Post a Random Fact About Yourself

[Sibyl]

Away from the prying eyes of the Facebook algorithms, I thought I'd steal this idea from a group I belong to.

Post some random fact about yourself that others here may not know.

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While I've posted that I was a Minnesota State Championship diver, my first 1st-place finish was on the 1-meter board in 1978. I won on the 1-meter and 3-meter boards pretty much every two years after that for a few years until I dropped out of diving. The off years that I didn't win 1st-place was because a teammate of mine was one year older than me and if we were competing against each other, he won 1st and I won 2nd. Each division had kids within a two-year age range.

Bobby was our coach Bob's son. We hated each other.

ETA: Picture

 

[thestrangequark]

When I was five years old I went to the beach with my best friend Denise and her mother. I was already a confident swimmer, and it was a warm, sunny day, so I tottered right out in my silver and blue tiger bathing suit with ruffles, climbed into my neon pink and green floaty, promptly fell asleep and drifted away. No one was at fault: it was one of those Blink and They're Gone missing children incidents.
Apparently five beaches were closed and multiple law enforcement agencies brought in for what was presumed to be an abduction (I believe this was before Amber Alerts). All the while I simply dozed happily in my floaty.

I was lost at sea for eight hours. The Canadian Coast Guard found me five miles up the coast, and well out to sea.
Apparently, still peacefully asleep.

All I really remember of the aftermath is being carried in Denise's mother's arms as she wept with relief, while state patrol and international coast guard officers flanked us, flashing lights all around, and Denise tottering behind. I didn't understand the hullabaloo. I was still mostly deaf and reliant on sign (my hearing wasn't fully restored for 7 more years), and I remember shrugging to Denise: our mutual language for "What on earth are all these grown ups so upset about?"

 

[Sibyl]

When I was five years old I went to the beach with my best friend Denise and her mother. I was already a confident swimmer, and it was a warm, sunny day, so I tottered right out in my silver and blue tiger bathing suit with ruffles, climbed into my neon pink and green floaty, promptly fell asleep and drifted away. No one was at fault: it was one of those Blink and Their Gone missing children incidents.
Apparently five beaches were closed and multiple law enforcement agencies brought in (I believe this was before Amber Alerts). All the while I simply dozed happily in my floaty.

I was lost at sea for eight hours. The Canadian Coast Guard found me five miles up the coast, and well out to sea.
Apparently, still peacefully asleep.

All I really remember of the aftermath is being carried in Denise's mother's arms as she wept with relief, while state patrol and international coast guard officers flanked us, flashing lights all around, and Denise tottering behind. I didn't understand the hullabaloo. I was still mostly deaf and reliant on sign (my hearing wasn't fully restored for 7 more years), and I remember shrugging to Denise: our mutual language for "What on earth are all these frown ups so upset about?"

And, please, TSQ, tell me that "frown ups" was deliberate! I love it!

I wasn't aware you were mostly deaf. I'm glad there was a solution for you, in the end.

 

[thestrangequark]

Hahahah no I'm drunk. You quoted before I could fix the wine-induced typos!

Yes, I was born with congenital deformities leading to obstructions in both ears. I had over 20 surgeries between the ages of 2.5 and 12 to repair them, and I hear within normal ranges in one ear and nearly normal in the other. I have significant nerve damage in one ear due to a tempanoplasty, but it really only causes problems when the ear needs examining.

Sadly, my mother and sister only ever bothered to try and learn sign, and when I started hearing the emphasis was put on learning hearing English, so I remember very little ASL. I am a cellist and do retain a habit I picked up as a child of resting my neck against the C string tuning peg to feel the frequency, because I couldn't always tell whether I was in tune just by hearing. I also discovered in recent years that I still rely a great deal on lip reading -- a realization I had when I started wearing glasses, and realized I could "hear better" with them on.

 

[Sibyl]

Hahahah no I'm drunk. You quoted before I could fix the wine-induced typos!

