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Saturday, July 25, 2009
25 random-ish things about me
Because it was there. (hi, by the way. Garden is mostly fine. Summer is hot. I am a rollerskating maniac. T has been gone three out of the last five weeks. I have at least three abandoned blog posts on my desktop. Also: am totally lame.)
1. Some things I like: Owls. Waterwheels. Windmills. Chickens. Reptiles.
2. Some things I dislike: Turkey mullein. Blowing dust. Insulting jokes. Faithless film adaptations of novels*.
3. I recently took up roller skating (OK, so I've been twice in ten days and I'm going again this next week) with my daughter and my niece. Before last Friday, I hadn't skated since approximately 1989. We are having SO MUCH FUN.
4. I am sad that Twitter and Facebook have killed my blog and I frequently resolve to Do Something About It. But then I don't.
5. I sometimes freak out and just KNOW that I am failing as a parent. Recently this has been because my daughter is becoming concerned about her weight. Maybe it's just part of being a woman, to always think you need to lose weight. But if it is, that sucks. I am sorry, daughter, to have been careless about allowing my body issues to become your body issues by osmosis. I did not want that to happen.
6. I am a mediocre housekeeper, as a rule (laundry and clutter are my dual nemeses), but I'm good at getting stuff done outside and I like special projects like cleaning out the fridge and canning stuff.
7. Things I look for at yard sales: Books. Canning jars. Cast iron cookware. Knitting stuff. Lately: exercise equipment.
8. I have never truly lived the life of a single adult. By the time I was nineteen I was engaged. All of my actual singlehood experience occurred during and just after high school, which hardly counts. So single women, please disregard my advice because I have NO CLUE what I'm talking about.
9. I say "I have NO CLUE" very, very often.
10. I love filling in forms, especially by hand. Buying a house ALMOST cured of me of this but not quite.
11. Skills I possess: Canning. Reading. Studying hard. Mathematics. Cable knitting. Teaching.
12. Skills I lack: Confrontation. Drawing. Anything having to do with social interaction. Writing fiction.
13: Things I miss doing: Making music. Going for walks in town. Riding horseback. Living in the middle of nowhere.
14: Top 10 most-played songs in my iTunes library:
- "Glittering Clouds (Locusts)" by Imogen Heap
- "1-2-3 Go!" by Belanova
- "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Peer Gynt by Edvard Grieg, performed by the Czecho-Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra. (Oh my gosh, watching that video - that is not the orchestra that performs the version I own, btw - makes me want to be in an orchestra RIGHT NOW.)
- "New Soul" by Yael Naim
- "Calling You" by Blue October
- "Music Box" by Regina Spektor (you know, the only reason this one has more plays than "Fidelity" or "On The Radio" is because while I'll sometimes skip those songs if my son's in the car and he asks very nicely, I'll never pass up the opportunity to torment him with "Music Box". Regina Spektor's unique style is on full display in this song, and it's not for everyone, especially 13-year-old boys who sometimes need a little lesson in whose iPod is this, anyway.)
- "Congratulations" by Blue October and Imogen Heap
- "You are Goodbye" by Holly Conlan
- "Blessed Be Your Name" by Matt Redman
- "White & Nerdy" by "Weird" Al Yankovic
(compiling all the links for that list took a REALLY long time. You're welcome. Also, this represents the number of plays over about a six-month period -- I reset all my playcounts periodically if I get a lot of new music, so it gets a fair shot at the top 50 -- and so might not be accurate as far as what gets heavy rotation right now.)
15. Many of the things I do would be considered "green" or otherwise granola-ish (recycling, hanging clothes on the line, using cloth diapers -- well, with one kid anyway -- reusing everything I can, avoiding waste, growing a garden, keeping animals), but I actually do these things for reasons having to do with self-reliance, sustainability, and frugality. It's fine with me if the environment is better off as well, but that's certainly not my focus.
16. My memory is so faulty nowadays that I sometimes worry seriously about myself. (Vascular dementia? Multiple sclerosis?) Stuff will happen, and then even just a few hours later I will not be able to remember details until my daughter -- who is very handy for stuff like this -- reminds me when I ask her to. The distressing thing is that I used to have a phenomenal memory.
17. Things to which I am possibly unhealthily addicted: Diet cola. Facebook and Twitter. Reading into the wee hours.
18. I really, really, really need to get some regular exercise. I'm not obese (although I'm overweight) but I am badly out of shape.
19. I am not allergic to anything.
20. I have an appalling appetite. If unchecked, it's truly staggering in its scope. So unladylike of me.
21. I am an staunch advocate of breastfeeding, and of extended breastfeeding in particular.
22. My house, my car, and my older brother all date from the same year.
23. I was an adult before I knew that "Another One Bites the Dust" was a Queen song.
24. My biggest faults: Knowitallism. Laundry laziness. Overtalkativeness.
25. I was the California state elementary-school spelling champion in 1987. The winning words were "simoom" and "frondescence". It was my fifteen minutes of (local) fame.
*with a few notable exceptions. Mansfield Park, I am looking at you.
Comments
3. That does sound like fun! I never really learned how to skate. Last time I went (years and years ago), I managed to have my feet slip right out from under me, and I wasn't even on the rink. *shame*
7. Interesting thing to list! I haven't been yard sale shopping in years (don't enjoy going by myself), but I like looking in thrift stores from time to time. I look for books, too. I also like to look at board games, cut glass/crystal dishes, fabric, and any craft supplies they might happen to have.
23. I didn't know that until just a minute ago. (g)
Posted by: Michael at July 27, 2009 10:43 AM
You did a good job coming up with these - there were several I didn't already know. ;) I think I will do a similar 27 things post for my 27th birthday on Friday.
Posted by: Kat with a K at July 28, 2009 07:52 AM
