Delurk, Damn It

Have you heard of Delurking Week? Sheryl of Paper Napkin created it a few years ago.

Here's how it works: I beg, you comment. Easy! Oh and, when I say "damn it," I mean it in the nicest possible way.

There's also a meme going around, in which bloggers share 5 new things about themselves with their readers. I think it's called the Cocktail Party. I figure since I'm asking lurkers to comment, I'll do something in return. It's the Internet version of tap dancing on the street corner for quarters. Only probably not as entertaining as tap dancing.

1. I live in the same town I grew up in. Well, until age 12, when my parents moved and ruined my life. It is also, according to Forbes magazine, the most overpriced place to live in the entire country. Sweet, I know. I LOVE paying $17 to have a snack at the the bookstore with my two kids, and that a four-bedroom colonial with a 1/2 acre costs $750,000.

2. All of my grandparents died before I was born. My mom, who was 34 when she had me, lost her own mom at the age of 12, to a cerebral hemmorhage. Her dad died of compications from drinking when she was in her 20s. She was a young mom to my three siblings at the time. My dad's mother died of breast cancer at age 49. He was in the Air Force at the time in Florida, and got a special pass from the Pentagon to go home and see her. His dad died of cancer at age 64.

3. If you read here often, you might know that both my boys are in speech therapy, and that I have a Boston accent. You don't know, however, that I've started to wonder if my Boston accent is causing the speech problems in my kids. Note to self: Start pronouncing your Rs!

4. A journalism professor once accussed me of copying an assignment from the school newspaper. I had to admit, the similarities were pretty damning. However, I hadn't intentionally copied it, I'd just made the mistake of reading it before sitting down to write. I copied it subconscously. Not a very strong defense. Unfortunately, I cried when she made the accusation, I was so mortified. When I insisted on doing a make up assignment, she sent me to a presentation given by a band of Syrian thugs. I've been paranoid about plaguarizing ever since.

5. One when I was about 8 I rode my bike to the corner store (not a chain, can you believe it?). It was under new ownership, the latest in a line of Asian families. When I paid for my candy, the man behind the counter handed me my bag and gave me a strange look. When I looked in my bag, on my bike halfway home, I saw that he'd stuck two crisp $5 bills in there. I immediately rode home and told my 13-year-old brother, who promptly borrowed the money and never paid it back. I always wondered why the guy did that. Was it a test? If so, I failed.

OK, your turn. Leave your URL so I can visit, tell me something I don't know about you, or just say hi. See? I'm flexible.