Five Things I Don't Know If Anyone Knows About Me
Scavella has roped me into doing this (just you wait, little missy -- I'll get you back), so here goes.
1. I wrote my first poem "The Haunted House" (which no longer exists, I fear) in the 6th grade; that in turn led to my writing a "novel" (about 25 pages) about the same subject and became the first of a series of 4 "novels" I wrote about the same characters. They were as dreadful as one would expect, but they conviced me that it was both possible and pleasurable to put words down on paper and make them do what you wanted (well, ideally).
2. As an undergraduate, I was for all of 2 months a preministerial student preparing for seminary and life as a minister. You see, there was this girl . . . .
3. Also as an undergraduate, I -- totally devoid of physical eptitude, aptitude, and experience -- was a member of the soccer team. I was drafted by my roommate so there'd be enough players to form a team. We had a 1 & 5 season, and I spent my little time on the field actually on the field on my butt. But it did give me a fine appreciation for what it takes to play sports well, and I still enjoy watching soccer to this day.
4. For my 30th birthday, I gave myself (I was single at the time) a sportscar, a British Leyland Triumph Spitfire, the classic Forest Green with Tan interior. That was fun; I took to sneaking out at 3 a. m. onto the newly opened (and therefore lightly traveled) I-16 and zipping around at 100+ mph. And no, I did not wear one of those dinky flat caps and have a scarf streaming out behind me. But I did master the complex skill of lighting a cigarette with a Bic while doing 80 with the top down. One-handed.
5. I was the bride in a Womanless Wedding -- for charity, let me add. I was the only one who could fit into the bridal gown we had donated (a size 4), so there wasn't much choice (weighing only 103 lbs. had its advantages, or disadvantages, depending on your point of view). I also got to wear a gorgeous waist-length auburn wig; if anything could ever have made me seriously consider transvestitism as a lifetime hobby, it was that wig which was so thick and rich and luxuriant and sensuous and sensual and . . . .
1. I wrote my first poem "The Haunted House" (which no longer exists, I fear) in the 6th grade; that in turn led to my writing a "novel" (about 25 pages) about the same subject and became the first of a series of 4 "novels" I wrote about the same characters. They were as dreadful as one would expect, but they conviced me that it was both possible and pleasurable to put words down on paper and make them do what you wanted (well, ideally).
2. As an undergraduate, I was for all of 2 months a preministerial student preparing for seminary and life as a minister. You see, there was this girl . . . .
3. Also as an undergraduate, I -- totally devoid of physical eptitude, aptitude, and experience -- was a member of the soccer team. I was drafted by my roommate so there'd be enough players to form a team. We had a 1 & 5 season, and I spent my little time on the field actually on the field on my butt. But it did give me a fine appreciation for what it takes to play sports well, and I still enjoy watching soccer to this day.
4. For my 30th birthday, I gave myself (I was single at the time) a sportscar, a British Leyland Triumph Spitfire, the classic Forest Green with Tan interior. That was fun; I took to sneaking out at 3 a. m. onto the newly opened (and therefore lightly traveled) I-16 and zipping around at 100+ mph. And no, I did not wear one of those dinky flat caps and have a scarf streaming out behind me. But I did master the complex skill of lighting a cigarette with a Bic while doing 80 with the top down. One-handed.
5. I was the bride in a Womanless Wedding -- for charity, let me add. I was the only one who could fit into the bridal gown we had donated (a size 4), so there wasn't much choice (weighing only 103 lbs. had its advantages, or disadvantages, depending on your point of view). I also got to wear a gorgeous waist-length auburn wig; if anything could ever have made me seriously consider transvestitism as a lifetime hobby, it was that wig which was so thick and rich and luxuriant and sensuous and sensual and . . . .
posted by Hedgie at 8:37 AM
4 Comments:
When I was in my late teens, a friend of mine and I used to ride around in his green Spitfire with a tan gut. One day, it had just stopped raining and we put the top down. Gary got up to about 40 mph, looked into the rear view mirror as no more than a Maverick was coming up on us. Missing the yellow warning sign, he accelerated into a curve, and lost it. The car flipped over going about 50-60. He was dropped onto the road while the car was midflight on its way to landing on its top and becoming a twisted wreckage. I was flipped onto the embankment, slid down a large rock, up the next one, and down onto my back. Yes, I survived, and only with scratches. Him too.
That makes me want to get a wig and wear it. Yeah, I don't know why, either.
I started in sixth grade too..."The Wax Soldier of Soltitude." It was about a candle. I bet if I looked, I could find it.
Thanks for this.
Scott
www.poetry-is.blogspot.com
Wonderful nostalgia, Hedgie.
Each of the five brings to mind a similar or related experience of mine, which it is a pleasure to relive.
Literarily, my grade six was occupied with reading David Copperfield. It didn't inspire me to write anything.
That came MUCH later.
I did write a poem in college though; there was this girl, you see.
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