Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Thirty-Five Things I Know About Myself


I've just finished my birthday list of thirty-five things I know about myself. They're not as sparkly as the thirty-four things because, to be honest, I am not feeling sparkly about anything right now. I'm fine with having a thirty-fifth birthday, but I am not fine with still feeling sick after three weeks. (It sounds as if my brains are sloshing behind my ears, if you must know).

Thirty-Five Things I Know About Myself

1) My ideal afterlife experience would be to sleep under cozy blankets and dream about people.

2) Acting with courage does not guarantee accolades or thanks. In fact, it usually doesn’t. Do it anyway.

3) I am worried that my Christian faith involves checking common sense and intellect at the front door. I trust that faith and intellect are not mutually exclusive, but there are times when I wonder.

4) When I was four, I thought it was strange that my parents had silly names like “Mama” and “Papa” when other people had normal-sounding names like Michelle and Robert.

5) Just because someone older and smarter than I says something is true doesn’t necessarily mean it is true.

6) I resent it that movie-makeovers always involve the replacement of eyeglasses with contact lenses.

7) I am frustrated that many of my beloved children’s books contain aspects of racism.

8) The first book I ever read with an African-American main character was Striped Ice-Cream, by Joan M. Lexau.

9) I can finally eat mushrooms and eggplant, but not liver or green peppers.

10) I think the reason I’ve not traveled as much as I’d planned is because of my abysmal grasp of languages. Tant pis.

11) I like blues but not jazz (unless I can dance to it).

12) Despite my earlier scorn, I suspect I might be a country music fan after all.

13) For four years, I was a vegetarian. I stopped because I wanted to be able to eat what other people offered me.

14) People should be called what they want to be called, pronounced the way they like it.

15) I love my daughter so much it hurts.

16) Fundamentalism in any form (including atheism) is tedious and leaves no room for actual discussion. I like to talk about things and find out what other people think.

17) I used to think that if I ever did marry, I’d probably end up with someone who made me miserable. I am so fortunate I married Bede instead. I am the lucky one.

18) I want to do good things for the world, but I don’t want to be overly inconvenienced by them. I am not proud of this admission.

19) I don’t worry about my writing career anymore. It’s liberating.

20) My dream house has a turret. Also, there’s a gazebo in the back-yard. We can sit under the gazebo and drink our tea in the rain.

21) I enjoyed the films of The Lord of the Rings more than I enjoyed the books. Sean Bean as Boromir was a plus.

22) I didn’t enjoy attending school until I went to college.

23) However, I flunked American Sign Language in college (see #10).

24) Languages studied: French, German, Yiddish, Latin, American Sign Language. Language fluency: zilch.

25) I love having an actual daughter much more than the theoretical idea of having a baby.

26) When I was eleven years old, my favorite historical romance was The Phantom Lover, by Elizabeth Mansfield. The best bits took place in Cornwall.

27) Times I’ve read The Scarlet Letter: 5. Times I enjoyed reading The Scarlet Letter: 0.

28) Ulysses really is a wonderful book. I just needed a key. My key was The New Bloomsday Book by Harold Blamires.
I'm also fond of Ulysses for Dummies (click on the link! It's not what you think).

29) I think I would have loved math had I been allowed the time and room to learn it at own pace. This year, I plan to (begin to) amend that flaw in my education.

30) I get really grouchy when I hear about “Native American culture” or “Native American spirituality” as if Native Americans/American Indians were one large group containing teepees, dream-catchers and feathered headdresses. I don’t think I have any actual roots to Native American nations, and I don’t know a lot about individual groups, but the generalizations still irk me anyway.

31) Whether or not we actually have Free Will, I still think we need to act as if we have Free Will. It’s part of our responsibilities of being human.

32) I need all the help I can get.

33) Half of me is stoic, and half of me is a hypochondriac. Those halves are constantly in conflict with each other.

34) I get very silly when it comes to baby animals, especially those with fur or feathers.

35) I don’t actually believe I’m 35. Sometimes I didn’t think I’d make it to 18. Then again, at one point, even 12 seemed like a long way away.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Recently I saw the question, "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?" Hmmmmmmm.

Lady K said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Hope it's a great one, and wish you many more. xoxo!

Vivian Mahoney said...

Oh I hope you have a marvelous birthday. This is a great list, and may there be many more! Hmm...did you go to the doctor yet? I'm not a fan of having to take medicine, but sometimes you might just need some. Maybe you have a sinus infection?

In any event, here's to happy dancing and singing on this wonderful birthday day!

Andromeda Jazmon said...

Happy Birthday! This is a great list. I especially like #31 - 35.

And yes, after three weeks of feeling sick you should go to the Dr.! Again if necessary!

Saints and Spinners said...

Okay! I've made a doctor's appointment for tomorrow morning. You've all convinced me (plus Bede, who really wants me to be better so he doesn't feel like a single parent). Thanks for all the birthday wishes. I will check in and write individual comments at a later time.xoxoxox

limpy99 said...

Hippo birdie two ewes

I always like that card.

Myth said...

Happy birthday ;D

hmmm at age 33 1/2 I finally like mushrooms - does this mean I have a year and a half left until I can stand to eat eggplant? I can't see that happening myself... green peppers are ok (we call them capsicum) but they upset my tummy (red, or yellow ones are nicer) and as for liver... that's NEVER going to happen!

Thanks for the link to Ulysses for Dummies - I was just about to give up on the whole book having finally made it to Chapter 2... you've convinced me to give it another chance - I'd like ot read the Bloomsday Book, but Amazon shipping prices are prohibitive in Aussie dollars, so I shall just have to wait until I can find it in a library someday... in the meantime I shall persevere with the Gutenberg text...

I'm also with you on the maths question... looking forward to hubby (a mathematician) teaching our son - I plan to learn right along with him!

BlueMamma said...

happy birthday! i'm glad you married bede too.

and i think you'll get used to being 35 eventually. just think, you're still younger than your niece's husband. come to think of it, you always will be!

fusenumber8 said...

Happy happy birthday. Sounds like a magnificent age.

Mary Lee said...

Love the (insert age) number of things about self on a yearly basis idea! I assume that each year has to be a completely original list? I might try this, but I'm going to start thinking NOW...I'm a little over a decade ahead of you and so my first list will be a doozie!

tanita✿davis said...

What a joyful way to celebrate - I should have done that! (Of course, there's still time.) Happy 35th, may you learn ever more.

Saints and Spinners said...

Thank you, all of you who have commented, and those of you who haven't but stopped by anyway. It's a good 35th birthday present! To answer your question,Mary Lee, I think it does work best when you pick new things for each year... that way, it's not just adding one new thing you've learned or already know.

I'm bookmarking the new peoples' blogs so I can revisit them.

Anonymous said...

35 is definitely a tricky one (at least it was for me) but I hope it was also a happy one!

I'm with you on #13 (I was a really obnoxious vegetarian too, pointing out to people how many acres of pasture were needed to create that burger they were eating. Curse you, Diet for a Small Planet!) #18, and #21 (I am staring at the Orlando Bloom/Legolas poster in my office as I type. sighhh...)

Yorkshire Pudding said...

Thirty five things... and yet, and yet do we ever truly know ourselves I wonder? Perhaps it's that questing that exploration that keeps us going. I wonder what your thirty sixth point will be...

Nancy said...

Happy Birthday!

ElsKushner said...

Happy belated birthday! I love this list. Especially 31.

Hope you're feeling better.