Okay, busy busy weekend ahead of me, writing-wise, but before I take off, I just thought I’d point out a few things:
1. Editor and author Jason Pinter has a hardline blog up about hiring agents, which goes well with Julie Leto’s latest Marisela blog on the topic.
2. I’m officially on the list to sign at the RWA Literacy signing in Atlanta, which is interesting, because I wasn’t sure what the final decision had been. However, if I am signing, there won’t be many copies, so come early! With any luck, we’ll crank those babies out quickly and then I can get out from behind that table and hit the bar.
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It’s officially “Weird Fact Weekend” at Diana’s Diversions! This is how it works. I post a weird fact about myself. Then the first person to post in the comments will comment upon my weird fact, then post a weird fact about him or herself. The second person to comment will comment about THAT person’s weird fact, and then include a weird fact of their own… and so on.
Here’s mine:
I have an excess adoration of cauliflower. I love it. I think it might be my favorite vegetable. I actually crave it sometimes. Raw, steamed, roasted, covered in cheese, curried, stir fried with szechuan sauce, I love it. I actually dinged a CP recently because one of her characters didn’t show the proper love for cauliflower in her book. My new thing is buying those jars of California Hot Mix and eating all the cauliflower out of it then throwing the rest away. When I go to the store, I sift through all the available jars on the shelf to find the one with the most cauliflower in the mix, an action which has earned me no small amount of odd stares in the pickle aisle. I would kill to find a company that just made California Hot Caulifower, but I think they need the jalapenos in the mix to make it work. Mmmmmm, cauliflower. (Guess what I’m craving now? Do you think 8:45 a.m. is too early for hot pickled cauliflower?)
22 Comments
June 24, 2006 at 12:53 pm
Have you ever tried it raw, dipped in very spicy cocktail sauce? That’s how we used to eat it growing up. Well, one of the ways we used to it. I dig it too. Also make a killer creamed cali soup.
My weird fact? I can point at things with my little toes. They’re extremely flexible and actually move independent of my other toes. Weird, I know.
June 24, 2006 at 12:56 pm
My weird personal fact: I cannot stand handling raw meats. Cutting up skinless, boneless chicken repulses me, even though I like the cooked product that results from my efforts. Beef repulsion extends into the cooked product. I don’t like steak very much. The chewy quality reminds me too much of what I’m actually eating, and the texture…..ewww!
June 24, 2006 at 2:08 pm
I’m a big fan of cauliflower, can’t do much with my toes except trim the nails, and I don’t have anything going on about raw meat.
However, I’m incapable of watching other people get embarrassed. I have to leave the room. Oddly, I don’t mind all that much when I’m embarrassed.
June 24, 2006 at 2:30 pm
I end up flipping the channel when someone is going to spectacularly embarass themselves! I thought I was the only one.
My weird personal fact:
I have words that make me giggle every time I hear them. It’s something about the sounds they create in my head. Examples include bundt, groin, and moist. My friends have latched onto this concept and love to it to torture me.
June 24, 2006 at 2:31 pm
Love to USE it to torture me. I stayed up too late last night…
June 24, 2006 at 5:00 pm
There aren’t any particular words that torture me, but there are two events I can’t stand going over again. They actually make me feel sick to my stomach.
Both involve bizarre behavior I witnessed at memorial services.
One was when we were supposed to be sprinkling a few ashes in a stream, and one of the participants grabbed the bag and dumped the whole thing into the water. Three problems with that: (1) the stream was so small and slow-moving, the ashes just sat there in a huge gray mound; (2) there was a group of children frolicking downstream, not knowing a whole body was coming their way; and (3) an Orthodox Jewish family was picnicking nearby, not knowing remains had just been released, which I believe would have been a major issue for them (unclean, etc.). Every time I think of the whole ceremony I want to scream.
The second story involves my best friend’s sisters’ totally inappropriate behavior at their mother’s service, so awful I can’t go into it or I’m going to have to hurl.
Next?
June 24, 2006 at 5:18 pm
Luckily, I’ve never been witness to bizarre funeral behavior – both must have been awful! The something weird about me is food-related.
I cannot stand chunks in my food unless I have something to eat it with. This mostly relates to sauces/pizza/bruschetta-type things where chunks are incorporated into the overall product. For example, if my husband makes pasta sauce with tomato chunks in it, I can only eat the chunks with a piece of pasta. Once the pasta is gone, I can’t seem to eat the chunks. Ditto pizza/bruschetta. If a chunk falls off, I can’t eat it unless I still have some crust/bread left.
