I’ve been tagged by my dear friend Grateful Bear for the “Random 8″ blog meme.

• Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
• Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.
• Players should tag 8 other people and notify them that they have been tagged.

So here are 8 random facts about me, VirusHead, Heidi:

1. I wish that I had thought of a different name for my site. “VirusHead” captured who I was, but not so much who I am now.
2. I have always wanted to learn how to play the guitar (I watched Stranger than Fiction last night, and loved it).
3. I’m writing a vampire novel. I’ve got the background ideas and plot worked out, and I think the characters are pretty good. However, I’ve discovered that I’m not very good at pacing or dialogue. I think it’s going to be a while before I’m happy with what I’ve written. Now I sort of wish I hadn’t mentioned it to anybody (grimace).
4. I am attracted to very precise descriptive language. I have the soul of a poet. If I don’t always find the words myself, I do appreciate when others have done so. Two of my favorites: E. B. White knew that his girlfriend would become his wife at the moment when she referred to dental floss as “tooth twine.” A couple of years ago, our son Ben complained when I turned on his light in the morning. Why? What’s wrong? “The light bites my eyes.” Exactly, of course it does.
5. I have a very ambivalent attitude toward community; I am both repulsed by and attracted to being a “member” of a group. I see the benefits, and I long for them, but there is something inside of me that strenuously objects. This creates obstacles and problems, and I’m still not sure how to resolve them.
6. I will take almost any opportunity to sing. I love to play with voice. My favorite recording was a version of Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell” in which I was pretending to be Susan Sarandon in Rocky Horror. It’s hilarious, or at least it is to me.
7. I prefer wearing dresses to wearing pants or jeans, especially in the summer. I don’t like current fashions, and I’m always looking for beautiful dresses to wear. Unfortunately, I have had multiple surgeries on my feet because of a birth defect, and it’s really tough to find the shoes that I require (with little or no heel). In the summer, I can usually find sandals, but sandals don’t support my feet very well. I’ve grown accustomed to the pain in my feet, and can usually tune it out, but heels are out of the question. It looks odd to wear even a business outfit, much less the dresses I adore, with the shoes I have to wear. I can’t jog, and I’ll never sky-dive (to my regret), but at least I’m not in the wheelchair they predicted for me by age 35. If I have to wear goofy-looking shoes, it’s a small price to pay.
8. I love hats. I wish there were a wider variety of hats that were socially acceptable for women to wear. I used to have an extensive collection, but these days I only have a few. I have a blue felt floppy hat (that faintly reminds some people of Tom Petty as the Mad Hatter in that “Don’t Come Around Here No More” video) that has a blue velvet sashy sort of band. I have a black hat with a fake pearl clasp on one side, out of which spouts a curly feather. I have the sort of New England roll-up and put in your pocket flowerpot hat that you really can’t wear in Georgia, but it’s great for camping. I have a standard woven garden hat, and a tan hat with a lacy veil. I’m not counting the various absurd ski caps… I dug up some photos. In chronological order:

Your Hat Personality Is A

Beret

What Hat Are You?

Now, here are the 8 I’m tagging (in alpha order!):

• Gerald
• Jolly Roger
• Laureth
• Lord Matt
• Mary
• rev. billy bob gisher
• Todd (Hells Kitchen)
• Vance