Double Tag

I'm posting this depressingly overworked bit of pastel because this is an art blog and I feel obligated to post a picture. Don't worry, I'm working on it. Newbies take heart! A new medium is TOUGH!!!

WHY I POSTED -- because I got tagged. Double tagged, actually, by Janey and by Jan, both wonderful art bloggers!

So, the tag is to tell 7 little known or odd facts about yourself (as I recall), and then tag 7 other bloggers to do the same. Since I don't very often say things like, "bah, humbug," and because I like games and never get to play them because SOMEBODY else around here does not ... somebody who shall go unnamed but who I married anyway... since I think this is really kind of fun, I'm going to play along.
;-) If I tag you, I hope you play along, too! (hmmm... now I have to think of seven interesting things...)

1) I once spent a week alone camping along the Gulf coast of Texas on up into the Louisiana coast, with no itinerary other than starting out in Port Aransas searching out whooping cranes. I wonder if it looked to some people like I kind of ran away from home, since I left my husband and daughter behind (although I called every single day -- and this was before cell phones.) It was one of the greatest trips of my life, and I'm really glad I adventured solo! Everybody should do that once in their life. (I was also very glad to get home!)

2) I'm addicted to Sudoku. I tried not to get addicted, but it happened. I even have a small Sudoku book stashed in the back seat of my car , just in case. I'm also addicted to books on tape...

3) Speaking of addictions, I smoked for about 33 years and quit a little over a year ago. (Specifically, 1 year, 3 months, 12 days, and about 3 hours ago...) I still have a half pack of cigarettes in my drawer, and will keep them. I'm allowed to start back anytime I want, but I have to start with THOSE. (They are pretty nasty by now, wouldn't you imagine?) I truly believe I will never smoke another cigarette again.

4) I've been the bride more times than I've been the bridesmaid -- that sounds really tacky, but I've only been a bridesmaid once (about 20 years ago), and I still have the blue dress with the big bow on the butt. Seems like I have one of the other bridesmaid's dresses, too. Up until a little over a year ago I could still fit into my dress. Now I can't. (see item #3)

5) So, Jan's afraid of grasshoppers; Janey loves grasshoppers, but doesn't care at all for ants... along the same line of conversation, I'm 100 percent terrified -- horrified -- mortified -- phobic!!!! --- about slugs. I shudder to type the vile word! YUK! I am, however, not at all afraid of snakes.

6) So, here I am not afraid of snakes, yet I'm the only person I know who's been bit by a snake not once, not twice, but three times. All three times the snakes were in the right, I was in the wrong, and they were just looking out for themselves! Fortunately none of the three were poisonous, or snakes might have moved down on my list of tolerable animals.

7) I'm blind in one eye. (Stick with me here -- there's a moral to the story) It happened suddenly some 18 or 19 years ago. I noticed a small grey fuzzy bit in my vision that didn't go away. That afternoon I went to a walk in clinic, thinking that maybe my contact lens had scratched my eye, and the doctor prescribed neosporin ointment to put in my eye, even though he didn't see any kind of scratch. This was on Friday. By Sunday morning I had NO vision in my eye -- total darkness -- and went into the hospital where I was diagnosed by an ophthalmologist with acute retinal necrosis (the retina just started dying -- they never found a reason!) With treatment, the necrosis stopped, and in time reversed. For a bit there I didn't have any color vision in that eye -- everything was really and truly black and white. Then one afternoon I caught a flash of something from that side, and turned to realize that I could see the color orange in a bowl of fruit on the table -- it looked like someone had colored over a black and white photo -- cool, huh! Eventually I got most of my vision back, but several years later some of the scar tissue began to contract and pull up and cause problems again. I ended up having to have laser surgery, which basically wiped out my central vision. Now, if I look straight at you with that eye, I'll see your shoulders and maybe your hair, but not your face. I have terrible depth perception in certain ranges, but since I'm fortunate enough to have peripheral vision so I'm good to go with distances. Still -- the moral of the story is -- TAKE CARE OF YOUR EYES! Don't trust them to anyone other than an eye doctor! Don't fiddle around and be afraid to have any change of vision checked -- if your vision changes, you need to consider it AN EMERGENCY!!! If I had gone to an eye doctor the day I first noticed the problem, I would have been treated so quickly that the whole incident would probably have been forgotten by now. Trust me.

Now -- let's think of who to tag next ... some are well known to EDM'ers (this meme is going around EDM pretty fast) but some may be new to you. If they are, stop by and say hello!

1) Diahn , mi amiga, who puts up with me in person on occasion, and who also happens to be an awesome artist! I went to her house the other day and was stunned to finally see her original paintings in person ... wow! (She's also one heck of a decorator.)

2) Lynne ,whose gorgeous pastel work just blows me away. I go look at her stuff regularly, and look at it REALLY closely so I can try to see how she does it! Lynne is Wally's sister, and I'd bet she could come up with seven very interesting things to say, if she decides to play!

3) Joey, who not only knows what the word quotidian means, but actually POSTS daily. I love visiting his blog!

4) Bonny, who has travelled a lot lately and told us a lot about it. I wonder if she can come up with seven odd things she's seen or done in her travels??? ;-D

5) Annie, who was one of my earliest visitors and is always supportive. She is a great photographer and writer!

6) and 7) good grief. I think everybody who might have time to play has already been hit. If you haven't yet, stick your name in here and get writing! :-D