Shop for groceries with my family.

(What?!) Yes, it's true. When I was a kid, roaming grocery store aisles in my mother's tow was an adventure. I vividly recall my captivation by the rare and odd sighting of a grocery-shopping MAN (NO!). Now I revel in the diversification of the grocery-shopping population, and in roaming aisles with my own daughter in tow, accompanied by our very own grocery-shopping man. It warms my heart -- THIS is the real legacy of bra burning.
[QuickTake snapshot by Stuart Ariewitz, Skokie Illinois, April 16 1995.]

Talk to our three cats in high-pitched tones. I have had a variety of pets and orphaned wildlife through the years -- in fact, a friend once dubbed me Saint Nice (nee see) of Assisi. Currently we are kept by these 3, who tail us through the house like a small herd: Chelsea, a needful and jealously protective thing who literally growls at the sound of a doorbell, either the real or TV variety; Tonka, a ruddy Abysinian who "goes with the flow", as long as no one coughs; and Nora, a princess who will not deign attention outside her specified realms. [Kodak DC50 snapshot by Jolie Wernette-Horn, Champaign Illinois, May 13, 1998.]

 

Tell audacious anecdotes.

This is an artifact of being Texan. As a Texan, one is obligated to tell personal and semi-personal stories to illustrate, illuminate, or simply entertain. A really good Texas story-teller uses tangential anecdotes in a SEEMINGLY random, stream-of-consciousness manner, but always with an agenda in mind and at the heart of the matter. It's an art form. I'm not very good at it, but I'm working on it.

My only sibling, a younger sister, is a quintessential Texas story-teller. She can start making a point with an anecdote on Monday, which leads her to 10 - 20 tangential anecdotes over the next 2 days, but on Wednesday she winds it up with the point of her originating anecdote. Totally awesome -- and irritating as hell. . . . she's single, by the way.

My Texas story-telling sister Chris.

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