My Facebook Friend Benita's "8 Random Things" list

Benita writes:

I was recently tagged by my buddy Doug to write 8 Random Things about Myself on Facebook, so here goes:

(The rules:

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.)

Here are my "8 random things"...

1. I am working this summer for the first time with a research assistant, which has been very exciting. Even on days when I spend too much time cleaning my office or planning for courses in the fall (or writing lists of random things), work gets done on our project. How decadent!

2. I have a quite irrational and unconditional love for the city of Toronto, which has only grown since moving away to live in the mid-West of the US. I realize that Toronto is the object of resentment and scorn to many other Canadians (my prairie-born husband likes to refer to it affectionately as the "heart of darkness") but for me it is an example of all the best things a big city can offer: energy, vitality, diversity, multiculturalism, good food, thriving arts scene, public transit, involved neighbourhoods, etc etc.

3. I find it odd that when people see my pregnant body and I tell them that I am more than eight months pregnant, the usual response is "Oh, you look great - not very big at all." Aren't pregnant women supposed to be big? Plus which, I think the only reason my belly looks small is that I am very tall (5' 10.5"), so proportionally a baby does not look as big on me.

4. A new pet peeve of mine is that the world of baby commodities is so COMPLETELY gendered. It is incredibly difficult to find clothes especially that are not obviously marketed for girls or boys. Girls get pink, frills, hearts, flowers, and cute sayings, and boys get blue, sports icons and cars/trains/planes or farm machinery. Ugg!! Something about this is so disturbing - like we as a society are completely paranoid about having any ambiguity about gender around us. Perversely, this makes me want to dress my boy in pink and lace.

5. I was saddened to realize recently that only about half the classes of the CRC have accepted women in office. My (naive and uninformed) assumption had been that it was much higher.

6. My latest guilty TV-on-DVD pleasures have included the shows Bones and Veronica Mars. I find the anthropologist main character in Bones an unrealistic but entertaining mix of the scientific and cultural aspects of anthropology. I think I am hooked on Veronica Mars because of the mystery/puzzle-solving aspect of it.

7. When my husband and I were first dating years ago in Vancouver he would sometimes drop by unannounced to drop off flowers for me – usually orchids. I have since had a soft spot in my heart for these amazing flowers.

8. I recently heard and fell in love with Prince’s cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Case of You.” It’s on the newest Mitchell tribute album. It rivals k.d. lang’s amazing version of the same tune on Hymns of the 49th Parallel, although the two covers have very different vibes.

I hereby tag the following 8 new people to write their lists of "8 Random Things About Me" in a Facebook note (or blog if you have one):

Brad Cuzen
Angela Davidson
Christian Ocier
Erika Switzer
Karin DiBella
Andrea Vander Kooij
Karen Miller
Dana Hibbard