orichalcum

The whole meme thing always reminds me of a story that my husband tells about a high school graduation party. He wasn't drinking beer, and a fairly drunk friend kept encouraging him too, finally saying, "But it's peer pressure, man! Peer pressure!" Needless to say, this tactic failed. :)

Nevertheless, here we go. Besides, it's a good distraction from the mildly horrific dream in which ladybird97 and I were running another Quest game, and in the middle, an incompetent newbie tried to throw a lasso to grab the villain, succeeded in also winding a loop of rope around my neck, and kept pulling. (I suspect this was a dream-way of rationalizing my sore throat.)


1. What is your middle name?

Keyssar, my mother's last name, and almost my first name, due to a family tradition in my dad's family that gives the mother's last name to the eldest child. My mom refused to name a child Keyssar Strong, however, for which I am thankful.

2. If you had been born the other sex, did your parents tell you what your name would have been?

Aaron Keyssar Strong, after Aaron Burr, our ancestor. Maybe even Aaron Burr Keyssar Strong.


4. If you were to ever have a child or more children, what would you name them?

Still very much up for discussion, but K(c)atha(e)rine for a girl, Aidan for a boy are currently popular choices. My husband's developed a sudden liking for Fritz.

5. Most people know their mother's maiden name, but do you know your grandmothers' maiden names?

Atkinson and Stiven. My paternal great-grandmothers' names were Robbins and Pertschuk.

6. Did you have an imaginary friend as a child?

Not a specific one, but my stuffed animals were certainly sentient, especially Jenny, my wise old polar bear.

7. What was the name of your first pet?

My dad's allergic to fur and feathers, but I loved my aunt's golden retriever Kiki.

8. What was the name of the first person you ever kissed?

Bryan, end of sophomore year of high school, his Senior Prom. It was lousy. I didn't learn to appreciate French kissing until college.

9. What was the name of the school you attended as a child?

The Learning Tree, Ecole Bilingue de Parc Monteau, briefly "home"-schooled by my parents while we traveled around the world when I was 9, and then La Jolla Elementary.

10. What was/is the name of your English teacher(s) in high school?

Same as retsuko, for obvious reasons. Mrs. Dawson, elderly, but also fond of crossword puzzles. Dr. Mac, who I've really got a lot of pent-up resentment towards, and then Mrs. Lipton. I often find it amazing that I'm supposed to be a good academic writer, given that I _never_ had a decent English teacher from junior high through high school. I blame this entirely on my parents' psychotic requirement that both of them would read and edit every draft of every paper I wrote until college. (They still wanted to see them in college, but I sent them relatively infrequently.)

11. Do you name your vehicles? What are the name(s)?

The Volvo, currently oelker1's car, never had a name per se, but we often referred to it as the Bolbo, because we had it first in Spain, where the Castilian accent turns the Vs into Bs.