1. I was the first woman engineer hired by BT (then Post Office Telecommunications) in the UK.
2. I used to be left to carry all the heavy equipment in my first job ("if you want to be an engineer ... ").
3. I swore that I would never work with computers as I had such a hard time at University. But I ended up as a computer expert, mainly by accident ...
4. At 15 yrs old, I intended to be an intellectual trailblazer or a femme fatale (could not make up my mind). Now I am happy to be competent and employed.
5. My mother ran a hairdressing business, which disabused me of the idea that this was a glamorous career.
6. I got the first acoustic wave device circuit in the world to work.
7. I used to be a Young Conservative, but have mellowed into an old liberal. I don't think it normally works that way around.
8. I once got the highest-percentile score in the GMAT (graduate admissions) test, worldwide. Then I had my bubble burst by the MBA admissions interviewer, who commented that everyone who applied seemed to be in the 99th percentile.
9. I probably designed the controller for the radiopager units that you saw being used in the 1980s.
10. I worked for a summer as a stewardess on the hovercraft route between Dover & Calais, which disabused me of the idea that I was not prone to sea-sickness ...:-)

1. As a young teen, I had a pretty good passing arm and could hit my brother on the run out to 50 yards.
2. No one in my family has ever beaten me at backgammon.
3. The first song I learned to play on organ was "Come Saturday Morning". The first song on guitar was "Living After Midnight".
4. I was reading the newspaper comic section when I was 4 years old.
5. I thought "whacking off" was literal, but after I used a hammer, I decided I needed a reinterpretation.
6. My first wet dream involved Miss Kitty from Gunsmoke over the saloon porch rail.
7. My favorite card game is 3-handed Hearts. Each hand is a microcosm of strategy and tactics that is absent from the 4-handed version.
8. My senior high girlfriend and I were voted "Class Best Lovers".
9. I read "Atlas Shrugged" when I was 11 and was fascinated that someone else thought the same way I did. However, I was quite put off by Dagny Taggart's hero worship. The next year I read "The Fountainhead" and was appalled that Howard Roark raped Dominique Francon. Ayn Rand's misogyny kept me from becoming a full-fledged Randroid, and although I agree with much about objectivism, I kept the philosophy at arm's length due to Rand's character flaw.
10. I have an amputated index finger on my left hand, and I learned that if I placed it up to my nostril in boot camp, Marine Corps drill instructors will NOT treat it as a joke.

Gee, is there anything I *haven't* told you people? Can I instead do two truths and a lie?

Here's 10 things you probably know about me already:
1. My primary musical entertainment is on LPs. I have no CDs in my apartment. I listen to my mp3s when I'm on the train or the bus, but I'm pretty tired of them, so when I come home after a long day, I like to throw a disc on the turntable and just enjoy.
2. Despite being the only non-programmer on a high school robotics project, I was the only one who was able to get the robot through the maze.
3. I still think about getting into programming, though probably not software development. I occasionally write small python programs to investigate math problems.
4. I'm turning 30 next month (not Base-10ist!)
5. I gave my father's eulogy less than 2 weeks after my 24th birthday.
6. I am terrible at making or keeping friends.
7. I have the same name as my father, his father, and his father. So I am a "IV" or "fourth." Hence my domain name.
8. Along the lines with Ardiril's #8, I was voted "most likely to teach here" both in middle school and high school.
9. To be fair, I *was* actually the first kid (ever) to TA a class in my high school. Part of my agreement with the teacher is I would teach a class. I chose to do it on stellar fusion and how it changes during a star's life cycle. CNO Cycle, what what!
10. I can count on my fingers in base-2, pretty quickly.

1. I think I've done a couple of these, so you probably know anything vaguely interesting about me by now.
2. I'm tight with money for myself -- I'll agonize over buying a $40 pair of shoes, but happily drop twice that on treating a friend for drinks and dinner. I'm really slowly trying to learn that I can spend money on me.
3. I can watch five days of test match cricket (either on tv or at the grounds) quite happily. Just bring my my beer and snacks at a steady rate.
4. I'm going on a brief trip to Vienna and Prague in a few months, yay!
5. My bestest buddy of all time (well, the last 15 years) lives in Australia and I miss her a lot. But we have lived most of the last 10 years in opposite hemispheres so I'm used to it.
6. I pretty much never want to move away from NYC, unless it's back to New Zealand, but suspect that my husband's job will make that a necessity.
7. Green is my favorite flavor.
8. I am apparently the only person in the world who likes circus peanut candies.
9. I am nearly a life master at bridge.
10. I am currently cross stitching The Last Supper. I have no idea what I will do with it once it's done (it's big). I just wanted something fun to stitch.

