Seven Random Things About Me

Thursday, July 26, 2007

I'd like to think I'm fashionably late to the party, but I think I'm just... late. It's already been more than a month since Colleen at In the Garden Online tagged me for the Seven Random Things About Me meme. (That's eons ago in blogging time.) And then Beth at Morning Glories tagged me too.

The object of this meme is to tell seven random facts about oneself and relate them to one's blog. So here we go, seven random things.

#1. I grew a grapefruit tree from seed. Years ago, I was eating a piece of grapefruit in a cafeteria when I noticed a tiny root emerging from one of the seeds. I took that seed home with me and put it in a pot of soil. When I moved away from home, I left my little grapefruit tree in my dad's care. Many years later, dad still has that grapefruit tree, which now stands about twice as tall as me. It has never produced any fruit, but I think we both remain hopeful. I wish I could grow a citrus tree in my garden. I would choose a lemon tree over grapefruit, though, since I use a lot of lemons.

#2. I'd never seen a black squirrel before I moved to the District of Columbia . I often see black squirrels when I'm walking to and from my plot. Gray ones, too. Sometimes I'm afraid one of those squirrels is going to jump out of a tree and land on my head. Such an occurrence is highly unlikely, I realize, but it's because of this fear that I've never taken a photo of a black squirrel to post on my blog.

#3. I eat a lot of popcorn. (And I mean, a lot!) I cook popcorn on the stove top. I don't like microwave popcorn because it tastes (and smells) like chemicals. Two years ago I wanted to grow popcorn in my garden, but one of my (more experienced) gardening friends said, "Don't waste your time with corn. It'll suck all the nitrogen out of your soil, cast shade all over your plot (and the neighbor's), and in the end, you'll only get two ears of corn. And then a squirrel will come along and eat them!" Darn squirrels.

Does anyone want this packet of popcorn seeds I never planted?


#4. I used to hate cooking. Baking was always fun; I was especially fond of my family's Christmas-cookie-baking extravaganza. But whenever my mom tried to teach me the basics of cooking, I wanted nothing to do with it. Growing food in the garden has helped me learn to enjoy cooking. (There are other reasons, too, but the garden is one of them.) It is the greatest compliment when people write to me and say my blog makes them hungry. I love making people hungry with my blog!

#5. I've never had any formal training in photography. I still don't know what an f-stop is and I don't care. I'm learning photography the same way I'm learning about gardening and blogging (and cooking): lots of practice, trial and error.

#6. I played violin for two years and then quit because my teacher told me my pinkie is too short. She said the tip of one's left pinkie should be at least equal in length to the crease behind the second knuckle on the ring finger. My little finger doesn't measure up. It's too short to wrap comfortably around the neck of a violin. Fortunately, this doesn't hinder my ability to do gardening or blogging. In fact, all of the "a's" on this post were typed with said short pinkie.

(How many of you just looked at your pinkie?)

#7. My favorite herb is... whatever is growing well at the moment. Right now, I am very fond of tarragon. But if you pressed me to pick one herb I could not live without, I would choose garlic.

Now it's my turn to pass this meme to other bloggers. I'm tagging:

1. A Caribbean Garden
2. Windywillow
3. Purple Podded Peas
4. A Thinking Stomach
5. Columbus Foodie

12 Comments:

Blogger Silvia Hoefnagels . Salix Tree said...

oh my.. me?? I'll have to give it some thought.. for a few days...
;-)

7:58 AM  
Blogger ellipsisknits said...

my pinkie is also too short...

8:58 AM  
Blogger Tracey said...

You make me hungry, too!

9:10 AM  
Blogger Harmony said...

Of course I just looked at my pinkie! ;) It's also too short... My little sister played the violin for years and years (and is quite good -- not professional or anything), and she has tiny little fingers, too.

I majored in polymer chemistry in college, and seriously -- microwave popcorn *scares* me. Not only the horrible artificial flavors, but the loads of trans-fat they put into it and the PFC coating (similar to Teflon) they put onto the bag -- which is safe up to 350 F, and yet the popcorn bag gets *much* hotter. The PFCs stick around in your body for years, too. Blegh xP... The stovetop kind is all I ever eat, too.

9:12 AM  
Blogger Colleen Vanderlinden said...

LOL I looked at my pinkie. It's just barely long enough. I played the clarinet though, so it didn't matter :-)

Your blog does definitely make me hungry, and you photos always make me wish I had the eye that you do.

Thanks for answering :-)

2:23 PM  
Blogger Rosengeranium said...

I grew popcorn indoors in a container when I was about ten years old, used one unpopped corn from a popcorn spree in the family. The plant was about 30 cm high (1') and sprouted a tiny ear. Perhaps you should try indoors too. Use a big, plastic box and those popcorn seeds.

5:09 PM  
Blogger Marion in Savannah said...

How many of us looked at our pinkies?? EVERYONE, of course!!! I think mine's right on the cusp...

Please make sure to stay away from "butter flavored" microwave popcorn. Whatever chemical it is that they use to make it "buttery" seems to be a carcinogen, at least for the people in the factories who produce it.

For someone who purports not to be a good cook you've come up with some absolutely delicious-sounding recipes that have made me drool. Thanks!

9:14 PM  
Blogger Carol Michel said...

Your friend is right about corn. I grow a small (4 x 8) raised bed of it and only get a few ears, and it does suck all the nitrogen out of the soil. In the bed where the corn was last year, I now have peppers, and they are struggling, I think from low nitrogen.

Yes, I looked at my pinkie, I think it is okay for violin playing, but I played the trumpet, which doesn't require pinkies at all!

Carol at May Dreams Gardens

9:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for participating, Christa! I enjoyed reading your list. I got confused by the pinkie measurement task because I haven't finished my morning coffee and I'm not fully up to speed yet - but I'm a pianist so I guess it doesn't matter. I hope you found another instrument to enjoy playing music on!

6:30 AM  
Blogger Christina said...

Thanks for the tag. That's the third time I've been tagged, and I haven't done it yet, so now you've pushed me to the point to get it together and actually make it happen. Give me a few days and I'll get it done.

Have a happy Friday!

3:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Love your random facts, Christa, especially the violin one. I used to be quite good at the cello, but haven't touched it for 20 years. Ridiculous.
Can you really not grow corn? Modern cultivars grow much shorter than the old ones, and you solve the nitrogen problem by using tons of manure. We have squirrels, too, (and every other pest imaginable), but my corn is one of the few crops that isn't touched by them.

2:32 AM  
Blogger Alana said...

Short pinkie my eye! You should ask your shortest coworker about being told she was too short to play the upright bass. And then ask her about the 30th birthday gift she got from her husband (hint: it has to do with the bass) P.S. Don't tell Janice I said she was short.

8:54 PM  

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