101 Things You Don't Know About Me - Part I

1. I love fiction books, especially if it incorporates the essence of the location into the storyline (like living in L.A., the lifestyle and scenery and places there…or for example Peter Mayle’s Provence series).
2. I enjoy autobiographies and history told in the form of a story or narrative, not just the facts.
3. I didn’t get into Stanford but was accepted at Vassar and Bryn Mawr (ended up going to Berkeley).
4. I got an A+ in the first class I took there (Calculus).
5. Senior year, I almost flunked one of my classes (I think it was some kind of zoology).
6. I took Spanish for about 6 ½ years and used to speak almost fluently.
7. I can only barely speak rudimentary Japanese (my heritage).
8. Someday I want to learn French. I have a year under my belt but it was in first grade so all I remember is how to count to 10.
9. I wouldn’t mind learning Italian.
10. My favorite food is Italian.
11. I love Paris, France, and dream about going back someday.
12. I would love to live in England for a stint.
13. I don’t like living in Texas, at least this part of the state.
14. My first kiss was from Barry Manilow. Talk about memorable.
15. I ran a Barry Manilow fan club for almost 25 years.
16. I still keep in touch with friends I met from the fan club, some I’ve known for 25 years.
17. I’m a packrat.
18. I hate to give away outdated clothes because it is so frustratingly hard to find anything that fits.
19. I have over 50 cookbooks and subscribe to half a dozen food magazines.
20. I constantly cannot decide what to make for dinner.
21. I love baking and making desserts, much prefer it over cooking meals.
22. I hate making any decisions, especially important ones.
23. The most enchanting place I’ve ever been was Port-Bou, Spain.
24. The most unforgettable place I’ve ever been to was the Cook Islands, wading through the bluer than blue water in the rain, to get to a little island, in the middle of nowhere.
25. I run 3-4 miles every day.
26. I’m a wannabe vegetarian, I guess it’s called a flexitarian.
27. I’m a quiet person but I do yell at the TV during stupid movies, baseball and football.
28. Even more so if I’ve had wine or beer.
29. I’ve never been drunk.
30. I’ve never smoked. My parents were both chain smokers and I detest cigarettes.
31. On my iPod right now: Barry Manilow, James Blunt, John Denver, Eric Clapton, Corinne Bailey Rae, Tori Amos, Sarah MacLachlan, Norah Jones.
32. People have told me I’m a good photographer.
33. I hate having my picture taken, especially the interminable moment while you’re waiting for the shutter to go off.
34. I have a photographic memory.
35. I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.
36. I can type fast, really fast, over 100 wpm.
37. I can read fast too.
38. I’m blind without my glasses/contact lenses.
39. I rarely swear but I do say "stinkin’" all the time.
40. I don’t like it when other people swear, it’s taken a long time for me to not feel sick to my stomach when someone does.
41. I enjoy looking at beautiful gardens but I don’t like gardening.
42. If you want a plant to die, let me take care of it.
43. One of my pet peeves is misspelled words. It makes me angry when I see a headline on the news with spelling errors. I don’t understand how this can happen when there is SpellCheck.
44. I’m not a church-goer but I do believe in God.
45. One of my all-time favorite desserts is cheesecake.
46. I want to learn more about Journalism and European History. If I lived somewhere that had a decent university, I’d take classes.
47. My left thumb is double-jointed.
48. I’m notorious for buying self-help books and then not finish reading them. My latest solution to that is not to buy them at all.
49. I can’t stand the local radio stations here, especially the morning show stuff like the "John Boy and Billy Show" (I’m not kidding, that’s what we get). I listen to audiobooks when I’m driving.
50. I’m a PADI-certified scuba diver.