Playing Demon

In Japan, there is a game little kids play called Oni gokko--literally, playing demon. When I first went to Japan, my then little cousins said lets play. I didn't really know what the game entailed, but it sounded interesting so I said, yeah, why not--in Japanese, of course.

Well, I soon learned that the demon designate had to chase the others around in an attempt to catch them. Once someone was caught, that person became the demon and had to catch someone to pass on the "demon" label. Hmmm... After running about for a few minutes, I realized that I was playing a game of Tag. But instead of being "it" the person was a "demon", which kinda seemed a bit more colorful and tangible, unlike the amorphous and abstract "it" that one became after being tagged.

Well, thanks to Starberri, I am "it"--or as the Japanese would say, the "demon". Yes, she has tagged me again. Grrrrr.....

So here are the rules:

6 Weird Things About ME:

THE RULES: Write ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to choose 6 people to be tagged in turn.

Well, some of the weird things about me are usually gross things, so if you are one of my students then you can stop reading NOW. If you know me personally and are embarrassed to hear gross things about me, then you can stop reading NOW. If you know me in any fashion and enjoy reading about gross things, then be my guest and READ ON, although I think that if you do know me, you might already know most of these things. You have received fair warning.

1. I was Dagwood Bumstead in a previous life. You'd have to know the comic strip, Blondie, to understand the reference, Dagwood Bumstead was Blondie's husband who was always rushing in the morning, running to catch the bus and ultimately late for work. That, as M and many of my students will attest to, is me. I'm always--everyday--rushing to the station to catch the Metro. I reach my office out of breath, gather up my books, and run to class. I worked with a girl back in the 70s who once said that she could imagine me as a college professor rushing across campus to class. She must have been clairvoyant.
2. If I don't have my daily constitutional, I cannot leave the house. I don't know about you, but I would rather not sit on a toilet seat on which total strangers (plural) have placed their bare ass. Maybe the guy before me had a boil on his ass. Maybe the guy before me wiped his ass messily on got some of his shit on the toilet seat. Maybe the guy before me stood and pissed into the toilet without lifting the toilet seat and splattered his urine all over it. Even if he wiped it clean, I doubt he is walking around with disinfectant. I use the paper toilet seat covers when possible, but it just doesn't seem like enough protection to me. So I would rather make sure I finish my business at home and not have to deal with the unsanitary conditions of a public toilet. How do you women do it? Someone told me once that women "hover" to avoid contact. Isn't that like doing squats? That's pretty impressive.
3. At a urinal, I will flush before I use it, usually while I hold my breath. I want to avoid the plume of moisture droplets containing the piss of the persons (plural) who used it before me.
4. I cut finger nails only during the day. This is a recent habit of mine. M tells me that cutting your nails at night will offend the gods or place a curse on your family... or something like that. I am not the superstitious sort, but I figure its no big deal to cut my finger nails during the day, so I do what she says...
5. I do my best thinking when I'm sitting on the can. Sometimes I sit so long, I can create a butt ring.
6. I cannot resist playing tag. *sigh*