The FYM 100

[maycocksean]

I admit that I cheated a little. I went back and found Irvines original journal entry, copied and pasted it and used his 100 list as a jumping off point for mine. Often times I followed the same theme as his, and when I couldn't I just put in something completely different.

It was an enjoyable exercise and I look forward to getting to know some of you better as well.

1. i hate my middle name.
2. i don’t think I have a “best feature.” I’m one of those “whole is greater than the sum of its parts” guys.
3. i have been around 25 lbs to 30 lbs underweight my entire life. At 5’11” I have weighed about 126 lbs for most of my adult life and have only now hit the mid-130s. I am perfectly healthy.
4. i spent the early years of my life on a farm in Oregon.
5. My first U2 show was in Japan in 2006.
6. We paid over a $1000 to ship our dog here from Saipan, the island in the middle of the Pacific where we used to live.
7. i do not own a flat screen TV, a smartphone, or more than one suit. I wish I did.
8. i often wish I still lived in Saiapn, but when i actually did live in Saipan. . . well, I was glad I wasn’t living in the States.
9. i do not have good memories of elementary school.
10. i feel unappreciated at work despite the fact that i routinely work 10-12 hour days
11. i wear lots of Old Navy. Virtually everything I’ve bought in the past five years is from that store
12. i am obsessed with packing in as money movies and novels into my summer break as I possibly can.
13. i am a very loyal customer. I will go out of my way to keep going back to the same place if I’m happy with my experience there.
14. my favorite place in Europe is Innsbruck, Austria.
15. i have been to Australia three times and wouldn’t mind living there.
16. I was part of an ensemble cast of TV pilot for a series called “State of Liberty.” Look for the title “Looking for America” on Amazon.
17. i spend too much money on my students.
18. i often feel that my life started the bottom and has just gotten progressively better from there. I’m very much an optimist.
19. i am a freak for schedules. I even schedule my free time and have done so since I was a kid. And yes, I mean a written schedule.
20. i love to cook, but I’m not a real cook. I just follow recipes meticulously and I never taste-test my own cooking. I especially love baking pies and my apple pie and peach cobbler are legendary.
21. i have a hard time understanding how everyone can’t recognize how amazing U2 is the way that I do
22. i want to visit every continent before i die
23. The year I spent on a remote island in the Pacific as a student missionary teacher between my sophomore and junior of college was the hardest and best of year of my life and completely changed the course of my life.
24. i am embarrassed to admit that I think I’m smarter than most people (but not smarter than most people on FYM.)
25. i have never done anything to “treat” my hair. This was a mistake when I had dreads. Now I just keep it short enough that I don’t even have to brush it.
26. People treated me differently when I had dreadlocks. Young people treated me better, older people eyed me with suspicion.
27. When I got my passport renewed in 2004 I was horrified at the toll the years had taken. I didn’t feel much different at 30 than I did at 20 and didn’t think I looked any different. I was wrong.
28. When I took my 8th graders to the Bahamas last month it was the first time I’d seen the ocean since we returned to Saipan to visit more than a year ago. I felt like I was seeing an old friend.
29. when i was a kid, i once spent all day, literally 12 hours, playing Moon Patrol. Beyond a late night session of Tekken 3 in 1999, I have never played any other video games to speak of.
30. I have never been drunk. I’m not convinced that I’ve missed much.
31. I haven’t been bored since the winter of 1994 when I was snowbound alone in my grandparents’ house for three straight days with no TV and nothing but old Readers Digest to read.
32. When I go on a trip I start mentally planning my wardrobe in detail as much as a week in advance. The actual packing goes quickly because by the time I begin I know exactly what I’m taking with me.
33. When people ask me where I’m from, I don’t know what to say: Where I was born (Portland, Oregon), where I grew up (Orlando, Florida), or my family heritage (Trinidadian)
34. i worry about failing to raise my son well.
35. i hold unreasonably high standards for myself, but tend to give other people a break.
36. i say what I mean. I don’t just “lose it” and say things I don’t mean for which I have to apologize later. I tend to assume other people are the same which has caused problems for me (particularly with my boss).
37. i really like living in the mainland United States, but i don't want to stay here for the rest of my life, though i wouldn't mind if i could live in Hawaii.
38. I tend not to lay blame, and I expect others to return the courtesy. I’m deeply irritated when they do not.
39. I’ve been happily married for 14 years on the 27th of this month.
40. When Harry Met Sally might be my favorite movie ever
41. I believe the in the Truth of When Harry Met Sally that men and women cannot be friends because the sex part always gets in the way. Ironically I still have women friends and sex has not got in the way (though I’d be lying if at least once however briefly the thought hadn’t flitted through my mind—which is why I still believe in that Truth).
42. at the end of the day, there are very, very few people i'd trade places with
43. even in my darkest moments, I believe in the ultimate goodness of God.
44. I get a lot of pleasure out of a good pot (a cooking pot that is), but what I really love is a nice little skillet
45. my worst fear is getting a phone call and hearing that my son has been killed or seriously hurt. Being a parent makes you vulnerable in truly scary way.
46. i worked at Dunkin Donuts for six months in high school. I quit when I heard that my boss referred to me as “the cleaning boy” and realized that I was never going to get to make the donuts.
47. I then went on to a very rewarding six years working for Albertson’s Food and Drug store. “Albertson’s, It’s YOUR store.”
48. i want to live a fairly simple life and spend my money on good food and travel and "cultural enrichment" (cooking classes, foreign language classes), but i get really materialistic when i'm inside a mall, but then i never have enough money to buy anything there anyway. I don’t shop very often.
49. i was in Amway for two years. The day we quit I felt like a great weight was lifted from my shoulders. I hated it.
50. i paid off my credit card debt a year ago. I have credit card debt again now.
51. i ‘m terrible at staying in touch with people.
52. in high school I was that guy that was always the girl’s “best friend”, never the “boyfriend.” It sucked.
53. I’m not good with my hands. I don’t fix things, I don’t make things. I could never be surgeon. They’re like two mitts. I hated “hands-on” projects in school and as a teacher I have to remind myself that most of my students are not like me.
54. At 37 I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. It bothers me that I am not passionate about what I do.
55. i wish i spoke another language—any language really.
56. i sometimes feel as if i am much more considerate of other people than they are to me
57. I wish my mom had forced me to keep taking piano lessons. The fact that I can’t play a musical instrument has left my life much poorer.
58. Zooropa and Pop came to have meaning for me when I was going through a crisis of faith—a crisis that I think has permanently changed me, though my faith remains.
59. i am an excellent driver, am very good maps but have a piss-poor sense of direction.
60. i don’t care for soda. But an occasional Coke is nice.
61. i am obsessed with Survivor.
62. i wish i were thicker-skinned in real life and more willing to “get into it” with people when I need to. My tendency to make peace can be problematic sometimes.
63. nothing makes me feel better than feeling like I have enough time to do the things I need to do without feeling rushed. I rarely feel this way.
64. I have written a novel (unfortunately I’ve not gotten it published yet)
65. When I became a member of Interference, I believed homosexuality was a sin. A gay student of mine had already begun to challenge my beliefs, but it was Melon, Irvine and others on FYM that helped bring about the complete change in my outlook.
66. i have been keeping a pen and paper journal since I was 11 years old. I’m on my 44th volume.
67. I once met Rich Mullins, my favorite singer/songwriter and the first thing I asked him was: “Where is the bathroom around here.” He didn’t know.
68. I appear much more open than I really am, mainly because a lot of things that most people would be reticent to share, don’t really bother me.
69. I would love having a personal assistant, someone who would anticipate my needs and meet them before I have to ask. I know that sounds very entitled, but I often feel that I’m working alone without any help and I get tired.
70. i can think of one person I feel like I hate, but it wouldn’t do to say who as things that you put on the web have a way of getting back to people.
71. i taught myself to swim when I was senior in high school. I did it as an excuse to visit the home of a friend (a girl, see #52) who was not speaking to me. She had a pool and I practiced every other day. Her parents were glad to see me even if she wasn’t.
72. i sometimes felt guilty claiming to be a missionary in Saipan. I felt like we had such a great life, it seemed like I should be sacrificing more rather than gaining so much in terms of quality of life if I was a “real” missionary.
73. There are some people who can be fine seeing their parents once a year. Though I love my family, I am one of those people.
74. I don’t know my roots.
75. i don't believe in a soul.
76. my least favorite sound is nails on a chalkboard
77. i hate cockroaches. That is one thing I definitely do NOT miss about Saipan.
78. You know how people like to say “I’m not very religious, I’m more spiritual.” Well, I’m not particularly spiritual, but I enjoy religion.
79. i truly believe God prevented from me marrying the wrong person. There was more than one occasion in my life when I think I would have rushed into marriage with someone and I know I would have been miserable (see #52 & #71).
80. i worry that I am not close enough to God.
81. I have never found it particularly thrilling to be frightened as entertainment. As such I’ve never had any interest in horror films. My two year old son on the other hand already loves playing “The giants are coming!”
82. My parents are divorced, my father was a physically and emotionally abusive religious fanatic, I was a nerd in elementary school, and unable to date in high school, yet I feel like my life has been pretty good. I don’t have many complaints. I feel lucky.
83. The 2003-2004 school year was not a great one for me. Whenever I’m inclined to complain about work now, I remind myself it isn’t nearly as bad as that year.
84. I was pretty miserable for most of my senior year in high school. I had this morbid idea that I would not live through the end of 1992.
85. being married to my boss for seven and a half years when my wife was principal of our school in Saipan taught me that I don’t know as much as I think I do.
86. The proudest moments of my life have been when I have stood up for myself in some way.
87. I can count on one hand the students I’ve taught who did poorly because of real difficulty learning and I can count one hand the students I’ve taught whose poor behavior was due in large part to ADHD.
88. In high school, four friends and I created a secret identity called the Joker, and through a series of pranks succeeded in terrifying and mystifying our school for most of the school year. To pull off the deception I lied to several people who I considered very close to me, and when they found out they were deeply hurt (see #71). I know I should regret this but I do not. I do regret that we revealed our identity. I would love it if today people were still wondering who the Joker was.
89. Because of my involvement with the Joker, I have been involved in a car chase (my neighbor saw me sneaking out of my house in the middle of the night wearing black and a hood and thought I was a burglar. He hopped in his van and chased us. When I finally realized who was after us, we pulled over and I went back and begged him not to tell my mom.
90. I support stricter gun control laws due to the easy access to guns and the foolish things my friends and I did with them when we were in high school.
91. i almost never buy books
92. There are no photographs on display anywhere in our house. I regret this but I’m too busy and cash-strapped to do much about it.
93. I hate a messy house. But our house is virtually always a disaster area. This is one of the compromises of marriage.
94. I think about my mortality a lot. Yet I assume I will live a long life—only recently have I begun to worry that cancer or something similar could take me or my wife earlier.
95. I never used to get why the person who is about to be killed in the movies begs “I’ve got kids.” I get it now. If my life is ever in danger, my first thought will be of my son and I would want to live for his sake.
96. I don’t think I’m very strong. I’m fairly certain that a major tragedy like losing my wife or son would destroy me.
97. The dumbest thing I ever did from a physical standpoint was to leap out of a moving vehicle (it looked easy in the movies).
98. There is no equivalent to the art of the alcoholic drink in the tee totaling world.
99. i wish my self of today could travel back in time and set my past self at ease, and give him advice, but unfortunately I don’t think I’d listen to myself.
100. I want to meet Jesus Christ. Someday, I believe I will.
101. There is another person out there with my same first and last name. The white guy from New Jersey? That’s not me. His father has tried several times to talk to me on Skype and I’ve had to explain to him that I’m not his son.