1. I can hear dog whistles. I don't know how unusual this actually is, but let me tell you this: if you're a less-than-popular high school junior and your teacher says, "Only dogs can hear this!" don't raise your hand and smugly announce your superior hearing.
2. I like to hang out in the bathroom and read/play on my iPhone. I like the solitude.
3. I finally learned to drive stick by playing Led Zeppelin III on full blast. If the car stalled, the tape would stop, and I would look stupid. So I didn't stall.
4. Every car I have ever considered "mine" has been a Honda.
5. We have this crazy local software company that likes to throw people into jobs wherever they feel like it. I applied to be a writer and apparently aced their programming test. (I have never programmed.)
6. Eideteker, I am also terrible at making/keeping friends.
7. I am a Jeopardy champeen.
8. Secret career possibilities: dialect coach, real estate agent, romance novelist.
9. I have been a featured soloist with a professional-level orchestra three times.
10. I officially renamed my middle school.

1. I have a fascination with rigid religions: Orthodox Judaism, Pentacostalism, Amish, etc. I think it's because I'm envious of people who are so "certain" of themselves spiritually and practically, and I am not; I'm attracted to the "order" that these religions have for their constituents, since I often feel disorder.

2. I have perfect pitch. It can be a pain sometimes.

3. I would eat macaroni and cheese twice a day, every day, if I could.

4. I grew up half a mile from Harvard University and it never, ever, ever occurred to me to go there. (Went to Alfred U. instead, a nice, beautiful, peaceful, rural college in upstate NY)

5. On my list of places to visit, Auschwitz and Anne Frank's house are coming closer and closer to the top of my list.

6. When I was in kindergarten, we had wood shop (neat). I still remember the sexual dream I had about the male teacher.

7. I get (somewhat irrationally) furious at people who tell me I should try drugs of any kind, for any purpose. You may remember that I tried Zoloft last year; it tried to kill me. I now refuse to ever, ever again try psychiatric medication for myself. And to those who say "well, that's because you're being narrow minded," well, my friend was being "narrow minded" when he first tried drugs at age 13, and he then later died at age 29 of a drug overdose. If one of your main pleasures in life comes from regularly doing substances (even alcohol), then I totally can't relate to you and probably won't be your friend.

8. In high school, I participated in an exchange program where I visited France for a month, and then the French girl visited me for a month the following summer. From the first day it was painfully clear that we had nothing in common, and that their level of French (as opposed to my American teacher's) was waaay over my head, and it was a horrible experience both months. Looking back, I don't know how I survived it (am totally not a people person in general).

9. I get cold if it's below 80°F and another one of my travel plans is to visit Death Valley over the summer, to see what it's like.

10. I love staying in hotels. Not sure why; being waited on constantly (the bed being made, etc.) has a lot to do with it, but I just like hanging around in them.

Madamina, what instrument do you play?

Heh, according to the Wiki, we haven't had a notable thread since 2006.

Well, I started out as a cellist, and progressed to section-leader-at-small-college, but I am trained as a mezzo-soprano, more or less.

(And I also did a kazoo concerto once. Didn't count that.)

Hey, I'm getting to the wiki! I don't think I've had a night to myself since the changes were announced.

(Note to self: add a list of these "getting to know you" type threads)

2. I'm tight with money for myself -- I'll agonize over buying a $40 pair of shoes, but happily drop twice that on treating a friend for drinks and dinner. I'm really slowly trying to learn that I can spend money on me.

Ditto, kiddo.

1. I have an astonishing ability to pick up the accent of wherever I am and whoever I'm around, and I never notice I do it until out of that area/group. My "mom" has evolved into a "mum" the longer I've worked with non-American English speakers.

2. I entered and won a cake decorating contest in middle school but was placed as the "winner" in a previously non-existent "junior" division that was created for my entry alone in order to not piss off the dedicated cake decorators my "Hanging Gardens of Babylon" cake upset.

3. Chafing against the authority of the organized group tour we were on, I snuck into the Beijing subway on a high school trip with some younger students, went one stop, turned around, and came back; our teacher never found out but I've still got the ticket.

4. I was put on the school intercom at the age of 10 as eighth-graders threw country names at me for me to recite the capitals; I knew them all.

5. I've lived around the world but have only been to 9 US states and Washington, DC.

6. I can't stand watching films in English. I love foreign documentaries with subtitles and lots of things I just don't understand.

7. I'm petrified of settling down, but the more I'm here the more I don't want to move.

8. I stole a Magic School Bus eraser from the elementary school book fair and tearfully confessed in the principal's office of my own volition.

9. I love walking, but need to go with someone else. Walking alone, I lose all track of time and get myself lost really easily. I'll think I've been walking for two hours and it's been 45 minutes.

10. I love - LOVE - doing the dishes.

1. I make my living as a writer, but writing is always a big painful production that takes me hours to psyche myself into.

