monkey on my back

ughh.
I've been double-tagged and cannot ignore it any longer.
I'm throwing out this stingy bone: I will divest myself of those niggling questions, but ask to be excused from passing the baton. I have good reasons:

a) everyone I know has already been tagged.
b) even if I found someone under a blogger-rock that has been overlooked, I cringe at the thought of asking them to come up with seven more.
c) in my humble opinion, the whole game reminds me of a chain letter. (Not a fan, folks.)

Those excellent and compelling reasons aside, I'll admit that it has been entertaining to read my friends' responses.
As I say whenever I play Scrabble with Friend #37,
"Thanks for letting me break the rules."

1. Since I turned 10, my family was a blended one. The way things lined up after my mom married my step-dad, there were six of us kids in the exact order as the Brady Bunch. (I was Marcia...) We would watch the show, which was at its height of popularity, and hold our sides in laughter at the ridiculous story lines. My mom would only say, "Where's my maid?"

2. I once held the title First Prize Accordionist, Northeastern Division for my age group. My rendition of Ravel's Bolero was the clincher.

3. I love anchovies on pizza.

4. When I was in college, I worked as a draftsman at my uncle's civil engineering office. After graduating, I was a waitress at Friendly's. I did NOT love the blue-and-white checkered polyester uniform.

5. For two glorious weeks, I was the musical director/conductor for a show in London's West End. It was a production of The Snow Queen.

6. I have a notoriously bad musical memory. (Really, you wouldn't believe it! I can't remember more than two notes in a row unless I mentally jot them down.)

7. My great-great-great-great(....) grandfather was Abra Clark, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.