100 Things to Know About Me: 41 - 60
41. I’m often asked by my students why I joined my fraternity. Unfortunately, the answer is less than grand: I was looking for something to do with my time, and PSP sounded interesting. That, and the guy who ended being my Grand-big was exceptionally cute.
42. I have a tattoo of my fraternity letters. I had it done my junior year of college, and have never regretted it. In fact, I often forget about it. I have, however, enjoyed the reactions of people whenever they find out that I have it.
43. In high school, I wore fake tattoos a lot. So I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised when “Is it real?” was the first thing my dad said to me after I showed him and Mom the real one when I went home for Thanksgiving vacation. But I still like my witty response: “No, it’ll have washed off by the time I leave on Sunday.”
44. I love dressing up. Thus, I loved the annual Founders’ Day formals in college, and look forward to the awards banquets at National Conventions. There’s something fun about wearing a beautiful formal ensemble, and getting to be glamorous, if only for a few hours.
45. But I don’t like wearing make-up. In fact, the only time I wear more than face powder and chapstick is those much-anticipated formal occasions. This includes nail polish…I admit that I’ve never had a pedicure, and very rarely a manicure. This actually disappointed a college boyfriend, who wanted very badly to see my toes prettily painted.
46. I believe in giving back, and serving others. It’s so easy to make a difference in the lives of others that I don’t understand why more people don’t volunteer in some way. Some of my favorite memories from college revolve around community service activities, including Relay for Life (rain and all), Habitat for Humanity, and hurricane relief efforts.
47. My paternal grandmother is Japanese. This has instilled in me a lifelong curiosity for all things Japanese.
48. Part of my Japanese heritage includes the typical Asian physiological reaction to alcohol: when I drink, my face turns red, sometimes after as little as one drink. It was fun to call my parents and thank Dad for passing that down. (But at least my reaction isn’t as bad as his…after just one drink, you would think he’d fallen asleep in the blazing sun.)
49. I’ve been in love three times in my life. The last of them is obviously Steven…I’ll keep the other two to myself.
50. I’m a sucker for romance…chick flicks, Nicholas Sparks books, TLC’s The Wedding Story…I dig all that, but even more, I love the small, personal things that make a relationship special.
51. I have expensive tastes. This is not necessarily a good thing, though, especially now that I have a regular paycheck that occasionally allows me to indulge those tastes. It’s just that, sometimes, there really is a difference in quality when you’re willing to pay just a little more.
52. I also have very picky tastes. In everything – clothes, furnishings, decorations…if it doesn’t look just right, I won’t buy it. While this seems like a good thing, it makes it very difficult to fully appreciate gifts from thoughtful friends and relatives whose tastes may be extremely different from mine. It also makes it harder not to indulge those expensive tastes, because often, what I want is not inexpensive.
53. I adore that silly ol’ bear, Winnie the Pooh. His simple mind and devotion are fantastic! My friends called my first apartment the Hundred Acre Woods because I had so many Winnie the Pooh things, and even today, I have quite an assortment, with a particular inclination for the Classic: picture frames, figurines, stuffed animals, even the original movie itself.
54. I love Disney movies, both old and new. A few favorites (besides the Adventures of Winnie the Pooh) include Finding Nemo, Lilo and Stitch, and The Fox and the Hound.
55. I have been to three of the four Disney complexes: Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland. Even though I don’t have any strong desire to visit France, I almost want to go merely to say I’ve been to all four (at least until they open in Hong Kong).
56. I was the valedictorian of my high school. I was so proud of myself…until I realized that the honor involved giving a speech at graduation in front of hundreds of people. Fortunately, I managed to avoid the sappy inspirational monologue, delivering instead a fun A-Z review of our special moments as the class of 1996. Hey, I even got some laughs (and they came when they were supposed to).
57. Candles soothe me, and I have one burning almost all of the time. There’s just something about the lingering fragrance and the soft candlelight that relaxes me. My favorite scents? Vanilla, and Oceans by Pier One. But in the fall, there’s no better scent than Harvest Spice (also by Pier One). It smells like pumpkin pie and, like the dessert, makes me wish it could be fall all year round.
58. My preferred form of exercise is yoga. I first started practicing yoga about four years ago, and while my practice is inconsistent at best, it’s the only exercise that satisfies both my mind and my body.
59. I’m an obsessive organizer. No, really. My movie collection? Is in alphabetical order on the bookshelves. My closet? Is arranged by type of clothing, and then by color. My scrapbooks? Have detailed outlines and layout notes for every page. No, I’m not kidding.