2. It is hard for me to make friends outside of my work. I have barely any. Maybe one or two.

3. I mainly wear dresses and skirts even in the winter.

4. I can't read any fiction if I am doing my own writing. I mainly read fiction only on vacation.

5. I really regret not continuing my musical education.

6. One of the programs I was in as a child was called Tree Bee. We memorized identifying marks of trees and competed against other schools. I did pretty well, and occasionally some random tree fact will surface. But most of it I have forgotten.

7. I am actually quite shy, though my career means I have lots of public engagements.

8. One time, as a child, I remember I stole a doll jacket and purse for Barbie from some other child. I can't remember why I did it, except that I saw the opportunity and I knew I would get away with it.

9. Some of my diverse favourite comfort foods are: Dim sum, roast chicken and potatoes, shortbread biscuits and tea, and fresh figs.

10. I'm attracted to women as well as men, but never been with one.

Wow, I really don't have 10 interesting things to share about myself that I haven't shared already. Hmph.

1) I am spiritually "certain" yet not in any rigid religion.

2) My son has perfect pitch (I do not.)

3) The first ISP in New York was run out of my basement in Park Slope in 1989.

4) I am just slightly too old to be considered a baby boomer.

5) I used to teach ragtime guitar.

6) When others were "at Woodstock," I was in the actual town of Woodstock.

7) I commuted to work by bicycle for most of my life.

8) I am licensed as a psychoanalyst in NYC.

9) I was 26 when I got my first driver's license.

10) I visited the Soviet Union during the Reagan presidency.

1. I once forgot to wear shoes to high school. I've also forgotten my schoolbag, to pick someone up (twice!) and tried to get into the wrong car many many times.

2. We are a serious Scrabble playing family. The best I've ever done is 10th in the Indian nationals but my dad has got to represent India at the Worlds and placed 21st once.

3. I have blue-grey spots in the whites of my eyes -- they're birthmarks. My first boyfriend was color-blind and thought they were pink (pink!).

4. I started crying during a history class because I thought the teacher was being unfair to Jews (she was really just criticizing Israeli policies, but I had just read Anne Frank's diary and couldn't be objective).

5. I love cooking and food. I'll try just about anything once. Fugu, stinky tofu, durian, bring it on.

6. My last name is _mom's first name_ _dad's first name_. My parents both have my dad's last name. I think my mom agreed to take dad's name in a moment of weakness but rediscovered her feminist principles when I was born.

7. My parents had an unusual marriage (by Indian standards), since they spoke different Indian languages, belonged to different religions and my dad is younger than my mom (the horror!).

8. Probably as a consequence of 7., I grew up speaking English and pretty much non-religiously (we celebrated all the major religious festivals but I was never expected to believe any of it).

9. I swam competitively as a kid but quit abruptly after winning a couple medals at the state level in ninth grade. I was just sick of the hard-ass swim coach and the terrible early morning practices, day in and day out.

10. I am completely unmusical. I learnt violin for ten years and developed no instinct for it whatsoever.

oh and:

I'm attracted to women as well as men, but never been with one.

ditto.

Okay, I'm going to try this. I may be repeating stuff I've said before though.

1. I took drum lessons for three months when I was 27, then I moved and never took it back up again for various reasons.

2. I went to Israel during the first Gulf War in 1990, when I was 15.

3. The two countries I really want to visit most are Italy and Greece.

4. I often wish I had become a pharmacist, despite the fact that I failed chemistry in high school.

5. I worry that I will look back in a few years on the decisions I'm making now and think they were mistakes, the way I do now with many of the decisions I've made over the last few years.

6. My parents never, ever tell me they love me. I know they do, but I think it's kind of fucked up that they never say it. I often wonder how common/rare this is. I might make an AskMe about it.

7. After a recent kidney stone/ovarian cyst/back injury trifecta that landed me in the ER, I am no longer scared of giving birth some day. I actually spent quite a bit of time worrying about it before that.

8. I recently rode a bike for the first time in at least 20 years. I'd had that bike for over a year before I finally got up the nerve to ride it.

9. I am going on my first real vacation ever in a few weeks.

10. I shave my fingers and toes. What can I say, I'm a hairy girl.

More anecdotes than facts, some of which you may have seen before, but not all together:

1. Born in Cleveland, Ohio; my parents brought me to Los Angeles at the age of five-and-a-half via Route 66 in a spanking-new white Dodge Dart. (We took the right turn at Albuquerque)

2. The name Wendell was based on a family in-joke; it was the alliterative name my father would've given me if he'd had too much to drink the night I was born. My mother went into labor in the morning, so I was named Craig.

3. A skinny kid in Cleveland, I started gaining weight in L.A. My first serious diet was the Atkins when he put out his first book in 1972. Lost 50+ pounds in a few weeks; gained it all back and then some a year later.

