Sunday, April 23, 2006

Spilling the Beans

I've been tagged by Meg to spill some secrets. Here they are!

1. I once had a spicy dream about a guy I thought was married and woke up feeling guilty about it. I found out the next day he was NOT married and we started dating and now he IS married -- to ME.

2. In theory I'm 5' 4", but in practice, I'm between 5' 7" and 5' 9", because I wear very tall shoes. I feel blunt without them.

3. I love Pride & Prejudice, and I also love the juicy literary 'sequals' like Mr Darcy Takes a Wife that imagine the Darcy's behind closed doors, if you know what I mean.

4. I'm not that into music. It just slides through my head unnoticed, and when I'm alone I choose silence. When I tell people this they look at me like I've just kicked their dog.

5. I was going to move in with a boyfriend once, and he waited until the U-haul was packed up to tell me he didn't think it was a good idea.

6. I went to Europe alone for 6 months when I was seventeen. I acted brave but I was scared and lonely a lot of the time, and I didn't really know how to feed myself so I subsisted mostly on cookies.

7. Once when I was about seven, something got me to wondering what I looked like with my eyes closed, so I went and stood in front of a mirror... and closed my eyes. I was immediatley embarrassed to have not understood the fundamental problem with this in advance, and blushed fiercely and never told anyone, until now.

8. In seventh grade I stole the teacher's edition from my math class and copied out the whole year's worth of homework overnight. This did not prepare me well for algebra the following year.

9. I'm so fatalistic about the future of the planet that I imagine our own children and grandchildren will have serious health complications and shortened life spans because of environmental degradation. Sometimes I find myself rooting for the planet to get even with humans, and then I remember I am human too.

10. I made an effort to believe in God when I was younger but had no success. I don't really have a belief "system," but I expect that more and more things will be explained by science as the years go by.

Tag yourself if you want to share your beans too!

27 comments:

Cate said...

What a wonderful, brave list!

I liked so many of them, but I must say that #9 resonated with me: I have an "unrealistic" fear of the popuation weighing down the Earth and causing it to become knocked out of its gravitational pull and go hurtling into space. Yes, I've Googled this and I don't think it's realistic, but it causes intense panic if I think about it too hard! Go figure!

I think that your #9 is probably much more realistic than my "hurtling through space" scenario. I find myself rooting for the planet, too!

P.S. I just want to hug you for admitting that your were scared in Europe! I would have been eating cookies (or Aero bars) alongside you!

andrea said...

1. You know what, I also dreamed about a guy once. I was sleeping on a floor in Marin County at the time. The dream was so vivid that I decided then and there to follow up on it when I returned to university in the fall, and now we're married, too. :)

4. Stop kicking my dog!

sara said...

Numbers 9 & 10 -- I totally relate to!
I sometimes root for nature or the planet to "get even" with humans, too. Sometimes, even, when I hear that some bullfighter has been killed a bull, or some hunter has been killed by a bear, I feel like "GO NATURE!" and then I, too, realize that I am human, and I feel a little conflicted, but not very.

I never even made much of an effort to believe in God. I think you have to do that when you're really young -- the older you get, the harder it is to suspend disbelief and not question how all of that could actually happen within the laws of gravity and physics and science and whatnot.

Amber said...

# 1. How cool is THAT? So cool.

# 8. LMAO. SO something I wish I would have thought to do!


:)

kelly rae said...

laini - we are so on the same page. i just posted exactly 10 silly things on my blog, only to come to yours and see that you have done the exact same thing! weird! love it.

Jim Di Bartolo said...

Once in my sophomore year in highschool history I got an opportunity to copy the answers (multiple choice) out of the teacher's edition to the next exam. I wrote down all of the answers: "A, C, E, D, B, A, B, etc." and memorized ONLY those answers and didn't bother to read those chapters or study AT ALL. Then on the morning of the test it dawned on me that I had no idea if the teacher actually used that text for the exams or not, and what a freaking idiot I'd look like to him if I missed like EVERY ONE of the questions. BUT, at that point I had no choice, took the test and got all but 2 right (I "missed" 2 on purpose). I had mostly never cheated before and I never cheated again because I figured I used up all of my good luck!

