okay, 5 things meme

I have given up trying to be profound or self-revelatory (if that's even a word.)
Here are 5 rather mundane things that you may not know about me.

1. I know the words to every song. This is my superpower - some people are polymaths, some people (like my brother) have an astonishing memory, some people have perfect pitch. I have the ability to recall the lyrics to literally several hundred songs. It's possible that I know more than a thousand. Everything. Camp songs, pop songs, long sections of chorales, all the verses of hymns, and entirely too many show tunes. Just to balance things out, I am completely unable to memorize telephone numbers, PIN codes, or the multiplication tables.

2. My parents met at the counter of a soda fountain in 1953. Sitting on those round chrome stools with red leather seats. I hasten to mention they were not teenagers - there were no bobbysocks or poodle skirts involved.

3. I grew up in a house where my father did all the housework, all the cooking (all the edible cooking, at least) and the lion's share of the child-tending.

4. My mother, father and brother were all professional photographers. I pretty much never took a picture in my life until I was in my 40s, when my husband gave me my first digital camera. I started to call that gift "the biggest change in my life.." and then I remembered that I had a baby 13 months ago, so I don't think I'm allowed to say that about taking pictures. Nonetheless, taking pictures (and sharing them on the web) has become kind of a big thing for me. (And I do have some awfully photogenic subjects sitting around my house.)
check out my brother's work.
and my Flickr stream.

5. My favorite dish is Tom Ka Gai. (PLEASE NOTE: I have not tested the linked recipe - I only include it to show what it is. Although it does have four-and-a-half stars, so I may in fact try it.) My favorite dessert is creme brulee, though I am also extremely fond of Tres Leche cake and Thai sticky rice.

Bonus:
The question I am most frequently asked is what kind of hair dye I use.
The answer is: Special Effects USA, available at Hot Topic ALTHOUGH it's totally worth the trip to freakin' NYC to buy it at the midtown Ricky's.
I use scary toxic powdered bleach, then Virgin Rose for the main color, and a little tasteful fingerful of Blue Velvet on the ends.