The “100 Things About Me” List

1. I like liver.

2. I am an only child.

3. Whistling. I can make sound, but cannot whistle a tune.

4. I had a phobia of thunderstorms as a child, specifically lightning.
I love them now.

5. I have never had a nickname.

6. I am patient.

7. I develop cyclical obsessions with historical time periods.
In 2nd grade I wore mob caps, read by candlelight and carried a slate.
I recognize my freak status.

8. I have kept some sort of journal online since 1998.

9. I compulsively make lists.

10. I don’t think God cares who you have sex with or how much you cuss.

11. I still reread my mother’s childhood copies of books in the Nancy Drew series.

12. I play video games.

13. I often, and for no apparent reason, get the song “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” stuck in my head.
(Because of that fact, I discovered one of the greatest videos on youtube.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAMxZulUMaU

14. I believe that all ads for products relating to feminine hygiene and erectile dysfunction are completely unnecessary and annoying.
If you need one of these products, you will seek it out!

15. My car’s name is Priscilla.

16. The only fan letter I have ever sent was to Rick(y) Schroeder who is apparently a less than respectable human at this point.

17. My parents are truly my favorite humans.

18. I love peanut butter, but don’t have a real preference whether it is crunchy or creamy. I just prefer it salmonella free . . . lol.

19. As a child I made bets with God. ALL the time. It’s much less frequent now that I am an adult.

20. I grew up super outdoorsy. Getting that groove back a little at a time.

21. I received my marriage proposal while I was having a panic attack.

22. I am a pacifist who learned the pledge of allegiance at 2, knows how to shoot a gun, and once applied to West Point.
I recognize the problematic contradictions here.

23. I prefer to cut salad ingredients into the smallest pieces possible.

24. I love the movie “Calamity Jane”.

25. As a child, I was a crazy collector.
I still have enormous collections of movie memorabilia for Annie and The Wizard of Oz.

26. I love things in miniature.

27. I do not ride roller coasters.
But I still love amusement parks.

28. All of my computers are named after characters in “The Rocky Horror Show”

29. 2 of my cats are named after mother goose characters– Jack (R.I.P. 8/27/17) and Jill (R.I.P. 9/4/18)
The other 2 are named after Spice Girls– Baby (R.I.P. 6/13/13) and Ginger
My dog, Toby, is named for Tobias Ragg in “Sweeney Todd” (R.I.P 3/30/15)
Benjamin Barker is our chihuahua/terrier who we adopted July 2018 and continues the Sweeney tradition.
We have “Lili”– she came with the name but we will pretend she is the orphan circus girl from “Carnival”– She is a Chihuahua/Husky mix!
And the “baby cat” is Sammy who I got on my birthday late 2017. He just has really long hair a la the biblical Samson.

30. My first pets were a pair of goldfish.
John Travolta (It was the 70’s . . . ) and Heidi (self absorbed toddler much?)

31. The is no real medical proof,since it was the mid 70s, but it is believed I am the survivor of VTS (Vanishing Twin Syndrome).

32. I don’t smoke or drink. boring, eh?
No, just cheap and scared and hating anything that makes me lose control of my faculties.

33. I don’t really need sweets or chocolate.
After years of my family making and selling it, I never wanted candy for Easter.
I got books. And clothes.

34. I do not wear glasses.
I have never had a filling.

35. My favorite place is St. Augustine, Florida.

36. I was a founding member of a cooperative art gallery in Bloomington, IN.

37. I am occasionally obsessive.
I have read the book “Intimacy and Solitude” by Stephanie Dowrick more times than I can count.
I saw Moulin Rouge 18 times in the theatre.
I saw Spring Awakening 26 times on Broadway.
I once painted 28 tiny replicas of historical works of art on sleds made of popsicle sticks as ornaments for my Christmas tree.

38. My most favorite sodas were “limited time” flavors.
Cranberry Canada Dry Ginger Ale, Lemon and Lime Pepsi, Vanilla Coke, Pomegranate 7up …

39. I spent a good portion of my early childhood at doctors.
I ended up with the equivalent of one functioning kidney, 70% damage in one, 30% in the other.

40. I love driving in cities.

41. I have serious issues with giving things titles.

42. I showed no emotion for a large portion of my life.
I still don’t enjoy it.

43. Of the 100 Top Grossing Films (as of 1/19/09), I have seen all but “Alvin and the Chipmunks”.
**edit** um, now I’ve seen it, too.

44. I love trivia.

45. I have studied the enneagram since the mid 90s.

46. My favorite kid’s book is called “Ultra-Violet Catastrophe! or The Unexpected Walk with Great-Uncle Magnus Pringle”
by Margaret Mahy with illustrations by Brian Froud, pre-fairy obession

47. I want to believe in second chances, but from what I have seen, they don’t usually yield the desired results.

48. Jn my late thirties I got my hair cut above my shoulders or the first time since 4th grade.

49. I am always shocked by people who haven’t dealt with death or been to funerals.
I feel like that’s half of my childhood. lol. We must have had extraordinarily sick/unlucky relatives.

