Everyone loves a good "list post." So, I thought.....what would be an interesting thing to list? Well, I came up with this. Now, some of you may read this post and conclude that I'm a total nut case, but...... everything is say below is the truth, and I've never been one to shy away from the truth, so....enjoy!
1. Sometimes I'm paranoid that I'm being followed.
It's totally unwarranted, but if I'm driving late at night (as I often do), and I notice a car that's been behind me for a while.....it's not uncommon for me to turn off and go in the opposite direction of my destination juuuuuust in case there happens to be a serial killer behind me......I mean really....I don't want to lead them back to where I live.....that would just be crazy!
2. You won't catch me in the cold & flu medicine aisle.
When I'm shopping, sometimes I cut through other sections of the store to get where I'm going, but I refuse to cut through the aisle with the cold and flu remedies! Everybody in that aisle is sick! They're in there.....breathing....coughing.....sick, looking for medicine! Even if the aisle is empty, I'm not goin' in there! I'm no hypochondriac, but....why on earth would I willingly cut through that germ-infested aisle when I could pass through the hair care aisle instead and breathe in things like shea butter, rosemary, and random berries I've never heard of that grow in some remote rainforest somewhere?
Random berries over germs - every. time.
Random berries over germs - every. time.
3. I know it's Un-American, but I could totally live without peanut butter or cinnamon flavored stuff.
You know......every once in a while when my 3-year-old leaves the crusts of his PBJ on his plate, I'll eat one and think...."Hmmm....peanut butter and jelly is pretty good, I should eat it more often!" But.....I don't. I don't eat peanut butter with a spoon out of the jar, I don't like peanut butter ice cream, I might have a Reese's every now and then, but they're not my favorite. Same goes for cinnamon - particularly cinnamon flavored gum. I actually like real cinnamon. The problem is that cinnamon flavoring never tastes like cinnamon.......and by the way, who decided that cinnamon flavored things need to be hot?
4. I LOVE candles.....unless they smell like food.
I love candles. I truly do. In a recent post, I shared that candles are one of the things I love most about the décor in my home. However.....I really have issues with candles that smell like food! There are a few reasons for this. For one.....I don't want to feel like I'm sitting in a fruit basket all day.....I don't want to smell sugary vanilla beans and fruity concoctions. I don't want my house to smell like a coffee shop or a bakery. It's just my preference, but I prefer natural scents that mimic something light and fresh......rain, linen....that type of thing. There are lots of candles that have a mixed scent like....a fruit and a flower and some other element rather than one single scent. I'm not denying that some of these scents smell good, I just wouldn't want to smell that in my house all day long. Moderation, people! Just a sniff is good for me......I don't need to huff the stuff for long periods of time!
5. I shop from the back of the shelf.
When I'm shopping, I don't always grab the jar or box closest to the front of the shelf.....I usually pick from the back. I figure that the ones in the back haven't been handled and touched and picked up and put back as much as the ones in the front......and....somehow that makes them.....better? I don't know. Don't judge me, I'm being vulnerable here!
6. To the left, to the left!
Whenever I do things that must be done in pairs like.....put on mascara or socks or paint my fingernails or put on my earrings, I always do the left side first. I don't know why. I don't consciously think about it, it just.....happens. The same way. Every. Time. I can't explain it, but I can count on it happening! Strange, since I'm right-handed, but....there ya go!
7. I like chocolate, but I hate candy.
Chocolate is one thing, but candy is another! Chocolate is creamy and chocolaty and smooth and melty and wonderful.......and candy is.......not. Candy is sticky and way too sweet, and fruit flavored candies never taste like the fruit they're supposed to be the taste of......candy is....clearly, inferior to chocolate.
8. Hold the frosting, please.
I know, it sounds ridiculous, and I don't even know how to explain it...... It's not that I don't like sweet things, obviously I like chocolate...and cake....and... chocolate cake, but some things are just so sweet that they don't appeal to me at all. At our house, it's not uncommon to find a cake on the counter or in the fridge that's basically a half hollowed out, caving in, shell of frosting. My husband always knows when I've had some cake, because he opens the fridge and sees the promise of "cake" and then pulls it out, turns it around, and finds that there really isn't any cake.....just......a big pile of frosting!
