revealing meme

As you know, I am totally enraptured by blogs. Writing them, reading them - doesn't matter. I may be too busy to contemplate tackling a host of useful tasks, but I'm never too busy to blog.

The more I blog, and the more blogs I read, the more fascinated I am by the whole concept of revelation and privacy in cyberspace. Some people hide behind code names, others fearlessly reveal every last detail down to their surname. Whatever tack we take, we all reveal ourselves in part, pulling back the curtain of our souls to the degree we feel safe.

I am fairly open. I use my real name, but I don't provide my surname. I talk about real events and I splash my emotions around for the world to read. I feel as if through my writing, you, my readers, know me. I even feel as if I know you through your writing.

In reality, even the most open of us provide only the narrowest of glimpses into our world. How can we ever fit our whole life into a few small posts? The emotions, events, people, hobbies, food, cleaning, reading, gardening, travels, scenery, smells, relationships, joys, heartaches that make up every minute of our existence can never be fully captured no matter how hard we try. As much as I might think I'm revealing my world, I'm not. Not much.

So here is a meme to fill you in on some of the extra details of me. For those of you as ignorant as me, according to Wikipedia, a meme is a unit of cultural information transferable from one mind to another. Memes can replicate and spread, propogating themselves. This meme has been propogating through several blogs I've read, and now I bring it to you.

Five things you don't know about me:

1. I sing, play the piano and am learning the violin. I do all three averagely, being a self-taught singer who croons in church, a lapsed pianist who quit classical training because of heavy study commitments (looking back, I had no idea what a heavy study commitment was and if I regret anything in my life, it is my decision to not continue piano lessons. I still play in church, but I am a lazy player), and a beginner violinist who picked up the art three years ago when my relationship with Frank appeared doomed and I had angst a-plenty to pour through the strings. Obviously I love music!
2. My most embarrassing moment occurred last year when I set off the 'code black' (personal threat) alarm at work. I had long been fascinated by a small black box on the wall of the room used for nursing seminars. On this particular day, no one was turning up for the lecture I had planned and in my boredom my eyes lit upon the little black box. I gingerly tiptoed over and started fiddling around, my curiousity particularly piqued by the hidden red button which of course I pressed. Nothing happenned, though I was slightly disturbed when I realised the button did not return to its original position. No matter. A graduate eventually arrived, and as we chatted the 'code' beeps blared out across the hospital. "Code Black Margaret Macke room" and slowly it filtered into my consciousness that I had in fact pushed an emergency alarm. Security and staff flew in from everywhere, only to find me red faced and flustered by my foolish mistake.
3. I have visited twenty countries in the world, ranging from North America to Europe to Asia. Travelling seems to be in my blood - this year Frank and I are contemplating a trip to visit his ancestral home in Eastern Europe.
4. I like the house to be tidy, but find it physically impossible to maintain this through every last corner. Consequently I have one room that is in a perpetual state of disorder - any mess from the rest of the house ends up there, waiting for the day when I will create a tidy nook for it.
5. I don't have my ears pierced because I was never allowed, but at the age of 25 I got my nose pierced. Three of us went to a seedy little hovel in London and placed our lives in the hands of a potentially drugged piercing artist. Thankfully she used a gun, so there was little risk of contamination. Initially I felt stunned and wondered if I should be classified as a punk who decorates themselves with chains from ear to nose to navel. Soon I felt freed by the stud. I proved that Christianity and spirituality are not about outward appearance - I can wear a nose stud and talk to God. Impressive! I love my nose stud, I love what it says about me, and I love what it says about God.

So there you have it - five new things you've learned about me, filling in the shape of Cecily. I now pass this along so that you too can reveal a little more of yourself to us.