I know, it’s weird. I didn’t even notice it until my university roommates pointed it out one day over pasta, and then proceeded to watch me obsessively whenever I ate.
(oh, and I also hate touching raw chicken! I cannot debone it, skin it, or cut it up – I make my husband do it. Weirdly, I don’t mind the beef so much)
June 24, 2006 at 5:50 pm
Ewww, raw chicken! I’ve always disliked that too. I’ll do it if I have to, but if there’s someone else around, they can have the honor. And I don’t like chunks either–if I’m eating chips & salsa, I just dip the chip in the juicy part.
You guys have mostly been doing food facts, but mine’s not food related. I have different colored brows & lashes–my left side is brownish black. Right side is blonde. That’s right, I have a dark side and a light side…hardy har har har. Usually takes people quite a while to notice, and they often think it’s a trick of the light or I messed up my makeup. But I love it when they ask if I dyed them. Sorry, I’m already legally blind–hair dye ain’t going NEAR my eyes!
June 24, 2006 at 6:12 pm
Oops! Was about to comment on the chunks in the food when Kristin slipped in. LOL!! I admit to picking out the big chunks of tomato in sauce and pile them onto my hubby’s plate. The light side and dark side is pretty cool and unique. My father, who has jet black hair has a “blond” streak on one half of his head. He had a streak in his hair, one eyebrow is lighter and his beard grows lighter on one side. So, I totally get it.
My weird fact? Well…you asked. It’s weird. I have this strange affinity when going out socilizing with friends to slip odd items in people’s purses or backpacks for them to discover at a later date.
I don’t know why I do this — have done it since college — but it’s memorable and people always bring it up years later. “We went to this Red Sox game with Mike and Marley and then went to Unos for drinks and appetizers. Two weeks later, I found a napkin with silverware in it in my backpack.”
Most recently, I slipped some Heinz into my buddy’s large LV bag and then two weeks later, when we were at lunch, I asked her, “Do you have any extra ketchup on you?” She dug into her purse and nearly fell out of the booth.
Items I’ve stashed…silverware, Sweet ‘n Low, wine glasses, ketchup, Grey Poupon, toothpicks, little drink swords that hold fruit, straws, crackers, ashtrays, matches, menus, napkins.
Yeah, it’s a bit five-fingering, but I’ve never slipped anything of true value into anyone’s purse or bag. It’s just a fun thing to do when you go out…and drink too much. :::EEEG:::
June 24, 2006 at 6:16 pm
And yes…I was said CP whose character didn’t show the cauliflower love…and no, I didn’t change it! LOL!!! (Reminder to send my “mashed cauliflower recipe to Diana.)
= )
June 24, 2006 at 7:25 pm
lmao Marley! Remind me to sit next to you at dinner sometime. I’d love to see what you tuck into my purse *snort*
My mother always slipped things into her purse at restaurants. Steak knives, packets of crackers, those little sauce bowls at Japanese restaurants. I always figured it was either a touch of klepto or the depression era mentality *g*
My weird fact – I find gaps in conversation moments excruciatingly painful and will try to come up with any inane topic to keep conversation going. It’s like those awkward moments of silence are like a personal reflection on me and I MUST keep talking through it. Which usually means I say something incredibly stupid just to be saying something instead of letting the conversation lull naturally. *g*
June 24, 2006 at 8:29 pm
I so get that, Jaci — the dreaded awkward silence!
Mine is that if I’m making a sandwich — especially a veggieburger — I have to put it together in a particular order. First the bun, then the burger, then the ketchup, then pickles, then onions, then tomato, then lettuce, then put some mustard on the bun lid and bun lid (NOT directly onto the cheese) and put the lid on. The ketchup cannot touch the bun and the mustard cannot touch the ketchup. If I’m eating out, I just don’t open the sandwich and look, because if I see that the wrong stuff is touching each other, I won’t want it.
June 24, 2006 at 11:51 pm
Phyllis, I don’t think that’s weird! Okay, a little, but I’m the same way. Sandwiches must be made in a particular order.
My weird fact…on Sunday morning, I have to read the PARADE magazine before I read any other part of the paper, no matter what more interesting story is in the paper. It’s bad luck to read anything before PARADE. I have no idea why I do this…but I have, for years!
