I mean, honestly!

An Honest landmark

Ah.. Honest Ed’s. It’s a Toronto landmark, yanno? Most Torontonians at some point or another has bought something or giggle at the many things that Honest Eds sold. While the man himself passed away, his legacy lives on. He was very honest as to who he was and what he sold. And that is sometimes a hard thing to find these days. Apparently a friend of mine, Dolphyngyrl, thinks I need to be MORE honest than I am. She says that I cannot list 10 interesting things but honest things about myself and then find 7 other friends to do the same.

HA!

In the immortal words of Bugs Bunny: “You realize, dis means WAR!”

So, honestly, here are my 10:

1. I LOVE cartoons. If I could, I’d get every uncensored Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck cartoon out there. It would have to have my favourites the Roadrunner/Coyote “Sugar and Spies” cartoon and the Bugs “Barber of Venice”.

1967 Ford GT 500 Shelby Mustang

2. I used to be an avid long distance bicycle soloist tourer (a mouthful!). In 2005, my speedometer clocked a total of over 9,200km (something over 5,700 miles or so), which took me through various parts of Ontario and lots of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). I miss it something fierce. I still have a dream to bike across Canada in memory of my mom.

3. Although I’m rather gentle and believe in following both a buddhist and vegan path, I have an inner “biker” in me. I want a Harley or an OCC custom hog and want to ride it around the continent when retired.

4. I do not have a driver’s license. I have attempted to get it on a couple of occassions but after my last try I’ve held off. I actually drove my father’s ex’s car through the garage, out the back bringing down some of the cement blocks on the car. Not a fun experience. It’s a shame since I’d love to get and rebuild a Ford 1967 Mustang. I think it’d actually be pretty good at it and do like the idea of a car that isn’t driven by a computer but by the owner.

5. I want to be an author of fiction and non-fiction books. I attempted to do a mini-bio/memoire as part of the NaNoWriMo contest but only got about 35,000 words before November 2008 ended. I still have to revise it some and perhaps I could actually finish it. But I have doubts as to how interesting it’d be.

6. I’m afraid of spiders. Like, really afraid of spiders. And snakes. And other crawly things.

7. I love scary movies that include crawly things.

8. I was once a conservative and heavily involved in politics. I actually was President of the Eastern Ontario PC Youth (defunct) and was involved in a variety of campaigns in Ottawa. I don’t remember much other than great keggers on the Hill. I once got so drunk (drinking from 10am until, I think, 2am) on one Canada Day that I don’t remember what happened and alcohol was pouring out of my skin.

Apparently, however, I had or was a great time since someone — who I swear I had never met before — told me how much fun I was. (!!!!!)

9. My very first crush was Vicky Stubbing (Jill Whalen) on The Love Boat. My second was Kelly (Jackylin Smith) on Charlie’s Angels followed by a tie between Tootie (Kim Fields) and Natalie (Mindy Cohn) from The Facts of Life. I never had any boy crushes but wanted to be either Sean Connery’s version of James Bond or Jo from The Facts of Life.

Hrmm…

There’s a pattern there, I know it!

10. My first “love” kiss never happened until I was 37. Kissing K the first time in January 2007 is the first time my whole body shook and I felt an electricity kissing someone. She was the first where I understood what it meant to have Chemistry. And she’s the first I ever utter the M word to. Being a late bloomer has it’s advantages.

Whew!

Who knew, eh, that I had so much more to tell.

Ok. So now I will pick 7 people to play along with this.

My first is Arwen, my “big sister”. I learned the importance of an extended family and Arwen is definitely someone who fits that bill. She’s always been there, in the time we’ve gotten to know each other, for when I needed help and advice. Plus, she’s pretty awesome at doing Tarot readings. Thus far, they’ve been 100% accurate.

Veronique has become a new online friend that I met through twitter. I’ve been blessed by finding commonality and a kind soul to talk to.

Through twitter I met a few others including Shauna, who’s shown me what the world is like for someone who is intersexed. To fully understand this means coming to terms to gender in a different but straightforward way.

Over across the big pond and a few landmasses, I began to read what life is like elsewhere. Being in the US now, I do find that things get kinda US-centric and I wanted to learn about what it’s like to face a transition elsewhere. Emily has been one person that has remained open and offered great insight into that.

Again through twitter, I met another woman who showed me that yes, there is viberant life in Kansas (who knew?). Dana‘s lively insights into her world have been an inspiration for me.

I sometimes miss teaching (not the marking part, the edu-ma-kating part) at the college level. My students were always amazing and I did make friends with a few. Matt actually took a couple of my courses and has done me great pride by doing well in the IT world. He’s done me even more by respecting my transition. I consider myself lucky to call him friend.

And lastly but not least, Wryly (aka Rez-boi). Wryly was one of the first friends I ever made in the Toronto area and felt an immediate kinship with. She’s been a great friend to hang with and always had a moment, even in the most trying of times. Plus she’d listen to me whine non-stop about the same thing over and over and over and over.. and give me honest feedback (football helmet, eh? ROFL!)