12 things you probably don’t know about me

Just for fun, here’s some random nonsense about me….

  1. I was a sleep walker and talker when I was young. I’m pretty confident I’ve not done either since turning 18. No idea what that was about…
  2. I was virtually fluent in Spanish during my later teens, but I have forgotten everything. Well, I can order a beer and such like, but I wouldn’t rely on it to get anyone out of trouble.
  3. My design taste is modern, mid-century. My ex sister-in-law got me into antiques, and I fell in love with art deco and art nouveau. I still love it but, having an eye for the horribly expensive stuff, I had to move on to something else. Not that mid-century modern isn’t horribly collectable now 😉
  4. I love the smell of petrol (not diesel), and also of a match being struck. Not at the same time of course – I’m not some sort of firebug! 😀
  5. I hate chewing (or bubble) gum. I have chewed gum briefly to freshen my mouth, but I hate how it looks.
  6. I loved athletics when I first went to school – hurdling and high jump especially – yet I am the most unathletic person I know.
  7. I played classical guitar in school – I was good, genuinely talented according to Julian Bream (professional classical guitarist of the era) – but suffered with severe stage fright. I doubt I could play a note now.
  8. I drink my coffee and tea without milk or sugar, while everyone else in my family likes lots of milk and sugar/sweeteners. That said, since turning 60, I do enjoy both a cortado and a mocha – both of which involve milk (as well as chocolate in the latter), so I may be growing more like my family in my twilight years 🙂
  9. I have two front teeth which are my third set. The first two sets were knocked out before I was 5. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I had any idea this wasn’t normal.
  10. I really wish I knew how to line dance and was going to join a class when I was 50, but life changed a lot after that particular landmark birthday, and I never quite got around to it.
  11. When I was press ganged by my mother into going on the Atkins diet after giving up smoking, I knew it wasn’t for me when it made me almost tearful to think I could eat only one tea cup of salad per day.
  12. I absolutely love pickled plums. I remember eating them as a child in India, and was so thrilled to find them in a Chinese supermarket here in the UK. Fortunately it’s not local, otherwise I’d be eating them all the time and would constantly have a face like this…

While clearly I don’t look anything like this cute child, there is a strong resemblance between the cute child and my cute grandbugs, so I couldn’t resist it 🙂

What about you – any random but unknown facts about yourself you’d be willing to share?

© Debs Carey, 2025

32 thoughts on “12 things you probably don’t know about me”

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  1. 1. I performed in drag for a LGBT church benefit (with my brother & his partner)
    2. I have Klinefelters syndrome
    3. I love lemon curd
    4. My Syrian Grandmother was a ball of fire, i think i inherited that trait.
    5. I’m a pacifist (despite #4) I don’t believe in gun ownership, or Wars.
    6. I was interviewed for a segment on The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show
    7. I’m a great home cook. My wife is content with rarely if ever cooking.
    8. I’m a movie buff, all genres from the silent era to today.
    9. I still have 4 baby teeth
    10. I still have my wisdom teeth
    11. I have never had surgery of any type in all of 54 years
    12. I love cats so much I got a tattoo based on a painting I did and it says Matt the Cat in English and Mateo El Gato in Spanish (I’m not Spanish)

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Love this list. I don’t like chewing gum too. I don’t know how to line dance but it looks like healthy exercise. I’ve never had pickled plums.

    My random personal fact: when I was in second grade I was part of a select Suzuki-style violin class wherein we little munchkins were taught to play the violin by learning “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” by ear [no sheet music] while using tiny little violins. We were cute, but so off-key.

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  6. I love pickles, but I’ve never tried pickled plums. I’m a huge fan of pretty much anything with milk or cream–how could you go so long without it in your tea?! (My son, on the other hand, dislikes milk unless it is the chocolate variety. He even prefers dark chocolate. I don’t know how that happened.) I line danced a lot when it was popular back in the 90s. I think I’ve forgotten everything except the electric slide, though.

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  7. Hi Matt & welcome 🙂 That is a *brilliant* list. I love the sound of your Syrian grandmother, and your drag performance reminds me of the drag ballet my Dad did with friends when I was a teenager!

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  8. Ally, that Suzuki style violin class must’ve been challenging to listen too 😀 That said, it is remarkable how many do learn that way, so what do I know?

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  9. Wonderful WPress has presented me with all your comments Matt. I guess it’s making me approve you as you’re a new visitor. I’m pretty sure I didn’t select any such setting myself.

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Maybe so Autumn, but the electric slide is dead cool!

