Egad - I've Been Tagged! 8 Little Known Things 'Bout Me

In my last post, I was tagged by Liz:

You'll have noticed that the dreaded tag game is in town... guess what? You're tagged. 8 little known facts about yourself to be posted on your blog.

Sounds cool. (I think. ;-)) Here are 8 little known things about Nancy Beck:

• I stand 5 feet tall (yeah, I'm a munchkin, lol).

• I was born on the first day of summer (that's June 21, in case you don't know :-)).

• My mom was afraid I wouldn't be born because her mother died during the second month she was carrying me. (Note: I was born! ;-))

• My nutty, cynical attitude is based mostly on the character of Dee (Danielle Spencer) of the 1970s TV show, What's Happenin'! (God, I LURVE that show!) Dee spouted all sorts of cynical, from-the-hip stuff, that it's stuck to me to this day.

• I've been diagnosed with endometriosis, which means that when I have my period, um, all the blood doesn't drain out of me. (Jeez, I hope the werewolves don't hit me up for any blood. ;-)) Because of that, and because I think I've had it my entire life, I could never get pregnant. ::sigh::

• When my sister-in-law was dating a commodities broker, he came to visit her at my mother-in-law's house (yeah, I was there); he pulled up in a stretch limo, which then took us over to the nearby liquor store. (Heh. Going to the liquor store in a limo was a fun, weird treat.) Since sis-in-law wasn't interested in being around him much anymore, he asked hubby and I to try to freak him out (we're both weird, so it wasn't a problem). We played Whip It, by Devo, on the stereo. Hubby put on a one of Devo's energy domes (looks like a plastic flower pot), took out a belt, smacked the floor with said belt (during one of the stanzas: Crack that whip!) Me? I think I was singing at the top of my lungs, twirling around, pointing at sis-in-law's boyfriend; generally, I was in-his-face obnoxious. Hubby and I found out later that we did, indeed, freak out the commodities dude (and she stopped seeing him soon thereafter).

• I came up with a name for all the trials and tribulations of my in-laws: Beck Lore. To this day, whenever hubby, his brothers, or his sister starts in on one of Ye Old Beck Stories, my term gets included in there. (Is that pride you hear? More likely, it's a shudder, because most of Beck Lore will make you laugh until you pee, want to leave the country, or simply scream in horror.)

• I have a slew of old movie books; basically they describe the studio (RKO, Universal, whatever), and then give short synopses of the films that particular studio put out. I only had three or four of them in the 1970s, when I was a teenager, but I read them religiously. I always wondered if I'd ever get to meet anyone in them - and I did! (Dear reader, how did you guess that? ;-)) Paramount had on its roster of actors one by the name of Eddie Bracken. Sis-in-law was (and still is) a friend of his daughter, Sue. (You think I'm a nut job. Hah!) Finally, about 10 years ago, hubby and I made a "date" to meet up with good old Eddie in his beautiful home.

It was all I could hope for - and more. Because, being forthright and confident in my abilities to remember old movies (of course, I brought my Paramount book along for him to sign, and for us to discuss), Eddie pointed at a still from one of his movies.

"And that's me in, in..."

Eddie was stumped.

Of course, I jumped in. "Eddie, that's you and Bob Hope in Caught In the Draft."

I hate to admit it, but I said it in a kind of "Jeez, don't you remember your own movies?" This, to a man in his 80s. (What was I thinking?)

But he was ever gracious, just smiling at me, saying something like, "That's right, that's right." And then he looked at hubby. "I like her." Eee hee. :-) I guess he liked it that being a youngster (hah!), I sure knew my old movies. (He was right about that, heh.)

So I got a slew of autographs from him, including one he put in a book penned by Henny Youngman. (I'm still trying to figure out THAT one.)

Is it any wonder that I have a small scene in my current WIP that involves this funny man? (Ever seen Hail the Conquering Hero? Or maybe you remember Mr. Duncan, the old toy store dude, in one of the Home Alone movies?)

I could also tell you that sis-in-law was the toast of her hometown (acting wise), while hubby contributed his voice to the production of The Miracle Worker. Or that Jason Alexander (George on Seinfeld) sought her out in New York just before Seinfeld came out that particular year. (Yeah. Truth: Jason Alexander is just a few years younger than my sis-in-law. They went to the same high school.)

Hmm...now to find someone else to tag...


~Nancy Beck