Octo-randium-factus

Yeah, so how do you like my Latin-ish title? Impressive, I know. (Warning: I am a professional writer and have experience making up words in various languages. Don't try this at home or in your Latin class.)

But I'm getting ahead of myself. As you know, we've all been tagged, and the first rule of the game is to post the rules of the game. Here they are:

Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blah-de-blog. (Okay, so you knew all that. I'm just trying to be a good, obedient child.)

Please secure all loose articles, and away we go!

1. When my mom was pregnant with me she drove straight into an oncoming tornado. (We won't discuss the intelligence of this move. Parental respect and all.) When she realized the tornado was not standing still in the road as it appeared to be, but was indeed moving toward her, she veered off into a parking lot just as all sorts of large debris fell on her car. She then experienced a huge adrenalin surge and hot flash. As you will see, this explains a lot.

2. I was born on my due date. However, when labor started, my mom ignored it, because "babies are never born on their due date." (Ahem. See above parenthetical note.) She barely made it to the hospital. Thankfully there were no tornadoes that day.

3. When I was a tiny infant in the crib, before I could say a single word, I could sing. Real notes and real melodies. It was a little freaky for my mom, but hey, she's the one who drove into the tornado.

4. As a child I almost never took naps, even as an infant, and I definitely couldn't go to sleep if a light was on. (A little overcharged maybe? Hot flash, anyone?)

5. When I was seven I set two goals I wanted to achieve before my next birthday: to ride a bike without training wheels and to whistle. I rode the bike. I still can't whistle.

6. Some time around high school I realized I could write perfect cursive backwards at regular speed.

7. I have an alter ego who is a popular speaker at various events. She thinks in iambic tetrameter. (I wonder if that's the meter of someone's heartbeat when they experience a major adrenalin surge?)

8. When I have to deal with annoying people, I write stories about them in my head. I find it makes me actually want to be around them longer--to see how the story turns out. Many of them wind up driving into tornadoes. (Just kidding, but it seemed like a good way to tie this all together.)

As for tagging eight more people by name, I'd much rather just get the octo-randium-factus from anyone reading this. Come on, gang. Let's hear it. I mean, what do you have to lose? You can't be weirder than me. (And I bet you can't beat my excuse, either.)