Lucky Seven

The lovely Mamita Umita tagged me last week and I've been a complete slacker about doing this meme.

The rules: each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves, and then tags 7 people to do the same. So, seven random things?

1) When I lived in Guangzhou, China, I got into seven bike accidents. Some of them were serious, like being hit by a truck. Some of them were just downright embarrassing. So embarrassing, I never wanted to come out of the house again.

One day I was riding through Guangzhou's equivalent of Times Square. Imagine me riding along in my very long skirt, just like all the Chinese women around me. But then imagine my skirt blows back, gets caught in the back wheel/chain of my bike. Now imagine the skirt starts to rip, because I'm still moving forward. Long story short, the skirt ripped so much that I ended up wearing only my underwear and a few strips of fabric hanging from the skirt's waistband. Oh, yeah, thousands of people seeing me in my underwear. Great. Just great.

The icing on the cake was the well-dressed businessman who stepped off the curb and introduced himself. "Hi, my name is Andy." (Eyes moving up and down my body while he's talking.) "You are very beautiful. Would you like to practice English with me?"

2) I have panic attacks and start to feel ill if I'm going to be late. It used to be so bad that if I got somewhere and I was late, I sometimes wouldn't even go inside. I'm better now but I still have to mentally psych myself up to walk into anything late. It doesn't even matter if it's one or two minutes, I still freak out.

3) I really dislike Tom Cruise. These days, it's sort of en vogue to dislike Tom Cruise. Well I have never liked him. Never ever. His lawyers are probably filing suit as I type this but I really don't like him. It's not just the Scientology thing either because I didn't like him before I knew he was a Scientologist. I've never seen Risky Business, none of the Mission Impossible movies, not even Interview with the Vampire. I've only seen Minority Report and Magnolia and only because I ended up at someone's house who decided to rent the films. I can't quite put my finger on why I don't like him. When I figure it out, I'll let you know.

4) I adore Mandarin collars on shirts. I've been so happy that they're in style these days because I have several of them. Maybe I'll wear one today!

5) I've seen the movie The Saint with Val Kilmer and Elisabeth Shue over fifty times. This movie, it's not the best film on earth, but I love it. I'm not sure how many times I've seen it since I stopped counting after fifty. But, I've seen it so much, I have about 75% of the dialogue memorized.

6) I was a cheerleader for one year. Tried out. Made the varsity squad my junior year in high school. "Go-Team-Go'ed" for that one year. And then I was done. Back to more worthy causes like the Amnesty International club.

7) I once went on a blind date with a friend's brother. My friend set the whole thing up, and I went because she swore we'd be perfect for each other. I should have known better because his name was Linden. Anyway, I show up at this coffee shop and she'd neglected to mention that her brother was about 5'5" and chubby. In fact, I remember her saying, "Oh, he's a little taller than you are, maybe 5'9" or something." This brother, man oh man, he was so pompous and annoying. I remember I asked him what the most important thing in life was and he answered that he just wanted to be successful and make a lot of money. I was ready to go twenty minutes into our conversation. In fact, I remember that he annoyed me so much that I stopped being nice and just let my evil side come out. I was as mean as possible so he wouldn't even remotely think I was interested.

My friend, of course, got mad about my treatment of her brother and declared that our friendship was over. Such is life.

So that's seven random things about me. I'm not in a tagging state of mind but if you'd like to share random things about yourself, let me know and I'll come by and check them out.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I love Mandarin collars as well. Elicits lots of looks when the cycle of being "in" has ended. Ah, well.

Now, as to Tom Cruise and Minority Report: It was Minority Report that sold me on the young man. I only saw it once it was released on video (that's right...video), and I watch it when I am depressed. No one is allowed to bother me.

But, yeah, the whole sexiest man thing went right over my head. He seems too conscious of others' opinions of his 'sexiness', or appeal, for me...so the smile is disingenuous...more like a big schmooze.

