Writer Resource: Bank of Weirdness
I thought of this last night.
You know how they have those Random Facts About Me memes? I love them, but fun though they are, what good are they but to tell us oddities about each other? Occasionally we find connections--"Oh, I didn't know that so-and-so had a sixth toe--so do I!" (Not really.) But you know what I mean.
So I decided . . . what writers REALLY need is a "Bank of Weirdness," as in a databank of some sort that stores all the weird facts about each other we MIGHT one day need . . . when researching a book. Then Writer A would know, "Hey, Writer B once served time in Leavenworth, let me ask him about chow there."
So what I really want is for everyone who visits today . . . to list FIVE completely off-the-wall facts about themselves . . . that another writer might one day need to use in a book . . . some "resource"-oriented thing, some job, some something . . . that if another writer needed in a plot or character, he or she would know . . . "Ah ha! Email Writer Y because she once worked as a callgirl." If you feel like putting this meme on your own blog, yell, and I'll make note of it and mention it here tomorrow or Monday . . .
All right, I will go first, all in the name of the Bank of Weirdness.
1) I was once lost at sea in a dinghy, in the Bermuda Triangle. Yup. You're writing a book about being lost at sea, I'm your woman. Now, in fairness, I was lost for only 12 hours--but it was dark, and we did drift into the shipping lanes, and I was stung by jellyfish, and had swollen lips and bad sunburn. So email me should you need to know the sheer terror this brought about. Special aside . . . I was 12.
2) I have bred Australian shafttail finches, and pretty much, if you need to know about raising finches, doves, lovebirds, canaries, or cockatoos, just email me. What they eat, how many eggs they lay, etc.
3) I am mother to the world's naughtiest baby. If you need to know, for authenticity, what a two-year-old is capable of, you just let me know. I have stories.
4) I can tapdance. Twelve years of lessons. You have a dancer in your book, give me a yell. Shuffle, shuffle, ball change.
5) I have worked as a blackjack dealer. I know how to "wash" chips, put decks in the shoe, and do all those fancy things the dealers do with chips.
So there you go. You can play here, or play on your blog. Please . . . add to the Bank of Weirdness.
You know how they have those Random Facts About Me memes? I love them, but fun though they are, what good are they but to tell us oddities about each other? Occasionally we find connections--"Oh, I didn't know that so-and-so had a sixth toe--so do I!" (Not really.) But you know what I mean.
So I decided . . . what writers REALLY need is a "Bank of Weirdness," as in a databank of some sort that stores all the weird facts about each other we MIGHT one day need . . . when researching a book. Then Writer A would know, "Hey, Writer B once served time in Leavenworth, let me ask him about chow there."
So what I really want is for everyone who visits today . . . to list FIVE completely off-the-wall facts about themselves . . . that another writer might one day need to use in a book . . . some "resource"-oriented thing, some job, some something . . . that if another writer needed in a plot or character, he or she would know . . . "Ah ha! Email Writer Y because she once worked as a callgirl." If you feel like putting this meme on your own blog, yell, and I'll make note of it and mention it here tomorrow or Monday . . .
All right, I will go first, all in the name of the Bank of Weirdness.
1) I was once lost at sea in a dinghy, in the Bermuda Triangle. Yup. You're writing a book about being lost at sea, I'm your woman. Now, in fairness, I was lost for only 12 hours--but it was dark, and we did drift into the shipping lanes, and I was stung by jellyfish, and had swollen lips and bad sunburn. So email me should you need to know the sheer terror this brought about. Special aside . . . I was 12.
2) I have bred Australian shafttail finches, and pretty much, if you need to know about raising finches, doves, lovebirds, canaries, or cockatoos, just email me. What they eat, how many eggs they lay, etc.
3) I am mother to the world's naughtiest baby. If you need to know, for authenticity, what a two-year-old is capable of, you just let me know. I have stories.
4) I can tapdance. Twelve years of lessons. You have a dancer in your book, give me a yell. Shuffle, shuffle, ball change.
5) I have worked as a blackjack dealer. I know how to "wash" chips, put decks in the shoe, and do all those fancy things the dealers do with chips.
So there you go. You can play here, or play on your blog. Please . . . add to the Bank of Weirdness.
Labels: Bank of Weirdness
posted by Erica Orloff at 8:04 AM
41 Comments:
Oooh, Erica, that's SO tempting. Slap my wrist if I post today.
(No one would look for it because I'm still on hiatus.)
LOL! COME ON, TENA!!!!!!!!!!! Peer pressure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
E
1. I have a gemology diploma from the Gemological Institute of America and have been collecting gemstones for forty years. I have also worked in three jewelry stores. If you need to know something about gemstones, I'm your guy.
2. A federal grand jury once voted not to indict me for espionage. I was innocent but closely involved with guilty people. I know how spying really works, having seen it from the inside, and it ain't James Bond or John le Carre.
3. I've lived in Germany for 18 years. Ask me all you want about German culture.
4. I have a master's degree in cartography. I'll be happy to tell you where to go.
5. As an undergraduate math major I met the great Paul Erdös. I've been withholding the complete story from Erica, but will tell it on my blog next week if she says pretty please.
