I'm answering the meme -BTW, my first ever

1. I'm clumsy. When teenagers grow legs and arms that are too long for their bodies but later overcome the dropping/bumping/spilling stage, well, I've never overcome it. I've spilt coffee on important documents (not mine), dropped a tray of newly made sandwiches into the sand on the beach and a couple of other exploits my friends and family keep reminding me of.

2. I cry very easily. There are movies, books, plays that are meant to make you cry. I cry with those but then I also cry with the NatGeo documentary when the baby crocodile gets lost, with the last episode of a crummy TV show that I hated or with a song that I've heard a thousand times.

3.Related to #2, I cried like a year when my first cat -Ramses- died and felt miserable for even longer. I must tell you that I was +not+ a kid. My father-in-law had died the year before and I didn't shed a tear, but I guess that tells more about my feelings for my father-in-law.

4. I talk to my dog and to my cat. Nothing weird so far, mostly everybody does. The funny thing is that they talk back to me in perfectly personalized voices and we can hold elaborate conversations about their feelings and opinions. Occassionally, I shift into feline and exchange some miaus (in Spanish) with Angelica.

5. I bite the skin around my nails (waves to Dawn). The thing is that because of my job, I can't keep my hands discreetly hidden when the stress meter hits the top. Not very pleasant.

6. I have a foul mouth. Argentine Spanish has a wealth of genital-based swear words. I use them all. Frequently. Some occassions are special for the choice ones (driving, for instance. Or getting something eaten up by the hard drive when almost finished)

7. I hate throwing things away. The disposable ones too. So I try to reuse/recycle/pass on everything. At present I have like 120 empty jars in the backyard and I'm trying to find somebody who makes home made jam. Anybody interested?

8. Because I'm Argentine, and Argentines obssess with stylish clothes, I'm not quite fun when choosing what to wear. I have one exception: socks. So I may be wearing nice black pants, with nice black shoes and a nice woolen sweater, I sit down and cross my legs and a pair of red and orange socks with bright green clover leaves and purple dots peeks through (and no, they don't match with anything)

9. My favourite animal is the dragon (that's why I've never sympathized with Turin). When my youngest daughter was in the 6th grade, she went with the school to Mendoza where there are Indian rock paintings. She bought me there an orange T-shirt with a snake-like beast in the back that would have done Glaurung honour and she told her teachers and classmates that she was choosing that because "Dragons are my Mum's favourite animal". I think I lost some of their respect then.

10. I drive like a maniac. OK, everybody in Buenos Aires drives like a maniac but I'm not an example of slow driving. Also see #6.

I must add that I checked this list with my husband and in his opinion I am leaving out my weirdest: my perpetual obsession (read, love) with the Silm and all that pertains to it (specially Elves, particularly Feanorians, even more specially Maglor) but what does he know, the silly man?