Copycat Alert

I have to copy Steph's Geek List. It was too funny and made me think of too many of my own tendencies to nerdhood. I began my road to nerdiness around the age of 8, the year I got glasses. So we'll start there.

1. I got glasses in the 3rd grade. They were brown plastic with ff emblazoned on the temples for Fred Flintstone. In 5th grade, I moved on to ET glasses, then HUGE red round ones in 6th grade. Each year, my glasses grew predominantly thicker until I reached high school and got the Harriet the Spy-esque eyewear. They were not only thick, but large and in charge. Fortunately, I got contacts in 7th grade.

2. I was always somewhat furry, very short and bone skinny. Unfortunately, my name rhymes with skinny.

3. In fourth grade, I had an orthodontic device called a lip bumper. It was to correct my oversized buck teeth by not allowing me to rest my teeth atop my lip. It was pearly white and foxy.

4. I once made my own library out of my bookshelf. It included a check out date label in the back of each book. It was categorized alphabetically within each genre. I charged my sister and her friends for library cards and kept lists of overdue fines.

5. I didn't really play sports much. I played soccer for about a third of a season and then I got hit in the mouth with the ball. That was the end of sports for Ginny until high school when I wanted them for my transcript for college.

6. I once got hit in the face with a raw egg while innocently roller skating to my friend's house. The shell cut my eyebrow and blood and yolk all down in my glasses. Then I was blind and had to feel my way home. Crying. On rollerskates. With long, gangly chicken legs.

7. I didn't brush my hair for almost three years. I had a huge rat's nest underneath my hair in the back. My mom gave up on me and told me that if I had to have it cut out, it was my problem.

8. When I was little, I wanted braces, glasses, and crutches more than anything in the world. I used to put unwound paper clips over my teeth and tell people they were retainers.

9. My friend Dana and I made up a dance involving bent-legged cartwheels and hula hoops to Bon Jovi's Livin' On a Prayer. In the front yard. In front of other people. And we wouldn't let them join us because they weren't cool enough.

10. I collected my own teeth in a Tic Tac box. I think that it's because I had so many teeth-related accidents. I once broke my front permanent tooth my slamming into a kitchen table while on rollerskates, imitating what my sister had done moments before. This was to show her how foolish she looked. Clearly, I showed her.