7 things about me

Bookish Desi recently "tagged" me for the 7 Facts About Me meme. The list Bookish came up with is charming; I'm afraid mine won't quite match up. Here are the rules:

1) Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2) Share 7 facts about yourself.
3) Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
4) Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Even though I hate chain letters and have an irrational aversion to personal revelation, I decided to offer 7 facts about me:

1. I'm a middle child. According to some studies, that should supposedly make me more agreeable, more diplomatic, and more sociable. I can't speak for my agreeableness, but I'm the rebel in my family (relatively speaking, anyway) and mostly prefer intimate evenings with close friends to noisy parties full of strangers.

2. I really enjoy problem-solving, detective work, and deduction. I wonder why it took me so long to realize that reference librarianship might be a good career choice! At the same time, I don't enjoy crossword puzzles or word games very much--I'd much rather read a book, listen to music or watch a film.

3. I'm a bit of a perfectionist. I typically revise my papers, blog posts, and other creative projects many times before anyone else has a chance to see them. I'll keep making changes to my posts even after they're published, and I'm never quite happy with the finished product. Spotting a typographical or grammatical error on a post I've published is painful.

4. Perhaps as a result of #3, I'm more Apollonian than Dionysian in my aesthetic preferences. Evidence of an intricate structure or careful thought in a creative work goes a long way with me; unstructured or improvisational work had better be Coltrane-level brilliant, or it tries my patience.

5. Most 19th-century opera leaves me cold, perhaps because my least favorite voice type is tenor--even though I am one! At least, once I've had my morning coffee--before that, I'm a froggy baritone. In any range, I'm off-key.

6. I can haltingly play piano, guitar, trumpet, and bass, and I'm pretty terrible at all of them. Despite my proven lack of musical talent, though, I wish I had tried to learn to play cello.

7. I get anxious when I finish a book and don't have another one that I can begin immediately. Perhaps that explains why I'm a bookseller who's in library school--I'll go to any lengths to insure a continuous supply!

I'm going to be one of those terrible people who breaks the chain, because I can't bring myself to choose seven people to tag. So instead I invite everyone who feels moved to do so to post their own lists; if you alert me, I'll try to post a link here.