Yes, I was born with congenital deformities leading to obstructions in both ears. I had over 20 surgeries between the ages of 2.5 and 12 to repair them, and I hear within normal ranges in one ear and nearly normal in the other. I have significant nerve damage in one ear due to a tempanoplasty, but it really only causes problems when the ear needs examining.

Sadly, my mother and sister only ever bothered to try and learn sign, and when I started hearing the emphasis was put on learning hearing English, so I remember very little ASL. I am a cellist and do retain a habit I picked up as a child of resting my neck against the C string tuning peg to feel the frequency, because I couldn't always tell whether I was in tune just by hearing. I also discovered in recent years that I still rely a great deal on lip reading -- a realization I had when I started wearing glasses, and realized I could "hear better" with them on.

"Hearing" with your eyes makes perfect sense in that context. While I wasn't deaf or nearly so at any time in my life, I have hearing comprehension issues of my own. Sometimes it'll take me quite a few seconds to understand what I just heard or, sometimes I need to rewind what I'm watching to catch it. Background noise is also a huge distraction for me.

I think you should have kept the "frown ups!" Reminds me of Grups from a show I'm sure most of us are fairly familiar with.

As with your cello, I only ever knew if I was playing electric bass out of tune if I could feel the discord. My ears couldn't necessarily pick it up.

 

[thestrangequark]

Right? It's hard to describe, but I can definitely feel intonation better than hearing it. The same goes for singing. I've been told I have a good singing voice, I mean, not solo good, but choir good in that it's pleasant and I can carry a tune. But I do rely much more on the physical sensations than on my ears when singing or playing any instrument. I think this is partly why I never succeeded in the other strings I play (mandolin, guitar, uke) to the same degree as cello: that big, powerful instrument resting against my body was necessary.

I'm glad I can hear, because music is maybe the most important thing in the world to me. I do wish I could remember sign, though. At this point I have less than my five year old vocabulary. I remember random stuff like "whale", "baby", "I want bacon"...

 

[Sibyl]

"I want bacon!"

The only Klingon I know is, "Where do you keep the chocolate?"

 

[Refuge]

I have a double jointed index finger.

You're welcome.

 

[Timewalker]

I own 23 stuffed penguins (plush, not the taxidermy kind).

I also own two stuffed planets (Jupiter and Pluto).

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I have perfect pitch.

When I was in college, one of my music teachers totally lost his shit when he found that out. He started calling people in from other practice rooms to witness it. And I honestly didn't know why it was such a big deal - I thought everyone could do it!

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

@Timewalker, thanks to your post I now want stuffed planets.

 

[Steven P Bastien]

I'm very uncomfortable posting random facts about myself, but thanks to your post I got over it.

 

[Timewalker]

@Timewalker, thanks to your post I now want stuffed planets.

I got them on the ThinkGeek site.

 

[Refuge]

I thought we were on a stuffed planet.

 

[Timewalker]

I thought we were on a stuffed planet.

Last time I looked below the surface, Earth was not made of polyester fibrefill.

It's a shame they didn't make any of the other planets available. I really wanted the whole solar system. I do have a similar-sized plush yellow smiley-face that would make a good substitute for the Sun.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

@Timewalker, I found a Sun plush and all the other planets. I personally like the Moon and Venus the most.

https://www.celestialbuddies.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html

 

[Avro Arrow]

@Timewalker, I found a Sun plush and all the other planets. I personally like the Moon and Venus the most.

Those are awesome!! Must resist urge to spend money I don't have....

 

[Timewalker]

@Timewalker, I found a Sun plush and all the other planets. I personally like the Moon and Venus the most.

https://www.celestialbuddies.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html

Those are cute, but they're not what I have. My Jupiter and Pluto look like the real things except that they're the same size, they have loops at the top for hanging, and I think they're probably bigger than these.

 

[Amaris]

I learned to read at 2 1/2 years of age.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Those are cute, but they're not what I have. My Jupiter and Pluto look like the real things except that they're the same size, they have loops at the top for hanging, and I think they're probably bigger than these.

They're not available anymore, but I'm guessing these are the ones you have?