3 Things You Don't Know About Me

1.  I watch corny beach movies from the 60's. 

  That Darn Cat.

     Beach Ball.

    Any movie that has lots of surfing, beach parties, hot rods, and swinging boy bands. The worse the acting, the better. I do not watch these movies for intellectual content. Because there is none. 

The plot line usually revolves around a boy band trying to win the local competition, or a hot rod race or a surfing contest. Boy meets girl, boy and girl fight, boy and girl make up just in time to kiss at the end of the movie. You must also have a song every 10 minutes. And everyone comes running out of nowhere to dance on the beach. 

2. I rearrange furniture for a hobby. 

I was looking back at photos of our various homes through the years and realized in every Christmas photo, the living room furniture is different every year. And in my opinion, improved. 

My mother-in-law jokes that I rearrange her house every time we visit. 

Which is closer to the truth than you would think.  

3. I am not afraid of snakes, lizards or most reptiles. 

I don't know why. Maybe because I know I can out run or out maneuver them. 

The one exception to this rule is the Komodo Dragon at the Memphis Zoo. I recently went there on a girl's trip with my cousin. The bigger of the two lizards was sitting with it's nose up to the glass. I squatted down and sat nose to nose, eye to eye with it (mainly to get the goat of my cousin who hates reptiles and was barely staying in the room).

 It was fun at first but after about 60 seconds of staring into it's unblinking eyes, I began noticing some physical traits I had overlooked before. Like the bulging muscles on it's hind legs that are bigger around than my head. The armour-like skin that is probably bulletproof. The forked tongue flicking in and out, contrasting to the rest of the body that is statue still. I started to sweat a little. I knew that there was about 12 inches of glass between us, but the longer I stared into it's eyes, the less confidence I had in the construction crew that build the cage. I could feel the little hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention. It was remarkable to feel that primal urge to RUN. Every nerve and sensor in my body was telling me to flee and flee fast, while at the same time, my logical 21st century brain was telling me to ignore those signals because I was perfectly safe.

 I finally stood up. laughed at my cousin's squeamishness and started walking out of the reptile house. But I can't lie. I had the distinct feeling that it had somehow gotten out of the cage and was trailing along right behind me. You know that feeling as a kid when you have to go out of the house at night to take out the trash? You just feel the urge to pick up the pace a little bit on the way back inside? Well, I will admit that I was speed walking out of that building and the muscles in my neck didn't unclench for a good 20 yards.