25 things

I did this meme on Facebook, and I'm re-posting it here because some of these things were things I've been meaning to blog about, anyway. I'll expand on the pertinent ones at some future point, if I can ever work up the motivation.

So, 25 Things:

We all know how this works, right? I think everyone else on earth has been tagged for this at least once, so I'm only tagging people I know have done it already. If, by some miracle, you haven't been tagged yet, and you wish I had tagged you, pretend I just did.

So, without further ado, 25 Random Things About Me:

1. Most people seem to profess vague annoyance with the task when they post these things - but I love them. Love reading 'em, love writing 'em. If you ever need to tag anyone for a "list a buncha random things about yourself" meme, I'm your girl. I wanted to be tagged for this one for like, two weeks before anyone tagged me.

2. Clearly, I spend way too much time on teh intarwebz. I'm trying to be better about this.

3. I do love to travel. I've been to 24 countries (26 if you break down the UK into its component parts and count them each separately). I can think of at least 20 more, just off the top of my head, that I'd really like to visit soon. Lifetime travel goals: all 50 states, all 7 continents, all of Europe - at least!

4. Once, at a party, I miscounted and announced that I'd been to 44 countries. Oops. I have no idea where that number came from. I seem to remember alcohol being involved.

5. Pretty much any nerdy hobby you can name, I do it (or am interested in it to some degree). Where's George/Where's Willy? Yup. Geocaching? Uh huh. Philately? Numismatics? Check and check. I would bookcross more, but I really hate to get rid of books, even for the fun of spreading them around. I'm not hardcore enough to really know what I'm looking at most of the time, but I do enjoy planespotting and trainspotting. Comics, anime, sci-fi - duh. I even get nerdy about my not-so-nerdy hobbies (arts-&-crafty stuff).

6. Here is why I could never be a writer for a living, even though I've been told I'm good at it: it takes me forever. I've been at this for like, half an hour, now, and I'm only up to thing 6.

7. I can trace my dad's side of my family in this country back to a kid who landed in Virginia 401 years ago. On my mom's side, I'm in the first full generation born here - my mom's youngest sibling was born in the US, but my mom was born in China.

8. I love that - the whole Barack-Obama, nowhere-else-on-earth-is-my-story-even-possible-ness of my family.

9. I'm pretty obsessed with the salsa blanca that only Hampton Roads Mexican restaurants serve. You cannot get that stuff anywhere else. I eat at Mexican places as often as I can when I'm home for a visit.

10. Other things I miss about home: The Naro, everyone having personalized license plates, natural bodies of water everywhere (as opposed to man-made lakes & canals), The NorVa, all the artsy stuff (Chrysler Museum, Virginia Stage, etc.).

11. I don't tolerate heat very well, and consequently loathe hot weather.

12. Despite that, I don't dislike living in South Florida nearly as much as I thought I would. I've met a lot of really cool people here, and there's tons of interesting stuff to do. & OMG, I love palm trees! :D I just make sure to spend as little time outdoors as humanly possible. I actually like the reassuring sameness to the weather here, in a way. I don't need to consult the forecast, I can safely assume that it'll be hotter than I'd like for about 355 days per year.

13. If left to my own devices, I will stay up all night and sleep all day. I really have to force myself to go to bed at a "normal" time.

14. I want a house the way some women want a baby. I know it's a huge responsibility and an enormous expense, but I still want one so badly. I fawn over architecture and home dec magazines. I pore over real estate listings. It's a buyer's market right now - I just hope we can take full advantage.

15. I spend way too much time thinking about typography, the shapes of functional objects, and package design for someone utterly unconnected to the design world.

16. I'm allergic to cats, but I love 'em anyway. =^.^=

17. I'm also allergic to pineapple and penicillin.

18. There are 4 more tattoos I want to get soon.

19. 19 is my lucky number. :)

20. I'm amazed how much being 30 feels like being 12 again. For instance, I need braces (again).

21. I used to hate sports, but now I'm a pretty big hockey fan. I also sort-of, vaguely follow baseball and football (English Premier League, not NFL). When we're down at the pub watching the football, occasionally we catch a rugby game or a cricket match, & that is fun, too, if sometimes confusing. And I still love roller derby, even tho' I don't play anymore.

22. I have weird hearing. I can't hear soft sounds as well as most people, but I also can't tolerate loud noises as well as most people. I carry earplugs with me at all times.

23. At last count, I had 800-some CDs - and last count was, gosh, something like two and a half years ago now. It's high time to do another inventory, methinks.

24. I still have no idea - none at all - what I want to be when I grow up.

25. Probably about 75% of the time I spend on Facebook, I'm playing word games. Wordscraper/Lexulous, Scramble, Word Twist, whatever - if you want to play, please start a game with me!


Reading over everyone's 25 Things, I'm reminded again of just how remarkable y'all are, and how glad I am that I know you.

Cheers!

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