 

[BonosSaint]

1. I injured myself when I was a child by trying to fly after watching Peter
Pan. The magic dust did not work.
2. I think Mary Martin was the best PeterPan ever.
3. I do not like beer very much. I do like scotch, bourbon, Southern Comfort.
4. I have no artistic/artsy/crafty/musical ability whatsoever. My drawing assignment
in class was once held up as an example of bad art. My choir leader also told
me when we get to the high note, to just open my mouth and for God’s sake,
don’t actually sing.
5. I collect voodoo dolls (just from varying shops, even mainstream Hot Topic
ones that catch my eye.) I like Jamie Hayes’ dolls.
6. I am a very good friend.
7. I have season tickets for both Triple A baseball (unfortunately the Yankees farm
club has moved in—we’ve nicknamed them the Scrankees) and AHL hockey (Penguins
team).
8. I don’t like fruit touching meat. I don’t freak, but I have an aversion to it.
9. I was an English major, journalism minor with a concentration in philosophy.
10. In music, I listen for voice, lyric, percussion and guitar in that order.
11. If I won a big lottery, I would open a racehorse rescue/retirement farm. Or if
I didn’t do that, I would open a sniper camp.
12. Last year a crow swooped down and stole my eyeglasses. Since then, I’ve fallen in love with my loner crow and the rival family of three crows and I make them large breakfasts every weekend—they like scrambled eggs and chicken livers and cheese puffs. I also walked in on a pair mating this year. No baby crow as a result, so I may have messed that up.
13. My grandfather was an illegal alien. Canadian.
14. I live in a small town. I went to school in both Boston and NYC for four years and while I loved the energy of the city, I’d miss the hills and the privacy I have here. I’m two hours from Philadelphia, 2 ½ hours from NYC, so I am not stranded.
15. While I usually vote democrat for national elections, I am inclined to vote almost anything but democrat in local elections.
16. Outer Limits gave me nightmares as a child. Much scarier than Twilight Zone.
17. My house burned down when I was 9. For a few weeks, I stayed with the local undertaker and his wife (very nice people) whose living area was above the mortuary (not nice). Then while our new house was being built, we moved into a temporary house. The walls of the downstairs playroom was covered with paintings of clowns. (Yes, clowns scared me). It was a traumatic year.
18. I do not believe things happen for any cosmic reason.
19. My element is water—pools, lakes, oceans, rivers, creeks, water in a glass, showers, baths, rain. Love it. I’m happy being near it. Even happier being in it.
20. I’m very selective about whom I let in my life. I’m social enough, but I choosemy
intimates carefully.
21. I was a mean girl in school.
22. During the same period of time as number 20, I won the spiritual award. I was very good at playing nice when it was to my advantage.
23. My first spiritual crisis came when Bobby Kennedy died just as I was entering junior high. My second one came when I realized that I didn’t believe in an afterlife.
24. I read the comics first in the paper. My favorite comic strip is Lio.
25. I stopped smoking last year. I still crave cigarettes.
26. I am very lazy. I love to sleep.
27. Above being said, I am a morning person. I love the morning just as it is turning light. The day is magical then. It is just me and the awakening wildlife usually. I’m an early riser. (I nap in the afternoons)
28. I crave quiet and solitude. I need a minimum daily requirement of that and grow frantic if I don’t have enough of it.
29. I am still not comfortable driving. I cannot parallel park and backing up is not my strong suit, so I avoid both. I am aware that fear limits me. And I am terrified driving in the winter. We are talking phobia here.
30. I don’t have very good sense memory—I can remember details from my past, but don't usually react with any emotion to them. I have trouble creating what I was feeling then. However, sometimes I do flash on a memory with
its accompanying unpleasant emotion and for some reason, I start to hum. (I assume to block the memory) I often have delayed emotional reactions to things. So I would be one of those people you might think did a murder because I wasn't reacting properly.
31. Consequently, I don’t recall much pain or much pleasure, which makes me a cold person sometimes. Passion is an issue.
32. Invariably when I go on a bus trip, I am trapped watching a movie where an animal dies (Marley and Me, Eight Below), at which point I cry through the whole movie. Person dies in the film—no problem. But let an animal die and I’m devastated.
33. My friend and I were responsible for George C. Scott missing a performance
of Death of a Salesman.
34. I want to be Neil Young.
35. I met my best friend when we were 12 and we have been inseparable ever since.
36. Same best friend is person who made me see how meanly I was behaving and I still use her as my main touchstone.
37. I listen to Leonard Cohen when I need to chill out. His voice comforts me.
38. I love the Mamas and the Papas and Glee.
39. I’m pretty easy going. I don’t usually have a quick temper and I get over things quickly.
40. When I do have a temper , I don’t rant and rave, I get dead silent. That being said, if certain boundaries are crossed, I will never trust that person again and they will know it. I will be polite, but it will never be the same. There are things I do not forgive.
41. I share a birthday with Woody Harrelson, Dennis Bonvie (AHL enforcer) and
Monica Lewinsky.
42. After a strained adolescence, my parents and I are very close.
43. I am the oldest of 4 children. I was the defiant one. My brother was the wild
one. We broke our parents down so the two other kids skated.
44. I root for the Mets, the Saints, the Penguins and I could not care less what Penn State does.
45. I do not like chick flicks unless Susan Sarandon is in them.
46. Bull Durham is the only Kevin Costner film I liked. Of course, Susan Sarandon was in that, but I did like Kevin Costner.
47. I like logical arguments with give and take. Can’t find many so don’t argue much.
48. My thought processes have no morality whatsoever. I don’t censor much or try to control them much. I feel very little guilt for what I think. To me, morality only has relevance for behavior.
49. I’m not married and have no children. And happy enough with both states.
50. I’m getting to the age where I am very protective of my time.
51. All of my friends are fair, funny, kind and curious.
52. I think language is a tool, not a god, so I don’t get bent out of shape when people don’t follow grammar rules, etc. as long as I understand what they are talking about.
53. I became an English major because I love language and love when someone can use it in a way that takes my breath away.
54. I love the sound of trains, thunder, wind, wind chimes and thoroughbreds.
55. I own one of Keith Hernandez ‘s (1986 Mets) bats and Steve Howe’s spikes.
56. I’m impatient with fiction these days, so have only been reading nonfiction. Sad for an English major. I still like Thomas Wolfe though.
57. I haven’t been on a real vacation since 2000.
58. I was in an Annie Hall crowd scene—you won’t see me unless you freeze frame and count back the rows, but I got paid, got lunch and got directed by Woody Allen.
59. I am mechanically inept.
60. My father was a family doctor, one of the last breed who did housecalls, so I often went with him on the housecalls and spent countless hours using hospitals as my playground,watching minor operations through the door when I was 11. Since then, I’ve never been intimidated by hospitals and am more interested in how the testing works, than the results. I pester with questions.
61. There has rarely been anything made hot enough that I couldn’t eat it. However, habanero juice in your eye is painful.
62. I’ve totaled two cars.
63. Darryl Strawberry once accidentally called my hotel room and we had a nice, long chat.
64. I believe man made god in his own image.
65. On the whole, I like the genuinely religious people I’ve met very much. I’ve taken a lot of things from religions except the respective gods.
66. I thought Paris was the most beautiful city I visited, Israel the most beautiful country and Canada the one maybe) I’d most like to call home.
67. If I lose interest in something, there is almost an audible click in my head.
68. I’m not a very good cook, but I can do some interesting things with leftovers and what I find around the house.
69. I want to visit New Orleans and Louisville.
70. When I was in my fundamentalist religious stage (very young and very brief), I burned my Beatle records, I am ashamed to say.
71. I’m not much of a sun person. I’m uncomfortable in the heat. I want to be cool all the time.
72. They say a lot of you is made by your experiences when you are coming of age. I was too young for the summer of love, but just coming of age for Watergate, My Lai and Kent State. I saw a policeman in Boston beat someone with a chain and a really nice grocer I got to be friends with was murdered in a store robbery, so I started cynical.
73. When I was a senior in high school, I spent a week at the Presidential Classroom for Young Americans. Apparently, it is still going on because it was featured in a West Wing episode.
74. I grew up with a series of German shepherds and miss big dogs. We have two shih tzus now cause my parents are getting too old to handle a shepherd and I don’t have enough time to properly care for the dogs. My cat is low maintenance.
75. My friend says I’m a quirky dresser (in a good way).
76. I write good parodies. I am funny.
77. I embrace my dark side. I’m very fond of my dark side. I’m having a long-lived torrid affair with my dark side.
78. Next to black, my favorite color is yellow.
79. I was a very gullible child. My parents convinced me that my dog had not died in the fire but had run away and that my parakeet who had flown off my grandmother’s head outside had flown back to me (new parakeet. I didn’t know the difference. Observance never was my strong suit.)
80. Although I am not visually observant, I’m pretty good at reading the rhythm, dynamics of a situation, when to push forward, when to back off, changes and shifts, what people are saying and what they are not, what is happening in the background.
81. I always wanted to be beautiful. I wasn’t.
82. I go to the movies about once a year, usually to see the latest Johnny Depp film. I like movies. I just don’t get around to them very often.
83. I love movie popcorn. I don’t much like dessert, but I do love ice cream. Butter pecan.
84. I like images of shadows, gateways, doorways.
85. I think horses are the most magnificent creatures. I definitely understand the erotic connection between young girls (and older girls) and horses.
86. I think dandelions are beautiful flowers.
87. I’ve been in my same job (mortgages) for over 20 years and do not love it.
88. I don’t like guys in suits.
89. I don’t believe in ghosts or vampires or werewolves, but the idea of edgewalkers intrigues me. The pagan and the primal affect me. I would have made a good witch.
90. I love James Spader so will have to finally watch The Office. (I live 20 minutes from Scrantonand only watched the show twice. I know about the Electric City enough, thank you very much.The Electric City video however was hilarious.)
91. I could not live anywhere that did not have hills and mountains.
92. My house was once featured in an architectural magazine. It is a nice house. (Architect didn’t spend much time worrying about the lighting, though)
93. I was a candystriper. Gushing blood was fine. I quit the first time somebody threw up.
94. I retain more memory of what I hear than what I see.
95. I speak French badly but I try hard enough that French Canadians usually like me.
96. I like Cajun and Cuban food.
97. I have a Denny Crane talking bobblehead.
98. I am horribly nearsighted.
99. The only constellation I can find is Orion.
100. I was in Durham a few weeks ago and spent much more time than necessary sniffing tobacco leaves.
101. I smoked really good grass on a Crosby, Stills and Nash roadie bus.

