Karen tagged me for a meme that asks me to list six of my quirks. I decided to ask Az the Husband to list them for me. So according to the man I married, here are six quirky things about me:
- I get embarrassed for fictional characters. Sometimes when we watch tv shows together, I have to leave the room. Az finds this funny every time.
- I can have entire conversations while sleeping. Az says as long as he keeps his questions short, I will answer. I have no memory of this, but I don’t think he is using it against me.
- I have an almost unnatural love of parsnips (according to HIM - I think my love of parsnips is exactly what it should be).
- I know more of the songs from Annie Get Your Gun than any woman should, and will break out into “You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun” at random moments.
- I utterly refuse to participate in competitive sports of any kind. No amount of pressure will change this.
- Az claims (FALSELY, I believe) that I have disdain for Southerners, but I married one anyway, and this must say something about my personality. On this issue, I think Az is blowing smoke. As far as I can tell, my so-called “disdain” consists of my insistence that “pin” and “pen” are two different words, the Civil War was about slavery, and women should say what they mean and mean what they say. And since Az definitely benefits from that last one, he should stop complaining.
Now I should tag some people. I’ll tag Melanie, Jeana, Chaotic Joy and Sue. List six quirky things about yourselves, if you are so inclined. If one of your quirks happens to be a disdain for memes, then never mind.

I get embarrassed for tv characters too! I keep a book handy and just read until the embarrassing part is over it.
I hear you on the “pin” and “pen” thing. My husband is from West Virginia (not technically the South, but close enough to have a slight accent), and he can’t even hear the difference between the two words.
LOVED #6. (Is that even a real sentence? I think not.) Totally made me laugh. I live smack-dab in the middle of Yankee territory, but I know enough Southerners to know you speak truth. (Sorry Az. No offense intended.)
Oh man. I get embarrassed for fictional characters too! I actually say it out loud, “I’m so embarrassed for them.” And I heartily agree that women should say what that mean and mean what they say. Don’t blame anyone but yourself if you’re not being up front.
I CANNOT WATCH PEOPLE GET EMBARASSED. Not AT ALL. I’m forever leaving the room during The Office.
Parsnips, eh? You and my mom.
Ha! “Pin” and “pen” ARE different words. I agree.
You should have Az take this quiz (and take it yourself) and he’ll understand that he probably has an accent. Well, we all do. It’s simply a matter of which one…
http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have
Everybody knows “pin” and “pen” are two different words. They’re just pronounced the same, is all.
Having made the above assertion, I do want to clarify that, while a Southerner by birth and upbringing, I not only think the Civil War was about slavery, but also have a huge, huge historical crush on Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. NOM NOM NOM. I just love gifted rhetors who also happen to display uncommon valor on the battlefield. Must be why I like Odysseus so much. And Martin Luther King Jr.
…where was I? Oh, yes. Have you heard the “Cringe” episode of This American Life? It’s hilarious, and a delightfully exquisite torture for those of us who squirm on behalf of fictional characters.
Hi, my name is Ewe and I’ve been known to get embarrassed for fictional characters.
After reading this post today, here is what I came across in my reading for my linguistics class:
“Dialects of English show different phonemic patterns as well. In southern U.S. varieties, for example, the vowels in pin and pen sound the same, but in northern varieties they are different.”
I just thought that was funny that I came across this today.
#2 My family makes an event of conversing with me after I fall sleep on the couch on movie night. Apparently, I am quite entertaining. Several times they have awakened me with their laughter.
Unlike Az, they have been known to use my sleep discussions to their definite advantage.
#6 When we were small, my sister tried to pe-uhn me down and write on my face with a pe-uhn. (Perhaps we’re just a little quirky.)
There is no such thing as too much love for parsnips.
I don’t get embarassed, but I cry like a baby while watching TV all the time. Last night we watched “Facing the Giants” for the first time and I sat with a box of tissues in my lap. Sad, huh? Thanks for sharing. K
I just had to mention that my husband is also a southerner, a deep in the heart of dixieland southerner, only at a young age he simply decided that he was not going to have a southern accent. He was often asked, in his own hometown of Montgomery, where he was from. His parents were not originally from the south so that undoubtedly helped. But I assure you that everything that may imply about him as a person is true: he is stubborn, persistent, consistent and dogmatic.
Not to say that he doesn’t have his endearing qualities. Southerners are true masters of spoken metaphors; and he also can’t help but leak an accent in certain words: “forward” is “fowr-ward” unless you put him on the spot and he focuses on remaining accentless.
I was with you completely on #1 and #2, but you lost me on #3. You can have my parsnips. You’re welcome!
You got me back on #5. Even when we play board games, we keep playing until everyone is “home”. I know competition is supposed to be good for you, but I just don’t see the point.
Of course “pen” and “pin” are two different words. Even in the South we learn about homonyms. Like “are” and “our”.
I’m thinking up the quirky post. My husband says there’s a problem, being limited to only six.
Oh - Numbers 1 and 2 - I do the same things! And I hate competitive sports. HATE.
I answered the tag. Bless you for giving me something to blog about. My mind is a vast, empty wasteland right now.
I also get embarrassed for fictional characters. Especially Anne Shirley, I would cringe with mortification on her behalf all of the time.
My mom would break into songs from Annie Get Your Gun too.
And then I spent a semester as the accompanist for a musical theatre class in university. I now prefer to break into snippets from the Simple Joys of Maidenhood from Camelot now, or sing the witch’s song from Into the Woods.
“What did I clearly say?
Children must listen..
What were you not to do?
Children must learn…”