I've been tagged

Nancy tagged me and now I am to tell 8 things about myself that you probably don't know (don't worry Nancy, I would have said no to this if I didn't want to).

1. I learned English in high school where we had to read 25 books for our exams and there my love for English books started (we also had to read books for German and French, but that never became languages that I read books in for pleasure, my French is only on holiday conversation level).
2. Books that have influenced me greatly (clearly showing my age I guess): Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook and quite a few others by her, Marilyn French The Bleeding heart and Her mothers daughter and Simone de Beauvoir Memoirs of a dutiful daughter and All men are mortal. I don't read much any more, which I find a pity, but there is not enough time (I can sew in little time blocks, but not take up a serious book and read for only 10-15 minutes).
3. Bedtime reading is either a sewing or cooking book, a BWOF issue (always new things you have not seen before in a line drawing) or a detective story.
4. Besides sewing, I love cooking and collecting recipes from all over the world.
5. I did teach: learning people to work with a computer and working with word-processors, spreadsheets and databases. Started in the time of WordPerfect and Lotus. Anyone remember those, before Microsoft dominated the computer world? And I have written (and still write) tutorials for computer programs.
6. I only watch television for about half an hour a day, to see the news mainly.
7. I'm claustrophobic, have been since a child, when I always took the stairs instead of elevators. Therefore I don't like flying or long tunnels (like to see the end of it).
8. I've never been outside Europe, but on the wish list of my family and me is a trip to the US, but I wish we could skip the flight, at least 6 hours on a plane, grrr.
9. Spend too much time behind the computer screen, so now I really quit, with a parting shot of myself. Because my skin is very often red because of a skin disorder, I don't like pictures of myself, as pictures seem to enhance the red color. I'll make an exception this time.

That's in one post more information about me than in my 5 months in blogosphere. Next post is definitely on sewing again.

Do you have anything to share? Are there books that had influence on you? I won't tag anyone specifically though.