Five? That's all? Oh well, I'll save the rest for next time.
Steve:
Pretty, pretty please.
E
Steve:
With sugar on top.
E
Neat idea! I'll get to this later on my blog. :-)
Lost at sea? :0
What a very cool idea. I can probably contribute a buck or two to the bank of weirdness. Not sure I can be in for the full five. Hmm, have to think about this. =)
Stephen, if I say pretty, pretty please with sugar and sparkles and chocolate and whipped cream and cherries, will you tell me all about Story #2?
Erica, I don't have five things. :-(
I know classical music, piano, teaching, kids. Not much expertise except for music and maybe a little writing.
Lainey:
I fully expect you to come up with five things. GAS, for example. You know about gas.
;-)
E
spy:
When I saw his number 2, I knew you'd ask that. :-)
E
When I saw my number two I knew Spyscribbler would ask about it. I guess that means another blog post. But:
Erica, I don't have five things. :-(
Bullshit. Everybody has five things. Reach. Dig. Fess up. Or no espionage blog post for you.
I got a little long-winded...so I put my five..actually I went overboard and did six...over on my blog to save your space...
;)
Erica, the dingy story really got my attention. You really should give that puppy a full blog one day. I'm there! And you've just hit me on the head with...I'm so not an interesting person. LOL. Seriously, I write. Okay, anything to do with boating/fishing I'm your gal. I've been around it my whole life, and hubby is a partner in that type of business. If I don't know, he will. I water-ski, does that count? I know, pitiful. If I think of anything else, you'll be the first to know.
This post has been removed by the author.
Lost at sea and espionage...my five don't compare, but:
1. I performed as a professional ventriloquist and puppeteer. Any questions about talking to oneself without being considered MPD, just ask.
2. The country music industry has its seedy side--saw it, lived it, escaped from it, survived it.
3. Having survived a stalking incident, my crash course on navigating the so-called protection laws, might serve useful.
4. My job experience has included landfill research and nuclear site assessments. (In this case, reality is much scarier than I could have imagined.)
5. My husband is a gun, ammunition, hunting, and tracking expert. (I've learned that a great deal of gun and ammo information is depicted on TV and movies inaccurately ;-)
Kathy
Sh*t, Stephen. I want that espionage blogpost BADLY.
1) I know something of poker. I've only been in two tournaments (final-tabled, though!), and I love it. Except I'm not a gambler, so I don't like spending the money and I don't like table games much, because I just don't like the money factor that much. However, that's part of what I love about poker, because it says so much about a person. I also love the little bit of power play and reading people that comes with it. I think it's true that people live life the way they play poker, and vice versa. Although I'm not nearly as brave in real life. :-) And although I know the theory and the math of poker, teaching has taught me REALLY WELL how to spot a fib a mile away.
2) I forgot! I see dead people. Like, when they die, they stop by and say hi, before I know about it through traditional means (phone call, etc.). I can't see them with my eyes and I don't know WHO they are, but my soul can see them as vivid as anything. That's the only way I can explain it.
3) Piano, conservatory, performing, etc.
4) Teaching kids. Sometimes.
5) Ummm ... kink? I guess I know a lot about kinky sex. LOL.
Spy, how cool!!! Love to hear more. And forgot to tack on hunting with the fishing/boating thing. Hubby's shop has all the stuff too. LOL.
A Bank of Wierdness List? OK, here goes.
1) I lived in Italy for a decade and eventually got my Italian husband to follow me back to New Zealand. Ma-in-law was not and twenty years later is still not impressed.
2) I lived through the greatest Hurricane Fiji has ever seen. the roof of our house disappeared but I saw out the window complete buildings whizz away into the air.
3)I lived in the Fiji Islands for a year teaching on Volunteer Service Abroad - like the American Peace Corps.
4) Braved a cylcone on a small overloaded boat. The idiot captain didn't listen to the weather forecast. We started off in calm seas and ended up taking 16 hours to get to destination instead of three. Clinging to a small boat, drenched to the skin and beyond, unable to move in mountainous seas for 16 hours is mind altering.
5) I am telepathically connected to my son. Have had some weird, exceptionally accurate visions of what was happening to him at particular moments in time. Not just walking down the street stuff but him in freaky situations when he would be calling out to me in his mind.
By the way, Erica, I have commented late on your last post. As you will see, I have a lot to say about homeschooling.
1) I've been an RN for the past 11 years. I can tell you how easy it is to accidentally (or intentionally) kill a patient in the hospital.
2) For many years, I played drums in small-time rock bands. If you need some insight into that glamorous lifestyle, I can help.
3) I took a Greyhound bus from Kentucky to California one time. It was way more harrowing than, say, being lost at sea in a dinghy.
4) I was abducted by extra-terrestrial aliens. If you're interested, I have the hemorrhoids to prove it.
5) I can predict the future. For example, I can tell you--without a doubt--who is going to win American Idol this year.
COME ON, TENA!!!!!!!!!!! Peer pressure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, all right, Erica.
1. I'm in a twelve-step program for capsaicin addicts.
2. I know A LOT about astrology. I passed the Level One Certification test from the National Council for Geocosmic Research.
