Thursday, October 23, 2008

100 Things about Me

Well, this is pretty long-winded and self-centered, but here goes. I'm hoping more folks will do this. I love to find things out about people!!!

100 Things about Me:

1. I believe in God

2. I believe that when my father died, he went to a beautiful house in a snowy woods that was one room big, made of ornate teak, with windows all around and a wonderful library of books and a cozy easy chair. There was a pub just a short walk away that my dad could stop at to chat with very interesting people and have a drink. I believe this was his stop-over to get him used to being dead, before he went to heaven. I saw all this in a vision.

3. I believe strongly in heaven, but not in hell.

4. I still am close, and always will be, with the wonderful girl I have known since we were born (that’s you, AKPW-K!). Our mothers became friends when we were in utero, and we were born three weeks apart.

5. I don’t support the NRA particularly, but I agree with their interpretation of the 2nd Amendment. Sarge said this and it perfectly expresses my feelings about guns and gun ownership.

6. I believe in our right to have guns with which to protect ourselves. I think it is a fundamental of American society.

7. I’ve always had a thing for a man in uniform.

8. I am scared of the police, even though I don’t tend to break the law.

9. I’ve never been really drunk.

10. I love hamsters.

11. When people I love died, I thought of an unusual but not too uncommon thing that, when I saw it, would remind me of them. For my grandma, it was white butterflies. I still think of her when I see a white butterfly. For my dad, it was a refracted rainbow, because in the moments after he died, the crystals hanging in his window cast rainbows on his face. But I think of him all the time anyway, so I don’t need to be reminded.

12. I was in love with a girl once. But it was really romance and not lust, and nothing ever came of it.

13. I’ve always had very vividly characterized imaginary boyfriends, even when I’ve had actual real boyfriends.

14. My first “boyfriends” were Kirk and Spock.

15. My current one is Severus Snape.

16. I have a cleaning lady once a week, which, though entitled and somewhat embarrassing, is the fulfillment of a bourgeois dream…

17. Although I used to be out loud and proud in the workforce, I really have no greater ambition for myself than to raise children and keep house. I don’t think my mother, who has a doctorate and a fabulous career, is totally on board with this concept.

18. I use sugar in my coffee. Not Splenda, not Sweet-n’-low. Sugar. And nothing weaker than 2% milk.

19. Is there anything much more delicious than an ice-cold Coke through a straw?

20. Hedgie is gifted, to a point that scares me sometimes, and I think that can be hard on a child. I’m working every day to make it okay and give her the right environment to nurture it but still let her be a kid for as long as possible.

21. Despite all my complaining, and my many many mistakes, I secretly think I’m doing an overall bang-up job as a parent.

22. I am deeply ashamed of my rampant materialism.

23. In 18 years together, I’ve never come close to cheating on Sarge (well, except with Severus). I have a near-pathological belief in the vows we took.

24. I’m a gossip.

25. When I was little, I used to borrow my cousin’s bra and wear it around stuffed with cotton balls. Now I regret that I didn’t relish my flat-chestedness a little more while I could…

26. My boobs are the absolute bane of my existence.

27. I’ve never been a pants-wearer. I’ve always liked skirts and dresses.

28. I love reading true crime, but have a moral and ethical aversion to my own prurience.

29. I love television.

30. I love yarn with a love that borders on obsession.

31. I love very scary movies, especially Japanese and Korean horror.

32. I also love Japanese and Korean Kawaii. Hmm.

33. I get all shy and groupie-ish around people from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

34. I used to be a Second Soprano; now I’m an Alto.

35. I was very active in my Hebrew school youth group, all through high school.

36. Although I’m a practicing Jew myself, I’ve only once dated a Jew.

37. I never wore my glasses in high school, even though I needed them, and as a result think that I missed a lot of the nuance.

38. I love tiny little things in tiny little boxes.

39. I was raised well, but Sarge even better. His worldliness and class sometimes intimidate me.

40. I define myself as politically conservative in many ways, and so was surprised to find that I fell into the libertarian-left quadrant of the Political Compass.org survey.

