The “Ten Things About Me” meme that everybody is doing sounds fun. In the meme, people post 10 facts about themselves, 8 of which are true and 2 are false. And people guess which are false. The catch is that you have to guess both falsehoods at once. Feel free to give your own lists in the comments and I’ll try to guess.

My list:

1. I’m busy planning my wedding to the man of my dreams.

2. The name I use to refer to myself in my own mind is El.

3. I got baptized last year.

4. I met my husband online.

5. I kept ladybugs as pets when I was a kid.

6. My best friend voted for Trump.

7. I haven’t looked up any of my exes on Facebook, not even my ex-husband.

8. I have never seen an episode of the Game of Thrones.

9. My favorite place on this continent is Washington DC.

10. I’m seeing my psychoanalyst on Fridays.

70 responses to “10 Things About Me”

  1. David Bellamy Avatar
    David Bellamy

    #1 and #10 are false. Were we supposed to send our answers via email??

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      No, just leave them in the comments.

      I’ll announce the winner shortly. 🙂

      Like

  2. anon Avatar
    anon

    I would have to guess #1 and #6. I’m pretty sure you’re legally married already, and I can’t see you doing a ceremony after the fact or for a vow renewal (maybe as an exercise for mental health?). I can imagine you having friends who voted for Trump (because who doesn’t), but not your best friend.

    Like

  3. David Bellamy Avatar
    David Bellamy

    My statements:
    1. I have operated a nuclear reactor.
    2. I was born while FDR was President.
    3. I have parachuted from an airplane, but I am not a member of the caterpillar club.
    4. Despite an impaired sense of rhythm, I have danced in several ballet performances.
    5. I don’t use notes when I lecture.
    6. I read slowly.
    7. I compose mathematical articles directly in LaTeX.
    8. Unlike most student pilots, it took me 40 hours of dual instruction before I soloed.
    9. I do not like driving a car with an automatic transmission.
    10. My all time favorite movie is Catwoman. Its mythic structure is amazing.

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      Interesting. Hmmm, let me see. 3, 5 and 7 are untrue.

      Like

      1. David Bellamy Avatar
        David Bellamy

        Good! Numbers 3 and 7 are untrue. The others are true. When I made the incorrect comment that three were false, I had forgotten what I wrote on number 9.

        Like

        1. Clarissa Avatar

          I’m attentive to my readers. 🙂

          Like

  4. xykademiqz Avatar

    1 and 8 are false.

    Like

  5. David Bellamy Avatar
    David Bellamy

    My apologies… three of mine are false.

    Like

    1. David Bellamy Avatar
      David Bellamy

      Not editing well today. Only two are false, as required.

      Like

  6. Stringer Bell Avatar
    Stringer Bell

    9&10.

    The wording of 1 is vague. What if you were planning a wedding, but weren’t busy planning a wedding?

    Like

    1. Stringer Bell Avatar
      Stringer Bell

      That was my inner David Bellamy speaking. I love how precise he is with language, as any mathematician should be!

      Like

    2. Clarissa Avatar

      I don’t play such little tricks. If it’s false, it’s completely false. So, for instance, I wouldn’t do “10 is false because I’m seeing him on Thursdays and not on Fridays”! That would spoil the fun.

      Like

  7. Clarissa Avatar

    Nobody guessed so far. 🙂

    I’m very inscrutable.

    Like

    1. Shakti Avatar
      Shakti

      Nobody guessed any false statements?

      Like

      1. Clarissa Avatar

        Somebody guessed one but nobody guessed both at once.

        Like

  8. el Avatar
  9. cliff arroyo Avatar

    I’m gonna go with 4 and 10 being false (based on what might be memories of what I’ve read here)….

    Like

  10. Clarissa Avatar

    No winner yet. 🙂

    Like

  11.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    I am a history major.
    Ice cream is my greateset weakness when it comes to junk food.
    Part of my family hails from New England.
    I am not into garish fashions, my style is a simple, classic look.
    I have already decided who I want the Democratic nominee to be in 2020.
    I have been reading this blog for about 10 years.
    I have never been in a romantic relationship.
    My parents are atheists.
    I’m somehwere between the ages of 18-25.
    I have been sexually harrassed by male coworkers.


    https://polldaddy.com/js/rating/rating.js

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      This is easy. 5 and 6 are false. I’ve only been blogging for 8,5 years.

