100 Things You Probably Don't Know About Me (16 Jan 03)
  1. I got married when I was 20 years old.
  2. When I was ten, I wrote a story which foretold I would be married and divorced three times and finally find the love of my life.
  3. I have lived in Germany, England, Portugal, and -- of the United States -- Florida, Indiana, Illinois, Oklahoma and Ohio.
  4. I read the same books repeatedly. Even mysteries.
  5. I weigh more now than I ever have in my life. Sometimes this bothers me.
  6. My hair bothers me more frequently than my weight.
  7. I have met in person fourteen of the people on my LJ friends list. The last friend who dropped out of my life for reasons I don't entirely understand still has an LJ but doesn't use it. My best friend has an LJ. So does my other best friend.
  8. I consider myself a cat person.
  9. I have 4 dogs that I love like children.
  10. At one point in my childhood, we had a Filipino maid who lived in the attic.
  11. When I was about twelve, I spent my allowance every week buying a hardback Nancy Drew book.
  12. My stepmother gave away the Nancy Drew books.
  13. My favorite colors have been, respectively, purple, blue, green, and red. I am also partial to gray.
  14. I have had eleven pets thus far in my life.
  15. The collection of boxes and trays on my dresser includes items from Portugal, Poland, Germany, France, and Avon.
  16. I am no longer in touch with any friends before college. I still talk with only one friend from college.
  17. I am not entirely sure that I am my father's biological daughter.
  18. I used to watch the Star Wars movies every Christmas. Tis the season.
  19. When I was in 4th grade, I played Alice in our musical version of Alice in Wonderland. There is a videotape as proof.
  20. When I was in 7th grade, I participated in a series of skits performed in front of the entire school. I contributed several elements of improv.
  21. Sometime after the 7th-grade performance, I became stage shy.
  22. Most of the items that I left in my parents' attic when I went to college were sold in a garage sale without my consent.
  23. When I first began teaching, my hands shook during every class session. For months.
  24. I really enjoy giving gifts.
  25. When I was in London with my family, my father yelled at me for spending my money on a gift for someone else rather than a souvenir for myself.
  26. I have spent more than a day each in London, York, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Paris, Vicenza, and Berlin. I have spent more than a month in London, York, and Cambridge.
  27. The only part of New York City I've ever seen is JFK airport.
  28. I have one half brother and two half sisters. I have also had three stepbrothers and two stepsisters.
  29. I was a waitress, part time, in a Chinese restaurant for four years.
  30. I have also worked part time as a receptionist, telemarketer, book seller, Latin tutor, and correspondence course grader. Of those, I enjoyed working retail the most.
  31. Walking up the basement stairs with the lights off still scares me.
  32. I was burned badly on my leg by a piece of pepperoni pizza.
  33. I haven't worn shorts regularly since then.
  34. I took piano lessons as a child. So did my sister, ten years later.
  35. Some of my family knows that I write fiction.
  36. Some of my family probably knows that I've written adult fan fiction, but we don't mention it.
  37. At one point in my life, I wanted children.
  38. I will probably get sterilized within the next five years.
  39. My father taught me to cook.
  40. I threw away all of my handwritten journals from college and before. Shortly before my nervous breakdown.
  41. I pick at scabs. Literal and metaphorical.
  42. I can't remember ever having a conversation with any of my grandparents.
  43. I love to play Monopoly.
  44. On the whole, I detest party games.
  45. I am obsessive about food that I like, n.b. Basil Chicken Noodle, the alfredo from that place in Cambridge, Mimi's fried rice, and those little vegetarian spring rolls from Target's frozen section.
  46. I think that most dinner entrees can be improved by lemon juice.
  47. I have spent more time reading about writing than I have spent writing. This strikes me as cowardly.
  48. When I drink, my ears blush.
  49. Jill says that when I'm drunk, I use big words. I categorically repudiate that egregious allegation.
  50. I don't care for first-person narrative.
  51. The three authors whose work I have re-read the most often all write in first person POV.
  52. I am fiercely opposed to the abolition of abortion and pornography.
  53. I find most pornography hilariously bad.
  54. If I thought I could get away with playing Civ at work, I probably would.
  55. I'm always astonished when somebody wants to be my friend.
  56. I am phenomenally bad at remembering important dates. As a history major, I learned the dates of important historical events for exams through sheer force of will, and then promptly forgot them. If I forget your birthday... you're not the only one.
  57. I didn't have a boyfriend until my senior year of high school.
  58. He later tried to commit suicide, and somebody suggested I was partly to blame.
  59. I love to browse new grocery stores.
  60. I rarely feel guilty about spending money on food, and routinely feel guilty about spending money on books.
  61. I can eat cream cheese plain. I don't like the fake stuff, or the spreadable kind.
  62. I was accused, in high school, of dyeing my hair.
  63. I now dye my hair occasionally.
  64. I toy with the idea of laser surgery because I'd love to be able to open my eyes in the morning and see without glasses.
  65. I was baptized against my will. This still bothers me.
  66. I was baptized in waist-deep water behind a glass wall, in full view of the congregation. That bothers me too.
  67. I dream of inconsequential things, like finding a pen or breaking a glass, and then can't remember whether those things happened or I dreamed them.
  68. I frequently dream about Disney World.
  69. I have been to Disney World 3 times, that I recall. I have been to Disneyland once.
  70. I love to drive my car.
  71. I don't like driving my car when my husband is a passenger. He doesn't like being a passenger when I drive, so it works out.
  72. I still regret that we didn't elope.
  73. I am, quite often, insanely jealous of my friends.
  74. I often split infinitives.
  75. I have seen Itzhak Perlman in concert. I wish to see him again many times.
  76. We visited Civil War battlefields for our honeymoon.
  77. I would love to travel with my friends.
  78. I expect to be disappointed.
  79. I often have an intense urge to ram other drivers with my car. I know this is not a good or rational impulse.
  80. I was, as a youth, not a bad bowler.
  81. If I could decorate my walls entirely in movie posters, I would.
  82. I won't allow myself to decorate my walls entirely in movie posters.
  83. I wrote a young adult science fiction novel when I was in high school. I don't think I have a copy of it.
  84. No matter how long I intend to stay at someone else's house, I always want to leave early.
  85. I don't mean to hurt people with this behavior, but I often do.
  86. I don't cry as much as I did before Prozac, but I still cry a lot.
  87. I love sugar cereals.
  88. I don't like sugar on my non-sugar cereals.
  89. I believe that condoms are primarily a comedic or humiliation device. Then again, sex itself is pretty embarrassing if you stop to picture it.
  90. I once did a school report on guacamole.
  91. I can't judge distances. I think this is a deliberate mental block, but I can't fathom why this might be.
  92. My mouth falls open when I am asleep.
  93. I fell asleep during a filmstrip freshman year in high school, and awoke to the class laughing at me because I was sitting upright in my chair with my mouth hanging open.
  94. I generally woke up my sleeping students by asking them a question about the topic we were discussing.
  95. I'd love to go dancing.
  96. I am very fond of crossword puzzles.
  97. I can fall in crush with someone based solely on their voice.
  98. I don't tolerate well repetitive noises.
  99. I don't believe in God.
  100. I do think that things sometimes happen for a reason.