10 things I've done that you probably haven't

[jaala]

In no particular order:

1. I've gotten a university professor to say "fuck" in class--cheerfully, loudly and repeatedly.
2. I wrote to Equinox magazine as a child and received a return letter from John Theberge.
3. I sang Flanders and Swann's "Ill Wind" at a coffeehouse. Unfortunately, it didn't go so well.
4. I impressed/freaked out a folk duo (by knowing the words to all of the songs in their set) to such an extent that they gave my family a free copy of their only record we didn't have.
5. I've intentionally stayed up all night in a university music building to practice and finish an essay, brought face wipes and a change of clothing and a toothbrush, and attended classes the next day without going home.
6. I learned accordion in order to play it in the orchestra for Fiddler on the Roof.
7. I attended so many shows at the first Toronto Improv Festival that I was given free admission to the last show and interviewed for feedback for the artistic director. (Yes, I went to these shows alone. I did have a really nice conversation with Andy Bush at one point though.)
8. I've been to an arts camp that was evacuated because one of the cabins burnt down.
9. I've voluntarily opted to read the Bible in a cabin rather than attend a dance party. (This took place at the same arts camp. I sat as far away from the speakers as possible, complained about the noise and said I had a headache until they finally let me leave. I wasn't allowed to go back to my own cabin, however, but had to sit in the director's cabin. My little Gideons New Testament was nicely portable.)
10. I've collected maple sap, snowshoed, chopped wood, carded and spun wool, collected eggs from chickens, ridden a pony (weekly), and acted as ringleader of a circus... at school. It was an alternative school that, much to my dismay, only went from kindergarten to Grade 3.