4. My parents put me in a private school to which my father drove me every morning on his way to work, with the radio on KGIL and its wacky morning personality "Sweet Dick" Whittington (who talked too much and played too little music for my dad's taste, but he still listened). Ten years later, I was working for "Sweet Dick" at KGIL as Assistant/Producer/Sidekick/PhoneWrangler, using the on-air name of Wendell (because it was funnier than Craig).

5. I quit working with "Sweet Dick" after less than a year because I really just wanted to be a disc jockey at a smaller radio market (ideally, San Luis Obispo). It didn't happen; my last radio job was running an automated Country Music station south of Fresno, but I took the long drive to the coast and SLO almost every weekend.

6. The route to SLO went right past the location where James Dean had his fatal car crash on September 30, 1955, the same day I was born (but about 12-14 hours later). That year, a movie about the day Dean died, titled "September 30, 1955" was released. My name was never in lights, but my birthday was.

7. After returning to L.A., I started writing a "joke letter" for disc jockeys titled "Wendell's Weakly" (spelled intentionally, because I published it 40 weeks a year for 3 years). My first two subscribers were Harry May, a DJ in San Luis Obispo, and Gary Owens (of Laugh-in/Space Ghost/a million commercials fame) who worked an afternoon shift in L.A. and remembered and LIKED my work with "Sweet Dick". He wrote a tongue-in-cheek endorsement of my joke letter in a trade paper, saying I was "funnier than Lorne Greene and Jack Lord combined."

8. Before working with "Sweet Dick", I was trying to make contact with other L.A. radio people. While visiting relatives back in Ohio, we drove through a tiny town named Burbank where I stopped to take pictures (its town hall was a converted garage that still looked like a garage) and I put together a 'tour' of Beautiful Downtown Burbank, Ohio that he read on his show. Years later, he learned the Craig who sent him that was also Wendell.

9. While I was still publishing "Wendell's Weakly", Gary Owens' station changed format to "All Talk" but wanted to keep him. He knew he needed help to handle it, and the first person he thought of to hire as an Assistant/Sidekick was me.(!) But the station wasn't willing to hire more than a minimum-wage part-time phone-screener, even when Gary offered to put in some of his own money(!) and he said he didn't have the heart to ask me to work for near nothing... it would've been tempting, but it was a sign that the whole thing wouldn't work out, and Gary quit after a few months.

10. When my mother died from a stroke in Phoenix, Arizona, I was working a data processing job in El Segundo, just south of the LAX airport. The boss's secretary offered to make my plane reservation to Phoenix and drive me to the airport. She had red hair and drove a convertible; we went via Imperial Highway, and for a brief moment my grief was interrupted by the realization that I was living the lyrics of Randy Newman's song "I Love L.A." I never really loved L.A., but I love irony. On the plane, I was distracted by the antics of a pair of brothers in the seats ahead of me returning to Albuquerque from a fishing trip with a cooler full of frozen fish as carry-on luggage. We chatted and I told them they reminded me of a non-Canadian version of SCTV's McKensie Brothers. They didn't know who I was talking about and a guy in the seat behind me piped up with a heavy Scottish accent to say "My name's MacKensie..." Some of the most surreal moments of my life occurred on the saddest day of my life.

1. I've recently discovered that I enjoy canned fish.
2. As a child I had a 'slushy s' speech defect.
3. I also briefly had 'echophenomena.' This is a nuerological tic, where I would say something, then repeat it under my breath, right after, but not hear myself do so.
4. I'm lately more interested in Mexican, Salsa, and Gospel music than any current Rock/Hip-Hop/Country.
5. In the past year or so, I've gone from 150 to roughly 200 lbs.
6. I end each workday, by buying a 23oz alcopop of some sort at 7-11, pouring it into a Big Gulp cup on ice, and enjoying it walking the streets and riding the subway, usually with a salty snack.
7. I'm slowly growing to loathe people under 30. (don't take it personally)
8. My favorite nut is pecans.
9. My favorite liquor is bourbon/Irish whiskey (tie)
10. I like my steak very rare.

1. Even though it's right up my alley in theory, I just don't like "Glee". I'll catch the musical numbers on YouTube and I keep up on the show gossip (aka Lea Michelle being a big bitch), but that's it.
2. I never thought I would get married at 26.
3. For someone who is not interested in having children right now, I read a lot of "mommy blogs".
4. I have acne and work pretty hard to keep it under control with my prescriptions. Sometimes I think, my skin looks fine, maybe I can stop with the prescriptions- and then I do and it is a NIGHTMARE.
5. Somehow, when my Dad retired from the Marines and we moved from DC to FL, I managed to skip having a class on US geography. I don't know state capitals and I can't point out many states on a map.
6. I, too, like my meat rare!
7. I go where the free food is. This is one of the guiding principles of my life.
8. I drink a lot of water. I keep bottles wherever I go. Lately, I've been stocking up on cute stainless steel bottles.
9. I stay up later than I should every single night. I miss the days of being unemployed when I could stay up as late as I wanted and sleep in as late as I wanted.
10. I was supposed to be in bed 22 minutes ago. I haven't even washed my face yet.

