by Racheline Maltese
Member since:
April 12, 2006

6 weird things

March 25, 2007 04:07 PM EDT (Updated: March 25, 2007 04:11 PM EDT)
views: 81 | comments: 30

Chances are most things about me are weird.  Coming up with six -- whether it's because I'm hard pressed to limit myself to that number or because I forget how truly weird some stuff about me is -- is a bit of a challenge.  but I've now been tagged for this bloody thing twice, so here you go:

1. I can do a really neat contortionist trick with my arms that is impossible to explain in text.  However, I will say it doesn't involve being doulbejoined and is only possible if your arms are thing and your forearms are slightly longer than normal.

2. Due to a quirk of the NYC public school system and an internship program I participated in as a senior, I actually have high school diplomas from two different schools.

3. This wouldn't be weird if I weren't me, but I'm a former teen beauty pageant contestant.

4. This also wouldn't be weird if I weren't me, but I'm a sorority girl.

5. Despite having lived in New York City my whole life, with a brief detour through Washignton DC for university, I have only ever had guns pointed at me in North Carolina.

6. I can sail a boat, fly a plane and ride a horse.  I can't drive a car. 

 

Anyway, the tagging thing is madness and driving people nuts.  If you want to do this, go on and tag yourself. 

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Comments: 30

Re: #5 - It's because you look like a revenuer.
Kris M. Mar 25, 2007, 4:21pm EDT
Sorority girl? Racheline, please say it ain't so!
Racheline Maltese Mar 25, 2007, 4:23pm EDT
Kris,

It's so. But, in my defense, it was a regional sorority and our chapter was insanely diverse (my pledge-mom was Saudi, our president was Hawaiian, and one of the girls who I was pledge-mom to was in a wheelchair). The other sororities, predictably, hated us.
Landen Michaels Mar 25, 2007, 4:32pm EDT
I found #6 to be the 'weirdest' of your 6. It must have been an interesting life you've led thus far to be exposed to more flying and sailing opportunities compared to driving...
Racheline Maltese Mar 25, 2007, 4:41pm EDT
I could have learned to drive if I wanted, but it was never useful, having lived in New York City my whole life. I'm not sure I'll ever get around to it. Arguably, those other skills aren't useful either, but if one is going to learn modes of transport for fun, they are more compelling than driving, at least to me.
Lydia O. Mar 25, 2007, 4:43pm EDT
Well, Landen, as I understand it, lots of New Yorkers don't drive. Ray Bradbury once said something to the effect of asking him if he missed driving was like asking a 12-year-old if they missed--well, doing something we don't want 12-year-olds doing, let's say.
Racheline Maltese Mar 25, 2007, 4:44pm EDT
Hahaha, Lydia, what a great quote. I never heard that before.
Lydia O. Mar 25, 2007, 4:45pm EDT
Driving stick is fun, Racheline--otherwise driving is just not walking. Racheline, you ought to write about your sorority days! I wasn't a sister--but that sounds like the kind of house I could have been in. Ever read Sarah Bird's "Alamo House"?
s S. Mar 25, 2007, 4:51pm EDT
Is it really like, Sex and the City ;) ?
Racheline Maltese Mar 25, 2007, 4:57pm EDT
Soni,

In just about no way whatsoever.
s S. Mar 25, 2007, 5:04pm EDT
I was thinking about the "no car" thing...hahahahaha!
Chris W. Mar 25, 2007, 5:04pm EDT
#6 is good. Other than the airplane bit, you are carbon neutral.
Racheline Maltese Mar 25, 2007, 5:06pm EDT
Chris,

Good point, which didn't occur to me. I t hink NY'ers as a rule do most of their damage to the environment in the form of plastic bags.
Wilma M. Mar 25, 2007, 5:17pm EDT
I couldn't LIVE without driving, but then I live out here in the Wild West. I have driven in NYC though, so should get some sort of award.

Great list.
Chris W. Mar 25, 2007, 5:41pm EDT
Yeah, that plastic bag thing is funny! I remember a couple years ago hearing a bit on NPR about a group of volunteers who were going around NYC with thirty foot poles with claws at the end pullling plastic bags off light poles, trees, you name it.
i wonder if they are still doing that.
Laurie White Mar 25, 2007, 7:03pm EDT
Racheline, how come you don't rent a plane and do some flying during the spring and summer months? Great list by the way :).
Wendy HUSSEIN R. Mar 25, 2007, 7:33pm EDT
I'm wondering if we haven't run into each other....
Hey, it could happen! (I went to Forest Hills).
☆ Æ’åitÄ¥ ☆ Mar 26, 2007, 2:42am EDT
I love all these lists that everyone is doing and I have to write out 10 lists, since I was tagged 10 times. So, in honor of the #10 - I'm giving everyone who writes one of these interesting tag articles a big ol' TEN! Thanks.
☆ Æ’åitÄ¥ ☆ Mar 26, 2007, 4:40am EDT
I finally got My oddities list done, I can't believe it. I think it will be the 1st one in a series since I was tagged quite a bit. This has been fun!
Deven L. Mar 26, 2007, 10:41am EDT
I almost did not send my tag on when I got it because it reminded me to much of those damn e-mails that end up in my box 20 times a day. Never again!!
But I enjoyed doing it and reading them. Ahhhh, I'm Bi-polar
Randy- Being true to myself Mar 26, 2007, 11:21am EDT
Wonderful "weird" things. You are going to have to learn how to drive a car, since you can fly a place...hehehe

I can picture you being in a pageant.
Lisa M. Mar 26, 2007, 4:45pm EDT
Thanks for your list - I enjoyed reading it!
Jennifer F. Mar 28, 2007, 12:54am EDT
I'm still trying to get my mind around the arm trick. Is it in front of your body or behind? How do you have your hands? Does it gross anyone out? I'm into yoga but I don't have flexible enough shoulders to pull off any of the really wild arm twisting things and it fascinates me when others can. I happen to have hamstrings that are made of rubber though.

I want to hear your gun point story too.
Donna R. Mar 28, 2007, 2:10pm EDT
Great list! Contortionist tricks, beauty pageants, sailing, flying, horses, and guns ... wow you have everything needed for a TV mini-series!
KC Klein Mar 29, 2007, 3:33am EDT
Hello Racheline.

Funny, when I got these tags, I was kinda thinking someone really cared about what I had to say . . . I just didn't know where to send the dollar.

You, my friend, have inspired me to partake but then, I've always been a sucker for a pretty face. It was you #2.

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976944849
KC Klein Mar 29, 2007, 5:02am EDT
Oh, Racheline,

One more thing -- I live in New Jersey down by Philly -- most people who drive here really don't know how.
My uncle lived in NYC his whole life and never owned a car. He rented them occasionally. My grandfather only owned a car because he was a cab driver and earned his living with it.

Do you have a picture of the contortionist trick?

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