9. Everybody Loves Raymond.....but not as much as I do!
I have a really strange and really wonderful relationship with the show Everybody Loves Raymond. I don't remember when I first saw it or how I came across it, but what I do remember is that I loved it right from the get go because it is so real and makes light of situations and conversations that happen in everyday life. I probably watch this show everyday....or at least have it on in the background. I often have it on while I'm doing other things because, since I've seen every episode multiple times, it's just a familiar thing to have going in the background. As a musician, you might think that I'd just play music, but....not so. Music isn't passive for me.....it's hard for me to have music on and resist the urge to actively listen....analyze.....sing along, etc. Having music on when I'm supposed to be concentrating on something else is actually a distraction. Raymond? That's easy for me to work to!
10. If I think you're sick.......I'm not going to breathe your air.
Again, not a hypochondriac, HOWEVER...... if you're walking towards me and I observe you coughing, sneezing, wearing a face mask (why do people even leave the house with those things on?!) or hear any trace of sickness in your voice, I WILL hold my breath while walking past you until you are at least 4 or 5 paces behind me. Sorry, not sorry - keep your germs to yourself, please and thank you!
11. I have an unusual obsession with the idea of house and home.
Ok, this one is hard to explain. I love houses, and I love home. I like being at home in my house, and I like looking at other peoples' homes. I like knowing the spaces in which other people live. I like movies and TV shows that take place in houses. While others are focusing on the storyline of the movie, I'm looking at how the house in the movie is decorated......which color palette they use, what they have hanging on the walls, the pattern on their dishes, etc... Part of it has to do with my love for interior design, but a bigger part of it is that I just love the idea of "home." I'm a homebody. I like cozy. I like comfortable. I like sanctuary......but, if I drive past your house at night and see that you have the lights on and the curtains drawn, and I can literally see right into your house......I WILL slow down and drive past s-l-o-w-l-y so that I can look in there to see what it looks like!
12. I'm a classically trained musician who doesn't really like classical music.
It's not that I don't like classical music, it's just that.....it's not my favorite. I don't feel it as deeply as I feel other types of music. I'm a classical soprano and I have been singing for most of my life. I sing a lot of classical and opera, and I'm good at it. I have sung (and continue to sing) some beautiful things over the years, and have had glorious experiences on the classical stage. However.....unless I'm studying for a performance, I don't sit around and listen to classical music. I don't have highfalutin conversations about classical music, composers, or music history. I know all that stuff, and I appreciate it....I mean, I have a degree in it for goodness sakes! But.....it's not where my heart lives. My vibe is R&B, soul, gospel.......and not that down-home, camp meetin', bible thumpin', banjo and fiddle type gospel - no, I like the gospel that stems from the hope and the pain of the spirituals.....and I like contemporary gospel that incorporates elements of R&B. Do I like classical? Yes. But only if I'm in the mood for it, which usually isn't the case. But give me a good melody with a heart-wrenching harmony over a smooth beat, sung from the gut with some real feeling behind it, and I'm all in! Classical is what I do, it's not who I am or what I love, and there have been times in my life when I have done things or taken gigs just because I thought it was expected of me to do so, not because I really wanted to and not because my heart was in it. It's hard, but I'm slowly learning to change that. Life's too short to try to live up to other peoples' expectations, even if they're just the expectations I perceive.
I'm me. Just me. And that's a good thing to be!
I'm me. Just me. And that's a good thing to be!
So, there you have it. This is, of course, not an exhaustive list, but......I'm sure it's enough to make some of you think that I'm a total loon. It's ok, you can think that.....just....don't cough in my general direction, and keep your grubby hands off my groceries, ok?
Oh wait...on second thought....maybe I am a hypochondriac!