      Like

      1. Demotrash Avatar
        Demotrash

        “About” was a very rough. Let’s pretend I said about 8 years

        Like

      2. Demotrash Avatar
        Demotrash

        *rough estimate

        Like

      3. Demotrash Avatar
        Demotrash

        I’ll let you know the right answer when you give us yours! I feel like almost every combination has been guessed!

        Like

    2. Demotrash Avatar
      Demotrash

      Wow, I typed numbers and they didn’t show up. Sorry everyone.

      Like

    3. Demotrash Avatar
      Demotrash

      Correct answers: 3&4

      Like

      1. Clarissa Avatar

        So? The nominee?? Give us the name, the name!

        Like

        1. Demotrash Avatar
          Demotrash

          Steve Bullock, governor of Montana. Don’t know if he can through the primary though. But I’ll vote for whoever the nominee is of course, even if it’s Bernie 😉

          Like

  12. el Avatar
  13. Clarissa Avatar

    And still no winner…

    Like

  14. Shakti Avatar
    Shakti

    No idea.

    2 & 5, for fun.

    Like

  15. Pen Avatar
    Pen

    1 and 4?

    Like

  16. DWeird Avatar
    DWeird

    6&10?

    Like

  17. DWeird Avatar
    DWeird

    There are only 90 possibilities here, and no policy against excessive comments yet. 😀 We can get this cracked in an evening if we put our fingers to it!

    Like

    1. Stringer bell Avatar
      Stringer bell

      45, not 90.

      Like

  18. Stringer bell Avatar
    Stringer bell

    3&9

    Like

  19. EQ84 Avatar
    EQ84

    I’ll say… 6 and 8.

    Like

  20. Spiderbaby Avatar
    Spiderbaby

    I’ll go with 4 and 7.

    Like

  21. Clarissa Avatar

    Sorry, no winner yet.

    Like

  22. Lucy Avatar
    Lucy

    I’ll say 3 and 8

    Like

  23. Stringer bell Avatar
    Stringer bell

    10 has to be 100% false.

    Like

  24. xykademiqz Avatar

    Please put us out of our misery! Which ones are false?

    Like

  25. m Avatar
    m

    8 and 10?

    Like

  26. el Avatar
    el

    2 + 10

    OR

    3+10

    Like

  27. Evelina Anville Avatar
    Evelina Anville

    I’m back after a long hiatus! And this is a fun one to come back to. I’m saying 8 and 9. I think you like Montreal best? And maybe Chicago. And I don’t think I’ve ever heard you mention Game of Thrones. Everything else seems true. 🙂

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      It’s great to have you back, Evelina! It wasn’t the same without you.

      Like

  28. anon Avatar
    anon

    Okay, now we’re in puzzle territory. Based on your previous comments of “a person got one, but not both” (assuming that means not “two people got one, but not both”, but that is an assumption) and “still no winner yet” but no specification on if they got at least one correct, I’ve done process of elimination. It has to be one of 2,3,4,5 and one of 6,8,9 (super helpful, I know), but not 2+9 or 3+9. We have a 1 in 10 chance now people! (Assuming someone hasn’t gotten it in the latest handful of comments.) I’m going to with 2+8?

    Like

  29. E (The Third Glance) Avatar

    7 and 9? (I think you’ve said you love Montreal). I’m sure I could figure this out by searching various keywords in your blog history, but really, where’s the fun in that? 🙂

    Like

  30. Anon Avatar
    Anon

    9 and 10 are false.

    Like

  31. Demotrash Avatar
    Demotrash

    5&9?

    Like

  32. Fie upon this quiet Avatar
    Fie upon this quiet

    I think 3 and 9 are false.

    Here are mine:

    I have a degree in music.
    I have been to Europe three times, but I’ve never been to New York City.
    I’m an internationally published writer.
    The first time I smoked a cigarette was when I was 6 six years old.
    I used to be extremely religious.
    I have unfriended more than fifty people on FB because of politics.
    I’m presenting at a conference in Hawaii in November this year.
    I’ve visited the Emergency Room twice in the last six years, thinking I was probably going to die.
    I met my husband online before dating sites were a thing.
    I dated an Indian man for a year in college and he broke up with me to marry a women he had only met once.

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      It’s easier for me because I read your FB. 🙂 But it’s still not super easy. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 are definitely true. So I’ll go with 1 and 10.

      Like

      1. Fie upon this quiet Avatar
        Fie upon this quiet

        😊 Actually 4 and 6 are incorrect. I smoked my first cigarette when I was 9, not 6. And I’ve only unfriended about ten people after the election, because I pretty much am only friends with reasonable (non-Trump supporting) people. The closer-Trump supporters eventually outed themselves, and I unfriended them.

