I've been tagged!

I’ve just been tagged in English by my dear friend Cait of Legerdenez and by the French perfume blogger Poivre Bleu! As most of you know, the game consists in revealing six random things about yourself. So, without further ado, of all the possible things that could pop up in my mind, here we go:

1. Glen Gould’s first Goldberg Variations are as familiar to me as my mother’s heartbeat: she listened to them all through her pregnancy, and used them to soothe me to sleep as an infant. To this day, I can’t hear his trademark hum without feeling I’m home.

2. I am the usurper of a cat: my parents used to travel all over Western Canada in their powder-blue VW beetle with a smart, resourceful tabby who took off, never to return, soon after my birth. As a result, as a child I became both violently allergic to, and violently worshipful of cats. I’ve never not had one. My current owner is the 9-month-old Jicky; her predecessor Kiki de Montparnasse lived with me for over 18 years, longer than any human being. And I’m only very mildly allergic now. What’re a few sneezes next to a bundle of catty love?

3. Miss Jicky is a budding perfumista: she sniffs my wrists with very keen interest and tries to lick them; when I’m testing various scents or raw materials on paper strips, she picks one up in her jaw and runs off with it. Oddly, osmanthus seems to be a favorite.

4. I am one degree of separation away from Madonna. This involves a man (if you’re Spanish and over 40, you might guess his identity).

5. I once had a bodyguard for two months, for a piece of political/gonzo journalism I wrote back in the 80s.

6. Ever since I’ve been old enough to buy my own clothes, I’ve been collecting vintage on and off. The last such frenzy came after my divorce. I got so many parcels from eBay that I got to know the young, cute, sweet postman quite well – he used to wake me up, and look at me in my bathrobe as though I were in full make-up, cocktail dress and Louboutin heels. What can I say? It was an efficient tactic.

Now these are the rules of the tagging game:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.

2. Post the rules on your blog.

3. Write six random things about yourself.

4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.

5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.

6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Most of my perfume blogger friends have already been tagged, so I’ll shift part of the game over to the French territory, and tag:

1. Octavian of 1000fragrances, probably the most erudite perfume blogger of our sphere, and a good friend.

2. Six’ of Ambre Gris, whose sensitive and thoughtful reviews are always a pleasure to read, and who can write in English as well as any native speaker (though her blog is in French).

3. Alex Lee of I Love Perfume!, a young perfumer in training at Grasse, who doesn’t know me at all, so he’ll be a bit surprised, but I hope not too flustered.

4. Christopher of Vetivresse, whose cultured posts always shift the perfume discussion into new geographical or literary territories.

5. Qwendy of Notes on Shoes, Cakes and Perfumes, who is a real-life friend: my e-friend Helg of the Perfume Shrine tagged her too, but I’m doing it anyway because it’s time the woman started blogging again more regularly!

6. Amy of StyleSpy, whom I’ve also had the chance to meet when she came to Paris last year – her views on fashion always translate into real life, she gives great shopping tips, and she’s a very entertaining writer.