7 Irrelevant Things

Chris tagged me for a meme and since he is British and seems rather brilliant, I find I'm fond enough of him to participate. For a bonus item - since it's not really irrelevant and that is my theme - I'll note that Chris's blog is written at a post-graduate level. (I think I remember seeing that noted.) I checked mine around the same time - I write at the junior high level. So I decided not to post that bit of information, feeling rather embarrassed, but it does explain the interview concerns about my "technical depth." It's obvious to all that while I know (or should know) upper level information, I'd much rather tell stories. Sad, yes?

1. My picture has been in the paper twice. Once in Kindergarten as we celebrated Johnny Appleseed. Then, years later, on the front page after I was named a National Merit Scholar.
1. My hair was better in the second photo.
   
2. But not by much.
   
3. I didn't really learn to cope with the natural curls until college, so I had frizz issues.
2. I have long-standing sleep issues. I used to take far too many drugs ending in "PM" but now use Friends. I pop in a DVD, turn the volume on low and rarely hear the end of an episode. I'm delighted and shocked that this works.
3. I sometimes get sad that I don't get nicknames. I understand, of course. I'm too serious to allow for most people to call me by another other than my name.
1. But I was Katie-did to some people growing up.
2. Mom used to call me Princess, but now the title has gone (rightfully) to Little One. (But sometimes when Little One isn't around, I'm still Princess.) (In a nice way - not the 'you're so spoiled and awful' way.)
3. I was Katie-cat to a single friend in high school.
   
4. I can think of one guy who called me Kate, also in high school. I had a crush on him for more reasons than that, but it did play a role.
   
4. I'm torn between Bloglines and Google Reader. I have accounts for both and different blogs in each. While I like certain features of Google Reader, I started the wonder of reading feeds in Bloglines so I like it too.
   
5. I had an eye appointment a couple of weeks ago.
1. That retinal imaging they do? Awesome.
   
2. I don't travel to the UK to get my eyes checked. But the explanation and images in the link are good.
3. I'm wearing contacts again after more than a year of nearly exclusive time in glasses. I despised the astigmatism-correcting contacts I had before - they hurt. I now have normal contacts again and adore how comfortable they are.
4. But I still wear glasses a lot, especially if I'll be staring at a computer for a long time.
5. Oh! And that 20 ft for 20 seconds trick to rest your eyes? It's magical. When I was pulling data on Tim's computer, I would rub my poor eyes, then stare across the hall and at the shelves on the far wall of Boss's office. It's more than 20 feet away, I think, but I counted seconds as I focused on the group picture that was taken when he won Mentor of the Year. I looked back at Tim's screen and my vision was crystal clear. Amazing!
   
6. I do feel guilty when I forget to do memes. I always mean to! But then I can't think of what to say (which is why I often do these number of things ones - easy enough) or I need more time than I have at the moment I remember them. So if I've neglected a tag from you, I am sorry.
   
7. I haven't put all my seminars on my CV. I didn't know one should do that and now I've given so many that I can't recall them all. Going through old calendars and emails an trying to recall all the big and little talks I've done? Seems hard. Is it really that impressive to list that stuff?

There you go - a junior-high level list of items for your amusement.