 

[BonosSaint]

16. I was part of an ensemble cast of TV pilot for a series called “State of Liberty.” Look for the title “Looking for America” on Amazon.

All this time. I didn't know that. I think I'll be looking for that sometime soon.

19. i am a freak for schedules. I even schedule my free time and have done so since I was a kid. And yes, I mean a written schedule.

I am very unorganized. I make lists, but then lose them. I am pretty much of a slob.

28. When I took my 8th graders to the Bahamas last month it was the first time I’d seen the ocean since we returned to Saipan to visit more than a year ago. I felt like I was seeing an old friend

How come all your kids get these cool school trips? I never got trips like that. Not that I'm bitter.

88. In high school, four friends and I created a secret identity called the Joker, and through a series of pranks succeeded in terrifying and mystifying our school for most of the school year.

Awesome.

47. I then went on to a very rewarding six years working for Albertson’s Food and Drug store. “Albertson’s, It’s YOUR store.”

I never heard of Albertson's before. Then a few hours after I read about it here, I hear they are closing their self check-out lanes. Those kind of weird coincidences always bemuse me. Unless you heard about the self checkout thing which prompted your memory.

 

[cobl04]

1. I turn 21 on Monday.
2. I am studying journalism.
3. But I’m not sure if it’s really what I want to do. I don’t have an aggressive personality.
4. I love creative writing. But I don’t see it as a viable career option and I’d hate to be a “struggling writer”.
5. I think racism is the single worst quality that a person can have.
6. I don’t understand how anyone can not support marriage equality, unless they are a homophobe or influenced by the church (both these parties should be ignored).
7. If I had a girlfriend or was regularly “picking up” my life would be just about perfect.
8. I over-think.
9. I love cats.
10. I wish people would not dismiss hip-hop so easily.
11. I am somewhat ashamed that I have over 20,000 posts on an internet forum.
12. I enjoy boring, mundane, repetitive work in my part-time job if it passes the time.
13. I wish people weren’t so quick to judge.
14. I wish people had more compassion.
15. Community is the best show on TV at the moment.
16. U2 are my favourite band ever, always will be, but they haven’t been my favourite artist “at the moment” for at least four years.
17. I resent that some posters on this forum believe that U2 are the be-all and end-all.
18. I don’t like FYM.
19. I don’t enjoy video games outside of N64 and Pokemon on Gameboy. I tried playing Halo once and was killed three times in a minute as I couldn’t get used to the dual sticks.
20. I was bullied a fair bit in primary and high school and have thankfully developed a thick skin.
21. One friend went around calling me “Wayne Williams” for about six months, after the child rapist, and it was heart-wrenching.
22. That friend developed an anxiety disorder in Year 11 and 12 and is now almost a total recluse and has reached the point of no return. I go round to his house every so often to provide him with happier days.
23. I like going out clubbing. I don’t understand how some blokes find it so easy to pick up though.
24. I never listen to club music when I’m not out. I’d much rather listen to music that I have been exposed to via Just the Bang and Clatter.
25. I’m 186cm (like 6foot1 or 2) and am very skinny but I find it hard to eat more than I’m used to.
26. I roll my eyes when chicks on facebook use those goddam Marilyn Monroe quotes.
27. I hate that nervous feeling I get when I send some text messages.
28. It is entirely possible to be friends with a member of the opposite sex and not be sleeping with them or even interested in them in that way. Shock horror.
29. When Dad told us we were going to America the first words out of my mouth were “I’d rather go to Europe” which he did not appreciate.
30. America was amazing. We went to Santa Monica, Napa, San Fran, a car museum in Sacramento, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Vancouver and Banff among other places. Vancouver stood head and shoulders above the rest though Vegas was fucking mindblowing (and I was only 20!!)
31. I was hypnotised in Vegas. In one of those comedy shows. (That’s something that blew me away – you could spend a week in Vegas and you still won’t be able to see all the hypnotists.)
32. He asked for volunteers. I was a sceptic so I ran up on stage. And it works. I was aware of what I was doing the entire time but I couldn’t help myself, and I spoke to other participants afterwards and they said they had no recollection of it. So it works.
33. I didn’t feel safe sometimes though, which ruined my trip at times. It was probably a bit unfair but not living in the States you hear a lot of bad things and I was edgy particularly in downtown San Fran, where many of the streets are dark, dingy, dirty and cramped.
34. I love sport, Australian rules football in particular, though I was always too scared to play it and I do regret that.
35. As a kid I had my own football league, complete with a word document that I updated weekly with stats etc.
36. You don’t have fish and chips in America like we do in Australia and that is a blight on your country.
37. I prefer to spend $10 on fish and chips from the local store than going out to a restaurant for a fancy dinner.
38. I like Australian motor racing but I think NASCAR is absolute rubbish.
39. Cricket is a great sport.
40. Baseball is a bit boring. Gridiron seems ridiculous.
41. I like smoking marijuana.
42. I have used methamphetamines.
43. I drink every weekend.
43. English was always my favourite subject at school.
44. I can’t stand people using improper grammar. The most egregious is people using “his” when they mean “he’s”.
45. I’m seeing Big Boi, one half of Outkast, on the 2nd September, and it is the most excited I have been in a long time.
46. Sometimes I think I’m not being 100% true to myself.
47. I really want to travel solo.
48. I was baptised, but I would probably describe myself as an agnostic atheist. I like Richard Dawkins though he could probably be a bit more understanding.
49. I am a big sucker for cute girls.
50. I want to get married, have children, be successful and die happy. I do get worried, having never been in a serious relationship, and doing a seemingly pointless university degree, about my future.