1. The last time I rode a bicycle, braking was accomplished by pedaling backward.
2. I make part of my living as a fine artist.
3. I am pop-culture ignorant; I don't own a television and don't watch tv. This is not a political statement on my part, just a lack of time and inclination.
4. Ditto radio/music - I like many music genres just fine, but generally prefer silence.
5. I have toured Dachau, and Anne Frank's house.
6. Claustrophobia is no reason not to go caving; acrophobia can be overcome by rappelling. I still swim like a rock though.
7. I moderated a literary chatroom for 4 years, which obliterated any interest in moderating anything else, ever.
8. Neatly folding a fitted sheet is a skill that continues to elude me.
9. I've never met a pun I didn't like.
10. There is still some question as to whether I go hiking in order to take photos, or if I take photos to remember my hikes.

1. I only have to look at a carb to gain a pound.

2. I have perfect pitch.

3. But (oh, cruel twist of fate) I have a voice like a corncrake chewing on barbed wire and cannot carry a tune. Because of 2. above, I am totally conscious of how badly I sound when I sing.

4. I grew up in a household where we were fed from cans. My mother never cooked, she merely heated things up. But now I am an excellent self-taught cook.

5. Like 'pode and Eid, I find it hard to buy nice things for myself. I had so little when I was a kid that frugality has now etched itself into my DNA. It's hard for me to tell myself that I've earned it and I'm worth it.

6. I am starting to get very excited about the World Cup.

7. I want to buy a new TV for 6 above but 5 above is holding me back. But I don't want to watch the World Cup on a 22" screen.

8. I grew up in a home where I had to walk on eggshells to not upset things. As a result I tend to keep my feelings to myself. People sometimes think I'm very calm, when I'm seething inside.

9. I wonder if I'll ever be in a relationship again. If I weren't so picky, it might be easier.

10. Although I've embraced the internet with a passion, I'm still a bit of a technophobe when it comes to phones, iPods, etc. I have an ancient Motorola cellphone that'll make and receive calls and texts. It probably does other things but I'm not sure how to make those things work. I don't have an iPod, I like to be aware of what's going on around me.

1. I can neatly fold a fitted sheet.
2. I desperately want a time machine.
3. This, a thousand times: I'm tight with money for myself -- I'll agonize over buying a $40 pair of shoes, but happily drop twice that on treating a friend for drinks and dinner. I'm really slowly trying to learn that I can spend money on me.
4. I met my husband on MetaChat. We eloped. (I think a lot of you know this already. Heh.)
5. I can sing the Greek alphabet to the tune of "Yankee Doodle".
6. If you heard me singing in Hindi or Sanscrit, you would never ever guess that I am an American.
7. I recently realised I'm a full-fledged foodie.
8. I am the heaviest I've ever been in my life (see 7.) and it's bumming me out.
9. That's all I got.

1. MeCha is my 'secret place' I don't talk about it and don't let anyone see me visiting it
2. I'm scared at heading towards 50 (18 months to go) and having done nothing of note
3. Turning 40 passed me without my even noticing - maybe 50 is the new 40?
4. I'm really enjoying acting in this new job, but will have to complete with my best friend for the job soon, which makes me sad
5. I'd be happy to have her as my boss, so it's kinda win/win either way
6. I'm also the heaviest I've ever been and hating it
7. Despite (6) and the fact that I do almost no exercise (and have been secret smoking again), I managed to run a 10k race in a reasonable time last weekend and felt fine afterwards, which makes me feel vaguely guilty for not trying harder
8. I am terrible at making friends but, once I'm your friend, you have me for life
9. I can't sing for shit, but that doesn't stop me
10. I think I've shared pretty much everything that matters here already.

1. I have four tattoos, all of which I regret getting (not because of the content, but because I'd prefer my skin to be uninterrupted).
2. My husband is the first person I've dated who has been within 5 years of my age.
3. I tried weed once and it made me nauseous with no other effect. I haven't tried it or any other drug since.
4. I buy plain shirts (tees, polos) in the boy's department because they fit better and are cheaper.
5. I teased a kid in fourth grade because he was fat. I still feel badly about this. (I'm sorry Steve!)
6. I didn't learn how to ride a bike until I was 23.
7. I have told 3 women that I had a crush on them. None reciprocated.
8. I "ran away" to San Francisco when I was 19, intending to permanently move there, but I was so desperately homesick that I came back in a month.
9. My childhood crush is now a local news anchor.
10. When I was in kindergarten I wanted to have cornrows with beads on the ends like the African-American girls and I didn't understand why my mom wouldn't do it.

