned so carefully. You are never in control, never safe.

9) When I was twenty five I got to visit Denmark. It was seriously one of the highlights of my life. The people were incredibly warm, real and fascinating. I loved it so much I wanted a reminder of my trip that was more than a souvenir I would plop on a shelf. So, before getting on the plane to come back home I found a small tattoo parlor in Copenhagen and had my belly button pierced, (the commitment of a tattoo is too much for me) not thinking about the many hours sitting upright on a plane I would have to endure with a throbbing belly. My souvenir is now a tiny scar.

10) In an eleventh grade creative writing class, we had to write a true story about something that affected our lives greatly and the teacher sent them in to a contest for a magazine that would be distributed to all the Florida high schools. I wrote a story about one of my parent's friends, an older gentleman that used to bring me butterscotch candy, and how his passing affected me. Although it was supposed to be a true story, I made this one up and so was shocked when my story was picked. Even more so when an office worker brought me a box a few weeks later filled with letters from high school students saying how touched they were by my story and how it helped them understand a loss of their own. That's when I experienced the power of fiction writing and fell in love.

On that note, I swear I didn't make any of these up. :-)

I know it's summer and you all are busy, so I'm not going to force you to participate. BUT, it's fun...so if you read this just DO IT. GET NAKED.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am ONLY replying to this because the words "get naked" were mentioned by a woman and I miss them! HA! LOL Do NOT think to pick me, you dump truck freak, I just wanted to reply to let you know I'd visited! ;-p

Hope you're doing well, and writing that way, too!

Shawn said...

Gary's funny. : )

You dump truck, freak ... lol.

OK, these are all cool. I love that you are revealing ... I am not sure. These make me nervous. I'm already days late in one of those 8 things about me memes Mama Zen tagged me for. Oy.

Your dreams scare me.

Nonetheless, I've read ... now I must get naked. DH would LOVE that.

Shannon said...

Ummm, Gary...you DID read this sooooo I think you should participate!
he he...you are such a good sport, Shawn!

Anonymous said...

Shannon, I enjoyed a lot reading about your weird or unique experiences. I feel that I know you more now.
It's interesting to know about your dump truck fetishism, your travel to Denmark, your belly piercing, your belly dancing and your talent at writing stories at an early age.
According to the dream that you had about your mother's cousin you seem to be very psychic.
I can identify somehow with that. When my grandfather died some years ago in another country and I was alone sleeping at my mother's house, I was awaken by a snore that made me think of his particular snore. I got so afraid by this unnatural phenomenon that I packed my stuff and drove to sleep in my student's room instead which at the time was in another town. I found out later that he died on that particular night. I take it that he was sending me a last greeting and I'm thankful for that.
You've had some strong experiences with the hurricane and the shuttle Challenger. True as you say that one is never in control. One never knows what can happen.

Thanks for sharing all that. It's a great write!

Hope you're having some great days!
Cheers
Joyce.

Shannon said...

Thanks for the fun, Joyce! My mother had a similar experience with her father when he died, she smelled his cologne.
Have a great weekend!

B.E. Sanderson said...

Dang girl. That was harder than I thought it was going to be.

Anyway, it's done. Feel free to drop on by.

Anonymous said...

Okay, I'll bite...but only because you did this so well! I was searching for my next blog post topic anyway...so thanks!

bella said...

Shannon,

This is fun and interesting and oddly provocative. Thinking I'll have to write a list of my own once home and resettled.

I was so struck by your dream. It was quite haunting. I have often thought that many if not most people have an intuition and sense to things and yet the listening and trust is never developed. Did you know that no animals were killed in the Tsunamia because in the days before it hit, they felt the subtlest of vibrations in their paws, their bodies, and got inland? Perhaps we humans have this ability too, to sense and feel and intuit and know. Your dream speaks to this. Powerful stuff.