My Facebook 25 Things

One of the reasons I love Facebook is because you spend time reconnecting with old friends. One of the reasons I hate Facebook is because you spend lots of time reconnecting with old friends. I got tagged with this "25 Things About You" meme by about ten different people, so in the end I couldn't resist. Here are my 25:

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I used to be embarrassed of my inner-nerd. Now I love the freedom embracing the label gives me.
2. I hate clowns. Mostly because I know they are evil and will kill me if given the opportunity, but also because they are stupid. And ugly.
3. I have never seen "Grease" or "The Breakfast Club", and didn’t see “The Dark Knight”. I'm lucky if I go to the movies a half-dozen times a year. Usually the movies I do see in the theatre involve singing or Angelina Jolie brandishing a weapon.
4. I hate talking on the phone. Hate. It. I almost never answer unless it is my mother, and much prefer email if I can’t just talk to you in person. Last month I used just 46 anytime minutes, and that was over the holidays. Despite this, I feel naked if I don’t have my phone with me, even if it is just buried in my backpack on silent.
5. I don’t feel guilty about the fact that I love reality TV, especially Survivor, Amazing Race, and the Idol. I'd never want to compete on any of them, though I am jealous of Cady Huffman's judging job on Iron Chef.
6. Guilty pleasures include pancakes for dinner, sudoku, and Suze Orman's "Can You Afford It" segment. Denied!
7. Last year we discovered the couchsurfing community, which I’d encourage all of you to check out. www.couchsurfing.com Basically when you travel you can find fun people who will let you stay with them instead of having to get a hotel. The best part is then you have a local to tell you how to get around and what to see, not to mention have fun dinner conversation with. We stayed with two different people on our trip to Canada last year, and now have hosted a dozen or so people from all over the world, which has been excellent. As I write this we have a couple from England asleep upstairs.
8. I'm a morning person, and hate sleeping when the sun is up. Except for an hour nap in the early afternoon, which is the greatest pleasure known to man.
9. A favorite memory from the past: it was dawn, sitting on the bow of a small boat with the warm water splashing my legs on a five day journey to see Komodo Dragons, eating fresh pineapple jam toast while dolphins, flying fish and eventually huge whirlpools (yes they really do exist!) surrounded our boat on all sides. Later that night the water glowed with phosphorescent algae. Indonesia rocks.
10. I have a goofy yet irresistible compulsion to climb any outdoor staircase I come across. This has gotten me into trouble with more than one tour guide. Reason #742 that I love David is that he always goes with me.
11. I do math in my head. For fun.
12. I am a gypsy at heart. Some places I’ve lived: LA, NYC, Albuquerque, San Diego, Singapore, Sacramento, Taiwan, DC. (And a shout out to Pasco Washington!) Some places I will live: Hawaii, Anchorage and Sydney, Australia for sure. Probably more. Weird opportunities tend to present themselves to me, which I am grateful for.
13. The last book I read was Jules Verne’s “Journey To The Center Of The Earth”. It was different than I expected style-wise, but I love the story. Next on my book-list: “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea” and “Treasure Island”.
14. Someday I will learn to speak Spanish at least semi-fluently. ¿Es verdad? Si, es verdad! (Our plan is to do a relatively long-term immersion course in Guatemala.)
15. David and I watch “Mixed Nuts” every year at Christmastime. If you are ever around us and we start giggling at some inside joke, it is probably because we’ve just quoted it, which somehow never gets old. (“Get me free, or hit me in my face!”) I will always love Michelle Brooks for sharing that movie with us. (I also love you for making me look good in front of Uta Hagen, but I digress.)
16. I once played softball with Tom Wopat, otherwise known as Luke Duke from the original “Dukes of Hazzard”, and before the game even started he heckled me. Getting ribbed by a childhood idol was amazingly satisfying and enjoyable. His team won on the field, but our next competition was on stage, and my hip-high leather boots totally trumped his dress and pearls.
17. My favorite book is still “The Power Of One” by Bryce Courtenay, which despite the title is not a self-help book but actually a novel about a South African boy who wants to be a boxer. Read it if you want to be as awesome as me.
18. I do think I’m awesome. Not any more awesome than anyone else is, but just totally awesome in my own dorky way. I didn’t always think that, but life got a lot better once I did.
19. I love my five siblings more than I can possibly say. I want them all to be wildly happy. That, I believe, is partly due to a lot of good parenting.
20. Pet peeve - when people confuse “their” with “they’re”, or “your” with “you’re”. Drives me absolutely nuts.
21. What is the opposite of a pet peeve? A pet delight? Nothing makes me happier than when a cashier counts back my change. Most of them are lazy and just read back the number it says on the register while handing you a wad of bills and coin. So when someone counts it back, I know they are awesome and I wish I could hug them. Of course, I rarely use cash anymore, so I have fewer and fewer opportunities to discover these delightful people.
22. I’m good at saving money. Really good. In fact it is probably my greatest skill of all. Believe me, that has come in handy many times over the years as a (formerly) starving artist. We’ve got a lot of ground to make up, but I’m very optimistic about it.
23. I just had a salad with almonds and grapes in it, which I thought was awesome.
24. Performing on the 2003 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall with David at my side was one of the proudest days of my life. I will never forget it.
25. David and I are just past our 16th anniversary, and I can’t believe how immeasurably lucky I am to be with him. I couldn’t have imagined a better partner for this adventure of life. And somehow each year we share is better than the one before. I can’t imagine what I ever did to deserve this, but it must have been GOOD.