50. I have no tattoos. I like the idea, but could never make a permanent decision.
Lies, I have a matching tattoo with Jordan. Rainbow of dots above my left elbow.
‘Cause we starred together in a production of Joseph… and we real queer.

51. One of the first out of town trips I remember was going to the Ice Capades.
I had a Dorothy Hamill doll.

52. Speaking of the late 70’s. I loved my Hollie Hobbie lunchbox.
And my dad painted me a picture of her with my name on it.
It is still one of my prized possessions.

53. Family on my maternal grandmother’s side are Afrikaner/British South Africans.

54. My favorite toys weren’t really toys.
I organized things– like old costume jewelry and mom’s marble collection.
I saved the paper ends of tea bags and played as if they were tickets.
I made up imaginary restaurant menus.
I made secret recordings of people in my house.

55. The only bones I have ever broken are digits– one finger, two toes.

56. I “get ready” to go places really quickly.

57. I have Lyme Disease.

58. I love to cook. But right now I hate my kitchen, so I don’t.

59. Our wedding was small, entirely planned by me.
We served our favorite subs and horrified conservative relatives when the word “lesbian” was used in the service.

60. My birthday is the day before Halloween, so my parties as a kid were usually costume parties!

61. My favorite breakfast is strawberry hot tea and toast with cinnamon sugar.

62. I hate coffee.

63. Seeing Paul McCartney in concert was one of the best experiences ever. So much so, I saw him again when I could.

64. If I could only choose one kind of food to eat forever, I think it might be “soul food”.

65. I hate equally being lied to and being ignored.

66. I have lived in West Virginia a little more than half of my life, 17 years. The other 16 were split between Virginia and Indiana.
**outdated math** But I have been in WV an additional 8 years and going strong!
Aaaand a few years ago we moved over the river into Maryland to reduce work commutes.

67. I have an irrational fear of The Statue of Liberty’s destruction, and have my whole life.
I cannot watch “Planet of the Apes” for this reason.

68. My parents are still married.

69. Our anniversary is March 18th– because we love St. Patrick’s Day and Ireland.
But we wanted the holiday to last longer and didn’t want to “share” our day.

70. My religious upbringing was in the Church of the Brethren (over 8 generations) and I still love the denomination’s values and beliefs.

71. My maternal grandmother was the person most dedicated to my life.
I have not had the same level of confidence in myself since she died.

72. I mostly didn’t wear shoes for about 2 years.

Home

73. Oddly, and sort of unfortunately from an ideological standpoint (since the Masons freak me out),
I was a member of the International Order of Rainbow for Girls.
Ritual fascinates me (I dig squaring corners) and I liked memorizing and wearing gowns.

74. I have a thing for Donny Osmond. I know that is creepy.

75. My paternal grandfather was killed by a drunk driver.

76. I didn’t get the Chicken Pox until late, like 4th grade.
When I got bored and was feeling better, I put on my favorite Beatles tshirt
and my parents took me for a hike and a picnic at the C&O Canal.

77. Littering is my pet peeve.

78. I have an awesome memory for details in my life, and people.
But there are some “milestones” I don’t recall, like my first kiss.

79. I miss acting. Plays. For real.

80. I hate loud noise. My senses are extremely fine.

81. I hate practical jokes. I prefer not to leave my house on April Fool’s Day.

82. I could still just piss myself with happiness that the Bush Administration is goooooone.
But WELP look where we are nooooow.

83. I get a total thrill out of washing my car.

84. I curse. My mother still hates it.

85. My IQ is/was 187.

86. I don’t drive fast, generally.

87. I miss being a nanny and working in restaurants. Sometimes.

88. I am a geek. I graduated college summa cum laude. 3.9something. I think I had 3 Bs.

89. I had supernatural dreams as a preteen. I can’t really talk about it.

90. I am not ambitious or competitive.

91. My parents decided to name me “Holly”, but once I was born, they changed their minds.
But there is a frightening list of Hippie names scrawled inside a baby name book with
possibilities like “Willow” and “Skye”.

92. I read *fast*.

93. I love the internet. I like that it helps me with other things I love.
Like fairy tales. Without google I would never have found this series of
live action Grimm tales that I watched on PBS moons ago.
http://www.davenportfilms.com/pages/main_frombrosgrimm.html

94. I LOVE fresh pineapple.
Is that reason enough to go back to the Dominican Republic?

95. I enjoy just reading cookbooks.

96. If I had children, I would homeschool them.

97. I am not ticklish.

98. I have always enjoying, packing, living out of a suitcase and staying in hotels.

99. Indigo Girls- Swamp Ophelia is one of my most listened to albums over time.

100. I have a map fetish.