June 25, 2006 at 12:51 am
Julie,
I remember the PARADE insert, but I have not purchased a paper since…I can’t remember when. And that isn’t weird. A little OCD, but not weird.
My weird personal fact: My elbows are double jointed. Circus freak double jointed.
June 25, 2006 at 2:33 am
Kristen, I might try that, since it sounds a lot like hot pickled cauliflower would taste. That is weird about the toes.
Kristin, have you tried vegetarianism? I have no problem with raw meats.
I don’t think any words make me giggle,a nd I’ve been known to relish people getting embarrassed.
Robin, I have a story like that. So when Sialor Boy and I were living on the beach, one day we saw all these people walking by our little shack all dressed up, including SB’s hairdresser. well, we hitnk it’s a wedding. So we come downstairs and watch them promenade past, the men all in tuxes, the girls all in white. It’s a gorgeous sunset over the water. We sit on the sandwall and watch them parade all the way down the wavebreak, until they are at a decent middle distance. Then one woman in white stands in front of them all and starts speaking to a particular couple. We decide it’s some sort of new age wedding. It’s all very sweet. Then, we think the couple is reaching into this sacred urn to like, sprinkle fairy dust on themselves. Except, not so much. It’s ashes. A lot of ashes. In the water. Which you know, was also beautiful and etc., but we thought for half an hour we’d been watching a wedding, so it was a little bit of a jolt.
I’m with all the people who voted against chunks.
Marley, have you ever done that to ME? My mother still can’t figure out your weird addressing envelope quirk.
The eyebrow thing is cool, kristin b.
Jaci, is that why our convos are always so epic? there’s no natural ending place! LOL
Phyllis, Julie, I’m with you. I have an order for my sandwiches, too. I hate it when the guy at teh sandwich shop messes it up despite my explicit instructions. It’s gotten so I give him my topping requests one at a time.
Heather, I’m freaky double jointed, too! SB won’t look at me if I’m leaning on my hands.
June 25, 2006 at 3:57 am
Diana, this is such a weird exercise you’re doing here, and I just love it. It’s 4:50 AM where I am, and I’m in a hotel room in a foreign country laughing my face off. Thanks! I needed this!
June 25, 2006 at 12:02 pm
LOL Heather – I hear you on the “circus freak” body parts! And it’s great timing.
My weird fact – my ankles are double jointed – “circus freak” double jointed. Someone can actually grab my foot and turn it 180 degrees around.
June 25, 2006 at 12:12 pm
Diana, I wish I could be vegetarian…but I must admit, I love hamburgers, shrimp, chicken (when cooked), etc. It is the handling of the meats…not so fun. And sometimes deli meats can be gross…but not always.
Also, with a family to feed and me being the only cook in the house, I can’t exactly force my vegetarianism on my steak-loving family.
But I do have an affinity for beans…black beans, especially. I could eat those puppies morning, noon, and night. Kind of like your affinity for cauliflower.
June 25, 2006 at 5:06 pm
I’ve lived in California my whole life and I’ve never heard of California Hot Mix. Hmmmm…
And just like Jo, I can’t watch people being embarrassed. I could never watch I Love Lucy when I was growing up.
My weird fact? I was a Scientologist for a couple of years in the early 1980’s.
Maybe that’s why I don’t have trouble telling people I write romance. Telling them you were a Scientologist is even more controversial and inflammatory!
June 25, 2006 at 5:18 pm
I think Gina wins the weird fact weekend. Gina, did you know I grew up in Clearwater, FL, just a few miles from the “vatican” of Scientology? Talk about weird facts!
Gina, it’s also called “Garden Hot Mix.”
I like black beans, too. Must have been all the time spent in Costa Rica.
August 13, 2007 at 8:24 pm
for diana – off the subject of weirdness… but diana i also LOVE the hot mix and also eat only the cauliflower… dilema… cant find it locally anymore, and cannot find it online… any suggestions? is the one you buy a reese product?
btw- i CANNOT watch someone brush their teeth without gagging, brushing my own i do not??? go figure
October 14, 2007 at 8:23 pm
I had some cauliflower-miso soup at a West Hollywood health food place yesterday. It was a great combination of flavors I’d never thought about before.
Weird fact: the frequent combination of turnips and carrots mashed together by my mother were a near vomit-inducing combination. But you must always eat your veggies before you have dessert.