Wednesday, January 25, 2006

I've been tagged!

My very dear and talented friend Myfanwy Collins has challenged me to write 10 interesting facts about myself. Yikes. I have to dig pretty deep beyond my everyday life of driving carpools and shopping at Target to come up with such a list, but here goes ...



1. I once had Chinese food in Marvin Hamlisch's apartment.
Long story short is that I met Marvin and his live-in girlfiend at the time--a very young Emma Samms--through a relative. Emma and I became fast friends and we sometimes got together at their apartment.


2. I was born with a hemangioma on my left ear and had it surgically removed when I was 5 years old.
Not sure that qualifies as interesting. Would it help to know my mother fainted when she saw me come out of surgery with my head wrapped in bandages?

3. I can faint from even thinking about medical procedures.
Indeed, I passed out the first time I put in contact lenses. Per number 2, I think this is a genetic condition.

4. I've had hypnosis therapy for my fear of needles.
It worked pretty well but, per number 3, don't tell me about your root canal in graphic detail, okay?

5. I have never once made love outdoors.
That one's kind of sad, isn't it?

6. During my third pregnancy, my heartrate went up to 240 beats per minute.
Scary. They never figured out the cause, and did all sorts of terrible tests on me, including things I feared would hurt the baby. I recovered, and the baby is now a healthy 8-year-old girl, albeit with allergies. Could the tests be the culprit in that? I'll probably never know.

7. When I was a teenager, my friends and I sneaked into a Broadway rehearsal for the Monty Python show, and wound up going out for beers with Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam.
My girlfriends and I had soft drinks, of course. I guess we were pretty gutsy kids (and devoted fans) to sneak in like that.

8. I once lived on Abbey Road in London.
Yeah, that Abbey Road. I was a college student and spent a year studying abroad.


9. My grandfather made the famous Radio City Music Hall sign.
He was in the neon sign business in those days. Poppy was a pretty taciturn guy, and we had exactly one conversation about it. Me: I heard you made the Radio City Music Hall sign. Poppy: That job was a bitch.

10. I can get my legs into the lotus position without using my hands.
People seem to be impressed by this. Men, especially.


I know I'm supposed to just tag one person, but I have a couple of brilliant and fascinating blogger friends whose answers I'm just dying to see, so I'm going to cheat. Ready? Jordan Rosenfeld, Robin Slick, Melanie Lynne Hauser, and Susan Henderson ... you're IT!

12 comments:

Myfanwy Collins said...

Are you kidding?? THIS stuff is GREAT! I think you are fascinating, Ellen Meister, and please what is a "hemangioma"? I love that you tagged a bunch of folks. Will be interested to see their responses.

Ellen said...

Thanks, Myf! Here's what I understand about hemangiomas: It's a pink to reddish birthmark that starts out very small and grows for the first year of life. Then it starts to recede and usually goes away on its own. Occasionally, it needs to be surgically removed. In my case, it became a great big red blob on the top of my ear that was so heavy it folded over. It was removed by a plastic surgeon. My ear still doesn't look very pretty, but I'll never have the guts to have further surgery on it.

TMI?

Hi Sue! I hope you'll play!!

Ellen said...

Ha! I just read it, Sue. Fantastic! Of course, with your life, you could write a thousand facts and still be interesting. :)

buck said...

Ellen! not only are you fascinating, but you present it in such a fabulous way.

RobinSlick said...

Oh god!

I just spent an hour working on a blog post and then made the mistake of googling myself and found this! Hahahahaha - yet another awesome way to procrastinate. There is a God.

Your answers were so entertaining! And you are seriously disturbed, did you know that? It's why I love you.

xo
Rob

Katie said...

I loooooove your Monty Python story. You are the coolest.

katrina said...

I loved reading your answers, Ellen!!

Ellen said...

Rob ... I look forward to reading yours tomorrow! I'm expecting a juicy list, and am pretty sure you won't disappoint.

Hey Nance, Katie and Kat ... consider yourselves tagged, too! I'd LOVE to read your lists!!!

KrisT said...

You definitely have some glamour in your life!

Baby Jaiden has a hemangioma on his neck. Thankfully it didn't grow. It's about the size of a pea and should fall off on its own. I told Dezi it was a strawberry, and he tried to take a bite out of it.

Anonymous said...

OK, I have to apologize for not playing, but I've never understood anything about "tags" and "memes" and such. I'm a basic meat and potatoes blogger. So don't take it personally, Ellen! I still love ya!

Ellen said...

Hi Kristy. My oldest had one next to his belly button. It started to fade after his first birthday, and was completely gone by the time he turned 5. I'm sure it'll be the same for Jaiden.

Melanie ... no worries! Like all games, you only play if you want to. :)

Unknown said...

This is fabulous, I've sooo loved to read these lists...great stuff Ellen, I love that your grandfather made the radio city music hall sigh...great stuff..xoxoxo