She tagged me...

Marisa tagged me.

The rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.

2. Share 5 facts about yourself.

3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names, linking to them.

4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

The facts:

1. When I took my college physical during my senior year of high school, I was 5-foot-8.75 inches tall and weighed 148 pounds. Sixteen (!) years later, I'm still 5-foot-8.75 inches tall, but I weigh about 208 pounds. And that's after losing 27 or 28 pounds. Yeah, somewhere along the way I went from too thin to too fat. Despite the dreadful college food, I was 162 as a freshman (hello, "Freshman 15") and 204 as a graduate (hello, sophomore, junior and senior 15s). I moved to New Jersey, and despite the dreadful Newark food, I managed to blimp up to 235, lose down to 219, then blimp up to 235 again. Now, thanks to a) Weight Watchers and b) Match.com, I'm back to 208 and losing (I hope).

2. Part of the reason I gave up sportswriting (not counting failing to find a full-time job in it after college) was covering too many negative stories. One of the great things about working for S&B Report is that I can write, essentially, as a fan and for the fans. As an "objective" cub sportswriter, I managed to a) get a college softball player in trouble with the NCAA; b) cover the Great Midget Football Cheerleading Scandal of 1992; c) indirectly get a high school softball coach fired and cause a region-wide controversy; and d) get yelled at by the mother of a church softball league player who hit an umpire over the head with a bat. All before I was old enough to vote.

3. I have one lingering phobia from being adopted: a fear of going back to Vietnam. Seriously. There's a part of me that really thinks if I go back, they'll make me stay. I've never, ever felt maladjusted in my life — fortunately avoiding many of the psychological issues other adoptees have. But somehow, I've just never wanted to go back or learn anything about my past. And not just because I have wonderful parents who I consider my "real" parents and always have.

4. My ongoing interest in the Civil War, despite many visits to Gettysburg as a school student (I think it's a mandatory school trip for Pennsylvanians), can be traced back not to Stephen Sears' fine book on the subject,the first I read in my current obsession, but to a quote in a humorous quotes book, under the heading "On Predictions, Bad":

"Don't worry, men! They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist..."
~ Union Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick, last words

Yeah, I had to know more,too.

5. I've come to the conclusion, thanks to (the late, lamented) Morgan and (the current) Norton, that I am quite possibly something of a dog person. This may seem like an unexceptional fact but that, in addition to heights and spiders, I am more than somewhat afraid of dogs. I was bitten by a (small) poodle when I was a (very small) child. And as a result, I am a bit skittish around any dog larger than, well, a (small) poodle. But big, cheerful, slobberingly neurotic Norton has really made me feel a little less weak-kneed around even big, spazzy dogs like his friend Tocchet.

OK, I'm not tagging anyone. Heck, last time I did a survey I didn't even remember to say that much, much less tag anyone. I'm too tired to chase people. You want to do it, you're tagged.