Well, since I said I was going to start pushing myself and getting a little uncomfortable with this whole blogging thing…I spose I should start somewhere, right?  So, without further ado, aka: procrastinating, this is where my challenge begins.  There are only ten posts in the challenge…so, hopefully it won’t take me a year.  We’ll see though. 😉  (I use that winky face like that’s a joke.  Yeah.  It’s not really.  I’m seriously hoping I can get this done in less than a year.)

mel’s ten random, fun facts, about mel:  (I tried to dig up some really random things, btw.  We all know I love whiskey, and PBR, and Twizzlers, and cameras…but these things are a little more obscure.)

My first case of food poisoning came from the most incredible thing I had ever tasted.  An Arby’s, Roast Beef, sandwich.  I bet I was in Kindergarten when I tried one for the fist time and, immediately, I fell in love.  The sandwich was big though, and my little tummy just couldn’t handle it; so, instead of handing it over to my mom to dispose of properly when I couldn’t finish it all…I stashed it–secretly, so I could eat it whenever I wanted.  And, that I did.  I ate it for days until, one day, something went terribly wrong and I got very sick.  To this day, I check every expiration date and sniff everything before eating it.  You know.  Just in case.

I obsess on topics.  Like, just about seasonally, a new topic will grab me, pull me in, and make me almost crazy.  Currently, I am obsessing over feminism, femininity, male/female roles in society, and within the home, throughout recent history, how the instincts, and evolution, of our species play into it all, and what we’re doing, as a culture, to our future generations by changing everything up so much.  (Obviously, THIS curiosity was started while, drunkenly, having a nature documentary marathon–because why the hell else would I think about any of this?  It was watching Seals, in the wild, that triggered this current mind mess.)  My mind messes become my only topic of thought while falling asleep, showering, driving, etc.

When I was little, like four, I used to steal things.  I didn’t actually realize you needed money to get things–I just thought if you put them in your pocket, they were yours.  I had a treasure box I was creating, that I kept in my closet, with all my finds.  I, finally, got busted at K-Mart.  (I REALLY needed a map to find my destination, while traveling over the forests, in my hot air balloon.)  My parents made me go talk to the manager and apologize.  I remember feeling dumb because I really didn’t know–and I really needed that map.  I never stole anything again–except for that one time, at Claire’s, in high school, after getting in a huge fight with my mom.  I ended up bringing it back, on my own, that time.  Also, despite my hot air balloon plans, I’ve still never flown anywhere.  Never once.  I am, to this day, petrified of flying.  (I have an odd theory that, in a past life, I was a treasure hunter who traveled the world, looking for riches–I, ultimately, met my demise in an airplane.  When I was ‘reborn’ I knew I had to continue searching…but, a hot air balloon was the only way I would travel this time–I had learned.  To this day, I always carry a compass and an actual, physical, map of my surroundings.)  ((On a totally unrelated, yet semi-related note, I am thrilled to be going as Indiana Jones this Halloween.  I can’t wait.))  

I took three years of Spanish–yet I can’t remember more than one week of Spanish.  I also, constantly, forget what day it is, what way is left, or right, and where I put my coffee.  I do, however, remember what my 5th grade, best friend’s, purple, lunch box smelled like when she had let her sandwich rot in it over winter break and then, to cover up that smell, sprayed a TON of her mom’s perfume in it.  I also remember the time, in 2nd grade, that my jelly bracelet flung off my wrist, while clapping during Mass, and hit an elderly woman in the head.  I remember the Parrot, in the little pet store, that I used to go to in the late 80’s.  I remember my favorite beads, from a bracelet I made in high school.  I remember the disappointment I felt when I looked through a telescope for the first time and realized it was NOTHING like in the movies, and I remember the excitement I felt when I got a kitchen set, for Christmas, in 1984.  

I have never removed legwarmers from my wardrobe, and, I never will.  Viva la 1986!

