20 Things You Don’t Know About Me

1. I’m really short. Like, get teased about it short. Like, I have stools in every room of my house short.
2. I’m a Leo, born in the year of the Snake.
3. All but two of my friends are oldest or only children.
4. I find a song I like and then listen to it over and over. And over. Until I don’t.
5. I love playing any Super Mario game.
6. Nailpolish only stays on my fingers for about an hour before it starts chipping. I’m not exaggerating.
7. I cook and bake most of the food I eat from scratch. (I like to know what’s in my food.)
8. My favorite color is blue, but I’m really picky about the shade of blue. Because I’m so picky about blue, I own more stuff in purple.
9. I love all things Alice in Wonderland.
10. I love pictures of ferris wheels, but hate riding them.
11. I love roller coasters… the faster, the better.
12. I hate repetitive sounds… windshield wipers drive me crazy.
13. I’ve broken a tiny bone in my left wrist, and my left pointer finger tip.
14. The Bells of Christmas, by Transiberian Orchestra, is my favorite Christmas song.
15. Halloween is my favorite holiday.
16. Most of my friends are organized, orderly types, and I drive them crazy.
17. Sugar is not my thing. Fat, yes. (French fries, anyone?)
18. The most common thing people tell me after they get to know me is: “I was scared of you when I first met you.”
19. I want to learn to play the piano, and to draw.
20. I don’t have a favorite season; I love the freshness and blooming flowers of spring, the heat and frequent trips to the pool in summer, the crispness of the air and fallen leaves in autumn, and the cold, gray days that beg for a lit fireplace in the winter.

Outgrowing Favorites

When I was a kid, I loved to make lists of my “favorites.” Favorite music, books, movies colors. Best friends, ranked.

Recently, my dad asked me if the Beatles were still my favorite music group. I hesitated before saying, “Well… one of my favorites.”

The truth is that I don’t really have favorites anymore. I can give you a list of maybe the 10 things I listen to most, or the 10 books I love best, but I don’t have one singular thing at the top of any list anymore.

Is it part of growing older? Is it part of my tastes becoming more discerning? Or is it part of that whole decision making process? You know how when you’re a kid, you’re so sure you have all the answers? And then you grow up and you’re like, “Why am I no longer sure of anything?”

I no longer have a single favorite author, but a list of authors I love. Even if I love a particular book, I don’t go out of my way to read everything that author’s written. I have playlists instead of listening to albums. Maybe that’s a good thing, the sign of a mind with broad interests.

Still, I kind of miss the simplicity of being able to declare: “This is my favorite.”

How about you? Has your ability to pick favorites changed as you’ve grown up?

R is for Random

“Creativity is the ability to introduce order into the randomness of nature.”
-Eric Hoffer

Is nature random? Or is it just that we don’t understand the order?

I like the idea that creativity is the ability to introduce order into randomness, to see things in a way that others don’t.  That’s one of the reasons I like taking pictures, even if the same photo has been taken 999 times before.  It’s my picture, and seen through my eyes, which makes it different and unique.

I love random things.  I love conversations that seem random, jumping from topic to topic.  I have a game I play with a friend, where we email one another random words.  There’s no rhyme or reason, no theme, just a series of random words.  Because, why not?

I love all sorts of random things.

Some random facts about me:

1.  I consider myself “geek lite.”  I love science fiction and fantasy, as long as it doesn’t get too much into the actual science or world creation.  I’m good at suspending disbelief.  You don’t have to prove it to me.  As long as it makes sense in the context of the world, we’re good.

2.  I’m really bad at deleting my voicemail and emails.  What if I need them someday?

3.  I actually like the taste of water.

4.  Everything is better with flowers and rainbows.  Pretty colors!

5.  When I don’t wear my glasses, I often get asked “Is that your real eye color?”

6.  Penn & Teller are my favorite comedians/ magicians.

7.  I used to tell people I wanted to be a serial killer when I grew up.

8.  I love pedicures but am indifferent toward manicures.

9.  I love sour foods.

10.  My favorite authors are Dean Koontz, Nora Roberts, Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, and JK Rowling.  (I could go on.  And on.  And probably on.)

“Expose yourself to as much randomness as possible.”
-Ben Casnocha

Have a random day today.

Weekly Writing Challenge: A Few of my Favorite Things

The weekly writing challenge asked us to come up with *meaningful* things, not things like my laptop, etc.  Although my laptop really is one of my favorite things, this was a pretty easy writing challenge.  I have a few things that are really meaningful to me.

1.  My grandmother’s necklace.  It’s a plain gold chain, probably not worth much in money.  But, she always wore it, every single day, and it was something my grandfather gave her.  My grandparents didn’t have much, and I feel very lucky to have this.

2.  A pie cabinet from my grandfather.  My grandparents were in the antique business, and I love old furniture, especially if it’s wood and is well-made.  It’s got a piece broken off the top from sitting too much in their damp house, and it’s my favorite piece of furniture.  I wouldn’t trade if for a $10,000 shopping spree at Raymour and Flanigan.

3.  My lead Snow White and the 7 Dwarves.  When I was little, my grandmother told me all kinds of fairy tales, which is probably why I love them so much now.  They got these lead sets of Snow White and the 7 Dwarves.  I don’t know who painted these, but they’re super cool.

4.  My autographed 1st Edition Watchers.  My husband got this for me on the first Christmas we were together.  That’s when I knew I had to marry him.

5.  Photo albums.  I have a ton of them, both digital and paper.  I love pictures.

Of course, this isn’t a comprehensive list; I could go on and on.  The most imporant thing about this list is this: “The best things in life aren’t things.” -Art Buchwald

‘Nuff said.