Playing tag: Six random things about me

I was tagged (by Kevin K at Rumproast) to play the "Six Random Things About Me" game. I'm kinda late in responding, but I had a turkey to brine, various experimental side dishes to concoct and warring factions of relatives to keep separated. At any rate, here goes:

1) I was the cause of a shot-gun marriage between a hippie and a redneck. (It lasted for several years – a miracle!)

2) During a drunken midnight stroll through Salzburg, Austria, I once trapped a poor little hedgehog in my purse, took it upstairs, woke up my traveling companions and made them look at it and then freed the traumatized critter in the alley where I found it.

3) I was a punk rocker – one of the few in my tiny high school in my tiny hometown. I once fashioned a tunic out of a black Hefty bag and wore it to school to display my “the world is garbage, including me” punk weltschmerz. People assumed my family had lost its possessions in a fire and offered to donate clothes.

4) I am terrified of flying and only do so when compelled by business or family obligations. When I do have to fly, I must place the palm of my right hand on the fuselage while boarding the plane, even if it means shifting babies and bags around to perform the ritual. If the people behind me get antsy about the wait, tough shit; I’m saving their lives too.

5) I fucking HATE pickles. If I bite into a pickle in a supposedly pickle-free sandwich, I react exactly as I would if I bit into a cat turd: I spit it out and run to the bathroom and wash my mouth out repeatedly, then scrub my tongue with a toothbrush until it hurts.

6) I’m a really excellent cook and entirely self-taught. My mom and grandmothers can’t cook worth a damn, and my dad apparently views all residences as restaurants in which he is the sole, prized customer. He actually rattles ice cubes in a glass to indicate he wants more tea. I pretend not to hear it.

I now tag the following unfortunate souls: Icebergwedge, J at J-Two-O, Gimme at What Did They Do Now, Aimai at If I Ran the Zoo, Evan at Break the Terror, Noah at The November Blog. Sorry, guys.

And I am posting the rules as required:

THE SIX RANDOM THINGS RULES:

Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Write six random things about yourself.
Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.