31. I haven’t been bored since the winter of 1994 when I was snowbound alone in my grandparents’ house for three straight days with no TV and nothing but old Readers Digest to read.

 

[Pearl]

66. i have been keeping a pen and paper journal since I was 11 years old. I’m on my 44th volume.

Am I glad to hear this! I've been keeping a journal since age 12 and I still do. I usually wonder if I am the only grown adult who does this.

 

[cobl04]

that is really cool. wish i had the wherewithal to do that. would be interesting.

51. I do believe the mind is extremely powerful, The Secret has a lot of merit, and as such I try to be positive as much as I can.

 

[Pearl]

1) I am the youngest of three daughters, though I feel like an only child because of the big age gap.

2) My parents had me at a late age.

3) Because I grew up surrounded by adults, I never really developed the mentality that "adults are stupid" which many teens seem to have.

4) I was born and spent the first 13 years of my life in NYC, moved to a small town in upstate NY, then returned to NYC at age 15.

5) I hated being in that small town. Try to go from a place of 500,000 people to another with 30,000 people with small, narrow minds.

6) Despite my bad experience with small towns, when I get married and have kids, I would like to raise my children in a small town, though near NYC and more liberal and with more to do. (New Paltz, NY is my ideal place)

7) If I could, I would work as a freelance journalist as well as a novelist, playwright and painter. Creativity is very important to me.

8) I despise where I live. Not a good place for singles.

9) If I had the money, I would like to live in either Brooklyn or Hoboken, NJ.

10) If I were ultra-rich, I would live in Manhattan of course!

11) I am way too picky when it comes to dating. No wonder why I've been single for so long.

12) My ideal man would be in touch with his creative side, emotionally and financially stable, and have a direction in life. He also wouldn't ridicule my spirituality. Let me know if this is asking too much.

13) I was raised Catholic but never attended Catholic school, thank God. Instead, I attended religious classes meant for public school kids.

14) I almost became a Buddhist when I was 18.

15) Then I discovered U2 and Bono's spirituality and have remained just a plain Christian ever since.

16) I believe in attending church as a way to thank God for everything, though I am not sure what kind of church I should attend.

17) When it comes to God and the afterlife, I believe God is the final judge

18) I have a fear of dying before I experience or accomplish certain things in life.

19) I don't understand how someone could live without regret.

20) I don't understand egomaniacs, attention whores, and people who talk exclusively about themselves (oh, the irony!).

21) I have little respect for people who want the whole world to feel sorry for them and/or blame others for their problems.

22) I hate arrogant people. You can never get through to them.

23) I'm starting to realize that I may prefer the company of creative people. I think I might be more understood by them.

24) I'm only starting to get to know myself and I'm almost 30.

25) Its depressing to know that I'm almost 30 and there's no chances of being married soon.

26) I have two older sisters, both in their late 30s, and both married.

27) I have a cute nephew, who is also my godson, and another nephew on the way.

28) I'm finding this FYM 100 to be addicting!

29) I wish I had a cat, black with big green eyes. But my parents won't allow it and besides, I won't be home much for it.

30) If I had a dog, it would be a pug.

31) I once had a pet ladybug as a kid. I named it Janet after Janet Jackson and it lasted three weeks! The only pet I ever had.

32) I had a decent childhood.

33) If I could turn back time, I would've done high school a lot differently.

34) If my parents weren't so strict, I probably would've been those goth kids in high school.

35) I wish I could dye my hair black, but my skin is too pale.

36) Besides, I like my auburn hair.

37) My natural hair is salt and pepper. Yep, I went prematurely gray at age 22

38) I am at work now, my boss is nowhere near, but I am sure co-workers are getting suspicious.

39) I like being busy. I hate having to sit on my ass and doing nothing.

40) Having nothing to do leads me to raid vending machines. In my previous job, I used to do that a lot, and I gained weight as a result.

41) I joined Weight Watchers recently to combat my weight issues.

42) I need a lot of discipline to lose weight.

43) I can be lazy when I want to accomplish something, but that is because I have a fear of not doing it very well.

44) I have a perfectionist streak

45) I am super organized with my possessions and daily routine, yet my apartment is in desperate need of vaccuuming.

46) I even keep track of my daily outfits to make sure that I am not wearing the same outfit more than twice a month.

47) I shop too much, but I always pay off my credit card in full every month.

48) I love New York & Company, Anne Taylor LOFT, Express, The Limited and H&M

49) I describe my style as feminine and serious

50) I've only recently became obsessed with make-up.

51) But I've always loved nail polish. I have about 25 bottles

52) I described myself as a glamour nerd - meaning I am nerd who likes to dress up.

53) The Lord of the Rings is my all time favorite movie(s) and not because Viggo Mortensen is hot as Aragorn.

54) I tried reading the books but couldn't get into the old fashioned writing style.

55) Because of that, I feel as if I have no right saying LOTR is my favorite movie.

56) I prefer foreign movies, dramas, dramedies, and historical dramas - though I flip out with the latter over the slightest inaccuracy.

57) When it comes to TV, I like True Blood, NatGeo, The Daily Show, CNN, Travel Channel, and History International.

58) If I could live anywhere for a year, it would be Paris

59) If I could go on a spiritual journey somewhere, it would be backpacking through Ireland to all its ancient spiritual sites.

60) Though I am a multi generational American, I am full blooded Irish (OK, 1/8 French Canadian)

61) I am proud of my Irish and Celtic roots.

62) When I tell people that I am full blooded Irish, I greatly despise it when they say its impossible or there's something wrong with that. Uhm, until recently, people married by their ethnicity. That's how it was done until the last 30 or 40 years. What do they expect me to do? Inject non-Irish blood into me so I wouldn't be full blooded Irish? Jeez...

63) I wouldn't mind dating or marrying someone who wasn't Irish, but they must respect my love for all things Celtic.

64) Ideally, I would marry a rich European (accents rock!)

65) I've always been interested in international things - cultures, languages, history.

66) I want to live for an extended period of time abroad at least once in my life. If I don't, I would feel unfulfilled.

67) I want to travel to all the continents, except for Antartica.

68) Despite my fascination with the world, I've only traveled once abroad - that was when I was 17 when my family went to Ireland for a week.

69) I am saving my money to go to France with my parents next year.

70) I would love to spend a week during the winter in either Hawaii or the Carribbean.

71) I've barely traveled around the U.S.

72) The way the country is going now, in terms of politics, debt and unemployment, scares me.

73) Radicals of either side scare me.

74) My family is mostly conservative, in a radical sense.

75) I am thankful for my independent mindset that kept me from being like them.

76) However, it wasn't easy. I made a lot of mistakes over the years because of theat upbringing.

77) I wrote a play recently that expressed my frustration over being the odd person out politically in my family.

78) I am shopping that one act play around now and if it gets read or produced, I'll let you know!

79) If it does, I would prefer to post the news in the blog section, but since no one goes there anymore, I'll post it in the Lemonade Stand.

80) I miss the journal section of Interference. We should find a way to start it up again.

81) I came to Interference in 2002 under another name. I changed to "Pearl" in 2003.

82) The closing of YouTwo.net brought me here.

83) I hardly go to EYKIW because its so depressing to read about people's negativity towards the band.

84) I hate constant negativity from people, especially those online.

85) Even though I support free speech on the Internet, I think there needs to be some regulation preventing users from threatening people's lives, insulting others, stalking, etc.

86) I don't get it when people obsess over the lives of celebrities - particularly in a negative way.

87) Three years ago, I set up a blog about royalty. Yes, you read that correctly.

88) Its still going strong, though I haven't been updating much since I began working full time.

89) Some might say, who cares about royalty? Well I say, who cares about Kim Kardashian, Angelina Jolie, Lindsay Lohan and all the others? When you get down to it, its all the same.

90) I'm concerned with the obsession with celebrity culture in the world. Are we getting dumber?

91) I swear if there is such a thing as math dyslexia, I certainly have it. You should see my checking book.

92) I started to read at age 5 in kindergarten

93) I used to want to be a teacher. But then I saw how rowdy kids can get, and I knew I would kill them if they were that way to me.

94) I've been getting better at controlling my temper over the years.

95) Maybe I revealed too much with this FYM 100, but nothing extremely personal.

96) This reminds me of the lists that were all over Facebook a couple of years ago.

97) I know some who still do them. I think one or two is fine, but a lot is narcissistic.

98) I don't think doing this list makes me as self centered anymore than the next person.

99) I wish I was still asleep.

100) I'm going back to whatever work I have to do, if any.

