My 100 things

So I saw another blog that I thought was pretty cool Jazz . . . in strange places. Anyway, the author had a list of 100 random things about herself. I enjoyed reading them, so I've decided to try and come up with a list of my own.

1. I was born in Pittsburgh, PA and lived there three different times by the time I was in 6th grade.
2. My middle name is Elizabeth, but I like to tell people that it's Elvis. Usually they believe me. If fact there was one guy I knew in college who only found out last year that my middle name wasn't actually Elvis--that means I had him fooled for something like 10 years. I didn't mean to keep the charade going that long--I just kinda forgot about it.
3. Elizabeth was my Dad's grandmother's name, but when my parents told her that they had named me after her she said, "No you didn't. If you had, her name would be Elizabeth Erin."
4. The only thing I remember about my great-grandmother Elizabeth is that she had a parrot.
5. I love to go see bands! Love it, love it, love it! I'll go even if I've never heard of the band before (though in that case, someone has to vouch).
6. My favorite place to see a band is the Troubadour. Not only do they get great bands, but it is a small venue and I can walk there.
7. I like to go see bands by myself (you can't talk when the music is playing anyway)
8. I also like to go to the movies alone.
9. I don't think either of these makes me anti-social.
10. I've been in school for as much of my life as I can remember.
11. Doesn't look like there is any end (to me beinng in school) in sight.
12. I play the viola, and I've always played the viola. I only know one other violist who didn't play the violin first and switch over after the fact.
13. Someone should have noticed that the reason I liked the viola as a kid, what attracted me to it, was its name--the word "viola." I liked the sound of it--the instrument it went along with was almost incidental. almost. Kinda explains the English major thing.
14. I'm a true Libra--I don't like decisions, I don't like conflict, I have a good sense of style (even if I can't always afford to dress the part), and I'm very particular about how things look: clothes, hair, gift-wrap, buffet tables--it may be a sickness.
15. One of the great regrets of my high school career is not having room in my schedule to learn how to type properly. Had I known then what I know now, I would have made the time.
16. The first cassette tape I remember buying is "We are the World." I remember being so proud of that tape, and I listened to it over, and over, and over, and over (of course, singing along at the top of my lungs).
17. Apparently singing along to music is something I inherited from my mother. In addition, I apparently didn't like for anyone else to sing. My mom has told me on multiple occasions that when I was a little girl, I used to tell her, "Don't sing, Mom! Don't sing!" What a brat!
18. I love the Pittsburgh Steelers, and I'm proud to have been one of the original fans of "Big Ben."
19. I love fantasy sports, although I like baseball a lot less than football or basketball.
20. My favorite colors are violet-blue, rose-pink, and a teal-green/blue.
21. I cannot wear yellow without looking ill.
22. I love, love, love my ipod! I'm on my second after effectively wearing out the first one.
23. I can't decide if the ipod or tivo is the best invention of the 21st cntury thus far. Both have improved my quality of life immeasurably
24. My Tivo is absolutely better than my last boyfriend--making that swap has improved the quality of my life immeasurably too.
25. Because Tivo has purged me of that toxic relationship, it wins the competition.
26. I watch too much TV.
27. My favorite non-alcoholic drink is Fresca.
28. I don't think I have a favorite alcoholic drink. This doesn't mean that I don't drink, it just means that I don't have a favorite. It depends on my mood.
29. I could eat pizza every day of the week and twice on Sunday and be perfectly content.
30. To me, frozen pizza, home-made pizza, and different pizzas from different restaurants are all totally unique. Perhaps appreciating these fine distinctions makes me some kind of a pizza connoisseur.
31. I think ice cream is a valid breakfast choice. Granted it isn't as good for you as cottage cheese or yogurt, but dairy is dairy, and any of it would be more healthy than a Pop-Tart.
32. I teach a class on how to improve your score on the GMAT--but only the verbal part. Asking me to teach the math section of the test would be doing a serious disservice to the students in the class, and we'd probably have to pay them to put up with me instead of the other way around.
33. In fact, when it comes to most things mathematical, I am barely functional.
34. I remember all sorts of random things about people and events, but when it comes to remembering where I put my keys, forget about it. (pun not intended)
35. One of the main reasons I was excited to move to Los Angeles was that I thought that I would actually be able to get good Thai food here. I was right; I love Thai food!
