You're it!

I got tagged for memes simultaneously by the wonderful Olga, the Traveling Bra and clever blogger Rich. I will try to comply with both requests in subsequent posts, starting with Rich's.

Rich tagged me for the "7 weird/random things about myself" meme. This is actually the third time I get tagged for this one. The first time I answered; the second time I rehashed my first post. This time around, I gave it some thought and came up with new answers, just because Rich seems like a nice guy and it was lame to recycle the same post again. So here they are, seven random facts about your favorite Boricua in Texas:

1- My grammar pet peeves vary by language. In English, it royally pisses me off to see people confuse affect and effect, both in writing and verbally. It really isn't that hard, people! Go here or here for help sorting it out if you can't do it by yourself.

In Spanish, people who do not follow the rules regarding accents drive me nuts.

2- When I was twenty years old, I voted in my first election. I also worked in that election. As the secretary of my particular area, I helped count votes. Voting college members are trained by and represent one of the three political parties on the island. Each area had one person from each party to ensure all three were represented. We counted paper ballots (which they still use in Puerto Rico) and kept an eye out for errors that would invalidate a vote. Of course, there was always some bickering, and each party's rep tried to get as many of their opponent's votes eliminated as they could. I was an idealist, so I strove for impartiality and tried to look at all votes the same way, no matter what party they were for. Sadly, not everybody behaved in the same way.

3- As a kid, my method of cleaning my room was to shove everything under the bed and make sure the bedspread was long enough to hide it.

4- At age 8 or 9, my parents gave me a tape recorder as a Christmas present. Along with my brother, sister and friends, we used it to record parodies of radio shows. We did soap operas, game shows and mistery hour. What I would give to still have those tapes.

5- I am fickle. Moreover, I am convinced most people are fickle, maybe to varying degrees. It used to bother me that I would fall in love with something, become obsessed with it, then get tired of it. Surely it was my fault that X song, Y website or Z blog no longer interested me. They were still the same I have cherished before, why wasn't I excited anymore? I no longer waste time worrying about this and have come to accept it as normal.

6- I can talk while I burp. My siblings and I used to have competitions to see who could talk the most or the clearest while burping. I beat them often.

7- I am a big believer in massage therapy. Regular massage therapy sessions with a trained and certified professional can help reduce the risk of muscle injuries, lower stress levels and promote a sense of well being. I think these benefits should not be restricted to the people who can afford to pay out of their pocket. Instead, massage therapy should be part of everybody's health maintenance program, covered by health insurance.

And there you have it. Olga's tag requires a longer response, and I need more time to prepare my response.