Plus c'est la même chose

Pet Connection's Gina has tagged me in the latest meme round. No, this is not a chain letter. It's a meme. Or so they tell me.

Terrierman explains the rules:

Players are asked to post a blog entry that:

• Explains the rules of the game


• Contains eight random facts about themselves


• Lists eight other bloggers who are tagged to write similar posts


• Finally, players should notify (by email or blogpost comment) each person that they have chosen to play the game, referring them to your post for further details.

Terrierman tagged Gina, and Gina tagged me. And this branch of the meme is in danger of dying on the spot, since I am a newish blogger and most of the bloggers I would have tagged have been tagged already. Anyhow ---

Eight Random Facts about Me:

*I spent much of my childhood in a California mountain cabin that had no electricity and no indoor plumbing.

*I know how to pronounce Shongopovi. That's the name of a Hopi village on Second Mesa where a friend and I spent an afternooon on a rooftop watching the Niman ceremony. One of the most amazing experiences of my life.

*I don't have a high school diploma.

*My first border collie and I got full points for an international shed. It was a huge double lift, Rob Lewis was the judge and oh, who am I kidding [weeps]. It was huge, Rob was the judge, and we did get full points but only because the sheep miraculously shed themselves and Rob was too kind to make us do the shed over. This random fact shouldn't really count since I've been stopping total strangers for years and telling them, "My dog and I got full points for an international shed."

*My Oregon cousin is President of the Tillamook County Dairy Women. My Iowa cousins raise Herefords. I'm the only one in the family with sheep.

*Kirk Gibson's game-winning home run in the 1988 World Series opener landed four rows in front of us in the right field bleachers at Dodger Stadium. You can see me in the highlights video hugging total strangers and screaming myself hoarse. It totally, totally rocked.

*I was an extra in a movie with Benicio del Toro, who is very tall and sweet and cleans up nice. People who get to be extras because their wonderful friends/relatives are working on a movie are called "politicals."

*My great[x5] grandfather's brother Lot Woodbury was killed by Indians in the French and Indian War. He is buried in Royalston Corner Cemetery in Vermont. I could, if I wished, join the DAR. [My grandmother was a member, but she quit.]

*I'm a natural history wonk. I've been bitten by most of the non-venomous snake species in Southern California. I take interesting road kill to the county museum. I grew up assuming everyone owned a field guide to birds and made notes in it.

OK, I know that's nine, but I got an extra one on account of the international shed thing.

Christie Keith says it's against her religion to tag other bloggers, but I'm new and still somewhat agnostic so I'll tag extend an offer to Julie Zickefoose, because I love her dog blog very much, and to Bill Fosher, because I want him to write more about dogs, sheep and farming.

And if they aren't interested in writing about themselves, or if they've been down this road already, maybe they can share some random facts about Chet Baker and Fern.