I’m a ridiculously vivid dreamer.  Colors, scents, emotions, tiny details…it’s all there.  Last night, for example, I dreamt I was at my exes wedding.  It was being filmed, in NY, for a reality show on shabby chic wedding style.  (They got married in a yellowish field, full of flowers.  The lighting was beautiful.)  His bride, and him, were absolutely adorable–despite the fact that she was a bit high strung.  The tension that, in real life, is there between him, myself, and my husband was gone, and everyone was just there to party, and have fun, in their giant house–which was was super modern–lots of whites, blacks, and greys, and ridiculously hi-tech.  You could sit anywhere, and with the click of a remote, have a giant arm, suspended from the ceiling, bring you a drink.  They had a horse that lived in a stable, which was connected to the house; and, next to the stable was a storage area for their giant hamster ball, that you could run through their backyard with–which wasn’t actually a backyard, it was more of a nature preserve.  There was so much conversation, and laughter.  Hair colors, glasses types, body shapes, voices, personality, heights, touches–it was all there, and it all and felt the same.  This was one of my completely unrelated, yet super vivid, dreams of last night–and, one of many this week.  Sleeping can be exhausting when you’re me. 

I drive slow.  I don’t like to go above 60 mph, ever.  I just can’t think super fast sometimes, and driving super fast feels dangerous for folks like me.  (And, for everyone around me.)  Plus, I like scenery, when I drive super fast, I don’t get to see the scenery.  When we leave the cabin, in the summer, my sister always drives away first–she hates when she gets stuck behind me.  Needless to say, I prefer side streets, to highways, any day–and, will sometimes, take longer to get places, or go out of my way, just to avoid them.  (I have a GREAT road, right by me, that takes me directly into downtown Minneapolis–no highway driving involved.  Yup.  It takes a little extra time–but, driving by Betty Danger’s, and all the trains, makes it feel completely worth it.)

I love public speaking.  I remember doing it, for the first time, in church when I was 6, or 7.  I had won a drawing contest depicting the Nativity Scene (it was, seriously, my best drawing ever), and I got to go up in front of the entire congregation, and talk about it.  I remember being a little nervous…but, really–more excited.  My dad, on the other hand, was nervous enough for the both of us.  🙂

I’ve have had seven jobs, in twenty years.  I have worked many of them simultaneously, and still find myself going back to some of them.  I’ve worked…as a parade mascot (the hottest, and huggiest, job ever) // at a tiny Chinese food restaurant (where I learned that I couldn’t pass a citizenship test, while helping a co-worker study for his) // as a Kitchen Manager in a daycare (from MN food regulations, to making Tater Tot Hot Dish for 150–I learned it here) // as a Waitress (I learned how to smoke super quickly, conceal alcohol during a shift, pull all-nighters, party at 7am, dress for ‘success’, and lie about why food is actually taking so long–along with many other things that I’d rather not discuss about in a public forum 😉 ) // at a Children’s Museum (which sounds like a treat–except, I had a cube, commuted an hour each way, had to pay for parking, made less than I did while waitressing and still had to deal with customer service and support…my daughter, however, had a MAGICAL place to grow up playing at 🙂 ) // as a traveling Art Teacher (combining art, kids, messiness, creativity, and public speaking–the most fulfilling job ever 🙂 ) // as a Preschool teacher (the cutest job ever 🙂 –I’m not a big fan of day cares in my own, parenting, life–so, to get to go make those little ones feel like they were ‘home’, as much as I could, was the best–having to work to potty train a room full of ‘accidents waiting to happen’…well, that wasn’t really the best) // and, as a Photographer/Social Media Manager/Blogger (which is, where I’m at now–though my photography has been evolving since my first days of waitressing, and has been a part of most of my jobs).

I tend to talk to much when I’m uncomfortable–which is almost always.  And, as usual, this is the part where I realize I’ve been talking too much…so, I’m just going to spew some of the things that make me, as a person,  the happiest and be done…corded telephones, Mr. Rogers, Star Trek, broken in Chuck Taylor’s, tater tots, black coffee, November, Pee Wee Herman, sprinkles, cherry pie, fruity lip gloss, the smell of new crayons, Star Trek TOS, dinosaurs, and typewriters.  

Next up…I’ll show you all my daily routine, which is nothing special–so, don’t get too excited.  It’ll be a photo-heavy blog, so that’s nice for me.