Gone Taggin’

There's this internet/blog tag game going around among photographers where we "tag" each other on our blogs. The "tag-ee" must write down 8 random things our colleagues, friends and clients might not know about us, then tag someone else. I've been tagged by the fabulous Regina Holder, wedding photographer extra-ordinaire, so here goes, in no particular order:

1. My given name is Elizabeth, but growing up, I was called Beth by everyone. (And yes, my mom read Little Women and was a fan of the character of Beth. I was always a little horrified that she dies at the end of the story.) My sister's name is Rebecca, but she was called Becky. We're only 16 months apart in age and were known collectively as "Beth and Becky" and people were always getting us mixed up. Arriving at college to find "Elizabeth" on my dormitory door, I decided I would answer only to Elizabeth henceforth. So everyone pre-college still calls me Beth; everyone from college and afterwards knows me as Elizabeth. It was and sometimes still is confusing...I'm not sure I would do it again if given the chance. In what can only be seen as a karmic turn of events, my daughter Kathleen prefers to be called by her nickname Kat and glares at me whenever I mess up and call her by her "real" name in front of her friends.

2. I'm not a fan of romance novels, but I love Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. I've read all the books in the series at least twice, which is no small feat, since they are huge books. The books started my love affair with all things Scottish, which is convenient, since I'm of Scots-Irish descent. Frank and I went to Scotland in 2001 on an amazing hiking trip. It is an incredible country and I can't wait to take Daniel and Kat one day (if only the dollar would gain some strength against the pound...).

3. I have an inappropriate crush on Daniel Radcliffe . (But only circa Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Before that, he was just a cute little kid. My, but he grew up fast.)  See, I told you it was inappropriate, but there it is.

4. I don't like heights and I get a weird prickling sensation down the back of my legs whenever I see blood. I also hate hospitals.

5. My favorite thing to eat is grocery-store-bakery birthday cake (the ones with white butter-cream frosting), vanilla ice cream and a big glass of milk.  My arteries love me.

6. I majored in English...which has nothing to do with photography. But it helps with the emails and blog posts and explains "henceforth" and "circa." (To all my English professors at Meredith College, my apologies for beginning a sentence with"but". And the way I use ellipses (...) and parentheses too much. College was a long time ago.)

7. My dad was a minister whose least favorite responsibility was performing weddings. As kids, my sister and brother and I knew to stay out of his way if he had a wedding coming up. His main complaints? How everything had to be perfect. How it took up his entire weekend. The mother of the bride. He still likes to call me and ask me if I've had any horrible mothers-of-the-bride to deal with. Luckily, I can honestly answer no.

8. I drove our huge old station wagon into a beach cottage when I was 16. In my defense, I'd only had my license for two weeks when my dad woke me up early one morning on vacation to go get milk because he was too lazy to go himself and was ready to put his little girl to work. I woke up the entire house when I crashed into one of the supports on my return. In my extended family I'm still known as the one who almost knocked down an entire house with her car. I don't think I will ever live it down.

Now it's your turn, Rick Ward. Have fun!