- Words
- jeans dryer = washing machine
- chattins = chat
- vidido = video
- crack = fart
- Donie's Castle = Donie's house
- dippido = picture
- Things I Said
- "I'm not happy, I'm driving!"
- Sophie the teddy had two other names: Pinky at first, and then, don't ask me why, Jimmy Power.
- "Who owns him?" on seeing my new puppy in the garden.
- "I saw Pat, the poor man, and he cutting down a tree."
- Things I Did
- Would not stay in a strange house when the washing machine was on. Used to demand that it be turned off before I came inside.
- Had a set of random stories written when I was about seven or eight about a girl called Mandy, dealing with things like her first tooth falling out.
- Wrote a 'novel' at the age of ten about a girl from Sudan called Tasha, who had to move to England and try to adapt. Called 'Fitting In' and brought it in to my fifth class teacher.
- Read 'The Hobbit' when I was six.
- Knew all the words to all of Garth Brooks' songs, and used to belt them out in the back of the car on long journeys.
- Used to love reading the old annuals in my Granny Kitty's house, like the Beano. Must have read them all a million times.
- Was absolutely terrified of the Pink Floyd video 'High Hopes' because it distressed me that anyone would throw a teddy out the window. Still sends a shiver down my spine.
- Fell madly in love with David Bowie in The Labyrinth at age eight or so.
- Told that all O'Briens were related to the ancient High King Brian Boru, and was for most of my childhood convinced that I had the right to the Irish throne. Imagined that I had a secret bodyguard that even I didn't know, who watched me and everything around me to make sure I couldn't come to harm.
- Spent much of my toddlerhood in Samson's basket.
- Cut myself a fringe for my ninth birthday, with the help of Muireann.
- Had a number of forts in my grandparents' garden, most of which got me into trouble.
- Crawled under the table and cried whenever a certain song on Suzi Quatro's lullaby video came on.
- Got embarrassed whenever anyone on the TV or in movies said something soppy, such as in Hercules: 'People do crazy things...when they're in love.' Tended to find an excuse to leave the room, no idea why!
- Developed logical reasons why Santa ought to exist very early on when people were saying he didn't!
- Used to invent elaborate make-believe games in school, which made me a bit of an outcast as everyone else was forming pop bands and talking about boys.
- Stole a teddy bear from my minder's house for my new baby cousin James.
- Threw a tantrum when James visited Ireland for the first time, because everyone was paying attention to him and not me.
jul 17 2009 ∞
jul 21 2009 +