3. I have math phobia, which made it really hard to pass the above test in which I had to construct a horoscope from scratch using only a four-function calculator and logarithms, God help me.
4. I started ballet lessons when I was 29 years old and took classes well past the time most adults call it quits. (Someday you'll see evidence of my "talent" on my blog.)
5. My father was a writer wannabe. He wrote a book with a great title, HOW TO PUT UP WITH PEOPLE, INCLUDING YOURSELF. It was self-published and in my opinion, cried out for a good editor.
6. You didn't ask for six, did you? Well, here it is anyway.
Oh, I just can't. It's not nice to kiss and tell.
ladonna:
It is an interesting story. But at the time, I was terrified. Then it got to be kind of a fun adventure Except that I was hungry. And thirsty.
I still don't like boats.
E
Kathy:
I have yet to have a ventriloquist character. But never say never! ;-)
E
OK, Spy . . .
You said you didn't have five things.
But you see DEAD people? That's kind of a BIG thing. You know? ;-)
if I have someone who sees dead people (ENTIRELY possible in one of my books), I know who to call.
E
Suzanne:
All right--cyclones . . . you're my gal.
Neat stuff . . . .
E
Jude:
Hmm. You had me until #5. Now I doubt them all. ;-)
E
Tena:
OK, per your first post, I have to slap you on the wrist.
But I'm also very grateful you shared!!
Now come on . . . tell us #6.
;-)
E
Now come on . . . tell us #6.
Erica, as George W would say, It wouldn't be prudent. ;-)
I'm less weird than I thought or more dull. I can't think of anything daring that I've done or anything I'm an expert at. But I've enjoyed reading everyone else's adventures and skills. Especially Sky's talking to dead people.
You know what we really need to do?
Create one of those free forums and everybody can link to it from their blogs. Call it the bank of weirdness. Then let people post on the forum in categories.
That way it's easily searchable.
What do you think? I'm still thinking about my 5.
zoe:
I am a technological idiot. But yes, that sounds really cool.
E
hehe I always enjoy making things about 15 times more complex than they have to be. If I figure out how to do it, I'll let you know and get it set up.
This was a great idea, Erica. I posted my five things here asking anyone who would like to participate on their blog to drop me a link or to drop one here.
I linked via Merry's "Mom and More," but for ease of reference, I'll deposit to the Bank here also. (Details are at http://phdwithninekids.blogspot.com/2008/02/invitation-to-tap.html)
1. I have a Ph.D. in Philosophy.
2. I have nine children, which increases my usefulness to the Bank almost nine-fold, I reckon.
3. I've been involved in education at every stage from pre-school to grad school, on the student side, the teacher side and the parent side (except for grad school; my oldest is a college freshman).
4.I am a Catholic convert.
5. I live in -- and am steeped in the culture of -- the South. (Cf. the word choice in #2)
Hi Kalynne:
Thanks! I live in the South, but am still a New Yawk gal. Though I DO now say, "y'all." Instead of "you guys."
:-)
And I am envious! Nine kids!!! Good for you!
E
I have to take a deep breath here because some of my oddities might be a bit problematic for some people, well...
1. Both my wife and I used to work for the Placenta Tissue Registry at Michigan State University, where human placentas were sent in for research purposes.
2. I worked in clinical cytogenetics for 18 years--that's chromosomes, in case you were wondering.
3. While there I was somewhat expert on products of conception, which is to say, dealing with the tissues that come about after a miscarriage.
4. I have taken scalpels and "scissored" human embryos/fetuses into mush in order to process them for chromosome analysis (told you people might not like this).
5. For a couple years period in my career I worked in the following areas: diabetes research, spinal meningitis research, bladder cancer research, squamous cell carcinoma research. For the spinal meningitis research I used to inoculate rabbits with bacterial meningitis so we could perform MRI on them.
That's plenty, I think.
Mark:
WOW!!!!! I had no idea! That's all really, really interesting. Sad for the bunnies, though.
E
Yeah, Erica, my first job out of college. Lasted 6 months and that was the last job I had working with animals. I hated the animal work. I think it's often necessary, but I wasn't the right person for it.
SO... late to the party, but still present.
1. I can ride a unicycle. Have been able to do it since I was in high school. You want to know about it, gimme a shout.
2. I spent a few years as a floor-guard at a roller-skating rink. Skating sideways, backwards, fast, slow... you got it. I can blow a whistle with the best of them and I know how to wear a black and white striped shirt :)
3. I have worked as a computer systems hacker/auditor for the federal government... and done some few things on my own :) You need to know anything about computers and security ( or insecurity), I'm your guy. You need to know about the process of obtaining a security clearance hit me up. You need to know scary magic things about the inner workings of computer hardware or even how to make an operating system give me a shout.
4. I spent years in the family business working with porcelain and ceramics, kilns, glazes, paints, and specifically porcelain dolls, both crafting and antiques. You need to know anything about the history of doll making... :)
5. I have spent years in and around the Renaissance recreation events and fairs. I actually met my wife there. I am familiar with costuming, architecture, language and music from the period.
That was fun... LOL. Thanks for another great and thought provoking post.
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