So, Literary Acquisionist tagged me for the eight things meme:

1: Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2: People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.
3: At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names.
4: Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. Even though both of my parents were raised Catholic, neither of them ever so much as mentioned religion to me as a child—the idea of God was simply never raised as a possibility. Religious members of my family have encouraged me to become a Christian, but talking myself into a belief in God has always seemed to me to be a bit like talking myself into a belief in unicorns or fairies. I mean, I probably could do it, if I wanted to, but why would I? (Which kinda sounds like I think believing in God is as silly as believing in unicorns or fairies, which I don’t.)

2. I will always be sad that I’ll never get to live in the Star Trek universe. For some reason, it’s always seemed more real to me than other science fiction. And maybe it’s because of my age, but I always liked DS9 and Voyager better than TOS and TNG.

3. I love green olives, and I eat way too many of them. It’s kind of sad that my favourite food is really just a snack.

4. I pretty much stopped watching television about six years ago, mostly because I couldn’t be bothered to keep up with shows. I’m actually too lazy to watch TV—isn’t that sad? I never turn on the TV anymore, although I will sometimes sit down with someone while they’re watching a show. The consequence of this is that the only show I’ve seen more than two or three times a year in the past six years is America’s Next Top Model, of which both my roommate and my little sister are fans.

5. Lived experience suggests that I have an honest face. Store owners who watch customers suspiciously inevitably dismiss me as a threat. In a line where bags are being searched, I am always the one let through unchecked. When there is a need for someone to look after keys or money or anything like that, I am always the one chosen. I don’t understand why this is. I am a very honest person, in the sense that I would never steal or conceal bombs in my backpack, but there are plenty of similarly honest people who never receive this consistent absence of suspicion.

6. I don’t drink alcohol, because I hate the taste and because the idea of being drunk repels me. Very drunk people make me nervous, because I’m never sure what they’re going to do, and I’m always conscious that they may suddenly throw up.

7. I swore for the first time when I was three years old. My aunt and I were in her car, when I suddenly exclaimed, “Damnit, Marianne, I left my money at the bank!”

8. My favourite book as a toddler has been the subject of library censorship debates, on the grounds that it’s too violent and that it promotes cannibalism. I think Lizzy’s Lion (by Dennis Lee) is one of the best books ever written for young children, especially with Marie-Louise Gay’s fantastic illustrations.

I’m not tagging anyone, because I have no idea if there’s anyone left who hasn’t done it, but if haven’t and you’d like to, consider yourself tagged.