100 Things, 1 - 20

There has been a meme floating around for years called "100 Things About Me." I'm going to cheat by dividing it up into five segments. After all, who wants to read 100 things about me all in a row? I don't think your attention span loves me quite that much.

So, here we go. After all, what else do I have to do except watch the Super Bowl? *shudder*

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1. My middle name is Gustava. It is a name passed down in my mother's Finnish family. I believe it was to honor or obey a royal family or some such from Finland (but more likely Sweden, as the Swedes stomped all over Finland and kicked a bunch of Finn butt). Some males in the family have names containing Gustaf. I am Gustava.

2. I was very precocious as a child. I was 45 in an 8-year-old body. I used big words that confused my peers. I liked to say "oxymoron" to make people think I was calling them an idiot.

3. My first concert was at age 15 to see Cinderella, White Lion, and Tangiers (I think that's who it was). I wore a frilly denim miniskirt and hot pink tank top. I'm pretty sure I had hot pink socks to match. Ah, the 80s.

4. My first official job was as all-around whatever at a dude ranch near my home. I cleaned bathrooms, served barbeque and drinks, wrangled kids for games, and other odd jobs. The worst one was as "saloon girl." It required an Old West-type whore outfit and being pulled onto the laps of drunk weekend cowboys.

5. I'm not an exceptionally religious person. I have beliefs, but I do not attend a church. I would rather pray at home instead of joining a social club. I was raised as a Southern Baptist in deep East Texas, so perhaps you can understand my misgivings about it. I watched my grandmother and her cronies kick out a pastor because he invited local black families to attend our church. Yeah, that's the spirit.

6. My first car was a Yugo. Go ahead, I'll wait for you to stop laughing.

7. My first date was at age 15 with a senior (I was a freshman). We saw Gorillas in the Mist and ate at a Sonic Drive-Thru. I really liked him until he dumped me for his cheating ex-girlfriend. The next year he inserted himself back into my life, succeeded in winning my heart, only to leave me again for a Latvian college student. That was great.

8. My favorite shows on TV are mostly HBO things. I'm a big fan of "Big Love". Those Mormons really know how to muck it up.

9. My favorite movie is Silence of the Lambs. We've seen it so many times that we now almost consider it to be a comedy. This is mainly because of the many silly impressions we do of Jodie Foster and her castmates. Second favorite movie: Bridget Jones. Why? Because I'm a chick.

10. I am down to two pairs of jeans. I wear only one. I refuse to buy new clothes until I've lost enough weight to feel it is worth it to expand my wardrobe.

11. Phil and I enjoy experimenting with food and restaurants. I love to try Thai, Indian, Korean, Japanese, German... you name it. I heart sushi.

12. I don't enjoy people who eat with their mouths open or smack their food. I can't stand it when Phil scrapes his fork on his plate.

13. In the past few years, I have come to recognize that I have narcissistic tendencies. I've also met many people who have GIGANTIC narcissistic tendencies, which has inspired me to try to be anything but like them. I try, but I may not always succeed. The first step is admitting you have a problem, right?

14. Allergens get the best of me. I am allergic to smoke, virtually every allergen in Texas, and now I get sick in the winter in Denver due to weather inversions that hold the pollution close to the ground. I bought a neti pot to clear my sinuses. So far, so good.

15. I tend to curse at people in traffic, even to the point that I'll reach over and honk the horn if Phil is driving. For some reason, he doesn't like it when I do that.

16. I don't have any tattoos. If I were to get one, I would put a homunculus on my body. I found it silly to learn in my biology classes that people used to think that little men lived inside sperm, and that is how a woman gets pregnant. They were sort of right, I guess, but it gives no credit to the woman for donating her own genetic material to the baby. People put all kinds of stupid tattoos on their bodies, so why not a tiny man squatting inside a teardrop?

17. I was born in a state that I never lived in.

18. I'm not a fan of feet. While attending college in Texas, I had several classmates (male) who would put their feet up on chairs. I would have to stare at their ugly feet in sandals. Their feet were dried up, cracked, and incredibly nasty. I will never suck on someone's toes erotically, because I'm sure that images of those nasty, cracked feet will pop into my head.

19. In recent years, I have embraced the fact that I am a flaming liberal. Phil and I have come to recognize that we believe in all kinds of things that my extremely Republican family would vomit over. I will not affiliate myself with any one party, however. I believe in choice. I vote in every election, including local issues.

20. I'm the only sister out of three that did not have a teenage pregnancy.



More to come...