 

[anitram]

1. I have a sweet tooth, especially for chocolate.
2. I also very much love pastries, cake and bread, but not savoury snacks.
3. My favourite pie is peach.
4. I was born in Croatia (was Yugoslavia at the time).
5. I am a bit of an ethnic mutt – my father is Croat, my mother is German/Italian.
6. My Dad was a professional athlete.
7. Growing up, my family owned all sorts of animals as pets.
8. These included dogs, turtles, birds, fish, a bunny and chickens.
9. We did not live on a farm when we owned the chickens.
10. I have lived in four countries – Croatia, Austria, Canada and the United States.
11. I studied Immunology at university and worked as an immunologist in a cancer research lab.
12. Then I went to law school.
13. I now practice corporate law.
14. I vacillate between exhilaration at work and resentment about the limits it sets on my private life.
15. Every year in late June I go pick strawberries at a local farm. I’ve been doing it since I was 12.
16. I like wearing a suit to work – people on the street, in restaurants and in stores treat you better.
17. I love to travel.
18. My favourite destination is Namibia.
19. The one place that I have wanted to visit forever and still have not gotten a chance to is New Zealand.
20. My partner is an economist.
21. He is the extrovert and likes talking to people on elevators.
22. I do not.
23. He is the great love of my life.
24. Before him, I had quite the illustrious history of dating the wrong men.
25. We are saving up to buy a house.
26. I have never really wanted to get married.
27. I do not oppose marriage, I just hate weddings.
28. I guess that I just don’t understand why people would spend $40K to eat dry chicken in a banquet hall.
29. If I were to get married, I’d want to do a BBQ at a friend’s farm or something casual on the beach.
30. I don’t eat condiments of any sort.
31. I used to be very shy in elementary school and high school.
32. I have a lot of friends for somebody who is an introvert.
33. I still find that I need my private time, and after socializing with large groups of people, I tend to retreat and crave some quiet time.
34. I grew up in a Mediterranean climate and I miss it very much.
35. My ideal lifestyle would include living right by the ocean.
36. I like swimming in saltwater and then having the salt dry on your face until you feel your skin stretching.
37. I drive a 10-year-old Honda Civic, I don’t care for designer clothing, and I generally live well below my means with the exception of travel.
38. I have actually made a list of what I would do/buy if I won the lottery.
39. I play the lottery every week and the most I have ever won is $80.
40. It is a tax on the stupid, but I think there is some utility in walking around with that tiny sliver of hope that this week it might just be you.
41. If I won a significant sum of money, I would go back and get my PhD.
42. I would also really like to become a pastry chef.
43. To me, baking is the perfect compromise for somebody like me who straddles the fence between a mathematician and a creative soul.
44. I can’t draw - this ended my childhood dreams of becoming an architect.
45. I used to go fishing a lot as a child and I am still very good at it.
46. I come from a small immediate family.
47. I have a younger brother, my Dad is an only child and my Mom has one sister so I have very few first cousins.
48. My partner comes from a gigantic Irish family – he is one of four children and I won’t even go into how many siblings his parents have.
49. Mercifully no twins on either side.
50. I once got into amazing shape by going to the gym 7 days a week for 3 months and essentially eating exclusively egg white omelettes.
51. I enjoy cycling but I hate running.
52. I am an excellent swimmer.
53. I speak three languages fluently and a fourth one (French) conversationally.
54. I wish that I had studied another foreign language in University.
55. I am an extremely calm person and I hate working with people who panic and stress over everything.
56. I would like to teach a law class someday.
57. I absolutely adore babies but am a lesser fan of children.
58. I have become a bit of a foodie in my “old” age.
59. I am 31.
60. My Mom and her sister are both accomplished academics with probably 20 books written between them.
61. When I was a toddler, my Dad would dress me in the same colour Lacoste golf shirt as he was wearing.
62. Yes, I do have pictures of this.
63. I have very pale skin and there are few things that I hate more than returning from vacation, untanned and having people ask “Didn’t you just go away? You don’t like being outside?”
64. I don’t look at them and say “Lookin’ like leather, eh??”
65. I’ve always wanted to own a horse.
66. I know nothing about horse breeds, but it would be a dark brown with a bit of a reddish tinge horse.
67. I don’t like cats and I think a lot of it has to do with going to people’s houses and watching them walk all over kitchen counters and the table where I am to eat. I understand that they’re clean but I don’t care, it grosses me out.
68. This past year has been maybe the best one of my life.
69. I am very close with my Mom.
70. I dream of owning a country home – not a cottage, not a working farm, but a country home with a dirt road and a hammock.
71. I have always loved the desert and I think there is something very peaceful about large expanses of shifting sand.
72. When my brother and I were little, we once went to my grandparents’ country home and ripped all the leaves off a cherry tree so that we could use them as money in the bank that we were going to establish.
73. My parents never punished us as children, we also never had a curfew, a bed time or anything of the sort.
74. I feel very fortunate to have been raised by people who had a very laissez faire attitude.
75. We were raised Catholic, but neither my brother nor I practice it anymore but my parents still go to church about once a month.
76. I have only one memory of my paternal grandfather, who died when I was three.
77. I am not a morning person.
78. I live in the most beautiful house on the most beautiful street.
79. I walk everywhere and probably use my car once a week for a bigger grocery trip.
80. I would very much like to own a good road bike someday.
81. I have an iPhone and a Blackberry – one for fun, one for work.
82. I used to read a lot of books before I became a lawyer and that ruined my love of reading.
83. My first big girl book was Oliver Twist.
84. I had always wanted to travel in Africa and it was after reading Dark Star Safari that I formally decided to go.
85. I watch maybe 2 hours of TV a week, max.
86. I am a huge fan of documentaries.
87. I am lactose intolerant but I have found some pretty good enzymes that let me eat reasonable quantities of cheese.
88. I only like chocolate and not things made of chocolate – like chocolate cake, chocolate muffins, chocolate ice cream, etc.
89. I am craving a Mr. Softee chocolate dipped cone.
90. I lived in Manhattan in 2008.
91. It is an incredible and vibrant place and yet I was somehow relieved when I left it.
92. I am a bit of a homebody and I like being near my family and friends.
93. When I was younger I was obsessed with Kinder Eggs and collected hundreds of the toys.
94. My favourite cartoon growing up was The Smurfs.
95. I saw Arcade Fire for nearly nothing before they made it big.
96. I once bumped into Sheryl Crow at an HMV store in Toronto.
97. My favourite Shakespeare play is King Lear.
98. I cry during movies and TV, almost on command.
99. I think I was emotionally scarred seeing Bambi as a 4-year-old.
100. I am going to see U2 tonight.

 

[maycocksean]

How come all your kids get these cool school trips? I never got trips like that. Not that I'm bitter. .

Thils last trip was tricky. The various school boards (local, regional, union board--which oversees all the schools in our parochial system across several states) were all split, and the trip was approved by a close margin. In Saipan, you couldn't really go anywhere without traveling internationally so it wasn't a big deal. Here, we've faced a lot of resistance to the idea.

I never heard of Albertson's before. Then a few hours after I read about it here, I hear they are closing their self check-out lanes. Those kind of weird coincidences always bemuse me. Unless you heard about the self checkout thing which prompted your memory.

I use the self-checkout lines exclusively whenever possible. Having worked in a grocery store in high school and college, I don't find it intimidating at all. Why would they close them?

I'm really enjoying this. . .I'm really interested in people and I believe everyone has a story worth telling. I've enjoyed hearing everyone's stories.

 

[maycocksean]

1. I turn 21 on Monday.
2. I am studying journalism.

4. I love creative writing. But I don’t see it as a viable career option and I’d hate to be a “struggling writer”.
5. I think racism is the single worst quality that a person can have.

1. Congratulations!
2. I sometimes wish I had studied journalism.
4. I also love creative writing but I didn't have the guts to pursue a career that didn't have a guaranteed paycheck. Have you ever posted any of your work on that Interference subforum. . .can't remember the name.
5. Having known a number of racists quite well, I agree that's it's pretty bad, but I don't know if it's the worst quality a person can have. Granted, if I'm being dragged off to be lynched I might feel differently.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[maycocksean]

12) My ideal man would be in touch with his creative side, emotionally and financially stable, and have a direction in life. He also wouldn't ridicule my spirituality. Let me know if this is asking too much.

You're not asking too much. Don't settle.

16) I believe in attending church as a way to thank God for everything, though I am not sure what kind of church I should attend.

I believe in attending church because I think it's important to have a connection, however small, with other believers.

25) Its depressing to know that I'm almost 30 and there's no chances of being married soon.

You never know. The day before I met the woman who became my wife, I had no idea that she existed. Within a day of our first real conversation, I knew I had met someone special.

80) I miss the journal section of Interference. We should find a way to start it up again.

When my posts there drifted off, I thought I was the only one who had stopped posting!

