Ten Interesting Facts About Yourself

Day Four of the Thirty Day Writing Challenge

This prompt is one of my favorites, but I'm not sure that I can come up with ten interesting facts about myself. We'll see...

These are in no particular order.

1) I rode an elephant - twice!
This happened at the Texas Renaissance Festival, so a lot of people of all ages can say they've ridden an elephant - there was a camel there too that people could ride. But this is a big deal for me because I am not any kind of a risk taker, even though it was a pretty safe thing to do. I also don't like heights, and elephants are tall creatures! But I have always been a big fan of elephants, so I'm really glad I did it. I just wish there were pictures from the experience.

2) I have fired a gun.
I am not a gun enthusiast at all, and I'm very surprised I actually did this. I was staying at a friend's ranch, and after lunch one afternoon my friend's dad suggested that my three male friends and me try some target practice. "Sure!" I said. So for the first and only time in my life so far I fired a pistol. I don't think I even came close to hitting a target, but I was able to physically fire the gun. There is a picture of me, in the firing stance, wearing headphones so the sound wouldn't startle me too much. My friend's dad tried to figure out how I would be able to fire a rifle too, but that was too heavy for me and I couldn't pull the trigger. The pistol was more than enough for me. Its an interesting story that surprises people, but I can't say I'm proud that I fired a gun. I am VERY proud that I didn't shoot anyone. :)

3) I have worked at an inner city school.
I did some student teaching at a third ward school in Houston, and I also volunteered at a public library in the neighborhood. I was the only white person at the school. I loved working with the kids; they responded well to me. But the teachers were not welcoming. They basically thought I was some kind of spy. As part of my class work, I had to interview the teacher I was working with, and she refused to answer some of the questions I asked her. She and the other teachers said to me, "You're gonna go back to your white school in your white neighborhood to do your full semester of student teaching." And they were right - I did. But there were important reasons why I did. I knew working full time would be quite an effort for me, so I chose to student teach where I went to fifth grade, so I could live with my mom, and have help with meals and laundry and transportation.

4) I have been on television and in the newspaper.
All of my appearances have been because of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. I have been on the local telethons in Corpus Christi and Houston, and in the local newspapers in both cities as well. I was also interviewed on a local morning news show in Houston from the MDA summer camp. I think I was eleven or twelve years old that summer. We didn't have a VCR yet, so I never saw the interview.

5) I was involved in campus politics in undergrad.
I was secretary and then president of the Handicapped Student Advisory Board at the University of Houston, and I was a student senator as well. I participated in a march and sit in when the university threatened to eliminate the Disabled Student Services office.

6) I was a rocker chick in my younger days.
I was never a metal-head. But my favorite acts were the "hair bands" of the 80's and 90's - Def Leppard, Winger, Whitesnake, White Lion, Poison, etc. I used to buy Circus and Hit Parade magazines. I didn't get to go to a lot of concerts, but my first ever concert was Tesla and Firehouse. I have only seen Def Leppard live twice, but I have been a fan since 1983, and a devoted fan since 1987.

7) I have met a few "celebrities." I put the word in quotation marks because everyone has their own definition of a famous person. Back in the 70's I met a few Dallas Cowboy football players through the Muscular Dystrophy Association. I also met the guy who played Epstein on "Welcome Back Kotter." More recently, I met the author Judy Blume and actor Chris Colfer at book signings. The longest conversation I had with a celebrity was with Mark Zupan, the quad rugby player who starred in the documentary "Murderball." 

8) I'm a big fan of games.
I enjoy classic board, card, and dice games - Monopoly, Scrabble, Yatzee, Solitare, Boggle, Poker, Memory, etc. I play brain age and other types of games on my phone. I enjoy winning and I am competitive to a certain extent, but the opportunity to play is more important to me than who wins. I have not been good at puzzles, but a few years ago I started trying to do puzzles.

9) I've always wanted to play a musical instrument.
When I was in the fifth grade, everyone had to learn to play the recorder. I was so bad that my music teacher told me to pretend to play at our performance. The main instrument I want to learn is the piano. We didn't have one when I was growing up, and I think my mom didn't want to pay for lessons because she figured my fingers were too small and weak. Plus I don't have a decent sense of timing. My roommate has a professional-type keyboard now, and I keep thinking that sometime I will try to teach myself how to play. Awhile back I learned how to play a few notes of a song from the "Sound of Music," and I cried when I played it correctly for the first time.

10) I am becoming interested in the difficulties people face when they leave prison. I think prison should be more about rehabilitation and less about incarceration. And we need to give former offenders more assistance when they leave prison, to reduce the rate of recidivism. The U.S. has more people in the penal system than any other country in the world, and many of them are people of color, imprisoned for non-violent offenses like buying and selling drugs.

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