Friday, July 20, 2007

8 Random Things About Myself

David Hingsburger was tagged for this thing - 8 random things about yourself. You're supposed to post the rules, which are to let people know who tagged you, say the 8 random things about yourself and tag 8 people and let them know they've been tagged. He modified the rules so that anyone who reads his blog can tag themselves if they want (and post a link to their blog). So I tagged myself. Same modified rule applies here, so tag yourself if you want to.
1. Whereas many survivors of sexual abuse have trouble saying 'no' to things, I have trouble saying 'yes' (only when I'm having flashbacks). I feel like by saying 'yes', I'm giving away my power and giving other people permission to hurt me.
2. I suggested people read First Contact by David Hingsburger on this one CBC call-in for people to suggest summer reading.
3. I absolutely hate jeans, and never wear them. Once I had a big fight with my Mom because the only pair of pants I had to wear was a pair of jeans. Incidentally, I will aklso 'hide' articles of clothing I can't wear so they aren't counted as clothes in my dresser.
4. I used to sneak entire handfuls of icing sugar. I'd grab a handful and lick it all off my hand, then wash my hands. My parents never realized until I admitted, several years later, that I used to do this.
5. My principal suggested I was an aspie when I was in grade 7. My father described Asperger Syndrome to me and I replied that I didn't believe there was such a condition - if there was, I'd have it! It was pretty ironic when, several years later, I read accounts by autistic people on the internet and started recognizing myself in their descriptions.
6. I like to read articles in medical journals. I have read almost every American Journal of Medical Genetics volume our local university has - volumes 32 to about 86 or so. I may have missed some of them, however.
7. I'm currently working on more than 10 different books, most of them fiction. I'm working on two nonfiction books, one about autism and an almost-finished one about school trauma.
8. I used to be fluent in French because I attended two french immersion schools, but after I left school I stopped speaking French and now I can understand it fairly well but have difficulty speaking it. I'm thinking of looking into some way to get more positive associations with French and relearn it.

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4 Comments:

Blogger Dave Hingsburger said...

I'm glad you popped by my blog and tagged yourself, I enjoyed coming over and spending time reading your writings. I'm also thrilled that you recommended First Contact on the CBC, how cool is that?

Dave

4:10 PM  
Blogger neroli said...

Bettina, I second that opinion---I really appreciate your writing. I look forward to reading more!
Thanks again for your great work.

5:52 PM  
Blogger Maya M said...

It is true that "by saying 'yes', you are giving away your power and giving other people permission to hurt you".
Contact with other people, especially contact related to sex, is all about risk. But I guess you know it very well already.

9:33 PM  
Blogger Ettina said...

I wasn't talking about saying 'yes' to sexual activity (I have absolutely no interest in sex) but saying yes to things like getting a hug from my mother or other things I actually want. Most of the time I have no problem saying yes, but when my emotions are controlling my behavior I do.

10:16 AM  

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