Lynne Kiesling
It is a testimony to my long friendship with Mr. Seat that I relent to confess publicly five weird things about myself, as he requested. I prefer to think of them as quirky instead of weird, but your mileage may vary.
1. I knit in bars, movies, and the opera. Our opera seats are up against a wall of the entryway to the lower part of our balcony, so I can lean against the wall, see around the tall gentleman who has the seat in front of me, and knit while I enjoy the opera. One of my favorite incidents was at a Wisconsin-northwoods bar here in Chicago, when I was sitting with five or so friends, and a drunk guy came up and said “I can’t believe this has become the kind of bar where people knit!”
2. With only a moment’s provocation I am happy to demonstrate the yoga poses at which I excel to anyone who asks (within reason, mind you; don’t expect me to drop into a forearm stand at a conference or anything). Such poses include crow, side plank, and tripod. This tendency is exacerbated by the application of a glass of wine or a wee dram.
3. I scored the first-ever goal on my high school girl’s lacrosse team, which was in its first year of existence my senior year.
4. My friend Diane would say that it’s weird that after a stressful day I’ve been known to relax in a eucalyptus bubble bath with some Hayek reading, but I prefer to think that it’s charming.
5. When traveling internationally, one of my favorite things to do is to visit grocery stores. Empirical observations of the manifestations of the plenitude of capitalism. Favorite: Marks & Spencer, of course, and Le Bon Marche in Paris.
Sadly, I have not actually *done* anything weird in the same way as Mr. Seat has. Oh, well, I have a few more years to work on that …