100 Things About Me

Subject to change without notice.

1.) I think of myself as shy, but the more accurate description is that I’m selective about who I talk to, and I like to observe a while before I let my whole personality show.

2.) I don’t like large groups of people – large parties, etc. They overwhelm my senses.

3.) I have perfect pitch, and I sing, but most of my friends have never heard me.

4.) For that matter, they’ve never heard me play the cello, either.

5.) My mother gave me a really nice sewing machine, that I never use. I plan to, though, soon. No, really.

6.) I believe everyone should be able to do somekind of hand-work. My preferred option is crewell embroidery. I want to learn to quilt, though.

7.) I don’t know how to cross-stitch, crochet, or knit.

8.) I like to cook, and I’m good at it, but I don’t like cooking for just the two of us.

9.) I have lived on both the east and west coasts of the United States, and in it’s geographic center. (New Jersey, California, South Dakota).

10.) I’m terrified of spiders. Especially if they’re in my shower.

11.) I like cats, in small doses.

12.) I’m a dog person. We own two: a chihuahua-mix and a mutt.

13.) I don’t have a favorite color, but I generally like bright bold colors like royal blue, purple, and deep red.

14.) I collect hats.

15.) I like pens. A lot. My favorite kind have liquid ink (in dark blue or royal blue) and roller-ball points, and micro-fine tips.

16.) Even though I cannot draw, I love art supplies. In my cabinet, I have crayons, paper, and oil pastels.

17.) I grew up watching my mother sew. I remember the smell of the big boxes of straight pins with great fondness. (It’s actually the machine oil scent lingering on the metal. But I like it.)

18.) I have more pairs of shoes than any person needs. I only regularly wear about four or five pairs.

19.) I like most kinds of music, with the exceptions of hard-core metal and rap, and tribal drumming. I’m melody-centric.

20.) I don’t like songs with indistinct lyrics.

21.) I am NOT a soprano.

22.) I’m five feet tall, exactly. This means that most upper cabinets are too high, and that I’m always being choked by the shoulder-strap portion of seatbelts.

23.) The only vegetable I truly hate, is bok choy.

24.) I think pizza is a comfort food. My favorite kind is on thin crust, and has just roasted garlic and extra cheese, no meat or other veggies.

25.) As I write this, our house in California is for sale. Once it sells, we’re moving to Texas.

26.) I love coffee, but I’ve limited myself to one coffee drink per day, and I don’t even have one every day.

27.) My writing ‘voice’ changes depending on the beverage I have. Tea inspires moodier pieces. Cranberry juice makes me more acerbic.

28.) My favorite cold drink is unsweetened iced tea.

29.) I cannot drink coffee or hot, black tea, without milk. Sugar is optional.

30.) I both read and write fanfic. It’s taken me a long time to admit this.

31.) The first fanfic I ever wrote, before I knew what it was, was a 300-page musical that combined Superman, Annie, and Peter Pan. Hey, I was eleven.

32.) I used to dabble in poetry, and I love the form and structure of verse, but I rarely write any.

33.) I’m harshly critical of my own work.

34.) I believe that the best sweet corn and tomatoes are grown in New Jersey.

35.) I’m pro-choice, anti-death-penalty, and yes, I’m a feminist. Anyone who thinks feminism is about bashing men is wrong. It’s not.

36.) Even though I went to a performing arts school, I still hated high school. I had a chance to graduate early and go to college early, and now I wish I’d done it.

37.) I never finished my degree. Instead, I have several computer certifications, and a real estate license. Someday, I’ll go back. Maybe.

38.) I’m slowly exploring my spiritual side, but I don’t believe in organized religion.

39.) I know how to ice skate…badly.

40.) I think making bread is a zen-like experience. There’s something truly magical about feeling warm dough between your fingers.

41.) Despite my shoe collection, when I’m at home, I’m generally barefoot.

42.) The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was the first real science fiction I ever read. I was 12.

43.) I read a lot. In 2003, I read 117 books. I was keeping a list, but I lost it in a reformat. I believe that B&N should track card-purchases, so that card-owners can go to the website and see what books they purchased.

44.) I never drink enough water. I know I should, but I just can’t. It makes me feel nauseous.

45.) I love rain. I especially love curling up with a pile of books and a pot of tea on a rainy day.

46.) My favorite lunch food is tuna fish.

47.) I don’t like visiting other people for Thanksgiving or Christmas, because I’m picky about turkey. My grandfather’s stuffing recipe is the only one that tastes “right” to me.

48.) I love bubble baths. My favorite bath scent is rosemary and mint.

49.) I don’t particularly like roses.

50.) I love irises, calla lilies, gerbera daisies, and sunflowers.

51.) If I could make money playing in the garden, sipping coffee, and writing, I would be completely happy.

52.) I don’t like the use of “emails” as a plural noun. It really irritates me.

53.) My birth stone is peridot. I’ve never liked it.

54.) I love watching my dogs sleep – they’re so cute when they’re quiet.