41. I miss my grandma’s cooking, although it wasn’t really very good.

42. I don’t really like to cook, but I’m pretty good at it.

43. I make really delicious pot roast.

44. I don’t wear my engagement ring; it’s in my jewelry box. It makes me nervous. Instead I wear a ruby ring of my grandma’s. For some reason, that doesn’t make me nervous.

45. I loved high school. I hated college, yet I met the love of my life there.

46. I am not a prude. In fact, sometimes I think I’m as far from a prude as one can be.

47. But I hate when Hedgie and I pass people on the street and they’re cursing viciously to one another as people do in our time. I want to cover her ears.

48. We really try not to curse around Hedgie. When she’s not around, we curse.

49. I am very uncomfortable taking the Lord’s name in vain. But I do it quite often. I’m trying not to. Seriously.

50. I HATE when people crack their gum. It drives me insane.

51. Pizza is my favorite food. I haven’t had a slice in months. Damn.

52. I’m not that crazy about fruit pie.

53. I adore canned ravioli. But who eats that? It seems almost decadent. Maybe for my birthday I’ll buy one can for myself.

54. I adore canned chicken spread.

55. I adore Taco Bell.

56. I have White Trash in me from my dad’s side. I embrace it.

57. I’m a bit of a coffee snob, and I become secretly irked when I’m served weak coffee at someone’s house.

58. My mother was at Hedgie’s birth, even though she didn’t think she would be. She dropped in to say hi, and ended up staying. She was incredibly wonderful to have at my side. She even cheered and took photos. And she brought me iced cranberry juice when it was all over. Oh my, was I thirsty.

59. Sarge was at Hedgie’s birth too, and was also wonderful, but I don’t think I’d force him to be at the second one. I’m starting to think that childbirth is really only ladies’ business.

60. The best moment of my life was the moment I pushed Hedgie out. Who knows, maybe it was the endorphin rush…

61. I am pro-choice, but sickened by partial-birth abortions.

62. I like to tell about myself, but I’m also a very private person.

63. I have frequent dreams about flying, and frequent anxiety dreams, both.

64. I enjoy getting worked up about big issues.

65. I love to read slash fic, the more descriptive the better.

66. I always thought that I would be a rabbi when I grew up.

67. I dropped out of rabbinical school at 24.

68. I still believe that someday I might return to it.

69. When I was 16 I dated a much older hardcore heroin addict, and I enjoyed watching him shoot up. Now to that younger self I say: eeeew.

70. I told my parents way too much about my activities when I was a teen. They were always non-judgmental (why?).

71. I’m scared of toddlers; I think they’re a bit sociopathic.

72. I love snoods.

73. I love prescription tranquilizers.

74. I think the greatest love story ever told is the courtship of Laura Ingalls and Almanzo Wilder.

75. Orange is my favorite color.

76. One of my best memories of adolescence is hanging out at a local diner with my best friends, eating tuna melts and French fries, drinking cup after cup of sweet milky coffee, smoking, and gossiping.

77. That diner is gone, replaced by a more upscale restaurant where I still sometimes go with a friend, but I liked the greasy spoon way better.

78. I once considered a career in law enforcement.

79. I’m wildly impressed by Sarge’s army career. It’s what first drew me to him in college—he’d come back from his reserve weekends in uniform, and I thought it was sexy.

80. I’ve never been in a physical fight, but I firmly believe that no one should tangle with me; they won’t easily win.

81. I’m street smart.

82. I use my fancy Kitchen-Aid mixer all the time.

83. My dissertation is tormenting me. I don’t want to finish it.

84. I get road rage; I just don’t act on it.

85. I love being the driver.

86. I’m not that into Thanksgiving.

87. I get all funny and sad when the days grow shorter. My favorite day of the year is the Winter Solstice, although it’s the shortest, because I know that after that, the days get longer, even if only a minute at a time.

88. I own the entire Sweet Valley Senior Year series, and I’ve read them all three times (I might add that one of my best friends is my partner in crime in this, but I’ll never name names…).

89. Sarge, Hedgie, and I value books above all other possessions. We own thousands of them, and are collecting more all the time. I wouldn’t feel at home in a house that wasn’t crammed full of books.

