Thursday, July 06, 2006

100 things

I’ve finally gotten around to this “100 things” business. It wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it would be to come up with 100 things. You should try it sometime when you’re bored and in the mood for navel gazing. I’m linking this in the sidebar for posterity. Without further ado, way more personal information than you ever wanted to know about me:

1. I am from the great state of Wisconsin, town of Hudson (not so great).

2. I haven’t eaten animal flesh since 1994.

3. I secretly find most children annoying. Except yours, yours are great.

4. I started taking swimming lessons when I was 3 years old.

5. I love my dog more than is probably healthy.

6. One of my greatest wishes is for my dog to be cured of his separation anxiety. It really makes life difficult and I fear he will get us evicted and leave us homeless someday.

7. I appear very tolerant and polite on the surface, but I am very judgmental of stupid and ignorant people.

8. I’ve been a manager at two different DC area restaurants.

9. I love pizza more than any person should.

10. I feel guilty about loving cheese so damn much. I wish I could just let it go…

11. I wish I was a vegan, but I’m too lazy and I love cheese too much to be 100% vegan, so I settle for about 75%.

12. I settle a lot. With myself.

13. I am deeply afraid of failure.

14. I deal with my fear of failure by not trying very hard most of the time (see item 12).

15. I love being outdoors with the nature but I live in Los Angeles.

16. I love beer.

17. I will not apologize for my love of beer. It is my birthright (see item 1).

18. I was an artificial redhead in my college years.

19. I graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in December of 2002 with a BA; Major: Communication Arts, Concentration in Broadcasting and Film.

20. I currently work in non-profit development.

22. College really was the best time of my life. I will be surprised if anything in the future tops it.

23. I am already disillusioned by the working world.

24. My birthday is January 29, 1980.

25. I am an Aquarius.

26. I have no idea what my zodiac sign says about me or anyone else and I don’t particularly put much stock in astrology.

27. I was raised Catholic and was confirmed at the age of 17.

28. I went to a Catholic school K-8.

29. I deeply resent items 27 and 28.

30. I enjoy many Broadway musicals.

31. I have participated in several school/community/amateur musical productions.

32. I used to be able to sing really well.

33. I am kind of sad that I gave up singing (see item 14).

34. I used to play the clarinet.

35. I really wanted to play the cello but our schools didn’t have an orchestra program.

37. I am math retarded.

36. I have numeric dyslexia.

38. I am one of five children. I have an older brother and 2 younger sisters and a younger brother. The youngest girl and boy are twins.

39. I was a Star Trek geek in high school.

40. At one time in my life I weighed nearly 220 pounds (see items 9 and 16).

41. I weigh a lot less than that now.

42. I am 5 feet 4 inches tall.

43. My boyfriend (I guess you call them a “significant other” at some point? What’s in a name?) and I have been together since April of 2001. I love him lots because we are both the same brand of crazy.

44. I met my boyfriend sometime in 1999.

45. Neither of us clearly remembers when/which our first meeting was.

46. I had three successive disastrous relationships during my college years, each lasting just under a year. Live and learn.

47. I am bad with money/finances.

48. I love the ocean.

49. I wish I knew how to surf.

50. I love Los Angeles for it’s proximity to the ocean, the weather, the availability of Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and vegetarian/vegan restaurants.

51. I hate almost everything else about Los Angeles.

52. I don’t understand why women still change their last name when they get married.

53. I hate flossing, and have the dental record to prove it.

54. I hate pickles more than any other single food item (excepting animal flesh of course). I also dislike pickled things in general and radishes and celery.

55. I love black olives but dislike green olives.

56. I think I should have had a career in some sort of biological sciences field, but I got too grossed out by dissection labs.

57. Sometimes it looks like I’m listening when I’m really not.

58. Sometimes I am just as surprised as the other person when it is evident I didn’t hear a word they said.

59. My mind wanders a lot.

60. I’ve never done any drugs that involve a needle or go up your nose.

61. I enjoy doing yoga.

62. I hate wearing heels so much that the closest thing I own is a pair of black boots with a 2’’ wedge heel.

63. I don’t wear those boots very often because they make my toes numb.

64. I love Teva sandals.

65. I dislike getting dressed up.

66. I can make really good “special” baked goods.

67. I am addicted to blogging and the external validation it brings.

68. My self esteem used to really suck.

69. My self esteem is much better now.

70. I studied abroad in Laitila, Finland my junior year of high school, it was one of the best things I ever did.

71. I love rollercoasters and thrill rides.

72. In June of 1997 I went on a three week tour of Europe with a 3 bus caravan full of exchange students.

73. I did some stupid and crazy shit on that trip and it is one of the most memorable experiences of my life (the parts of it I remember, that is.)

74. I have a problem with authority and being told what to do.

75. I took 21 credits of Finnish language in my freshman and sophomore years of college.

76. I never did have that good of a handle on the Finnish language.

77. At one point or another in my education I have also studied French, German, Swedish, and Russian.

78. I am only functionally literate in English (even that is questionable some days).

79. At least I can count to 10 in five different languages.

80. My surname is Finnish.

81. My family lineage also includes Swedes, Norwegians and Germans.

82. I am big boned (no really, I am).

83. I use profanity sometimes.

84. I almost never wear make-up.

85. I love watching shows on Animal Planet, National Geographic Channel, Discovery, and PBS. (Did someone say TiVo addict?)