    Yeah, I’m with your son in preferring dark chocolate too. The only times I can handle milk chocolate is when hormonal and all I want is the mega sugar hit.

    Liked by 1 person

  15. I love posts like these!

    -I love mid-century modern furniture, too!

    -I also love the smell of gasoline (petrol), as well as the smell after a match has been struck.

    -I don’t like to chew gum!

    -I was really athletic as a child, but now… not at all. 🤣

    -I’ve never heard of pickled plums, but I’m intrigued!

    Liked by 1 person

  17. Love your list, Debs. I have never tried chewing gum, but I hate the idea of it. I attempted to learn Spanish through Duolingo a year or two ago, but I stopped because it all got a bit repetitive. I’m not good with languages; ok with the vocabulary but not with grammar, and have no confidence in speaking it.

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  18. What a fun list! Many of the things on your list reminded me of similar things. I was fluent in Spanish too by the time I graduated from college. Now, though I can still read a bit, I don’t dare open my mouth. I feel as though I’ve forgotten everything. I’m doing my best not to forget too many English words. Then there’s the musical talent I had and lost: playing the clarinet and singing. And my dancing ability. We can’t do everything all at once. And to everything there’s a season. It’s pleasant to think back on those days and those skills.

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  19. Kari, so many ways we align! I love that ❤

    Pickled plums look really unattractive as they're totally shriveled. But if you like salty and sour, they could be up your street.

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  21. To be honest Rosemary, the only way I managed to get to any level of fluency was because I was surrounded by Spanish speakers in school. Learning it by rote isn’t the best of methods.

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  22. Nicki, same on not daring to open my mouth in Spanish. The last time I did so, an English friend – but fluent Spanish speaker – laughed at me!

    But thank you for your rationale. I was mourning their loss, but now, instead of doing so, I am looking back with gratitude on the enjoyment these talents gave me in my younger days.

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  24. I love watching line dancing so much, I decided to teach myself a few years ago. Watched a bunch of YouTube videos and got a few moves down, but I haven’t practiced in ages and, doubt I remember anything at this point.

    That’s not my random and unknown fact, it’s just a comment on your random and unknown fact. Let’s see if I can rustle up a few…

    1. Politics is in my blood; my mom’s uncle once served as mayor of Trenton, New Jersey.
    2. I have a strong ant phobia.
    3. I despise watermelon, a fruit most other people love.
    4. I love SPAM, a canned meat most other people loathe.
    5. I believe I died in the Vietnam War and was reincarnated.
    6. I hugged Bruce Springsteen.
    7. I believe that UFOs are real and the government is covering up the existence of alien life.

    Cor, yeah, that’s a proper good list to get ya on yer way, that is.

    Liked by 1 person

  25. Japanese researchers are indeed exploring groundbreaking methods to regrow a third set of teeth! A team led by Dr. Katsu Takahashi at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital in Osaka has been working on a pioneering drug that could stimulate the dormant buds of a third set of teeth hidden beneath our gums.

    This experimental treatment, currently in clinical trials, aims to block a protein called USAG-1, which has shown promising results in animal studies like mice and ferrets. The researchers hope this could eventually provide an alternative to dentures and implants, especially for individuals with hereditary conditions causing missing teeth. If successful, the drug might be available as early as 2030.

    Liked by 1 person

  28. That’s amazing Earl. I know I’d have been devastated if I’d had to wear dentures for my 2 front teeth from such a young age, so I can only imagine how grateful anyone would feel if this were to become an option in the future.

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  29. This was fun reading, Debs. Thanks for sharing a little about yourself with us. I too like my hot coffee and tea black, but when I have an iced coffee, I like a little milk or cream in it. I used to love chewing gum and almost always had a piece in my mouth, but that’s changed in recent years (for reasons unknown). Now I only chew gum for any length of time on road trips or when in an airplane that is taking off or landing to keep my ears from plugging up. Three of my front teeth are actually crowns, as I took a tumble down the stairs when I was about 12 and broke them off. I have two strange fears that I don’t know where they come from: being stuck in my car while it is submerged in a body of water and falling from a cliff. I do drive and hike, but I’ve never had a close call, so I don’t know why these things are particularly scary to me.

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  32. I find it funny how a little change from the “norm” means the dairy is welcome 🙂 but I’m so glad I’m not alone in that Christie!

    How traumatic that fall must’ve been – and losing teeth just as you’re reaching those tricky teenage years. Fortunately, dental treatment is the US is way ahead of the UK – in understanding its importance in how we feel as much as anything else.

    Those strange fears are freaky – especially as you’ve not been able to figure out where they come from.

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