36. The downside to LA is the lack of good pizza.
37. That downside is probably good for me because if I could find really good pizza in LA, I'd probably weigh 300 lbs.
38. I love Harry Potter and have read books 1-4 half a dozen times. I've only read book 5 twice (things are a bit busy these days).
39. I also love Stephen King, Michael Connelly, Patricia Cornwell, and John Irving
40. I briefly considered majoring in viola performance in college, but I decided that I liked daylight and eating more than I liked locking myself in a practice room and being poor. So what I'm doing in a ph.d. program is a bit of a conundrum at times.
41. I love Apple Jacks.
42. I absolutely hate cough syrup but don't think that the gel caps that you can swallow without tasting the evil that is cough syrup actually work so i have to construct elaborate distraction techniques to get myself to take medicine when I need it. Also, it means I'm really sick if I take cough syrup of my own volition.
43. I am an aggressive driver.
44. I know more about cars than any self-respecting woman should, except of course, how to fix them.
45. I have a wicked sweet tooth (and it's kicking in right now).
46. I'm not a big fan of girl scout cookies, but I usually buy a box or two each year to support the cause.
47. I wish I could afford to take more horseback riding lessons.
48. I love British accents.
49. I was born on Friday the 13th.
50. My favorite time of day is sunset.
51. I used to go whitewater kayaking and actually miss rivers sometimes, but I was always pretty nervous when it came time to navigate the rapids.
52. I did hit a combat roll though on one of my last river trips. It was pretty sweet.
53. I miss college sometimes, not the thing itself as much as the constellation of people and events that I experienced and got to know.
54. I have almost finished my ph.d.
55. I love manatees--they aren't the most beautiful or the smartest animals, but they seem like they are the most gentle and kind.
56. When I was a kid, I used to love mayonnaise sandwiches--that's two pieces of white bread and mayonnaise, nothing else. The thought of eating such a concoction these days turns my stomach.
57. I hate having to go to a car wash, and as a result, I often drive a very dirty vehicle.
58. I love Las Vegas, and I love to play blackjack. The last two trips, however, I haven't won or even broken even. Probably those weekends would have been better spent doing more productive things (like writing my dissertation).
59. A lot of my friends are significantly younger than I am. Those who are my age seem to be moving away, if they haven't already (it's a part of life in academics). I find that sad.
60. I have 6 piercings: three in my earlobes, one in the top outer cartlidge, on ei n the inner middle cartlidge, and one in my navel. The inner cartiledge hurt so much that I almost passed out and then I almost vomited. Consequently, it is the one I am most proud of.
61. I've thought about getting a tattoo at various times in my life, but I could never decide what to get or where to get it. I finally decided on a place, my foot, and then was told that not only did it hurt quite a lot in that spot because there are lots of nerve endings and thin skin, but that the tattoo would probably get blurry and eventually turn into a blob. Pain I can deal with, ugliness I can't.
62. I love to go rollerblading on the bikepath at the beach, but I won't go anywhere else because I can't stop very well (or at all). At the beach, if you fall, you can mostly fall in the sand. Other place would probably involve falling on pavement with traffic around.
63. I've been trying to make peace with my stomach for many years. It's the only part of my body that I really dislike, even though most people would probably say that I'm crazy and should have my head examined. But I haven't yet met a woman who is completely satisfied with her body, so I think it's not just me.
64. I do like my eyes--they're an interesting color of blue that shifts from blue to gray to sometimes even green depending on what color I wear.
65. I wish I could speak French.
66. My mom took me to see U2's Joshua Tree tour for my 13th birthday. To this day, it's one of the best shows I've ever seen, and to this day, my Mom has no idea how cool she was for taking me.
67. My dad is named Clement. All throughout my childhood we'd get funny solicitation mail at our house addressed to Kermit, Cement, and my personal favorite, Omlet/omlette.
68. My brother is pretty cool--but he's married now, which worries me since it seems like we couldn't both have a successful relationship at the same time. I wonder if his wedding took us both permanently off the market.
69. I really like living in los angeles, but I wonder if its harder to meet people in this city compareed to other places.
