Thirty-Four Things, Part I

In one week, I will be thirty-four years old. I was inspired by an entry in someone's LiveJournal (you know who you are!) to write down thirty-four things I know about myself. The exercise was harder than I realized, because I wanted each item to contain a story within itself. So far, I've got seventeen items. I'll work on the other half this week and post the second part of the list on my birthday.

Thirty-Four Things, Part I

1) If I had to pick a fairy tale that reflected my life-outlook, it would be the Three Sillies. I wish it were something more heroic along the lines of The Brave Little Tailor.

2) In high school, I briefly considered choosing astronomy for my college major, despite my poor math grades. A friend of mine said, “You don’t need to know that much math for astronomy.”

3) When I was pregnant, people advised me to keep crackers by the bedside to help with morning sickness. To this day, the sight of a saltine makes me queasy.

4) I’ve said I’d rather endure dental work than read a mystery novel. I’ve had to pay for that remark. My mouth is a dentist’s cash cow.

5) Most of the food items I disliked as a child had to do with the texture and acidity more than the taste.

6) Most of my favorite foods come from the Middle East: stuffed grape leaves, megeddarah (lentils, rice and caramelized onions dish), little spinach pies, thyme/sesame seed/sumac spice mixture sprinkled on top of yogurt spread, lamb kabobs.

7) I enjoy devising cunning plans that are impossible to execute.

8) When I was a teenager, I wanted to be an alien “sleeper agent” who would be released from planet Earth once I had fulfilled my secret mission. I was at a bit of a loss as to the nature of my secret mission, but I hoped all would be revealed in due time. If “due time” included alien spacecraft zapping the meanies in my school, so much the better.

9) I taught myself origami because I hated organizing craft programs for the library, and I wanted to have something to do that was enjoyable.

10) When I was seven years old, I decided that when I died, I wanted to be buried with my dolls and my Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House books. I thought I really could take them with me.

11) When I am happy, I like to listen to sad songs. The reverse is not true.

12) I like having gone out dancing more than I like planning to go out dancing.

13) I think getting enough to eat is a right, not a privilege, and that people are more likely to “better themselves” when they’re not starving.

14) I like bats, but I don’t often tell people because then they give me bat-related items. (Please! No more copies of Stellaluna.)

15) My favorite part about acting in plays was the built-in after-school social life. I missed out on a bunch of the cast-parties, but I’m convinced they weren’t as much fun as the pre-performance gatherings in the dressing rooms.

16) When I tell people I can’t swim properly (i.e. the crawl stroke), they think a miracle has taken place when I start dog-paddling.

17) I want to see the constellations of the Southern Hemisphere.