 

[Irvine511]

1. I insisted upon the diminutive form of my name as a kid, my mother wanted everyone (friends included) to only use my full name; now, as an adult, I never use the diminutive and actually like the full name.
2. I’ve lost most of the blond in my hair.
3. I am happy I still have (nearly all) my hair.
4. I thank my grandmother for my Swedish blue eyes.
5. As a child, I could point to 6 adults who were the most important adults in my life; only one of them is still alive.
6. I actually have lived my worst nightmare, and possibly my second worst nightmare, in the past few years.
7. Someone once describe coming out as like “being on an airplane and, shortly after take off, the captain comes over the PA and tells you that you’re heading to a destination different than the one you intended.” It is a very good description. I still feel that way.
8. Every year, I grow more comfortable with who I am and where I am going, but I grow a bit sadder as the years tick by.
9. I really don’t know where I see myself in 10 years. Or even 5 years.
10. At the end of the day, I have an unshakable faith in my abilities. I don’t have faith in either fate or circumstance.
11. I am obsessed with the furniture store Room and Board. I’ll never tell how much I’ve spent there furnishing our new apartment. It makes me want to study interior design.
12. I love mid-century design, and I hope it’s not just the Mad Men fad.
13. I’d like to actively study and practice Buddhism, but I’m too busy and I worry it would remove my competitive edge.
14. I used to have a very messy room in high school and college; today, our apartment is spotless and well organized.
15. I worked at the Gap for 6 weeks at one point; I hated the work, but learned how to fold clothes like a professional, and I am forever grateful. I can pack a mean suitcase.
16. I bought a really expensive, ass-kicking vacuum and I use it at least 3x a week and get a strange kind of joy out of it.
17. I have been to 4 continents. I’d like to go to all 7 before I die.
18. I love, love to scuba dive. Diving on the Great Barrier Reef was one of the great joys of my life, and I hope to make it back every 10 years or so.
19. I am terrified to take my upcoming cold water diving class. But I feel like I have to do it.
20. I am learning to go a little bit easier on myself.
21. Some people ask, “salt or sweet?” I can’t decide between the two. Both, please?
22. At the end of the day, what really gets me up in the morning is the thought of future travel to different parts of the globe.
23. Just like music, there is only good food and bad food. It could come from a truck, from a family-owned ethnic joint in the mall, or the fanciest restaurant in Paris. All can be amazing, all could be terrible.
24. I am perfectly comfortable continuing to rent an apartment for the foreseeable future. Real estate doesn’t strike me as a good investment. Buy a home if you need a home.
25. I can’t decide if I’m an introverted extrovert, or an introvert who has learned how to be an extrovert.
26. I have exactly one first cousin. Memphis has over 50.
27. Each year, I become more and more interested in adoption, and yet more comfortable with myself should that never actually happen.
28. I had a childhood obsession with dolphins. Today, it’s sea turtles. I have a few pictures of turtles from the Great Barrier Reef that almost make me weep with quiet joy.
29. I want a bulldog. French or English. Doesn’t matter. I want one boy and one girl and I shall name them “Claude” and “Celeste.”
30. I am a night owl. I have no idea how I used to get up for 6am swim practice.
31. I was a very advanced reader at a young age. I started reading Hardy Boys books in early 2nd grade specifically because the librarian said they were too old for me. They probably were.
32. I love soft-serve ice cream.
33. Celebrities I have been in close proximity to (less than 10 feet): Sheryl Crowe, Ed Norton, Lance Armstrong, Gwyneth Paltrow, Moby, David Schwimmer. (there may be more, not sure)
34. Celebrities I have actually met and chatted with: Gwyneth Paltrow, Moby.
35. I have a great Moby story.
36. Most people assume I’ve met more celebrities than I have given my line of work.
37. I saw Radiohead open for REM in 1994 and no one paid attention to them.
38. I would do just about anything for the small child of my closest female friend, and I can’t quite explain why.
39. Occasionally, I drive to work just to keep it interesting.
40. I travel frequently for work, but usually to places like Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas, and to small towns and suburbs.
41. I find the exurban strip mall landscapes incredibly depressing. We have such an amazing piece of land, and this is what we’ve done with it?
42. Uluru was an amazing place, for about 36 hours. Then the flies and the hotel monolith get to you and it’s time to go.
43. I’d love to deeply explore Australia, which is weird, because I don’t generally consider myself an outdoors-y kind of person.
44. But whenever I do something outdoors-y, I always think, “well, wasn’t that fun? I should do things like this more often!” And then I never do.
45. If it takes place in, on, or around water, chances are I’m pretty good at it.
46. If it involves a ball, chances are I’m pretty bad at it.
47. The north shore of Kauai might be the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.
48. I am typing this on a brand new computer. I knocked over a glass of water on my nightstand in the middle of the night and had left my computer by the side of the bed. Kaput.
49. I needed a new one anyway.
50. The older I get, the more I realize how imperfect both sets of my grandparents were, and how much they influenced my parents, which in turn influenced me. And these are not in good ways.
51. A part of me would love to totally fuck off to some island somewhere, but I know I’d get bored and restless. I’d probably be better off fucking off to Manhattan, but that’s totally unaffordable.
52. I used to think I had to live in NYC. Now, I’m not so sure. No, I am sure. I don’t have to live there, but it would be fine if I did.
53. I worked very hard in high school and college. My GPA didn’t have any bearing at all on where I am today (which would not be the situation if I had gone to law school, maybe), but learning how to read and write and to work hard absolutely paid off.
54. I spent a lot of time defending Pop in 1997. Now, I almost never listen to it.
55. I am directionally challenged.
56. I am terrible at working with my hands.
57. I can cook better than I can bake. Baking irritates me – you do everything right and then it comes out wrong? At least with cooking there’s a finesse to it, and wiggle room. There’s no single way to get to the end of a recipe.
58. I can make a killer tomato sauce in under 15 minutes. The secret is grating the onion.
59. I love beer and wine. Especially wine.
60. I try to avoid conflict in all aspects of life. I couldn’t live in a place where there was conflict. This has likely made me somewhat passive aggressive.
61. I hate bugs.
62. I am beginning to forget what I was like in middle school and high school. I am fine with that.
63. I have a financial stability today that I didn’t just 3 months ago.
64. I want to be many things when I grow up. There are many things I could do, and do well, though nothing that I can do better than anybody else.
65. Two things I really did want to be was either a filmmaker or a journalist. Today, I do both, but neither well. Not that I couldn’t do either well, but because my job requires me to meld the two in as cheap and efficient a way as possible.
66. I’m only here because I felt like I would have failed if I had gone to law school.
67. When I drive around the town I grew up it, it looks almost preposterously idyllic to my adult self.
68. The best trip I ever took was a week in Morocco almost 10 years ago. I traveled with a girl. I didn’t know it at the time, but she wondered why I showed no romantic interest in her. So did the hotel staff who wondered why we asked for two beds.
69. At the end of the day, there are still very, very few people I’d trade places with.
70. I am feeling a growing disconnect with my straight friends; I find we have less in common when they have kids. And I understand.
71. I’m a little concerned that I go out about as much at 33 as I did at 23, maybe a little bit less.
72. I play trivia at a gay bar almost every Wednesday and we do very well. I love to geek out with other geeks.
73. My job has forced me to develop people skills I never knew I had. Small talk and schmooze are art forms. There’s technique to be learned.
74. I cry in movies. But not at love story stuff. It’s more like happy cry stuff, coming-of-age, triumph-over-the-odds, plucky-underdog-finally-gets-chance-to-shine type stuff.
75. I will admit that I have seen one concert that was actually better than the best U2 show I have ever seen.
76. I have seen U2 12 times.
77. A shocking part of who I am today is due to “Zoo TV: Live From Sydney.”
78. I really do come to FYM for the people.
79. Yes. Achtung Baby is their best album.
80. I have at least a dozen, ongoing online friendships with people I’ve never met in real life. I don’t consider it real life, but I find that written interaction can be very therapeutic and it enables an honesty that’s impossible in real life.
81. I worry about my sister.
82. I worry about my mother.
83. I do not worry about my brother.
84. I re-read “Catcher in the Rye” as an adult. Holden kind of needs his ass kicked.
85. The best movie I have ever seen is called “Darwin’s Nightmare.” Everyone should see it. It’s sublime, in the most disturbing, depressing way possible.
86. One of my biggest regrets is not having a second (or third) language. My passable “tourist French” just isn’t enough.
87. Nothing is better than really good fruit. Conversely, nothing is worse than overripe, mealy fruit.
88. One of the nicest things about being gay is that I know I can go to almost any city in the world and find members of my “tribe.”
89. My favorite color used to be midnight blue; now, it’s the kind of royal blue ocean that I saw in Australia that’s different from an electric Caribbean blue or a deep Hawaiian blue. Hard to explain, but I have the pictures.
90. I am a Mac convert. I admit it, everyone else was right and I was wrong. Macs are the best.
91. I didn’t become a teacher because I couldn’t see lasting more than 5 years without getting frustrated.
92. I am hoping to go to Brazil in 2012, and/or a diving trip to Roatan.
93. My favorite country in Europe is Italy.
94. If I could have a super power it would be to fly.
95. I wish I could fit regular yoga into my life.
96. Frozen yogurt is better (and a better trend) than cupcakes.
97. About a year after someone very close to me dies, I have a dream in which they visit me and it’s usually incredibly vivid and incredibly powerful and incredibly emotional. And after that, I am able to let them go. In the dream with my grandmother, who was my last grandparent to die, she appeared in the kitchen of the house I grew up in. She had been talking to my father, and then she looked at me. She looked much older, her hair had grown long, and she was in an old nightgown and wrapped in a blanket. She hesitated, and then asked me, as if it were a big request, if she could die. She was so tired. She had to go. And I said, “yes, Grammy, of course you can die. I’ll be fine. We’ll all be fine. You can die and get some rest.”
98. My dreams are very professionally lit.
99. I likely followed the wrong professor in college.
100. Ask me about my Florence and the Machine impression.

