A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there was a girl who decided that she would write a list of 100 Things About Her. Not only was this an act of obscene self-obsession, but she didn't even have the decency to finish what she had begun. In the same way that she had started and begun many an ambitious project (including the scrapbook of her trip to Ireland that had been in the works for 6 years) she started off her list with great gusto and enthusiasm and dropped it thoughtlessly halfway through. She thought nothing of the people who would wait futilely for the next installment of fascinating facts about herself, and instead rambled on pointlessly about the inane escapades that made up her day to day life.
Then, one day, tragedy struck in the form of writer's block. No matter how she searched the recesses of her mind for a topic upon which to expound, she could find nothing that struck her fancy. Then! It came to her! She would resurrect an old topic that would surely fascinate the audience that she had somehow managed to alienate and drive away over time, and draw them back into the love and adoration she remembered so fondly (or had made up in her head). And so, without further ado, she presents to you Numbers 51-60 in her legendary All About Me list:
51) I had never tasted sushi until I was a junior in college and the sushi craze finally reached the deep south. My first encounter with raw fish was a frightening experience, but after repeated exposure to it I formed an inexplicable addiction and since then I have been known to eat sushi for 3 consecutive meals. But not the scary stuff like eel and octopus... just the tame avocado, cream cheesy, tiny tuna/krab/salmon types.
52) My favorite books when I was a child were typically "series" books--Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, The Fabulous Five, The Babysitter's Club, and Betsy, Tacy and Tib rank among my fondest remembrances.
53) When I can't sleep at night I usually make up stories in my head... I always intend to write them down because at 2 o'clock in the morning they seem like they might have some potential but I can never remember them the next day. I've done this for as long as I can remember. It makes me wonder how many fairly good stories are floating around out there in the ether that I'll never be able to get down on paper.
54) I'm really, really horrible at cursive. I can sign my name, and that's about it. My favorite part of entering middle school was that we could write in print. That being said, my handwriting is a bizarre marriage of print and cursive--I connect quite a few of my letters and use some cursive letters mixed in with the print. It's just faster for me to write that way.
55) I really, really despise handling raw chicken. I'm okay with pork, ground beef, and steak, but for some reason raw chicken reminds me too much of my own skin and that just really grosses me out. I guess I wouldn't do so well as a cannibal.
56) I've started reading Anna Karenina 3 times now and never gotten more than 50 pages into it. The names all sound the same and confuse me and I know how it ends, so it's very hard to invest myself in the story, but for some reason I always go back to it.
57) I can't figure out why it was so easy for me to learn how to type, but I never could get the hang of the piano--it seems as though the finger placement memory should be similar, but I never did feel comfortable tinkling the ivories.
58) My last name means "warrior" in German. Ironically, "warrior" is the word that lost me the regional spelling bee when I was in elementary school. I'm still bitter about that.
59) I don't really have a favorite flower. Anytime I'm asked, I give a different answer. I think all flowers are beautiful and can't figure out how anyone could ever choose a "favorite".
60) I have an extremely bizarre, unexplainable memory. I was probably about 4 or 5 and I was looking out of a window in our house at nighttime and when I looked down at the street Grimace was walking past our house on the sidewalk. I remember being terrified, and now I can only imagine that this was some kind of dream, but I remember it as an actual memory--not a dream. It still kind of freaks me out to this day.
I remember Grimace. I didn't even have to click the link. I can not deal with ANYTHING in a costume....still to this day. I never made big issues of it, but my kid has inherited that weird trait from me. That would have been a scary scary dream!
Posted by: shpprgrl | August 02, 2006 at 05:59 PM
Don't you think somehow, down the line, Grimace and Barney the purple dinosaur were somehow related? Ha!
Enjoyed this list. Also, I have never thought about the typing thing and playing the piano, but I am the same way. It doesn't make sense!
Posted by: Steph. | August 02, 2006 at 07:52 PM
I'm with shpprgrl...I didn't even have to click on the link either. I'm back, and playing catch-up, and just wanted to tell you that (1) hope the reconciliation is still in the works, (2) that your separation date will be on my next birthday, and (3) that Grimace business is creepy yeah.
Posted by: wordnerd | August 02, 2006 at 08:49 PM
I think Mom's favorite flour is Gold Medal - the self rising kind.
Posted by: TheOldMan | August 03, 2006 at 04:41 AM
Ya know for a girl that didn't have anything to write about you managed to make me laugh. And please, not remember Grimace. Pfft I'm a child of the 70s (and before) OF COURSE I remember Grimace.
Posted by: Grins | August 03, 2006 at 06:24 AM
Eel is good, but it's definitely something you have to get used to. Octopus is just wrong. Grimace freaks me out too, mainly because my dead college advisor looked so much like him.
Michele sent me.
Posted by: carli | August 03, 2006 at 05:15 PM
Hello from Michele.
I like #51...I do sushi too even raw, but no eel or octopus for me either
Posted by: cyndy | August 03, 2006 at 05:44 PM
Grimace? I think that would completely freak me out too. :)
Also, raw chicken? TOTALLY gross. I love eating it but hate to cook it.
(Thanks for visiting today!)
Posted by: rampant bicycle | August 03, 2006 at 06:06 PM
Interesting list. I'm not a huge fan of any of the raw sea creatures, which was difficult living in Hawaii.
I've noticed my handwriting has gotten worse, the longer I'm working on computers.
Posted by: Becky | August 04, 2006 at 12:22 AM
I have always focused on the Hamburglar, and find that he somehow works his way into conversation once a week or so.
I am the last girl on the earth who has refused to try sushi--just can't make the leap.
Posted by: sophie | August 04, 2006 at 04:23 PM
The one sentence version of Anna Karenina:
A woman in a loveless marriage to a "respectable" older man has a torrid affair with a guy who does her wrong, and she throws herself under a train.
Hope that means more blogging time. LOL.
Posted by: M | August 06, 2006 at 08:08 PM