90. My lipstick color in high school was “Matte Claret.”

91. I’ve only ever used Macintosh computers. I’m a Mac snob.

92. I can hardly see without my glasses. If you stood a few feet away from me, I wouldn’t recognize you.

93. In museums, I prefer to sit in one or two spots near things I like to look at than to walk around.

94. I’m good at math, but was very lazy when I studied it in high school, so it didn’t become apparent till grad school…

95. Although I complain a lot, most of the time I’m content and glad to be alive.

96. I’m not afraid of death, but I’m afraid of dying.

97. I like to think about how the universe is materially finite.

98. I love clothes and shoes and wish I could spend thousands of dollars on them.

99. I love to give gifts to people, especially to make things for them.

100. I like to apply very expensive scented lotion to my decolletage.

101. I am so glad that I’m a woman.

17 comments:

faycat said...

52-54 threw me for a loop. Who doesn't like fruit pie? I've never had canned ravioli. I never even knew canned chicken spread existed. I have to spend more time in the canned food aisle, there is always something surprising.

Leah said...

I know it's crazy about fruit pie. I used to, but recently have become tired of them. I think it was the overabundance of apples from Hicks Orchard that demanded to be made into pies that did me in...

Canned ravioli is as far from the real thing as a star map is from the sky itself. But it is delicious in its own disgusting right. And canned chicken spread--well, hie thee to the market and buy a can of it and a can of devilled ham (Underwood brand) and make yourself a sandwich on white bread with cream cheese and sweet pickles. You won't be disappointed.

xo

faycat said...

Deviled ham I know and love, and enjoy it with cream cheese. Do you mix the chicken spread with the deviled ham or do you mean either goes well with cream cheese?

Leah said...

Oh yea, I meant separately. Isn't devilled ham yummy? We used to beg my mom to buy it when we were little, but it was a rare treat for some reason...totally you should try the chicken...yummmmmm. I think I'm hungry.

Leah said...

p.s. isn't ham and cream cheese the ultimate treyf? LOL

Megan said...

Love your list! 41, 55, 92 all the way, baby!

P.S. I remember when I did this, and people made comments like that and I'd have to go back and search for which one they were talking about before I could respond. Just wanted to share that experience!

;)

muralimanohar said...

Too many to single out...I'll just leave it at, I knew there was a reason or two I liked you! lol

Skeeter said...

Hi Leah,

This post is great! You know an expansion of item #26 would be neat in your "Just A Housewife" blog. That being about absolute bane of your existence, I can only imagine (this is my male POV anyway) that Sarge thinks they are pretty darned cool.

Dear, do tell about your pot roast. How do you get it to stay moist? I'm doing something wrong nearly every time I try.

Best wishes,

Skeeter

The Mistress said...

16. "I have a cleaning lady once a week"...

I have houseboys everyday!

Perhaps today I'll get them to make me a canned chicken spread sandwich.

Mr. Shife said...

Wow. How long did this take? Very nice list and thanks for sharing. I might adore yarn as well but I am not willing to admit it ... yet.

CSI Seattle said...

Very nice list, and a lot of work too. I feel that I know you well.

My use of the dictionary has improved as well. I can read, but some of the words you used threw me for a loop.

INNER VOICES said...

great list!!!! you now need to submit it to knudsen at old bitter balls.

Kookaburra said...

An impressive list.

Nos. 1, 9, 23, 29, 49, resonate with me.
Also, thanks for sharing No. 11.
Have a nice weekend.

Mark. xo
p.s. prurience?? I'll have to look that one up :)

Megan said...

I had to come back and tell you that I just finished re-reading "Little Town on the Prairie." I hadn't read it in over 30 years...

Leah said...

Megan, those books are so wonderful, aren't they? Now re-read "These Happy Golden Years," which is the last one (well, not counting the First Four Years) and is all about Laura and Almanzo--although he begins courting her in "Little Town," right? that's the book where she gives him her name card and he walks her home from church?...

Kapitano said...

You are an inspiration to me.

Putz said...

you know i have been a lurker, but how can i now now be a lurker when i know so much about you>>>fruit pies, pro choice>>>don't go to gucci mamas blog>>>can't see>>>cute as a button>>>don't worry ia am sixty 7 years old and i can't see either>>>ha ha