Honestly

Someone tagged me for this honesty thing.

To paraphrase, the point is to write ten honest, interesting things about yourself, and then tag 7 people you feel write honest blogs.

Because she's like that, I was number 8.

Here's my ten:

1. One of my oldest and closest friends is also the last man I ever slept with. We dated for a few months, broke up, and then became friends over a movie a couple months later.

A few months after that, he moved from California to Michigan. I desperately didn't want him to go, but for purely selfish reasons. Everyone else seemed to be telling him that he shouldn't go and that he would fail. I told him to remember that he had wings, and that it was ok to jump.

On his last night in town, his favorite band was playing at a local bar. I talked him into going, and he talked me into going with him. The next morning I helped him finish loading up, and we both drove away.

I cried the whole drive home to my mother's house. By the time I got home, I was bawling so hard that I couldn't even talk. I walked in the door and crawled directly into mom's lap.

I still hate that he's so far away, but he's done so much and I'm really proud of him.

And packing everything you own into a Paseo and driving 2/3's of the way across the country to start your life over just because you can is still one of the ballsiest moves I've ever seen.

2. I have distinct memories of things that have never happened to me. Including two separate memories of dying.

3. The only time I was ever asked to dance by someone I did not already know was when I was 18. My best friend and I drove to Oakland to go to Gaskell's, and an adorable blonde butch asked me to dance.

At the time, I was still almost terminally shy, so I'm positive I barely spoke or even looked her in the eye, and I'm sure I must have been several shades of beet red. I actually feel bad about it, because I'm sure I acted like an absolute ass and didn't even mean to.

4. I got my driver's license when I was 21 – after having my first child but before I turned 22.

My husband (at the time)(obviously), would take me out to practice driving. He taught MonkeySee, who was just over one, to say "uh-oh" when I got behind the wheel.

Yes. He was real funny.

5. No matter where the bed is in the room, or what side of the bed I'm on, I have to sleep facing out. I can fall asleep in another position, but I will always, always end up facing out.

6. I have never considered myself a "feminist", because I've always felt that feminism creates a mold for women that I have never fit.

7. When I was a senior in high school, my political sciences teacher assigned a term paper. We were to research each political party's stance on certain topics that were important to us, and then choose a political party for ourselves.

I wrote about each party's stance on topics that were important to me. And then declared that, as no party matched my opinions all the way through, I refused to align myself with one.

I did not get a very good grade.

But I have always registered as "decline to state".

8. More than once during the last two years, I have thought about getting a flask to bring to work. I didn't. Partly because I was afraid of the road that would take me down, and partly because I've always been a social drinker.

9. I am more likely to coordinate my eyeliner to my underwear than my clothing.

10. SweetPea asked me to marry her on the side of Highway 160 in front of the Canterbury Lane exit sign. She'd pulled over because she couldn't stand waiting another minute to ask.

These seven people are going to hate me:

1. Linus. We all go through "becoming a man" or "becoming a woman". How many of us blog about it publicly with such frankness? And it doesn't hurt that he's a dish.

2. Kyle. Because I can hear the "grrr!" from here.

3. I may not be holding my breath, but I am still tagging Sinclair.

4. The KibbleGiver. Because he's been slacking.

5. I thought about not doing this. But the WineDog's brand of honesty has gotten her blog, specifically, banned from more servers that anyone on this list.

Really.

6. Remember that Sesame Street song – which of these things is not like the other? That would be this one: Judi. Judi writes one of the most honest blogs I read – even the ugly stuff.

7. And because it appears that she needs blog fodder, I'm tagging Corincredible.