Thanks for dreaming about me hot stuff! :)

Love ya,
husband Jim

Susannah Conway said...

what wonderful beans! i have the reverse problem to no.2 - i'm 5ft 9" and when i wear heels i'm 6ft which either makes me feel tall and proud, or like a giant....

i also prefer silence to music. i bought an ipod, and i've used it... 3 times in a year :-)

i love no. 7. that is so so sweet, and as for your belief system, i think you express it in your work. you see the mysteries of life, and that, to me, says it all
Sx

Caroline said...

Wow what a great set of split beans!

I'm glad I'm not married to some of the guys I've had spicy dreams about - my subconsious has no taste... ;-)

And talking about taste those beans look yummy.

You were brave to travel for 6 months on your own - bravery without feeling fear is an illusion.

I'll think about some beans to spill...

Left-handed Trees... said...

I loved reading through these "beans"...and had never heard of #3--reading the link I have to say, that sounds like such a fun book. Making it to Europe alone at seventeen and then lasting for six months proves that you are, in fact, quite brave. How wonderful to get to read a few of your "secrets"!

Anonymous said...

This meme's been floating around for awhile, but I have to say that I think this is the best list of answers I've seen yet. I LOVE #1! And #4 made me laugh...I love music (especially LIVE music), but honestly I seldom listen to it anymore...and when I say that right after I say I live with a musician, I tend to get the kicked-dog look, too. And #9...I KNOW! Sometimes I think: Mother Nature needs to just kick us in the ass! And then it hits me...oh yeah, that wouldn't be good... :)

Fletcher of the Day said...

I can TOTALLY relate to #1. I have dreams about a married man ALL the time...but alas, he doesn't know I'm alive, he is devoted to his wife and entirely fictional...but I can still dream of his tumescent...;-0. Ohhhh Mr. Darcy!

Lori

Jamie said...

Your beans are as yummy as the picture! I'm imagine you young and alone eating cookies through Europe and know that though you were scared, you were brave.

kristen said...

This is a great list.

Colorsonmymind said...

What a yummy list and picture.

Each one was as sweet as a jelly bean.

Thanks for sharing

hollibobolli said...

I'm not looking at you like you kicked at dog, but as creative as you are.. I'm kind of surprised you don't love music!

I love these kinds of lists.

M said...

These are great! I especially love the one about seeing yourself with your eyes closed- too cute!
Thanks for sharing.

Rebekah said...

It is SO interesting to see the revelations of secrets people have kept for years - or forever. And here we are saying, "Uh huh, me too," to many of them. We're never as much alone as we think. Fun, fun list!

meghan said...

heh heh heh. I loved this list! You know what? When I went to England alone I lived largely on custard creams (they are cookies) and flapjacks (they are big oatmeal bars.) I like how this list showed how fiesty and honest and fierce you are. I liked it a lot!!

boho girl said...

these were fabulous beanies!

i didn't even know "Mr. Darcy takes a Wife" exhisted! i am so getting this book.

Powpourri said...

These are all fabulous! Glad it worked out with that married guy ;-)

The only one that really shocks me is your mention that you dont really get into music. I guess I just assumed most artists loved music, guess that is what happens when you assume!

Brandi

Deb R said...

re: #3, I have never read any of the P & P follow-up books and this makes me want to give them a try.

re: #4, I would almost never listen to the radio if it weren't for my husband enjoying it. I love movie musicals because the music is part of the story and I enjoy singing to myself (especially in the car) but 90% of the time when I'm alone I'll choose silence.

I loved reading your list! Fun pic too.

Anonymous said...

Haha, I love the story of the dream about your now husband. that's cute.

Kim G. said...

Great list! You have so many great life experiences - it was fun to read some more of them. I wonder if there was ever a kid in the universe who didn't try cheating at least once in their lives. I think that doing it once and experiencing the guilt and the fear of getting caught is sometimes what keeps us (well, most of us) from becoming chronic cheaters. Thanks for spilling the beans! :-)

Alex S said...

Being one of the most unflinchingly honest people I have ever known I am so surprised to know you were a childhood cheating lunatic! Who knew??? I struggle too with the environmental issues and the rotten legacy we are leaving for future generations. But wait! what are we worried about? Isn't Armagaddeon coming before that? Anyway, thats what they say on the 700 Club. Stop worrying so much!

Deirdre said...

Laini, I don't listen to music when I'm being creative either, although I do hum to myself while I'm making art. And it's always "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi. Housecleaning, on the other hand, requires loud music and open windows.

Caroline said...

I've spilt my beans now ;-)

Anonymous said...

I loved this little diddy. Anyone who takes pleasure in classic literature is a friend of mine. Good to know!