A Quick Siesta From Politics

It's raining in Tucson, snowing on Mount Lemmon, and I don't wanna do anything today! In this joyous spirit of slacktitude, I'm gonna respond to James' tagging for the seven factoids.

These are the rules:

1) Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2) Share 7 facts about yourself.
3) Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
4) Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I'm addicted to live music. I can't get enough of it and make sure that I get my fix at least once or twice a month. I think it's due to the alto saxophone playing years. Seeing a group or artist jam out gives me a rush. Last night was Ozomatli on Ice - my heart will be smiling for awhile now.
   
2. I meditate frequently. It's the only way I know how to keep my arteries from popping from the high blood pressure that spikes whenever I read the news. Taking cues from mystics in various traditions, it has helped me control my anger and learn to be more patient. This is obviously a road that will be traveled for a long, long time as I have much work to do...
3. Cooking relaxes me. The smells, the textures, the tastes, the challenge of tweaking a recipe to make the food shine - I love it all. While I don't cook as much as I would like, because it's just me and I have no qualms about eating leftovers for a few days, the evenings that I do whip up something in the kitchen are among my favorite of the week.
4. The neurotic Virgo in me never stops counting. An example: I try very, very hard not to look at my alarm clock before I fall asleep because I end up unleashing a torrent of insomnia by calculating the exact time of sleep I'll be getting for the night. If I doze off and wake up, the vicious cycle repeats itself. For long drives, I do the math for distance and speed to figure out when I'll get somewhere. It's mostly for fun, but the blame for this lies squarely with my high school physics teacher who told us to try it one day.
5. I get what we call in spanish - ansias (or ansiedad if you're a linguistic purist) - prior to big events. My private journal for the week prior to Columbine and 9/11, as two examples, reads out of an episode of the Twilight Zone. It stems from an inner voice that I've learned to be aware of, and occasionally embrace, that I discovered in high school and later in college when there were seismic encounters with spirituality among my family. On one hand it freaks me out, on the other I just shake my head and wonder if I need a good cocktail of meds.
6. Lightning freaks me out. I'm sure this has to do with the fact that five bolts have come within 30 yards over the years.
7. I can identify most beers based on taste. This technique can always use more practice, though. Heh. One time I was eating at Chuy's with my cousin and when my second round arrived, I told her that it was [insert name here, I can't recall], she mocked me in jest....until the bill arrived and it revealed that I was correct. She'll never doubt my powers again. :)

Passing this exercise in procrastination and frivolity over to Family Man, Jen, Nancy, janinsanfran, Louis, brownfemipower and Janet. Looking forward to learning more about you all.

Open Thread! Open Thread! Open Thread!