60. When I’m stressed out, I reorganize things. Sometimes, I do minor rearranging; other times, I start moving everything to new places
Where I am: Home
What I'm reading: Your Oasis on Flame Lake by Lorna Landvik
42. I have a tattoo of my fraternity letters. I had it done my junior year of college, and have never regretted it. In fact, I often forget about it. I have, however, enjoyed the reactions of people whenever they find out that I have it.
43. In high school, I wore fake tattoos a lot. So I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised when “Is it real?” was the first thing my dad said to me after I showed him and Mom the real one when I went home for Thanksgiving vacation. But I still like my witty response: “No, it’ll have washed off by the time I leave on Sunday.”
44. I love dressing up. Thus, I loved the annual Founders’ Day formals in college, and look forward to the awards banquets at National Conventions. There’s something fun about wearing a beautiful formal ensemble, and getting to be glamorous, if only for a few hours.
45. But I don’t like wearing make-up. In fact, the only time I wear more than face powder and chapstick is those much-anticipated formal occasions. This includes nail polish…I admit that I’ve never had a pedicure, and very rarely a manicure. This actually disappointed a college boyfriend, who wanted very badly to see my toes prettily painted.
46. I believe in giving back, and serving others. It’s so easy to make a difference in the lives of others that I don’t understand why more people don’t volunteer in some way. Some of my favorite memories from college revolve around community service activities, including Relay for Life (rain and all), Habitat for Humanity, and hurricane relief efforts.
47. My paternal grandmother is Japanese. This has instilled in me a lifelong curiosity for all things Japanese.
48. Part of my Japanese heritage includes the typical Asian physiological reaction to alcohol: when I drink, my face turns red, sometimes after as little as one drink. It was fun to call my parents and thank Dad for passing that down. (But at least my reaction isn’t as bad as his…after just one drink, you would think he’d fallen asleep in the blazing sun.)
49. I’ve been in love three times in my life. The last of them is obviously Steven…I’ll keep the other two to myself.
50. I’m a sucker for romance…chick flicks, Nicholas Sparks books, TLC’s The Wedding Story…I dig all that, but even more, I love the small, personal things that make a relationship special.
51. I have expensive tastes. This is not necessarily a good thing, though, especially now that I have a regular paycheck that occasionally allows me to indulge those tastes. It’s just that, sometimes, there really is a difference in quality when you’re willing to pay just a little more.
52. I also have very picky tastes. In everything – clothes, furnishings, decorations…if it doesn’t look just right, I won’t buy it. While this seems like a good thing, it makes it very difficult to fully appreciate gifts from thoughtful friends and relatives whose tastes may be extremely different from mine. It also makes it harder not to indulge those expensive tastes, because often, what I want is not inexpensive.
53. I adore that silly ol’ bear, Winnie the Pooh. His simple mind and devotion are fantastic! My friends called my first apartment the Hundred Acre Woods because I had so many Winnie the Pooh things, and even today, I have quite an assortment, with a particular inclination for the Classic: picture frames, figurines, stuffed animals, even the original movie itself.
54. I love Disney movies, both old and new. A few favorites (besides the Adventures of Winnie the Pooh) include Finding Nemo, Lilo and Stitch, and The Fox and the Hound.
55. I have been to three of the four Disney complexes: Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland. Even though I don’t have any strong desire to visit France, I almost want to go merely to say I’ve been to all four (at least until they open in Hong Kong).
56. I was the valedictorian of my high school. I was so proud of myself…until I realized that the honor involved giving a speech at graduation in front of hundreds of people. Fortunately, I managed to avoid the sappy inspirational monologue, delivering instead a fun A-Z review of our special moments as the class of 1996. Hey, I even got some laughs (and they came when they were supposed to).
57. Candles soothe me, and I have one burning almost all of the time. There’s just something about the lingering fragrance and the soft candlelight that relaxes me. My favorite scents? Vanilla, and Oceans by Pier One. But in the fall, there’s no better scent than Harvest Spice (also by Pier One). It smells like pumpkin pie and, like the dessert, makes me wish it could be fall all year round.
58. My preferred form of exercise is yoga. I first started practicing yoga about four years ago, and while my practice is inconsistent at best, it’s the only exercise that satisfies both my mind and my body.
59. I’m an obsessive organizer. No, really. My movie collection? Is in alphabetical order on the bookshelves. My closet? Is arranged by type of clothing, and then by color. My scrapbooks? Have detailed outlines and layout notes for every page. No, I’m not kidding.
60. When I’m stressed out, I reorganize things. Sometimes, I do minor rearranging; other times, I start moving everything to new places
Where I am: Home
What I'm reading: Your Oasis on Flame Lake by Lorna Landvik
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