        The rest are true. Are any of them surprising?

        Like

        1. Fie upon this quiet Avatar
          Fie upon this quiet

          Ugh. Should say closet-Trump supporters.

          Like

        2. Clarissa Avatar

          It is surprising that you’ve never been to NYC. And that you got the funding for Hawaii.

          But how did you meet your husband online do long ago?

          Like

          1. Fie upon this quiet life Avatar
            Fie upon this quiet life

            Well, after the Indian fellow dumped me to marry a woman he’d met once, I went on a sort of crazy depression phase, got into another bad relationship, then out of it, then lost all my friends as a result of leaving that relationship. My only friend left was in the military in Arizona, and I’d known him since first grade. Back then, in 1999, long distance was still an expensive problem, so he introduced me to Yahoo Messenger and said we could talk on there. I felt stupid only having one friend on Messenger, though, so I searched Yahoo profiles for people to talk to and met several women and men through that by looking for people who were interested in similar things. Hubby was one of those people, so we chatted on messenger and really liked each other. He was living in Michigan, and I was living in Indiana. I asked if he’d like to meet up and hang out the following weekend. He said yes, and since then (October 16th, 1999), we’ve been together ever after.

            Like

            1. Fie upon this quiet life Avatar
              Fie upon this quiet life

              The story of my first date with hubby is fairly interesting, too. I wrote a short story about it. It’s in queue to be published by on online litmag called Mused, but I’m not sure of the date yet.

              Like

              1. Clarissa Avatar

                He must feel super psyched to be a character in a published work.

                Like

  33. Pen Avatar
    Pen

    5 and 9?

    Like

  34. Clarissa Avatar

    We have a winner!!!

    Details to follow in a new post!

    Like

  35. Dreidel Avatar
    Dreidel

    As long as we’re playing this game…

    I delivered a baby on an airplane en route from Sigonella to Naples.
    I’m an internationally published writer.
    I was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease 25 years ago.
    I was born while FDR was President.
    My first pet was a snake given to me by two angry nurses.
    I can see through camouflage patterns that would fool 90% of the people on this website.
    I almost got married many years ago.
    I voted for a Democrat exactly once in my life.

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      I think the snake and the almost got married part are not true. I can’t imagine you even accidentally considering marriage.

      Two and ten i know for sure are true.

      Like

      1. Dreidel Avatar
        Dreidel

        Good guessing — you’re half-right.

        I would NEVER consider getting married. Every place I was ever stationed in the military, I was always the only single senior officer on base — one wise man in a village of idiots.

        The snake story is true. To be such a nice guy, somehow I’ve managed to make some people VERY mad along the way.

        I was born while Truman was President, exactly one week after FDR died.

        Like

  36. Pen Avatar

    Here’s mine!

    I’ve been an undergrad for the past six years.
    I once wrote a play that was staged.
    I was born during a blizzard.
    I’ve had a stalker.
    I’ve never had a boyfriend.
    My first job was wearing an Elmo costume.
    I got my license last year.
    I once spent an most of an entire summer reading research papers.
    I was born with pneumonia.
    I started reading before kindergarten.

    Like

    1. Clarissa Avatar

      These are not easy. Ok, I’ll try but it’s mostly just random guessing.

      Blizzard and Elmo aren’t true.

      Like

      1. Pen Avatar

        Those two are actually true! I was born during a blizzard in which the snow reached the roof of my family’s mobile home. We moved from there when I was three for non-snow-related reasons.

        My first job was as a character actor. I dressed as Elmo and posed for photos with kids. I was also the Easter bunny one year (it was hot, so I sat the whole time, and a lot of people thought it wasn’t a costume but a giant stuffed rabbit. I had fun scaring some young couples).

        On the other hand, I don’t have a license, and I didn’t really start reading before kindergarten. Rather, I listened to books on tape and memorized them to the point where I would “read” them–and include the chime to turn the page.

        Like

        1. Clarissa Avatar

          You are even more mysterious than I am, it seems.

          Like

  37. Z Avatar

    Totally OT, on the anti-literature post above (I am not a passworder) I have realized I am in your situation: nobody wants to teach grammar in context, and nobody understands that you need exposure to language to acquire it, and everyone wants more and more grammar exercises and explanations so that people “learn the language, so as to then later be able to use it.” This is an attitude that was considered old-fashioned many decades ago and that has come back in a super-virulent form. AAARGH.

    (It’s neoliberalism–content-gree learning.)

    Like

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A conservative literary critic and college professor