Syndactyl Salutations

Thoughts on writing, knitting, and the world around me.

Monday, December 27, 2004

100 Things About Me

Here it is...
1. I'm a very un-Leo-like Leo.
2. I'm the eldest of three girls.
3. I love green in all of its forms.
4. I don't hike as much as I should in warm weather, mostly because of my irrational fear of all things snake.
5. I've been knitting consistently for about a year, I took a twenty-four-year break.
6. I still have my original US 8 aluminum needles, and had the original skein of seafoam green acrylic until a year or so ago.
7. I want to make a sweater, but I'm afraid of screwing it up.
8. My self-confidence is inadequate in most areas of my life.
9. But I just realized I can knit basic socks in a darkened movie theater with minimal errors while keeping track of what's happening onscreen.
10. Go me!
11. I'm prohibitively shy.
12. Which does nothing to explain why I've worked with the public consistently for nearly five years.
13. I'm not using my English degree.
14. I've been minimally published, but not for years, and I don't write nearly as much as I used to or want to.
15. I have three first-draft novels on my hard drive.
16. I think I'm afraid to sit down and get into the editing process.
17. I "won" NaNoWriMo two years in a row, but this year I broke 10,000 in week one and stopped.
18. I was too close to the subject matter this year.
19. I had two nephews, but they died in April.
20. My baby sister suffered severe post-partum psychosis.
21. I think about all of them every day.
22. I'm close to my family, but I don't feel the need to talk to them very often, they are the same.
23. I live with my boyfriend.
24. My relationship with him is the best pairing I have ever been in.
25. He wrote and recorded a song for me for our anniversary this year.
26. He apparently finds me "really, truly, hot hot hot".
27. This surprises me.
28. I have four fingers on each hand, and three toes on each foot.
29. I resist immature urges to "ooga-booga" when people stare at my hands in public places.
30. I can't wear standard gloves, I'm hoping to eventually design a custom pair for myself.
31. I've not yet knit regular gloves or mittens.
32. I weighed 102 lb. At my wedding ten years ago. I'm 5'4".
33. Now, when I look at the photos, I look tired and too thin.
34. I didn't make a good Army wife.
35. I loved living in Germany.
36. My vacation back to Germany 4 years ago was a disaster.
37. I didn't see enough of Europe when I lived there.
38. I spent my 27th birthday in Paris.
39. I've been "back from Germany" for 7 years.
40. I was born in Santa Cruz, California.
41. I've been back once: for two weeks when I turned 16.
42. I keep saying I want to go again, but I never do.
43. My aunt who lives there has the same birthday as me, but she's 11 years older.
44. She's the one I look most like in my extended family.
45. My boyfriend has three children; we have two of them every weekend.
46. I will, more than likely, never have children of my own.
47. I occasionally feel guilty about this choice.
48. I want to be an archivist or a librarian when I grow up.
49. The prospect of taking the GREs paralyzes my brain.
50. My grades in college weren't as good as they could have been.
51. I'm afraid of that happening again with grad school.
52. I've taken a 12 year educational break.
53. I take decent photographs but I haven't taken any for a while.
54. I'm not good at making friends.
55. I usually don't have a problem with that.
56. Sometimes I get lonely, then not having friends is a problem.
57. My dad was ridiculously impressed with my first pair of socks.
58. I don't think they knew what to expect from my life.
59. My middle sister is more successful than I am.
60. I'm not entirely sure of how I define success.
61. I'd like to be more organized, I try occasionally.
62. I'm not very good at housework, I don't think I care enough.
63. Clutter is the major obstacle there.
64. My boyfriend does most of the cooking.
65. I readily acknowledge his superiority in that arena.
66. Food is rarely at the front of my mind.
67. I'm nearly 30 lb. heavier than I was 10 years ago, this bothers me sometimes.
68. I've begun exercising regularly again.
69. I do it after work because I can't get myself up early enough to do it before.
70. I need a decent amount of sleep.
71. I prefer independent movies.
72. I read a lot, fiction and nonfiction.
73. I enjoy sociological works -- Fast Food Nation and Nickel and Dimed come to mind.
74. I have a cell phone because of a prolonged errand last year.
75. I rarely use it, but it has come in handy.
76. I don't have cable; we don't want to pay for TV.
77. I watch too much TV with our three channels.
78. I miss PBS most of all.
79. I'm beginning to love TV shows on DVD.
80. I never know what gifts to get people.
81. I love giving things to people.
82. I don't knit fast enough to give people handknits
83. I want someone to take me in hand and show me how to dress and make myself presentable.
84. I hate shopping, especially clothes shopping.
85. I wish I had a space in the house just for myself.
86. I've only lived by myself for one three-year period.
87. I get anxious in groups of people, even if I know them.
88. Knitting is my current anti-anxiety remedy.
89. I'm not religious, but I try to be spiritual.
90. I am careful not to judge people by physical appearance.
91. I've done things of which I'm not proud.
92. I've tried to get beyond them and be a better person.
93. I tried to be a literacy tutor, but I was too shy to be able to convince my student that doing his homework himself would be the best way to learn.
94. I still have literacy materials that should be returned.
95. I am a master procrastinator.
96. Misplaced apostrophes drive me nuts.
97. "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash gives me goose bumps, so does "Oh, Death" by Ralph Stanley. 98. I cry at fictional situations and others' misfortunes at the drop of a hat, but less quickly at my own.
99. I wish the world were more peaceful.
100. This is slightly less depressing than my first attempt.

...there it was.

5 Comments:

At 6:31 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing - it's hard to just sit down as write lists like this, because it seems like one never knows what one will say, until, well, there it is. It was good to find out more about the person who sent such lovely gifts to me. I am very sorry to hear about your nephews, but you seem to be handling this time of the year well, despite it all. Know that there are people who you've never met who thinkly highly of you and appreciate what you write.
Cheers,
Kim.

 
At 4:27 PM, Blogger wrtrmaus said...

Kim,

Thanks for taking the time to not only read the ramblings, but to comment as well. I appreciate hearing such kind words from you.

 
At 10:04 PM, Blogger Bookish Wendy said...

I was over here to thank you for your Birthday Wish and I went through this list. What amazes me about all of these lists is how alike we all are. Our fears, worries, and desires don't always mirror one anothers but they certainly ring true. You are not alone.

ps - I'm sorry that I'm a horrible grammar goon...I hope I haven't offended with any misplaced 's....
:)

 
At 1:16 PM, Blogger - said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

 
At 1:20 PM, Blogger - said...

I really enjoyed reading your list. If you haven't already tried it, you must have a look at Eats, Shoots, and Leaves by Lynne Truss. It is a must for all of us misplaced-apostrophe-haters. :) And you can find out how much of a stickler you are on her website! NB: I deleted the previous comment because my HTML did not work.

 

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