Alrighty...have a great weekend.
Jameil said…
that wasn't your friend anyway. hookin you up w/her lame bro. she knew he was lame. lmao @andy!! smooth man! way to get the ladies! i guess we don't have to wonder what "practice english" is code for!!! HILARIOUS!! i like mandarin collars too, but only on women. men can only wear them on tuxedos. i've never even heard of the saint.
Anonymous said…
I love the Saint also, Val Kilmer is so underated!
Liz Dwyer said…
Kim,
I love to wear the Mandarin collar outfits the most when they aren't in style because then I feel more original. But, I've picked up some great items in the past year so that's always a plus. I agree about the Tom Cruise smile. I think it's the eyes, too. Something is not right there.

Jameil,
The Saint came out in '97/'98. I sometimes think I like it so much because I saw it on a trip to Montreal. Maybe I associate it with that time in my life. Val Kilmer is a thief but he's a good guy. Yes, my ex friend. Homegirl had to know her brother was lame...talking about he wasn't with anybody because he was just so focused on school and he really had a good heart. He should have gone to China to hang with Andy. I will never forget that because I totally thought this guy was going to step off the curb and give me a hand. Practice your English...I was sooo mortified!

DJBA,
I agree, Val Kilmer is VERY underrated. Just like Tom Cruise is overrated. ;)
Dating a friend's relative is like being her gift to him, on a silver platter. The loyalty isn't with you. I'm glad you were bitchy, but I prefer to call it survival instinct.

Tom Cruise makes me feel as if someone sat on my chest and forced me to eat an entire wedding cake. I don't know why either. Maybe because he seems arrogant and cheesy?

Val Kilmer is a very good actor. You're right about him vs Cruise, and The Saint is great.

I know every line in Casablanca. I have no idea how many times I've seen it.

I enjoyed learning more about Liz. I'm sure they're still talking about the No-Skirt American in Guangzhou.
In law school everybody called me the black Capt. Renault from Casablanca. Does that make me an cynical, manipulative bastard with a heart of gold? LOL

I hate Tom Cruise but for Born on the Foirth of July, Minority report and Risky Business. Otherwise to heck with him and his cult.
Liz Dwyer said…
Heart,
Yes, Tom Cruise is exactly like someone sat on your chest. That's a great description. Next time someone asks me why I don't like Cruise, I'm going to tell them that.

I am glad you liked learning a bit about me. I sometimes feel so egocentric answering these things.

CC,
LOL, indeed. Capt. Renault...that's really funny.

It seems that there are very few Cruise movies that folks really love. And I just don't get the scientology thing at all. I live very close to some of their buildings in LA and I just don't get how folks get caught up into that.
Anonymous said…
1) glad you survived the huge truck and the embarrassment of the skirt incident

2) I do as well- its still a struggle. So I've been pushing myself to arrive earlier and earlier. Its not even about what others think of me walking in late or being embarrassed, I just hate being late

3) I've tried and tried but could just never see him as the ultimate anything. Boring and short is about all I could get from watching Cruise

4) love these as well, would wear them every day if i could

5) I love that movie! Val has had some great movies in general- my childhood fave was Willow and I could watch it every single day if they let me

6) never was a cheerleader, did the pep squad thing before I got sucked into band geekdom

7) short, chubby and arrogant? That dude needed to get knocked down some notches
Anonymous said…
Funny you should share your "practice English" story. When I was in Taiwan, there was a festival I was dead set on going to...of course I didn't realize that the place was over 5 miles from the train/bus station. Ironically enough, I had just learned the definition for hooker the week before in class, when this guy stops and offers me a ride. It was 100 degrees so I accepted, he started talking in Chinese, and somewhere in the dialog he said, "your black and American, I thought you all were hookers" needless to say I jumped out of that car the first chance I had.
Liz Dwyer said…
Yolanda,
Loved your comments about everything...and so far, no one is too pscyhed about Cruise but is loving The Saint and Val Kilmer. I do have to say I think I'm more glad I survived being hit by a truck than I am happy about underwear issues...it's all stuff I can laugh about now.

Gyamfua,
Oh yeah, There were plenty of people who thought I was going to be "easy" because of my nationality and skin color. Sadly enough, it was everyone I met ...bored minor aristocrats from Europe, folks from Africa...once they found out I was a black woman from the States, they totally thought I was going to be a ho. It was just great.

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