100 Things About Me

1. I don't like desserts that combine chocolate and fruit. . . . except chocolate-covered strawberries.

2. Ever since I was a teenager, I have believed that I will live to be old: at least 85 or so.

3. My hair is primarily naturally curly, but there a few stray strands that are almost straight.

4. I skipped first grade. After being tested, I went straight from kindergarten to second grade.

5. I've never tried any street drugs, not even marijuana.

6. I have always wanted a daughter and fear that if I ever gave birth to a boy, I would be horribly disappointed, at least on some level.

7. I'm a crazy one for sending friends and family cards on birthdays and such: I've bought at least 50 Hallmark cards a year since at least 1996.

8. I like raisins, but hate raisin bread. I like Big Red and cinnamon Altoids, but I hate cinnamon rolls.

9. I don't like Britney Spears--never have--but I like her new song Piece of Me.

10. My father was born in Ireland; he didn't come to the U.S. until he was 20. All his relatives except my sister and I still live there.

11. I have never visited Michigan.

12. I cyber-stalk my ex-boyfriends. The road to hell is paved by Google.

13. I love my Golden Retriever more than I like most people. And it's not just because I'm a crazy-dog-person: he truly seems more deserving of devotion.

14. I love the way it feels to be drunk. Not out-of-control drunk: just-past-tipsy drunk.

15. When I was younger, I used to want three children: two girls, one boy. Now I'm not sure if I'll even have one child, and I'm not as broken-hearted about this I would have thought I'd be.

16. If I have internet access, I cannot go even one day without checking my email...even though I probably get less than 20 personal emails a week and rarely got one that's important.

17. I like Barry Manilow's music. My favorite song of his: All the Time.

18. I've gone to Vegas for my birthday twice: 26th and 30th.

19. I love reading Victorian-era romance novels, especially Victoria Holt.

20. I have seen the movie Clueless so many times that I can recite all the dialogue.

21. I have never owned a house because I fear the commitment that home ownership represents.

22. I have lived in six different U.S. states: New York, New Mexico, Texas, California, Connecticut, and Arizona.

23. I call each of my friends on his/her birthday and sing The Birthday Song...even when I've already sent a card and even if I get voicemail.

24. I once went over 8 months without speaking to my father. Though I missed him at first, it was a wonderfully stress-free 8 months.

25. I hate NASCAR. I just don't get what the fuss is about.

26. I rarely cry when most normal people would. For example, though I was sad, I didn't cry at all at my maternal grandmother's funeral. If/when I cry, it's usually due to self-pity, not sadness or other emotions.

27. I played the clarinet from ages 10 to 17 and dreamed of someday playing professionally. I was pretty good; I made the all-state band and won a regional solo competition.

28. When I was in high school, I gave serious contemplation to entering a convent and becoming a nun. I prayed that God should send me a sign if it was His will for me to do this; shortly thereafter, college brochures started arriving in the mail. I took this as a sign that God wanted me to go to college and not the convent.

29. Despite the fact that I have moved about 20 times since college, I still have every card and letter I've ever received from a friend.

30. I still have a fixed retainer on my bottom teeth. It's been there since I got my braces off in 1986.

31. My father thought I would be a boy. My room and all my clothes were blue. Dad asked the doctor who delivered me when he'd scheduled my circumcision.

32. If I'm not good at something, it's highly likely that I will not enjoy doing it. Sometimes I hate that about myself.

33. I talked and walked in my sleep as a child.

34. I still snore.

35. I read The DaVinci Code cover to cover the day after I took the bar exam.

36. I have never been arrested, though I have broken the law. . . . misdemeanor offenses only.

37. I hated the movie Rushmore. I made the friend I went with leave thirty minutes into it.

38. I lost my virginity when I was 15. I wish I'd waited; he wasn't worth it.

39. One of my favorite things to do is explore a city I've never visited before--alone.

40. I love the ocean. I can sit on any shore and become almost hypnotized, watching the waves ebb and flow and listening to the surf. Few things make me feel so peaceful.

