Since both Julies have tagged me recently (Julie S tagged me in bold letters today), here are seven random facts about me:

1. I am a two-time participant in the National Spelling Bee, having won five school spelling bees and two "regional" (city-wide) bees to make it there. At one of these bees, I won a dictionary that weighs more than my dog.

2. I abhor most stupid-humor movies, but Tommy Boy cracks me up without fail. I blame this jointly on the comic pairing of Chris Farley and David Spade, and the fact that I watched it for the first time with my cousin Andy. The memory of him cracking up at it is almost as funny as the real thing.

3. I can sing every word to the nine-minute Don McLean song "American Pie," and sometimes my dad and I crank it up and do just that. His favourite line is "The players tried to take the field, but the marching band refused to yield," since I marched for three years in the Midland High School band.

4. I sang the song "Please Remember" at the coronation for my senior prom - the first time I had sung a public solo in YEARS. And everyone, from my down-the-street neighbor to people I barely knew, was astonished that I could sing.

5. I am extremely, incredibly picky in my journal selection, since I carry my journals around everywhere and they become a part of me for six to eight weeks. They must be lined; they must not be too thin or too thick or too fancy or too cutesy or too stuffy. They must be portable, and they must make me like them on sight.

6. I hate regular ballpoint pens. To quote Jack Reese, they have "no flair and no style." Rollerball, please.

7. I cannot whistle. But I CAN wiggle my ears.