11. Eleven is my lucky number.

1. I'm adorable.
2. I make my bed every morning.
3. I was an active Mechazen during the previous 10-things threads, but this is my first time participating.
4. I seem to have the opposite money problem from a few people here--I spend money on myself easily, but I feel very awkward buying gifts or treating people to food/drinks.
5. Strangely, despite my spendthrift ways, my chosen profession involves the careful financial analysis and valuation of investments.
6. I’m afraid of fire. Not just uncontrolled fires, but also candles, lighters, fireplaces, etc.
7. I enjoy reading about baseball, but I hate watching games.
8. I’d rather eat ice cream than drink beer.
9. I’m very proud of my extensive knowledge of Excel keyboard shortcuts.
10. I live in Madison, WI for business school, but in the previous 6 years I lived in the following cities: Phoenix (hometown), Charlotte, SF Bay Area, NYC and DC. This summer I’ll be in Chicago.

1. I never thought I could draw, then decided one day to sketch the stuffed Mickey Mouse I had in my bedroom and discovered I could. (I draw very, very slowly, though, and would still say I can't draw.)
2. I don't have perfect pitch, but I am a worldclass clarinetist (when I'm practicing, which, sadly, I haven't been for a long while).
3. I love Spaghetti-Os with the little sliced hot dogs (hard to find around here).
4. I usually prefer nonchocolate (cake/ice cream) over chocolate.
5. I discovered I can give myself multiple orgasms at the age of 43.
6. My first lover was a girl. We were 12 and used to have sleepovers.
7. I once held my father's loaded 38 to my temple in front of my parents' bedroom mirror just to see what it looked like. (I didn't put my finger on the trigger.)
8. I used to steal money from my parents.
9. I dropped out of law school the first semester.
10. I still secretly think I will someday win the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and Nobel Prize for Literature, even though I rarely write lately.

1. I have been married twice.
2. I still keep in contact with inlaws from both marriages. They all still like me more than my Xs.
3. I gave a speech at my 8th grade graduation.
4. I also have hard time buying for myself, but wish I could lavish gifts on family and friends.
5. I really want a tummy tuck.
6. I once swallowed a fly. By accident.
7. I have never lived more than 45 minutes from my childhood home.
8. I can pick up things with my toes.
9. Like amro, I shave my toes, and the tops of my feet. They aren't super hairy, but they bother me.
10. I met my boyfriend through an application on Facebook.

1. I grew up in a blended household that had, at times, six kids in it. We had a 1980 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser Wagon in seafoam green with wood siding in order to cart ourselves around. It sat 9, three in front and back seats, and then three facing out the back.
2. In high school I was a cheerleader.
3. In college I was in a sorority for a couple of semesters.
4. I chalk #2 and #3 up to being a poseur who grew up and realized her true nature. It embarrasses me to this day, and I'd prefer we never speak of the subject again. TIA.
5. For being in public health, I have a ton of bad health habits. I often hide them.
6. I'm currently not doing so well in the mental health arena. I've been having breathing problems for months now, and after much testing (chest x-ray, lung screening test, peak flow meter, etc.), we've determined it's anxiety. And then a week ago or so, I realized that my depression is back. I'm dealing with it as best I can, but I have to say that I'm annoyed.
7. I'm not prone to spending money on technology or gadgets. I have a computer and a printer/scanner/copier that came with it. My phone is a hand-me-down from leesh. (thanks!) My camera is a hand-me-down from a friend. My DVD player belongs to work, and as soon as we get a TV there it's going back.
8. I can't figure out how to set my car's clock, so I'm constantly adding an hour and 19 minutes to the display to make sure I'm on time.
9. I secretly want a riding lawnmower, because mowing my lawn takes about 1.5 hours.
10. I have a uniform. In the winter I wear pants and a sweater with clogs. In the summer, a dress or skirt/top with sandals. I get a large proportion of my clothes at thrift stores.

5. Like 'pode and Eid, I find it hard to buy nice things for myself. I had so little when I was a kid that frugality has now etched itself into my DNA. It's hard for me to tell myself that I've earned it and I'm worth it.

Maybe we need to take turns buying nice things for each other.

[Specklet's #3]

Cripes! Maybe we need a MetaChat "buying each other nice things cause we're nice people" club!