41. During the 1992 presidential election, I dreamed that Bill Clinton came to my student apartment and had sex with me with the Secret Service agents waiting outside.

42. I often wish I had been born with a trust fund so that my life decisions would not be so influenced by financial considerations. Even if I were independently wealthy, I would probably still work, but would love to not "have to" work.

43. When I was 19, I engaged in a very heavy makeout session with a man I knew was married. We came "this-close" to having sex, but I stopped him. That's the closest I've ever come to committing adultery.

44. My face, neck, and chest get very flushed and blotchy when I'm extremely nervous or angry. The same thing happens after I climax and if I have a lot of alcohol, caffeine, or spicy food all at once.

45. I look terrible in hats. I've never tried one on in any style that looked good on me.

46. I can't stand cold weather. I think snow and ice look really pretty, but would never want to live anywhere where it snowed and froze regularly.

47. I used to feel bitter that I was born with brown eyes, but I'm over it now. It makes no sense that my eyes are brown.: my mom's are blue, my dad's are hazel. My sister got blue eyes, the exact same shade as my mom's.

48. I dislike crunchy peanut butter, but I love creamy peanut butter.

49. Some say it's un-American, but I don't like apple pie.

50. Few things make me feel better than being able to help a friend in some way. I love to give advice (but only when it's asked for) and am willing to do a lot for a friend in need.

51. My stepdad, who was an alcoholic, propositioned me in college when he was drunk. Even though he died in March 2007, I'll never tell my mother this.

52. I hate shaving my legs. If I don't have a boyfriend and don't plan to wear a skirt or shorts, I'll go as long as I can without shaving.

53. I know all the words to every song in The Sound of Music and Grease.

54. When I was 7 or 8, I accidentally killed my goldfish by returning him to his fishbowl before his sterilized water had cooled sufficiently. My mom buried him in the backyard with a tiny tombstone.

55. I gave a classmate a bloody nose on the merry-go-round in kindergarten because he took my spot when I left to get a drink of water and refused to move when I returned.

56. I can't remember learning to read. It seems that I have always known how, even though I know that's not the case.

57. I told my mother to "fuck off" when I was 11; she cried. I still feel bad about it when I think about it.

58. I have never had a stalker. Friends who have say it is scary and unpleasant, but I feel a little insulted that no one has thought I was worth the trouble.

59. If I meet a woman who is exceptionally pretty and thin, I usually assume that she is either stupid or a bitch or both. I should know that this is ridiculous, since at least two of my good friends are exceptionally pretty and thin and are both wonderful women, but I always jump to this conclusion, at least initially.

60. The idea of a born-again or fundamentalist Christian president scares me a lot more than the idea of a non-Christian president. . . . even though I consider myself a Christian.

61. Many of the best things that have happened to me in my life have been the result of something that I did not plan and didn't even anticipate.

62. My father has been married to his second wife for over eighteen years. I never thought their marriage would last this long.

63. I absolutely love spicy foods.

64. I grew up in a small town: around 5000 people, less than 70 in my high school graduating class. I hated it and thought of little else from about age 12 on but getting the hell out of there.

65. The toenails on my "pinky" toes don't look like any of my other toenails and are actually kind-of weird-looking.

66. Sometimes I wonder if I should have gone ahead and gone to medical school and become a doctor, as was my aspiration from age 5 to 19. I think I would've been an excellent physician.

67. When my sister and I were growing up, I often wished there were two more of us: there were so many games I wanted to play that would've worked better with four instead of just two. I used to tell my mom this all the time.
When I was grown, I found out that my mom had had two daughters before us and, for different reasons, given each up for adoption. I wonder how it made her feel when I used to tell her that I wished we had two other sisters. . . .

68. I believe in God, but I'm not certain I believe that there is a heaven.

69. I find it really hard to stick to routines. I hate this about myself because it seems childish and irresponsible to me. I also believe that it keeps me from accomplishing some of my goals, like losing weight and getting more organized.

