Me, as a list

1.) I tried to make myself be left-handed as a little kid

2.) I am told I was a terrible baby

3.) I speak French almost well enough to say that I speak French; I resent the fact that our culture does not encourage multi-language acquisition

4.) I have taken odd summer employment opportunities simply for the purpose of collecting material for a book that I will write someday when I have time

5.) I never had to have braces!

6.) I have not eaten meat since 1999

7.) I am not one of those vegetarians who chastises others for eating meat

8.) I am a pisces with a moon rising in cancer, and I was born in the Chinese zodiac year of the metal cock (heh heh)

9.) My dad has Multiple Sclerosis, and it terrifies me

10.) I was anorexic in college, and almost died

11.) my favorite color is magenta

12.) I love Audrey Hepburn movies

13.) My family never traveled much, so I worked like crazy, saved up money, and when I was 17 I went to Europe

14.) It was the first time I was ever on a plane

15.) I am listening to Lou Reed while I type this random list

16.) Despite the fact that my parents always fought when I was little, I remember sometimes hearing them have sex at night. I thought they were hurting each other and I cried.

17.) I want to visit ALL 7 continents before I die

18.) I am one of those saps who believes in the inherent good in all people; furthermore, I believe that when people are consistently held to high standards they will eventually rise to them

19.) I sing like crazy when I drive

20.) I do yoga… I used to do it twice a week for an hour and a half, but then I became a grownup and now I only have time for 1/2 hour every week or two.

21.) My niece told me (when she was 3) that she does not believe I am a grownup, but rather “a kid… a really bigger kid than other kids.”

22.) I had chicken pox when I got my first period in fifth grade

23.) I love hands and feet. After eyes, they are my favorite bodypart on other people. Not sexually, just aesthetically.

24.) My closest friend in the world once accurately described me as a living, breathing paradox

25.) Now I’m listening to the Decemberists

26.) Altough I love kids, I don’t think I want to have children of my own… there are already so many kids in the world that need love and support.

27.) I am a terrible scab-picker. I know you’re not supposed to. But I do!

28.) When asked on my “career inventory” in ninth grade what I saw myself doing as a career, I said that I wanted to be a freelance writer/photographer and “dancer” (yeah, I meant stripper)

29.) I was very, very sheltered as a kid, and so as demonstrated above I romanticized some of the grittier aspects of life for awhile

30.) I am tragically allergic to wool. Even cashmere. I start to itch when I walk into J. Crew.

31.) I absolutely love to cook for people

32.) I published a zine from the ages of 13-19

33.) I have an obsessive fear of dishrags and sponges… ick.

34.) I am a morning person

35.) When I was a senior in high school, I made out with a kid for no reason other than he told me that he wanted me so “badly”, and I was impressed by his proper grammar

36.) Within the first month of this school year (my third year of teaching), I had to start wearing reading glasses. AND I started getting awful migranes. No wonder they say that if you make it through the first 3-5 years, you’re likely to stick around… once it starts affecting you physically, it gets tough.

37.) I have a shamrock plant that I got a few St. Patrick’s Days ago, and it is now 18″ high and two feet across. Prior to that, I was known for having a “dead thumb.”

38.) I LOVE Halloween, and autumn in general

39.) Spring is my second favorite season

40.) I am way out of shape right now. I blame grad school. It’s the exhausting thing that takes up the extra time that I would normally spend working out.

41.) I love pumpkin flavored anything

42.) I have a weakness for shoes. I have many. Sometimes I feel bad about that.

43.) In high school I alternately had bright red hair, black hair, purple hair… I wore steel-toed combat boots or converse all-stars and fishnet or striped tights… during my freshman year of college I went to a party wearing electrical tape as a “top”… I had all kinds of piercings… and now, I shop at Ann Taylor. My, how we change. Let’s hope pictures of my younger days never get out!

44.) I am THRILLED that my state recently passed a smoking ban. Now I can go out without smelling gross when I get home!

45.) I am sentimental. Very.

46.) I really, REALLY miss my grandma who died last spring. I think she and I were more similar than any other two people in my family. All of my grandparents are now deceased, and I miss the company of “old” people.

47.) I was a research assistant for a linguistics professor when I was an undergrad. We did this huge study over one summer, and for months after that I couldn’t stand to hear people talk because I couldn’t stop analyzing their speech patterns and word choices.

48.) I had perfect attendance in high school… and I HATED high school. Or at least I thought I did at the time.

49.) I love flossing my teeth. You know that cliche question about what you would bring to a desert island if you could only pick three things? Floss. Floss. More floss. Seriously. Ok so maybe floss, a computer, and an airplane I could fly off the island.

50.) The only vegetables I can’t stand are beets (what is the point?) and baby corn (oh, the monstrosity that haunts my asian takeout…)

51.) I was diagnosed with ADD in middle school, but I think I was just bored

52.) I used to be a foster parent for chinchillas… I had six of them for a year!

53.) I HATE centipedes. They freak me out. They are the only insects other than mosquitoes that I kill immediately upon detection.

54.) I love large bodies of water. They make me feel so small, and like I am part of something bigger.

55.) I have a thing for argyle.

56.) If I were a cartoon character, I’d be somewhere between Lisa Simpson and She-Ra

57.) I look both ways before crossing one-way streets… I just can’t help it.

58.) I love a good summertime thunderstorm

59.) I will never, EVER wear one of those swimsuits with the attached skirty thing.

60.) I like my toast almost burnt.

61.) I minored in Human Sexuality in college. No, that isn’t a pickup line… I honestly did! I thought I might end up as a public health educator/advocate or something like that. Or a sex columnist. I would still like to do one of those two things someday, maybe…

62.) I hate prime numbers. And I like all even numbers except for six. I am partial to four and eight. I don’t know why… this has been in my head since childhood.

63.) For over a decade, I have harbored a crush on Tom Brokaw. I also have a thing for Anderson Cooper. Meow.

64.) I love to write marginalia in books, and then reread it years later

65.) I love snail mail – it’s becoming a lost art and I am trying to keep it alive. I have lots of stationary and cards … sometimes I even make my own.

66.) I am terrified of aging. I know it’s superficial. But I am. 

67.) I want to travel to Antarctica. Soon.  to be continued…