(still waiting to hear about when I get my first paycheck)

1. I had a bad speech impediment as a child. After poking and prodding and EEG's the diagnosis was "minimal brain damage," which, I learned later was a catch-all for we don't know what the hell is going on.
2. From my bike, I can spit into a storm drain while riding by at full speed. I practice this while riding (when no one is around).
3. I have really bad hearing, and could not function well in the world without hearing aids.
4. My sister is gay, but it's NEVER been discussed by her or any of our family. Even with her partner a beloved part of said family. Even with my out daughter. I feel weird about this but not weird enough to broach the subject.
5. My wavy hair was looked upon as a bane, my me, throughout my childhood. I wanted thin straight hair. . .if I'd had that, I would probably be bald now, which is OK but still.
6. When I was 35, had an affair, which turned into leaving my (now) wife for that woman. The DAY that I declared that I was free and available for whatever, said woman dumped me. This was played out very publicly in this town. Helpings and helpings of humble pie.
7. 18 months later, said (now) wife and I started dating again, went to counseling, got married, and had a kid.
8. I feel MUCH better not eating carbs but I eat them anyway.
9. Performed at McCabes Guitar shop in LA a few times.
10. I have tried to get my wife into MetaChat, I think she'd like it. But she is not interested and sort of looks down on it all (being social online), even though she's met and really enjoyed a number of y'all. Part of the reason for me wanting her here is #6 and wanting to be transparent with what I do online.

1. I have never driven a car. In fact I don't have much interest in driving one at all. Ever.

2. Guns make me very anxious.

3. I've never been taken out on a "proper" date.

4. I had many imaginary friends as a child but they all disappeared after my brother was born.

5. I have cried on almost a daily basis since 2004. Sometimes it's just from love of my little boy.

6. Decent coffee, hand made soap and soft toilet paper are daily luxury must-haves.

7. I can't deal with failure and I loathe mediocrity.

8. I've fallen in love with people just from their voices.

9. I can tap dance.

10. I share a Birthday with Julia Child.

3. I've never been taken out on a "proper" date.

This is now my new goal. Well, it's not really new... ;)

Gonna be a hell of a drive for you though.

8. I can't figure out how to set my car's clock, so I'm constantly adding an hour and 19 minutes to the display to make sure I'm on time.

This is one of the best things I've ever read. I really don't think I can come up with 10 things. Every time I've been around for one of these, I enjoy reading them, then chicken out. I'll try, now that we're almost done :-)

1 - When I was in first grade (so, about 6?) I was the master of ceremonies for a couple school assemblies. Man, I loved it.

2 - I didn't turn that into much...never was much of a joiner, do didn't do any debate club stuff, or public speaking, but man, I got great marks anytime there was a presentation to be done.

3 - I was a decent athlete up until I was about 17. That's when I really committed myself to the drinking and smoking.

3 - My whole childhood was a series of getting-chubby-then-getting-thinner-by-getting-taller cycles. Unfortunately, I didn't realize, when I quit all the sports, that I didn't have another get-taller in me, and I put on about 60lbs in about 8 months. I've been carrying that weight since!

4 - In the last couple months, I've dropped a bunch of weight while waiting to have my gall bladder out. I'm pretty happy about this. I'm sort of terrified that I'll fuck it up and gain it back. Actually, no I'm not "sort of" terrified. I'm ACTUALLY terrified.

5 - I just turned 40, so I think that's part of why I do feel that this is my opportunity to really drop some more weight and enjoy life a bit more.

6 - I'm also recently single and the idea of getting back into a decent shape is appealing on THAT front too.

7 - Ok, enough about that. Lately it seems to me that the only music I can get excited about is either old school punk - British, or Canadian :-) OR country that isn't made by pop stars with southern accents and big hats.

8 - Another thing that's been on my mind a lot lately is the fact that my dad killed himself when I was 13, and I'd not seen him in almost 2 years. I have long since thought that event didn't have much of an effect on me, but now I'm starting to wonder.

9 - As I mentioned recently, one of my favourite things in the world is driving a standard automobile, barefoot in summer.

10 - Actually, driving is flat-out on of my favourite things to do. Music and wilderness are key parts of an excellent drive, and when I can't get the RIGHT music for a drive, I pretty much want to pull over and be airlifted to my driveway.

Well, you're only halfway around the world, so say I pick you up at 8, 40 days from now?

