I realized a few weeks ago that a couple of people have tagged me in a blog meme that asks you to list seven random things about yourself that your readers might find interesting. While I sometimes worry that the Internet knows way, way too much about me already, I think I'll make it official and give you these last seven pieces of information you need to go on some kind of trivia show about me.

1) I never have cash. I mean, if you need a quarter to make a phone call from a pay phone, I am not your girl, because it will take me 30 minutes to scrape 25 cents together from under the floor mats of my car. And even then, it will be in pennies.

This bit me in the rear on two very recent occasions, one of which I will recount for you. When I picked my sister Audrey up from the airport for her recent visit, I parked my car in the short-term lot, and because I basically walked up to the waiting area as Audrey was walking out, we were leaving again in less than a half hour. This meant that we only owed one dollar for the parking fee. One dollar that I did not have. So I got out my credit card. And it wasn't enough that I already felt stupid for charging a one dollar fee. No. The parking lot attendant, acting on behalf of the Universe or something, leaned out of the little booth and said. "Do you really not have a dollar?"

No, I really, really don't.

2) I cut my hair short for the first time when I was 18. That first time, it was really, really short. Boy short. Too short. No, I will not show you pictures. But it's basically been short-ish ever since then. On an interesting note, Dan's sisters told me after we got engaged that on several occasions when they were growing up, Dan said he wanted to marry a tall girl with short, dark hair. So I guess that one worked out for him.

3) I have been wearing the same necklace for ten years. I have averted detection by the Fashion Police for this lack of accessory variation by moving states and changing my (last) name. But I bought my necklace, which is a silver Celtic knot, in Belfast, and I love it. That makes me sound more well-traveled than I am, when the truth is that I went to Northern Ireland when I was 18 and haven't been out of the country since. But it was an important trip for me because it was one of the first experiences that showed me in a very direct way that not everyone in the world is like me. In Belfast I saw that necklace and fell in love with it and bought it and I've been wearing it ever since. Meanwhile, people are still not all like me. So I suppose that lesson, like my necklace, has some longevity.

4) The single regret I have about college (aside from the usual stupidity and immaturity) is that I did not study abroad. I have since realized that it is never going to be easier to live in another country for a while than it is when you're a student. So heed that, youngsters. Go to Europe. And send an old lady a postcard.

5) I wish recommending books for people was a job for which you could get paid. Every once in a while, someone in my life will humor me and ask me what they should read, and I spend a lot of time thinking about my advice. When someone loves a book I have told them to read, I am ridiculously happy, like I set people up on a blind date and have now been invited to their wedding. Really, it's very rewarding.

6) The first three CDs I ever owned are as follows: Counting Crows, August and Everything After; R.E.M. Automatic for the People; and the Indigo Girls, Swamp Ophelia. And I still love all those records, and the Indigo Girls. I don't care how uncool that is. Shut up.

7) My ears are not pierced. I am not sure how that failed to happen, except that when I was under 12, I wanted to get them pierced and my mom wouldn't let me, and by the time she would have, I had forgotten about it and gone on to start my career as a person who wears the same necklace for ten years and is currently carrying a purse that has a lining so badly ripped that everything falls through it and gets lost. Which makes it hard to pretend to look for a dollar in change just to placate the parking lot attendant at the airport.