86. My parents still live in the house I grew up in.

87. I will never buy expensive watches or sunglasses because I always lose or break them.

88. I am a messy slob.

89. I am torn between my materialistic desires and my hippy-dippy communist ideals.

90. Sometimes I think about all the unimaginable pain and suffering that is going on in the world at any given time.

91. Thinking about that makes me feel really depressed and helpless.

92. I stopped listening to the NPR news every morning because of items 90 and 91.

93. I listen to the Adam Carolla show instead.

94. I can’t imagine having children. I am just that selfish.

95. I have blue eyes.

96. I really want to play guitar so I can be a famous folk artist, but my left hand is retarded.

97. I feel like my friends know me better than my parents do.

98. I think Madison, WI is the most wonderful place to live and I fantasize about moving back there sometimes.

99. I went to the Phish festival in Coventry, Vermont in August of 2004. We hiked 15 miles with camping gear to get to a music festival after flying from LA to Boston, driving to Vermont and spending upwards of 20 hours in a car overnight sitting in traffic that moved a total of 3 miles while we were in it. There were extenuating circumstances I won’t get into. Yeah, we were hard core like that.

100. I think the world would be a better place if everyone would just do things my way.

9 Comments:

Blogger tabitha jane said...

I am torn between my materialistic desires and my hippy-dippy communist ideals.

me too.

and:
i am artificially more redheaded than i actually am at the moment (if that makes sense).

i changed my name because my old last name sucked and i LOVED my husband's last name (but i would NEVER change my name again: too much hassel).

i, as well, am too selfish to have children at this point in my life.

someday i will play the cello or guitar and sing in a band. i bought a dress the other day with the thought of wearing it onstage in mind . . . silly me.

12:32 PM  
Blogger Tanya Kristine said...

my GOD you said too much similar to me.

i'd hate la too but would love it for thsoe reasons.

traveling changed my life too.

at lunch i saw a lady in a wheel chair. she must have cerebral palsy. she used to go to my gym all the time and someone always had to help her workout. when she tells a story you can barely hear her but i'll bet it's just as funny as something i would say; however, no one will laugh as hard beucase of her delviery. and i doubly look at the things i complain about.

i do sing very well and you should ALWAYS be able to sing well if you ever have...and i play guitar. and clarinet once. i'd like to play the piano much better than i do which is beginner level.

no on children and there ain't nothin' wrong with that. too many as is.

i was a red head too for 4 years.

i did drugs. for many years.

i would NEVER surf. i'm deathly afraid of the ocean. unless i'm under it with scuba gear on.

i hate flossing too. makes your breath smell terrible. from the blood of non-used-to-flossing teeth.

i hate work...

1:49 PM  
Blogger Valerie said...

Peace to you Moon Flower!

We are SOOOO very opposite. It's actually quite funny. Although, we are forever sista's for BEEEEEEEEEEEEER! BEER BEER BEER BEER!

1:53 PM  
Blogger Valerie said...

oh yeah, and the children thing too. Eeeeks!

1:54 PM  
Blogger Shananigans said...

Tabs – I guess that makes sense about your last name if you like the way it sounds better, but I think it’s stupid that it’s expected.

TK – We’re like bloggie soul mates. :)

In regards to the singing, I suppose I can still sing better than lots of people but I’m kind of talking that use it or lose it feeling. Back in the day when I was “in training” and singing every day and even on stage in front of people on occasion my voice was like a well oiled machine. Now it’s kind of like an old Honda, still runs pretty good but a little rusty.

Val – BEEEEEEER! That’s all you really need to say to be good in my book ;)

And yeah, I think kids are a little overrated. No offence to anyone and their lovelies, I’m just leaving more space on the planet for others to fill up.

4:43 PM  
Blogger Carrie™ said...

Shannon, I'm with you on a lot of those points, especially #100. I just can't seem to get it through my husband's head though. Try as I might, it just ain't working.
I tried to do this 100 list a while ago. I think I made it to 76 and gave up. I did save it, so maybe I'll go back to it and see what other wildly boring things I can say about myself. (I don't think I'm that exciting - maybe that's why it's hard).
Ditto on the kid thing. And the dog thing.

1:31 PM  
Blogger KleoPatra said...

I meant to post about the 100 things HERE. I am a dork. But I digress. Some good stuff there, Shan... i'm with you on many of 'em!!! Nice to get to know you!

10:17 PM  
Blogger MeloMeals said...

I love this...

I relate to a lot of it... you know, I'm not really a kid person at all... and I find my kids annoying a lot! lol.. so, I can totally see why someone would not want to have children. My god, it is a HUGE job... and the worry.. OY... of course, the wonderful love is great and makes it worth it.. but man.. it's hard work (I sound like W)..(I had my first at 19 and my second at 21... now they are 13 and 14... and I still feel like a teen inside.. )

12:28 PM  
Blogger Amanda said...

I can say "me too!" about a lot of stuff on this list, but can I really just give a big giant WORD to #100? Because I think that almost every day.

I think I might do this myself. I'm always up for some navel gazing.

10:42 AM  

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