Nope. So far no replacement for Bogey

I got tagged by Alexandra for this one and since I am in a bit of an inspirational lull au moment, I thought I would do this. I mean, I’ve done a gajillion of these profile things before, but once more won’t hurt. Feel free to move on if you don’t care more than a fiddler’s fart about what makes me tick. Or, take it on yourself and see what you find out about you. However weird (or scary) you want to make it will rest entirely with you.

The object of the exercise is to list 25 things that are part of you. Maybe you alone, or maybe you and the King of the Belgians. So, here’s is a bit about who/what I am on this dreary February morning.

1.I used to suffer almost chronically from insomnia. I didn’t want to use drugs to deal with it, and using booze to sleep is a dangerous habit to get into. So, I developed a certain meditative ability to literally rid my mind of all extraneous thought. It works about 80 percent of the time, which is pretty good.

2. Episodes of Cold Case almost invariably make me feel weepy at the end. The stories are just plain damn sad.

3. Alexandra mentioned having synesthesia. Me too. Consequently, I see days of the week, months of the year, numbers and letters in color. In her case, she also hears in color. I don’t, but I can understand it. I also always dream in color.

4. I got my two best university grades in Slavonics Studies courses, both firsts. I speak no Russian and have never had even a slight desire to visit Russia, with the exception of St. Petersburg, probably. I’d love to see the Hermitage. In one class I sat next to an absolutely stunning and sophisticated and very smart older coed who professed to be a communist. For some reason that was an aphrodisiac for me and made her remote high-cheekboned aloofness even more erotic. She then invited me to go away with her for a weekend and I chickened out. Youth truly is wasted on the young.

5. I have been to one full opera (the lead was Joan Sutherland) and one full ballet in my life. That was enough. But I am happy to have had the experiences in both cases.

6. I have dreams about former cars I’ve owned. I go into a remote garage somewhere and there is an old Ian vehicle. For some reason I have a key for it. I fire it up and it starts immediately. I am delighted and prepare to take it home with me.

7. Speaking of dreams, when I was about 14 I kept a small flock of livestock fowl, chickens, ducks and geese. I still have dreams about them and I am wracked with guilt because I haven’t tended to their needs for so long and feel I must go and see to them, collect eggs and clean out their house. I get to them and they always seem to be OK.

8. One of the first things I do when I arrive at a new place is to get a local newspaper. It gives me the pulse of the place, the politics, the issues and so forth.

9. I studied the violin when I was a kid. I was never very good at it and gave it up after a couple of years. I now regret not being able to play an instrument, since I love music and would love to be able to make my own.

10. I’ve always believed that if I’ve had a romantic interest in somebody that the other person feels the same way about me. In other words, they have given off vibes indicating they are approachable. I still believe from experience that is true about 80 percent of the time

11. I have significant acrophobia. I detest heights and even find it difficult to watch films of high steel workers and rock climbers. Ironically, flying doesn’t bother me at all, even though being in a tall building does. If I am higher than the fifth floor I cannot go out on a balcony.

12. I’m not very mystical. I don’t really believe in fortune-telling, astrology and other forms of soothsaying. I’d like to, but I don’t.

13. Yet, I do believe in the power of positive thinking. I believe positive thoughts attract positives, and negative thinking leads to negative results. I honestly believe there is a cellular thing in all of this and I have seen it happen with myself and others.

14. Is there life on other planets? Of course there is. Indeed, if we accept the premise the universe is infinite in its magnitude, then there is life on an infinite number of planets. I don’t believe for a second we are alone in the universe. Why are we so arrogant as to assume that?

15. That said, I’m not much of a sci-fi buff. Fantasy tales in general leave me cold, for the most part. But, I am intrigued by the concept of time-travel and time-warps. Such sagas will set my imagination soaring.

16. I haven’t danced around the house in years. I used to, whether I was alone or not. Then it stopped. Why is that? It’s sort of like when children run for the sheer exuberance of it and then, in adulthood they don’t. Why do we stop?

17. Even though my financial advisor at my bank is easy on the eyes, charming and intelligent, I still hate banks and everything they stand for. Same with insurance companies.

18. I can say without fear of divine retribution that I have never stolen anything in my life. I think I was always afraid I would get caught. I once years ago ‘borrowed’ a guy’s wife. It’s a long story and not one I’m proud of, but I didn’t steal her.

19. I don’t trust guys who part their hair down the middle. It shows an inability to commit.

20. Pregnant women should not wear bikinis at the beach. Just a personal esthetic bias.

21. If a woman bends over and shows a great deal of cleavage all heterosexual men wiil look. So will a surprising number of heterosexual women.

22. I have never watched an episode of ER all the way through. I don’t find illness and injury to be entertainment. I feel the same way about House, though Hugh Laurie is superlative. No, give me old-fashioned crime saga any day.

23. And, while on the topic, I still miss Jerry Orbach’s Lenny.

24. I still think Billy Bob Thornton’s Slingblade is one of the best movies ever.

25. They haven’t yet found acceptable replacements for Humphrey Bogart, Spencer Tracy or Bob Mitchum.

Rats. Just when I was getting on a roll I completed my 25. As I said, no tagging here, but it’s another one of those stream-of-consciousness relatively easy exercises. Try it, if so inclined.