15 Random Things

I can’t stand talking about cancer at the moment. Still no report from the “alien baby” biopsy. Still no respite from the pain. So no cancer talk from me today. Instead, a day (week? fortnight?) late and a dollar (pound? euro?) short, here are 15 random things about me that some people know and others don’t.

Here’s the loosely held secret that pretty much the whole world knows, made official. I’m a Catholic nun. I used to be in an enclosed monastery where we spent at least eight hours of the day praying and around eight hours in manual or intellectual work. It was a very good life for me, but I longed for more solitude and more time for non-liturgical prayer, which leads us to…

I am what is called an “urban hermit”. These days, not all hermits live in mountain cabins or desert caves. Some are peripatetic, living on the road with no possessions and seeking to glorify their Creator with their lives and in the lives of those they meet. Others live in cities. For the Catholic scholars among us, the new Code of Canon Law in 1983 defines the hermit as someone who desires to “devote their life to the praise of God and the salvation of the world through a stricter withdrawal from the world, the silence of solitude, and assiduous prayer and penance.” (Canon 603)The mode is between the hermit and God with the help of their spiritual companions and superiors. (1)

I am a hopeless pedant. If you didn’t know that before, you certainly do after reading Thing Two.

I like babies. Human babies, furry babies, scaly babies. Pretty much any babies. Baby pandas. Baby gorillas. Baby seahorses. Baby elephants. Baby turtles. Whatever. Babies turn me into a babbling pile of goo.

5. I get bored easily. (That’s why I’m not doing any more “thing” images.)

6. I love language and languages. I love grammar and punctuation. I once got into  a major argument with a friend who was editing an anthology of short stories that included one of mine. The argument went on for a few days and several phone calls. It left us frosty and it took time for us to get back on our old footing. The argument was about a Very Important Comma she wanted to remove from my story.

7. I was once bit by a baby donkey whose name was Salaam. He hadn’t grown into his name yet.

8. I once had a car that was such an unholy wreck that I had to make it new steering linkage out of wire coat hangers and when the gears got stuck I had to get underneath and bang on the linkage with a hammer.

9. I don’t like swimming, especially not getting my face wet.

10. And I cannot abide the taste of licorice. Blech!

11. I forgot to add in Number 6 that I have a theory that prepositions shape our worldview in very deep ways.

12. I believe that the best way to bring about peace and dialogue is by people from different groups working together for a common goal or playing together in a common joy. I don’t care for formal “dialogue” initiatives.

13. Someone needs to invent a cure for cancer that involves eating large quantities of pizza, pasta and meat and drinking good strong coffee and adding ice cream as required for desired results.

14. I used to sing and play folk music and blues and I have performed in some very strange venues, including singing for pizza and beer in a neighborhood tavern.

15. I really love people. This is my greatest joy and my biggest sorrow.

P.S. The “15 Things” image in this post comes from a post called “15 Things Dermatologists Think Hospitalists Need to Know”. I guess that’s my bonus Thing 16: I believe in giving credit wherever I can.

(1)Can. 603 — § 1. Praeter vitae consecratae instituta, Ecclesia agnoscit vitam eremiticam seu anachoreticam, qua christifideles arctiore a mundo secessu, solitudinis silentio, assidua prece et paenitentia, suam in laudem Dei et mundi salutem vitam devovent. (Or ask Auntie Wiki.)