99 Too Many Things About Me

Every blogger does this at least once, right? :)

1. I do not bleach or dye my hair – the colour is 100% natural Dutch blonde. Sorry.
2. I truly envy people with olive or dark skin colour. Being fair-skinned is overrated.
3. The older I get, the more I see both sides of every argument.
4. This is annoying when I’m trying to win an argument.
5. Laughter and a sense of humour are things I’ve cultivated as an adult.
6. People who take themselves too seriously totally exasperate me. Probably because I see myself in them.
7. I frequently dream I am back on the farm where I grew up.
8. Interestingly, in those dreams I am always outside – never in the house.
9. Come to think of it, no one from my family is in those dreams either – it’s just me and the land.
10. Of my parents, my brother, and me, I was the one who spent the least time outside on the land.
11. I love irony.
12. I often dream of kittens too. Those are always happy dreams.
13. I was baptized twice.
14. These days, I only go to church for weddings, funerals, and musical recitals.
15. I believe in angels.
16. These days, I am no longer disdainful of other people’s need to go to church.
17. However, I still have very strong feelings about institutions that systemically covered up child abuse.
18. I experience God in nature and in solitude.
19. If my biology professor was right in our class about genetics, I am a carrier for colour-blindness.
20. I relax by reading other people’s blogs.
21. Given a choice of reading or buying more books, I will always buy more books. It is a sickness.
22. Given a choice of cooking or buying groceries, I will generally buy more groceries.
23. I’ve been a “just in case” kind of person as long as I can remember.
24. I have been my own best friend for at least 7 years.
25. It’s really great to be able to enjoy your own company.
26. I used to see myself like those withered merpeople who’d sold their souls in The Little Mermaid. I really used to abhor myself.
27. I’ve come a long way, baby.
28. I taught English in South Korea for almost two years.
29. I still kick myself that I never visited the DMZ while I lived in Korea.
30. Living in Korea was the hardest and the best thing I’ve ever done.
31. I love Korean food; I could eat it once a day if I could figure out how to cook like they do.
32. I’ve only seen the open ocean once, on a trip to Vancouver Island.
33. That afternoon by myself on a near-deserted beach was the happiest of my life.
34. That beach had signs warning of bears, cougars, and tsunamis.
35. I saw no bears, cougars, or tsunamis, thank goodness.
36. I believe that when you travel with a camera, you’re really not alone.
37. Since that trip about three years ago, I long to see the ocean again every spring.
38. I believe in magic.
39. My sense of wonder is one of the traits I cherish most about myself.
40. My right leg is almost one inch shorter than my left leg.
41. I didn’t learn this until I was in my thirties.
42. When in grade school, my classmates complained that I used too many big words that they couldn’t understand.
43. I dumbed down my vocabulary and regret it today.
44. I never fit in when I was growing up.
45. I have to wonder what kind of changeling my parents thought I was; I never met their expectations.
46. My parents are good, salt-of-the-earth people.
47. My brother is my hero.
48. The household chore I hate the most is dusting.
49. I had to dust a lot when I was growing up.
50. My mom had knickknacks and framed photographs our relatives all over the house.
51. I once tried to hide all the framed photographs because I thought they were too much work to dust.
52. My mother put most of them back.
53. I never anticipated I would love my niece and nephew as much as I do.
54. Other than their parents, I was the first relative to greet them, when they (or at least their tiny cell clusters) were still new in Lisa’s belly.
55. I will fondly remember Chicago for that reason.
56. They’d better remember I was there first.
57. I will never make them dust.
58. I like using song titles and lyrics for my Facebook updates.
59. If I know a song, I can usually identify it just by hearing the first few bars.
60. In almost every personality test, I score somewhere near the middle. I’m several people all rolled up in one.
61. My approach to situations often balances others; if someone is serious, I become light-hearted, if someone is reckless, I become cautious, etc.
62. Perhaps this means I am contrary?
63. I thank my lucky stars for my own build every time I see a large-breasted woman. Large breasts look like such a pain.
64. I find it easy to love certain people, as though we are reunited friends.
65. I find it difficult to resume normal relationships with those whom I feel have broken my trust.
66. I have never been to Europe.
67. I would love to travel around Europe. I think.
68. I am a homebody.
69. I love having my cats, my books, my kitchen, my bed. Everything where I need it. Just in case.
    
70. I love watching movies with strong female characters.
71. I was born a feminist.
72. My mother once told me that I would either have to marry a doormat or someone who beat me.
73. I think she was a bit frustrated with me when she said that. :)
74. I was a strong-willed child.
75. I’ve never gotten married. Heh.
76. In my teen years, I listened to Detroit radio.
77. As a result, I have a weakness for soul and R&B music.
78. My current boss is the best boss I’ve ever had.
79. I’ve had my driver’s license for 22 years.
80. I’m pretty content with things I can’t change.
81. I now love all the seasons.
82. I push myself because I believe in my own potential.
83. I wish I liked to read poetry, but generally I don’t. At least not for long periods of time.
84. I love organizing people.
85. I think my life word is “mother” because I like to take care of people.
86. I have never had so much to drink that I’ve become sick or lost control.
87. I’ve never tried illegal drugs.
88. I truly don’t think I’ve missed anything by either of the previous two points.
89. Yes, I am a total square.
90. I can’t remember the first time that I tasted beer because I was so young. My parents never made alcohol a mystery or a taboo. We were allowed to have a sip of their beers even when we were quite young. I think it was really smart of them.
91. Codeine and penicillin, when taken orally, make me violently ill.
92. I’ve watched Pride and Prejudice with Kiera Knightley countless times. (starring Kiera, not sitting down on the couch watching it with her, although I think that would be cool)
    
93. I love Alanis Morissette.
94. If I could start all over again, I’d choose a career in naturopathy.
95. I long to live an extraordinary life.
96. I refuse to use aluminum-based anti-perspirants and deodorants.
97. I generally don’t use perfumes or colognes because this planet has enough chemical pollution as it is.
98. I value consistency.
99. Precious few things are more important to me than my integrity.
100. I am somewhat repelled by how much I’ve had to focus on myself to write this. :)