Eight random things meme

If it's summer, it must be time for more memeage. I got tagged for this one by The Combat Philosopher, and although I had some anxiety that everything remotely interesting about me has already been put on display here, I think at least some of these are new (whether they're interesting is another story).

1. I had a longer and more serious unicorn phase than most girls (lasting into junior high school)--despite the fact that I was never a particularly girly girl.

2. I virtually do not watch t.v. (I only just got a tiny one last year), but that's not a principled position, and I enjoy many shows when I see them; watching t.v. just isn't something that it occurs to me to do when I'm alone. On the other hand, I have NPR on all the time and will happily listen to repeat broadcasts even of programs I've just heard.

3. Among my friends, I have a reputation for knowing all the words to every remotely familiar song. This is an exaggeration. However, I am a little obsessive about knowing what's being said so that I can sing along. (The real problem here is that I can't carry a tune.)

4. I own some totally random luxury goods: a beaver-skin top hat from the turn of the previous century; a cigarette holder made out of amber and tipped with gold; a mink coat and a fox-fur stole; hotel silver from the Waldorf-Astoria. I also own 16 champagne flutes, two pewter flasks, a cut-glass punchbowl, more than 20 handbags, and an Underwood typewriter from the 1920s. It never occurs to me to wonder why I have these things.

5. If I didn't spend at least five minutes, every single day, tweezing my eyebrows, they would be noticeably out of control within 48 hours. Within two weeks, they would have nearly tripled in size.

6. According to people who know me, I have a wide range of highly individualized noises that I make to express frustration, displeasure, distress, and so on. They're the equivalent of "gah," "arrgh," and "meh," but less recognizable as human sounds--they've been compared to bird calls, crying baby animals, etc. I don't believe I would have noticed this if it hadn't been pointed out to me, and I'm somewhat self-conscious about it.

7. I'm pretty sure that I require fewer calories a day than the average person. If I'm not paying attention, I might only eat a granola bar before dinner, then make a sandwich, and call it good. I enjoy very good food (as well as yummy crappy food), but most of the eating I do is strictly to sustain life.

8. I was registered as a Republican for about two years, circa 1997-98, although I'm pretty sure I've never actually voted for one. (Oh, wait--except for Mike Bloomberg.) I just thought it would be funny, and maybe interesting to try on that identity.