 

[corianderstem]

100. Ask me about my Florence and the Machine impression.

Please video this and share with the class.

 

[Irvine511]

Please video this and share with the class.

um ... how about i show you my turtle pictures?

(Florence only comes out when i'm in a red dress and have been drinking)

 

[corianderstem]

(... when i'm in a red dress and have been drinking)

PLEASE VIDEO THIS AND SHARE WITH THE CLASS.

 

[yolland]

I managed 25...



1) When our grad students impersonate faculty for end-of-year events, "my" skit always has the same signature features: the feverish pacing up and down the aisles, the tipping precariously far over the lectern, the wildly waving arms, the rocketing unnervingly out of chairs, all comically juxtaposed with the fact that I actually speak quite slo-ah-ly and am easily spun off on tangents by student questions, so that I'm often puzzledly asking them, "Now--how'd I get onto this...?" In the classroom at least, it would seem I'm all too easily imitated.

2) A day without a run, or at least a good long walk, is misery to me; the fastest and most reliable way to get me relaxed and focused is to take me for a walk in the woods.

3) An embarrassing chink in my Cultured Person armor is that I generally have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to the movies. But then after the film is over, I'll be the most enthused one present about discussing it, can't stop thinking about it, and am kept up all night by images and music from it spontaneously replaying themselves in my head. It's like the medium is innately overstimulating to me somehow.

4) I'm a sucker for most any short-muzzled dog: bulldogs, boxers, mastiffs, pugs, the whole lot. Not just their looks, it's that stubborn independent-minded streak those breeds all seem to share. Alter ego thing.

5) Losing both my parents before I hit middle age has increased my sense of urgency about what I want to do with the rest of my life.

6) International travel is very high on the list of my greatest joys. I don't really have a "favorite place," and frankly 30 minutes' reading about most anywhere is often all it takes to convince me I must get there soon, but to date at least, I think I can say that South Asia and Mediterranean Europe are my favorite regions to explore in depth, that the Hautes-Pyrenees and Kaua'i are the most movingly beautiful places I've ever hiked, and that London is one city I don't think I'd ever tire of visiting.

7) Books are the only thing I enjoy shopping for.

8) Though I read a lot, I seldom read fiction anymore or feel the urge to, sadly. It seems this is fairly common, I wonder why?

9) Going on a mood stabilizer has been so beneficial to me; I only wish I'd done it years sooner, rather than viewing any medication as an admission of "defeat."

10) I love cooking and sharing food with people; it is, by far, my greatest creative outlet. Except for a handful of childhood favorites I wouldn't dream of changing, I seldom make the same dish twice. I never met a cuisine I didn't immediately like, and find learning about foodways fascinating.

11) Actually, maybe my only full-fledged creative outlet...I play a few instruments passably and am a decent singer (orchestra and choir through part of high school), but don't really have any creative talent in those areas. As for visual arts, forget it, even my kids snicker at my pitiful occasional attempts to embellish a message with a sketch. I'm capable of worthy personal essays, if that counts as creative.

12) I played basketball through eighth grade and was pretty good I guess, but by high school cross country and track were more important. Made it to state finals (hurdles) sophomore year; unfortunately after that I never had time for organized sports again.

13) I am slowly losing my hearing and it scares the hell out of me if I think too long about it.

14) I'm a smalltown/country person at heart; love visiting cities, can live happily in them for brief periods, but before too long the noise, the remove from nature, and the always being surrounded by complete strangers oblivious to each other's lives and worlds, that wears me down. Smalltown life certainly has its disadvantages, it's more a question of what sort of living environment I can realistically tolerate in exchange for the cultural resources I'd ideally like to have.

15) I am close to all four of my siblings, and count my two older brothers among my closest friends.

16) As a young person (particularly in the college years), I was amazed how many of my peers freely and frequently professed to hate their parents. I don't mean people from clearly abusive, deeply neglectful families, that I of course understand. I was never close to my own mother, but I always held both my parents in very high regard, and can't imagine ever feeling that way towards them. I find the distance so many people seem to feel from their families, in terms of both attachment and regard, rather perplexing and sad.

17) If there were a college that was to the Deep South what Berea is to Appalachia--a liberal arts, work-study school with a particular mission to serve the region's rural poor and honor its culture while rejecting its historic divides in race and creed--I would SO be there.

18) My students motivate me much more than scholarship, perhaps a bit too much more.

19) That said, my primary research interests (in India) are education policy, language policy, caste politics, and the intersection of caste and religious identities. I also have both administrative and teaching experience in general humanities education, in the US and abroad (India, China, France).

20) I have a strong sense of professional propriety, which sometimes makes for a difficult fit with the generally democratic character of academic culture.

21) I wish my parents had shared their first language at home with us rather than seeing it as a dead end to be left behind, though I understand why they felt that way.

22) I tend to be maddeningly indecisive about almost everything (as the way I just worded that shows).

23) It's hard not to get more excited than you probably should be when one of your kids starts showing signs of sharing one of your passions.

24) I find that almost all people are truly fascinating, once you take the time to get to know them.

25) I work with several community organizations in my leisure time; environmental task force, homeless shelter, community garden, we volunteer at a nearby summer camp for kids with cancer. It's been such a great way to meet and make friends with some really wonderful people who are always doing interesting things.

 

[Pearl]

8) Though I read a lot, I seldom read fiction anymore or feel the urge to, sadly. It seems this is fairly common, I wonder why?

I have noticed that, too. Among my reading friends, nonfiction is popular. I go back and forth between nonfiction and fiction. Once I finish one, I go to the other.

 

[yolland]

37. i really like living in the mainland United States, but i don't want to stay here for the rest of my life, though i wouldn't mind if i could live in Hawaii.

41. I find the exurban strip mall landscapes incredibly depressing. We have such an amazing piece of land, and this is what we’ve done with it?

One of the things I love most about Hawai'i is the relative lack of strip-mall-style "development"--all the mom'n'pop stores, the charmingly odd specialty shops. That, and the hybrid Western/East Asian culture is hugely appealing to me. (Naturally, the weather and the landscapes don't hurt either.) Now if only there were jobs there for people like us...

88. In high school, four friends and I created a secret identity called the Joker, and through a series of pranks succeeded in terrifying and mystifying our school for most of the school year. To pull off the deception I lied to several people who I considered very close to me, and when they found out they were deeply hurt (see #71). I know I should regret this but I do not. I do regret that we revealed our identity. I would love it if today people were still wondering who the Joker was.

That's awesome! In fact that sounds like a great basis for a novel or part of one right there.

1. I injured myself when I was a child by trying to fly after watching Peter Pan. The magic dust did not work.
12. Last year a crow swooped down and stole my eyeglasses. Since then, I’ve fallen in love with my loner crow and the rival family of three crows and I make them large breakfasts every weekend—they like scrambled eggs and chicken livers and cheese puffs. I also walked in on a pair mating this year. No baby crow as a result, so I may have messed that up.

1. Did you conclude that you must not believe enough in magic, or was that Intro to Skepticism 101?
12. Crows really are uncanny--they seem way smarter than any bird has any right to be, and I often get this eerie sense that they're mocking me.

16) I believe in attending church as a way to thank God for everything, though I am not sure what kind of church I should attend.

Please take me with a grain of salt on this, but over the years several Christian friends of ours who were raised Catholic or mainline Protestant, but found church a hard fit as adults, seem to have really come to feel at home in Friends (Quakers) churches. I know pretty much nothing about Quakers beyond laughably out-of-date colonial-history stereotypes; it's just striking to me that several people I've known who shared the same general sort of "religious community" predicament settled in there.

32. I have a lot of friends for somebody who is an introvert.
33. I still find that I need my private time, and after socializing with large groups of people, I tend to retreat and crave some quiet time.

This sounds a lot like me...socializing is ultimately draining rather than recharging, and I do need my solitude, but at the same time I crave contact, being part of a group or team, and I really do like (most) people.

21. Some people ask, “salt or sweet?” I can’t decide between the two. Both, please?
68. The best trip I ever took was a week in Morocco almost 10 years ago.
81. I worry about my sister.
82. I worry about my mother.
83. I do not worry about my brother.

21. The older I get, the more that's becoming true for me too. I used to be an emphatic "Salt, please (preferably with hot sauce on the side)" type but, I think partly because having a family has made me feel like I "should" be a pretty decent baker as well (I was largely competent-but-indifferent towards that before), I've come to appreciate and enjoy working with sweet flavors a lot more. Um, we are talking about food here, right?
68. Sell me on it. What did you like so much about it? I've never been to North Africa and could do with some motivations to go.
81-83. It's funny how this works with siblings. I worry a lot about my next oldest brother, but no one else, really. Which is funny, because so far as I can tell he's the one who regularly worries about me, too. Also because we were constantly at each other's throats as kids.

 

[BonosSaint]

1. Did you conclude that you must not believe enough in magic, or was that Intro to Skepticism 101?
12. Crows really are uncanny--they seem way smarter than any bird has any right to be, and I often get this eerie sense that they're mocking me.
.

