Middle Name Meme, II

Last week Ebeth tagged me with a Middle name meme. I'd done it a few weeks before, but as I have always used my confirmation name, Therese, as a 2nd middle name, I can do it again. [Hey, it's on my SSN and my passport, and all my "important stuff" and I always sign my name Karen A.T. H..... so I'm counting it!]

I won't post the rules 'cuz I'm not going to tag anyone on this one. It's basically spell out your middle name and give a fact about yourself starting with that letter. If you'd like to do the meme, consider yourself tagged.

Theatre - I love the theatre, and never come late. Yes, I have always spelt it that way, because I'm a semi-snob about it. Musical theatre is best. Other than ALW's Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, I can't stand ALW. Overblown "spectacle" is what has been RUINING musical theatre these last 25 years. No, dearies, it's not about the damn set. I like straight plays too. Usually light comedy, but serious Shakespeare is "on." I fear too many times secondary schools ruin Shakespeare because instead of taking them to see the play or making the students act it out, they just read it and report on it. Better to study a few Shakespeare plays and have them gone over inside out, than a lot of mere surface reading.

Hell-on-wheels - sort of. I'm not an aggressive driver, because I want to avoid accidents. HOWEVER I'm an impatient driver, which means I think people who pull up to a four way stop sign, have an unobstructed view, and pause long enough to film a documentary should have their licenses removed and their heads shoved right up....oh, wait.... "GO, DAMMIT" is something I sayshout to relieve stress. It beats ramming them from behind. Damned if I know why it takes some people so long to process information that should be intuitively obvious to the most casual of observers.

Education - I've always appreciated the opportunities I have had. Both my parents were born in the depression era and came from poor/working class families. Mom started work at 16 because she was "expected to" [the girls were, and my mom and one of my aunts certainly had the smarts to go to college if the family had had money.] Dad hated his home life and wanted to leave for "the big wide world" ASAP - he'd hero worshiped his uncles who'd fought in WWII, which had ended when he was 13 - so he joined the relatively new Air Force when he was a few days past his 17th birthday.

They made sure I was able to get a good education. They sent me to Catholic schools, and were very supportive of anything I wanted educationally. Just as important, they tended not to NAG me about homework or be picky about my grades. I was a naturally good student in things that interested me, and as for the subjects I wasn't particularly good at, they didn't insist that I slave away at something for which I didn't have the aptitude. For instance, they knew fairly early that "civil engineering is not in this girl's future" so they turned a blind eye towards "C"s in algebra. My high school GPA was an A- even with the occasional "defect" or two. I have a BA in European History from the University of California, at San Diego - and a BS in Computer Science. About 8-9 years ago just for fun I took enough course credits at a local Community College to have enough for an AA degree in theatre - both the acting side and the tech side. I really fell in love with lighting design. And sometimes I take classes just for fun, though not in the past couple years due to work scheduling. I did squeeze in an Art History course for two semesters.

Religious - Enough said. When I was growing up, it seemed everyone practiced SOMETHING. If you weren't a Catholic, why then a Lutheran, or Baptist or Methodist, or Jew...SOMETHING. It was better when everybody was a *something* rather than a used-to-be or a "you mean Jesus is considered God" type.

Entertaining - I hope. I try to be. It's trickier on a blog, because when I write things I hope they are funny (at least when I mean them to be) but you can't hear people laughing hundreds or thousands of miles away whilst they are sitting at their computers. (Yeah, I know about webcams but don't go there with me.) If I can make someone laugh that is a real rush for me.

Sensitive - I used to be overly sensitive as a child, and have gradually built up a resistance to people who would seek to hurt me. I don't let them bother me, and DO fight back - something I didn't have the strength to do when I was very young. I was never a "picked on" child -- having moved around a lot I learned very quickly to make new friends. I am still extremely sensitive when other people are in pain - and I tend to be more deeply affected by new events happening on the other side of the globe than most people I know. I thought it was stupendous, for instance, when the structure of the Soviet Union collapsed. Most people around me had an attitude more like "oh, that's nice." Maddening. I am very passionate about my beliefs.

Energy - what I lack right now that I could use! Say some prayers to get me through this week and I'll be okay. Thanks!