70. The first time I ever let my hair grow out was in college--my mom would never let me have long hair growing up because she said that thin hair like mine always looked stringy. For the record, I think she's wrong.
71. Every once in a long, long while I crave a slurpee from 7-11. There's nothing like a pure sugar rush.
72. I can't imagine taking a long trip with another person because I've been flying by myself for 8 years now with only one or two exceptions. That's not to say thhat I haven't met up with people once I've gotten where I'm going, but the actual travel part is almost always solo. I'l be taking my first entirely solo expedition this summer when I go to Dublin after the WCW conference. I'm kinda excited and kinda scared.
73. Frye's makes the best boots in the world--comfortable and durable and cool.
74. I inherited my grandmother's vanity streak. But I don't have multiple pairs of white pants hanging in my closet--in fact, come to think of it, I don't have any white pants in my closet.
75. I wear jeans a lot.
76. I like baseball caps, but I don't wear them very ooften because i think that hats and glasses together are usually overwhelming to a face--of course, sometimes that's the entire point. I try not to have those kind of days very often.
77. I much prefer daylight-savings time to thhe rest of the year--it's depressing to me when it gets dark at 4:30.
78. I wonder if technology is really such a good thing sometimes--I mean, yes I can now listen to whatever CD I want whereever I am, but I also could be working on my dissertation a lot more because i have a computer at home and could theoretically do nothing else but write. I don't think that's very healthy.
79. I don't like vegetables except for carrots, potatoes and corn.
80. I love fruit, however, and one of the wonderful things about california is the quality (and quantity) of fresh produce.
81. I'm not a fan of thee pomegrante--too much work and little pay-off. Thus if I were Persephone, I'd be seriously pissed at having to return to the underworld for three months all because I ate a few pomegrante seeds. I mean, come on, pomegrante seeds don't even taste like anything, and they stain everything red. Rip-off! If it were strawberries, mango, orange, plum, peach, nectarine, even grapefruit I could deal, but pomegrante--man.
82. In my next life, I would like to be a drummer. PLaying the drums is so cool, but I would suck at it because I can't do different things with different limbs at the same time. It would be a disaster.
83. In the orchestral microcosm, I tend to date trumpet players though I did also date a cellist once. Unfortunately, he turned out to be a Jerk (note the captial J).
84. I think I'll probably end up a perpetual bachelorette, and I'm doing my best to be fine with that. Sometimes it's easier than others.
85. In regards to above, I am the girl who is the gal-pal, girl-next-door, confidente, not thhe girl who is the love-interest. I'm still not enntirely sure, after 30+ years, why that is.
86. I love crossword puzzles and word games.
87. I read a lot of detective novels.
88. One of the hardest things about being single is having to put suntan lotion on your own back.
89. Because I've been a student for basically my whole life, I'm worried that I'll be a cheapskate even when I longer have to be. This, of course, assumes that I do eventually find meaningful employment that pays me more than my graduate student stipend.
90. I could never date a Republican.
91. I have absolutely no desire to learn how to surf, but I'll certainly hang out on the beach and watch.
92. I've been highlighting my hair for years, and yet it still shocks me when people say that I'm a blonde. To me, blonde is Kate Hudson, Kate Bosworth, Cameron Diaz. . . My hair is not that color. It's more like Jennifer Aniston or Kate Winslet (please not that I'm not talking abouut anything but hair color here!). To me that's light brown.
93. Part of me is sad that 90210 reruns are no longer on the air. I hope they'll come back to FX or another network sometime in the future.
94. This time around, I thhink April is indeed the cruellest month.
95. This blog is named after a song by Mic Christopher, whose music I really admire. I also really like the word, "Skylarkin."
96. I am not a morning person, even when I don't have to get up early.
97. I'm also not a nap person unless I am truly exhausted or sick.
98. I really don't like going down stairs if they have horizontal stripes on them because my brain gets confused and I start to get vertigo. I'm afraid to look down, but I;m also afraid that if I don't look where I'm going, I'll fall.
99. Actually, I think that falling down, at least every once in a while, is good for people because it forces them to get back up again, and there's no truer test of character than that.
100. I still wish upon stars.