Some skepticism, I never tried flying again. But I found safer ways to suspend my disbelief. And I regularly engage in suspending my disbelief.

Crows have become my favorite birds. Intricate little social circle. It's amazing to watch them engage in a little airplay with other species of birds. I wouldn't be surprised if they were mocking us a little.

 

[BonosSaint]

I managed 25...



3) An embarrassing chink in my Cultured Person armor is that I generally have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to the movies. But then after the film is over, I'll be the most enthused one present about discussing it, can't stop thinking about it, and am kept up all night by images and music from it spontaneously replaying themselves in my head. It's like the medium is innately overstimulating to me somehow.



14) I'm a smalltown/country person at heart; love visiting cities, can live happily in them for brief periods, but before too long the noise, the remove from nature, and the always being surrounded by complete strangers oblivious to each other's lives and worlds, that wears me down. Smalltown life certainly has its disadvantages, it's more a question of what sort of living environment I can realistically tolerate in exchange for the cultural resources I'd ideally like to have.




22) I tend to be maddeningly indecisive about almost everything (as the way I just worded that shows).

.

These three sound like me.

I rarely go to movies and I never understand why because I have the same reaction you do.

PS. It took me about an hour to consider your Peter Pan question and whether my experience made me a skeptic.

 

[Irvine511]

68. Sell me on it. What did you like so much about it? I've never been to North Africa and could do with some motivations to go.

part of it was one of those perfect trip/perfect time situations.

it was the first time i had traveled outside of the very comfortable north america/european context, and i saw what real rural poverty in a developing nation looks like. i also had a friend from college who was living in Rabat and she had a Moroccan boyfriend so we got a glimpse of a more "authentic" Morocco than do most people.

i also think we did it right. we flew into Rabat. day tripped to Fez with my friend and her BF and had possibly the single best day of travel i've ever had. we rented a car (with a driver) and drove over the Atlas Mountains to Marrakesh, Ouarzazate, and Zagora (where you see the famous "36 Days to Timbuktu" sign). would definitely recommend *not* taking the ferry over from Spain and doing a day in Tangiers. many people do that and are turned off by the aggressive selling to tourists. everyone who does that seems to have a bad story. i recommend committing to the country for a week and skipping Algiers altogether.

also, i love desert landscapes, the food was amazing, and i spoke more French in a week in Morocco than i would in a month in Belgium (where i was living at the time).

i found people friendly and helpful, but also clearly from a very different culture, which was new to me at the time.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I think I have 25-for now or forever



I still have my Beanie Baby collection

The best birthday I’ve ever had was seeing a no hitter in person

The worst one I’ve had was knowing that my dog was going to be put down the next day

I still miss my dog every day, after three years. I think about her constantly.

If I could I would eat chocolate ice cream (and potato chips) every day of my life

Right now I think Adrian Gonzalez is the sexiest man alive (and I thought that long before the Home Run Derby)

I think the most sensual experience in the world is having someone else wash your hair

More often than not I feel invisible

I love trashy celebrity magazines

I usually go to the movies once a week, usually by myself. Most times I also sneak into a second one without paying

I feel like I’ve wasted most of my life and I wonder where all the time has gone

I know that money doesn’t buy happiness but I also know I’d be much happier if I had some

I didn’t even own an iPod until two or three years ago, and it was a gift

I hate talking on the telephone, especially to strangers

I hate my speaking voice

Public speaking is probably my biggest fear. I am also pretty terrified of heights. And those pedestrian bridges with spaces in between the steps. All give me panic attacks.

I hate how much my mother drinks and how she refuses to acknowledge that she has an addiction. I don’t think she ever will.

When my father dies I will be mourning what I didn’t have

I don’t like my name, but at least it’s not all that typical

I do kind of like what it means

I’m addicted to body products

I wish I could sing, or play piano

My grandfather was such a bigot and I think that was the biggest factor in shaping so many of my views, even though he died when I was quite young

I refuse to use porta potties, so I won’t go anywhere that requires that

I enjoy a good cry

 

[Pearl]

I think the most sensual experience in the world is having someone else wash your hair

If you've really had this experience, I want to go to your salon. Everytime I get my hair washed by someone, they tear at my hair and scalp.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

If you've really had this experience, I want to go to your salon. Everytime I get my hair washed by someone, they tear at my hair and scalp.

The salon I used to go to had the person doing the scalp massage-the new one my stylist is at just uses the massage chairs. But when someone at the old one knew what they were doing and did it correctly it was awesome. Sometimes I almost fell asleep.

Of course I think a really attractive guy who did it correctly would be even better. We can just skip all the other stuff and get right to that-or do that first and well.. Like Out of Africa.

 

[BonosSaint]

Public speaking is probably my biggest fear. I am also pretty terrified of heights. And those pedestrian bridges with spaces in between the steps. All give me panic attacks.

Me too.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I'm so bored. And I feel like such an a hole talking about myself so much.



I feel guilty killing bugs

I went to a Keith Urban concert last week and I loved it. He is very hot.

Sometimes I’m just so lazy and lacking in motivation and I hate myself for it

I don’t want to be or get married but I want to pick out and wear a wedding dress before I die. I fantasize about it.

I didn’t go to my high school prom because no one asked. Then I found out that my best guy friend wanted to ask me, he had a friend of ours do it and I got mad because he didn’t just ask me himself so I said no. I still feel guilty about that.

I love to laugh

I love to just veg out on my bed and watch baseball games-or football or basketball or hockey

I want to get my picture with the Stanley Cup. I want to kiss it too, but um..the germs

I once had a dream that I worked for Anderson Cooper. And well, you know.

I hate hot and humid weather. Give me cold weather any day-just no snow

Most days I don’t like the way I look, sometimes hate it.. and I wish I could change so many things about it

I own way too much makeup

I own way too much clothing, and way too many t-shirts

I find it hard to believe that 100 % unconditional love exists. Maybe that’s only because I don’t have kids..but I have never felt that from my parents. Or anyone else.

I bite my nails and I always have. I’ve only been able to stop a few times in my life.

The last time I cried was watching the Diane Sawyer special about Jaycee Dugard

I love the sound of the ocean and just sitting near the ocean for hours. I dream of hitting the lottery and having a big beautiful house on the ocean. But I’d have to start playing the lottery first.

I have ugly feet and I think most people do.

I love to walk barefoot (even though my feet are so ugly) and I hate shoes

I have been stung by a jellyfish-and no I didn’t pee on it or have someone pee on it. I’d much rather deal with the pain.

I have never had a broken bone or surgery

I hate having my picture taken so much that I keep putting off renewing my passport. And it’s not as if I’m taking a trip anyway.

I am a procrastinator

I loved Princess Diana and I have a small Diana collection of plates, books, magazines, etc

I wish I could go to a World Series or an All Star Game..or the NBA Finals or a Super Bowl, before I die.

 

[BonosSaint]

I have been stung by a jellyfish-and no I didn’t pee on it or have someone pee on it. I’d much rather deal with the pain.

But sympathy for the pain.

I wish I could go to a World Series or an All Star Game..or the NBA Finals or a Super Bowl, before I die.

I went to a World Series game when the Phillies were in it. It was nice to be there. But I'd rather watch the World Series from home. Of course I was in the last row at the Vet so maybe that affected my experience.

 

[maycocksean]

18. I love, love to scuba dive. Diving on the Great Barrier Reef was one of the great joys of my life, and I hope to make it back every 10 years or so.

You have got to go to Palau. It is world-reknowned as one of the premier dive spots in the world. And I can attest that this true having been diving there myself

(The one exception would be if there is a typhoon in the area. The last time I was in Palau we went diving, but basically were forced to stay not too far from the marina because the water was too rough out where the real beauty is. The dives were pretty lackluster compared to what I'd experienced before).

Check out this account: Here in America: "Paradise Found"

At the time I wasn't certified yet, so all I did was snorkel and it was still mindblowing.

 

[maycocksean]

Public speaking is probably my biggest fear.

I love public speaking. I know that makes me unusual.

I'm so bored. And I feel like such an a hole talking about myself so much.

I feel like an a hole for not feeling like an a hole for talking about myself so much. Your are truly humble, Mrs. S and as such will surely inherit the earth.

I bite my nails and I always have. I’ve only been able to stop a few times in my life.

I chewed my nails for years and it was only right this moment as I was reading your post that I realized that I stopped. . .years ago. I can't remember when I stopped and I don't know why. I do still have the nervous habit of chewing pens. I often handle them like cigarettes. I think I was a smoker if a former life (If I believed in former lives).

The last time I cried was watching the Diane Sawyer special about Jaycee Dugard

Wow, I have been so gripped by that story. I missed the 20/20 special but saw clips on the ABC website. I actually went out and bought a People magazine tonight so I could find out what happened next. I'm amazed that she survived such a horror and yet seems so normal.

I have never had a broken bone or surgery

Me neither!

 

[Irvine511]

You have got to go to Palau. It is world-reknowned as one of the premier dive spots in the world. And I can attest that this true having been diving there myself

it is high on the list. i have a friend who raves about it -- he said the clarity of the water and the quality of the coral was even better than the Great Barrier Reef. and, apparently you can scuba into Japanese submarines that were sunk during WW2.