I've been tagged by the fabulous Jordan Rosenfeld to share 8 random facts about myself. Here are the rules:

1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Here are 8 things that may make me look insane (some of them I've mentioned before in my blog; others are things few people know):

1. I am a salt-o-holic. In fact, I often lick my palm, shake salt on it, and lick it off.

2. As a girl, I regularly wrote letters to Jimmy Carter, asking what I could do to stop pollution.

3. I like to read digital clocks upside down because they often spell words. For instance, I'm always happy when I see the clock at 2:17 because it looks like LIZ upside down and my sister is Elizabeth. I don't like looking at the clock at 11:34 because it looks like HELL (and even though I don't believe in hell, it somehow seems like a bad omen to look at that time.)

4. Speaking of numbers, the number 47 keeps showing up everywhere in my life--I'm usually driving behind a car with 47 in its license plate, etc. I used to think it meant I would die when I was 47, but I've taken it to mean that when I see 47, it means I'm on the right path.

5. When I turn off the radio or close a book, I try not to end on a word that has negative connotations, like war or murder (or hell!) Somehow I worry the energy of that word will hang around me, like a dark cloud. The word doesn't have to be positive--it can be neutral, like "and" or "the" (although positive is nice!)

6. I posed nude for a series of photos in college (it was my friend Christine's senior art project). At the opening of the exhibit, I sat in silence and stillness on a pedestal in the corner of an L-shaped hallway Christine had installed inside the gallery, the walls lined with masks she had created. I was wrapped in a dark cloak so only my face showed, and many people thought I was just another mask. It felt much safer sitting there stoically than milling around the gallery watching people stare at my naked body!

7. When I take my daughter to auditions, things happen. I took her to an audition for a CODEPINK play and ended up on the national CODEPINK staff. I took her to an audition for Annie Get Your Gun, was asked to audition too, and, much to my shock, ended up with the lead role!

8. I was a competitive figure skater when I was young, and have decided that my next book project is going to be a memoirish chronicle of learning to skate all over again. Hopefully my old joints are up to it!

TAG, you're it:
Barbara Card Atkinson
Martha O'Connor
Erasmo Guerra
Greg Walloch
Rachel K. So
Susan Ito
Cati Porter
Hasty Teen Flick

Have fun!