55.) Fuzzy and I met on the ‘net, and will be celebrating our tenth anniversary in March, 2005. I’m still amazed that I get to wake up with him every day.

56.) I was nearsighted all my life, but I had LASIK done in March, 2002. I’m glad I did, if for no other reason than I can see to shave my legs in the shower.

57.) I’m craving toast, but the toaster is packed in the garage, because we needed everything off the counters for the open house.

58.) I have never had a job that required me to wear a uniform or a name tag (security badges don’t count).

59.) I’ve almost always had jobs where I could wear sneakers to work.

60.) I have a fairly good memory, but I only retain information that interests me.

61.) The process of getting my house ready for sale, has me seriously considering working as a realtor instead of in mortgages, once we’re in Texas.

62.) I dye my hair. When I was little it was strawberry blonde. Now, it’s kind of dark brown, but we color it to add depth and highlights. The name of the color blend is “Chocolate Bar.”

63.) I LOVE Aveda products.

64.) I like trying different kinds of foods, but Italian and Japanese are my favorite types. Indian food tends to involve too much curry for me.

65.) There are moments when I miss snow.

66.) My favorite pair of shoes ever were black ankle boots with just a touch of a heel. I miss them horribly.

67.) Far too much of my wardrobe is black.

68.) I don’t like pink. Usually.

69.) I love beach glass, but I didn’t have any, so in order to fill come conch shells that were laying around the house, I resorted to buying beach glass. (My grandmother would be rolling in her grave if she knew. Or, for that matter, if she’d been buried.)

70.) I’m not sure I believe in ghosts, but I think I’ve been visited by each of my grandparents, since their deaths.

71.) My grandparents ashes have been mixed into the earth of my garden, my mother’s garden, and my aunts’ gardens. I like to think of this as a form of eternity. I also like to think it means they stand guard over our houses.

72.) After visiting my parents in Baja California Sur, I fell in love with limes and black sand.

73.) I participated in NaNoWriMo last year, and plan to do so again this year.

74.) I don’t like wall-to-wall carpeting, but I like having an area rug near the bed. No one should have to put their feet on a cold floor first thing in the morning.

75.) I don’t like granite kitchens. I LOVE tile.

78.) One of my favorite sensations: Slipping into a freshly-made bed piled high with pillows, just after a hot bath, and feeling the cool sheets against my skin.

79.) I’m my most creative in bed. It’s where I do my deepest writing, and thinking.

80.) Most of my reading takes place in the bathroom. What else is there to do while you sit on the pot?

81.) I sing in the shower.

82.) I dance in the rain.

83.) I love the smell of line-dried cotton t-shirts.

84.) If liver tasted the way it smells, I’d like it.

85.) I’m fascinated by sharks. I’m not sure why. But I consider it appropriate that the Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week” always coincides with my birthday.

86.) I like meat to be very rare, and cookies to be almost burnt.

87.) I think smoking is vile, and I don’t let people smoke in my house.

88.) I never thought I’d want children, but more and more, lately, the ticking of the biological clock is getting through to me, and I think having ONE child would be extremely satisfying and enjoyable.

89.) I love handwritten letters, but carpal tunnel has made it really difficult for me to write legibly. Still, there’s something special about pen, paper, and ink.

90.) I love wooden boats, and sailing ships, and have an addition to novels and movies that take place on ships or submarines.

91.) I don’t like libraries. The books always smell funny, and I never remember to return them on time. For me, bookstores are cheaper.

92.) But I still think libraries are under-funded.

93.) It annoys me when public figures (entertainers, politicans, etc.) don’t speak correctly, or use language well.

94.) I have a vivid and overactive imagination. Movies like “The Ring” give me nightmares.

95.) I can’t sleep with the door open, or lights on.

96.) I love the way sunshine looks on hardwood floors.

97.) If I were rich, my biggest indulgence would be having someone wash my hair more often than just whenever I have it cut.

98.) I don’t like animation. I haven’t since I was six.

99.) I do like design shows like Trading Spaces. They’re addicive. For that matter, so is Celebrity Poker.

100.) I have no real interest in professional sports. Except horse racing. I love horse racing.

Changes

It may be the middle of summer, here in the states, but to me it’s the turn of my personal year, as well. Yesterday, as we were out with the dogs, so that E. could hold our house open, I had an idea for a new blog template, and last night I put it mostly together. Today I tweaked it a bit, and in doing so, in changing the blog template, I cemented the mental shifts that have already begun.

As we’ve gone through the process of prepping the house to sell it, I’ve been analyzing things, making resolutions for when we move. Things like:
-We won’t wait to do all the little things to make the house cute.
-We’ll be better about cleaning – not just doing the easy day to day stuff, but the rest, the stuff we all ignore until we think company is coming.
-We’re going to take walks with the dogs, daily, using it as us-time.

We keep talking about what we’ll do, how we’ll change our lives. I make mental pictures of moments I want to have. I’m nervous, of course, but excited.

It’s three weeks til my birthday, I really hope we’re in contract by then. I think we will be.