70. I rarely lie. . . . not just because I am an honest person, but because I am not a good liar.

71. Sometimes I wish I had lived in an earlier era so that I would have been a mother of many children by now. I probably wouldn't have had a career like I have now, but maybe being a mother with a large brood would have been fulfillment enough for me in a different time.

72. I don't have to be drunk to sing karaoke. In fact, I love singing in front of people. I should have been a performer.

73. I still have my bottom two wisdom teeth. They've been there since I was 19. I'm afraid to get them removed because it would require surgery and I've never had any kind of surgery.

74. If I could change one thing about myself with the wave of a wand, I would get rid of my temper. . . . it's gotten me into more trouble and heartache over the years than any other aspect of me, mental, emotional or physical.

75. I'd give up my television set before I gave up my computer.

76. I could eat pizza every day and not get tired of it. In fact, I tested this theory in college--it's true for me. I can have pizza so many different ways that I'd still get variety.

77. I've tried smoking cigarettes twice in my life: once at age 17, once at 26. I hated it both times, and it made me physically ill the second (& last) time.

78. I can live without most sweets, but I could never give up chocolate long-term.

79. I have a weird attraction to left-handed men. Three of my significant relationships have been with left-handed men, and I have been attracted to several others. One of the first things that I noticed about my ex-fiance was that he wore his watch on his right wrist. . . . though he turned out to be right-handed.

80. I would rather be mistreated than ignored.

81. I had a job as a telemarketer in college. . . . for less than two hours. I couldn't stand cold-calling strangers.

82. For reasons that are not clear to me, I am extremely regular and always have been. I have probably taken a laxative less than five times in my adult life.

83. I find it sexy when a man sings and plays the guitar.

84. While working at a hospital back in 1998, I called in sick for a shift simply because I could not mentally face the prospect of going in to work that day. I used to have a tight feeling in my chest just thinking about that place on my days off.

85. When I was 22, a palm reader told me that I would marry a tall, blond man. Each time I have dated a tall, blond man since then, I've wondered if he was The One.

86. I don't really believe in The One. I believe that a huge part of relationships (& life in general) is timing. Unless it's the right person at the right time, for both people, it's not gonna happen. And conversely, if it's not the right time for one or both people, it's not gonna happen, no matter how "right" he or she may be.

87. I have three degrees: associates in nursing, B.A. in psychology, and J.D. To some this may seem unnecessary and excessive, but if I didn't have to work for a living, I'd gladly earn three more. I'd love to study history, linguistics, and more psychology.

88. I'd make a horrible patient. I can't even tolerate a minor head cold or stomach virus without massive bellyaching.

89. I have been overweight all but about six months of my adult life. I haven't weighed less than 175 lbs since I was in my early twenties.

90. I would rather never marry than divorce. I know it's an old-fashioned idea, but I think divorce represents a terrible failure and is somehow shameful.

91. I love celebrating my birthday, and it hurts my feelings if a friend forgets it.

92. Random songs pop into my head all the time, and I sing them. I have no idea where they come from.

93. I own a wedding dress that I have never worn, except for fittings.

94. I think raw, cut onions smell like dirty feet.

95. I'm a little afraid of horses. Once stepped on my sandaled foot when I was 9, and I've never totally gotten over it. I have gone horseback riding a couple of times, but I'm still kind-of scared of them.

96. I get migraine headaches and have since I was 15. Sometimes I will go months without having a migraine--I've gone as long as nearly two years--and sometimes I'll have 2-3 in a week. I've identified a few triggers, but though I've lived with this for over twenty years, I'm still not entirely sure what brings them on and am sometimes surprised when I get one.

97. I like making to-do lists and checking off items as I complete them. Sometimes I will break a task up into smaller steps so that I'll have more things to check off.

98. I've often thought of writing a novel, but I've never come up with what I would consider to be a creative idea for one. . . . so I've never even tried to write one.

99. If I read a book and like its characters, I will re-read it again and again when I want to unwind.

100. I sometimes wish I had better fashion sense.