*fires up the airship*

1. I can draw and sculpt pretty well.
2. I spend money on things I want that cost less than $70 but I don't seem to cross that line easily, which means I have a lot of cheap stuff. My sister is the opposite- she buys fancy things and only a few. Sometimes I am envious of that.
3. I played the guitar for 3 lessons but hated my teacher so much that I quit for good.
4. I work at a summer camp for underprivileged girls each year for 2 weeks, but this year I might have to cut my stay way short because of my new job.
5. I just started a new job (2nd day!) and the hours are unfamiliar and hard for me (8:45-6:30). I hope I adjust soon. I feel tired and lost and like I don't want to let people down.
6. One time in college I helped someone cheat off me on our geology exam and I got in trouble but the cheater didn't.
7. I love tv and hearing what people watch and seeing if we overlap. There are many shows that are just as bad as the ones I watch that I totally disrespect people for watching though.
8. I would like to live abroad but that seems less and less likely with the way my life is turning out.
9. This is now officially the longest relationship I have been in while living in NY and it isn't even that long. I just had a lot end at the 4 and 6th month marks.
10. I don't have to pay rent this month because I bluffed with my landlord about finding a new place. I am glad I tried it.

1. I'm not at all shy, but I hate stating simple facts about myself. (Yesterday, for example, someone asked me what I did for a living and I froze up.) So I used everyone else's lists as prompts. Just about everything I mention here was directly inspired by something someone else said.

2. When I fly I always pick a window seat. I love looking down at the planet from above on a clear day.

3. I'm one of those people who never watches TV, but I'm kind of reluctant to say so.

4. I once played in an all-ocarina tribute to Sun Ra.

5. Card games do not stick in my brain. I can't remember the rules from one occasion to the next.

6. I envy people who find housecleaning therapeutic.

7. Once I sang in the chorus of The Marriage of Figaro, wearing a ringletty wig.

8. I love chili mango, and recently figured out how to approximate it in liquid form by making chili lemonade.

9. Walking around in the city is one of my favorite things in the world, but my life is currently structured so that I hardly ever do it.

10. Through most of my childhood I had hair long enough to sit on.

"chili lemonade" - I simply MUST try this! Are we talking hot chilis or flavorful chilis or somewhere in between? ]Googling was less than helpful.[

1. If I'd known what one was at the time, I would have played the cello

2. As it was, I learned to play a decent violin

3. I also played a decent accordion, but the damned thing was too heavy for my frame as a teen. I could totally rock it now.

4. In Jr. High I was voted most likely to become a nun

5. Instead I'm a ULC minister (Wanna get married? I can do that)

6. Before that I was going to be a Methodist minister, but intramural theological infighting and a job layoff conspired to make that impossible.

7. I can also hear dog whistles

8. I gloried in rain and thunderstorms as a child. Later as a teen and twentysomething, I was terrified. I slowly learned to love them again.

9. snoɹʇxǝpıqɯɐ ɯ,ı

10. I used to do traditional Mexican Mother's Day Serenades. We'd start at Midnight and stop around sunrise. Tired as hell but lots of fun.

9. snoɹʇxǝpıqɯɐ ɯ,ı

WIN

1. I came out to my mom and dad about six years ago(?). i don't remember the exact day. I do remember my mom delayed my very important thing I wanted to talk to them about because she wanted to finish Desperate Housewives. I made her cry. My sister and my dad were on my side all the way.

2. My birthday is one day after the moon landing anniversary (July 21 vs July 20). I have been upset about this for years.

3. Between 2006 and 2007, I lived in four different cities in two countries: Beloit, WI; St. Louis, MO; Seattle, WA; and Shenzhen, PRC.

4. I considered 2005 and 2007 to be personal low points in the 2000s. In 2005 my uncle committed suicide and it threw me hard. In 2007 I went to China to teach English, only to leave angry and frustrated with the company I worked with 8 months early. I worked fast food (well, Panera) when I got back. This also made me angry and frustrated.

5. I went to college for Anthropology. I left with a degree in Creative Writing.

6. I draw pretty regularly, but I don't consider myself an artist.

7. I rarely tell my friends about my drawing or writing, due to the talking animals as subjects. I didn't tell my friends at my last job for two years, and that was right as I was quitting. I was always secretly horrified when they brought it up after seeing my announcement posts on Facebook or Twitter.

8. That being said, I've had characters longer than nearly all of my friends, and I love them tremendously. I spend most of my day thinking about them, but I can usually dismiss this as outlining (which is true. I had nothing to do at work today, so I made notes for upcoming sections of my online serial). I love seeing what has changed and what has stayed the same over the years.

9. I'm intensely jealous of Molly Lewis, who gets to hang out with Wil Wheaton, Adam Savage, Jonathan Coulton, and Paul and Storm on a regular basis.

10. I played trumpet in middle school and high school, but didn't continue after. I played bass guitar from high school through college, but I never learned to read the music. I was in a band called Cat Atomic at a gifted camp I went to, and I still think we have the best Beatles cover I've ever heard: "I Should Have Known Better" (It's certainly my favorite). I like to dabble with music, but I don't have the passion in me for much more.

1. I once had lunch with Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters. We had samosas.

2. I can trace my family's history back almost 1,000 years.

3. I am a trained Dramatic soprano, but I am not that great(just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD)

4. I have dyscalculia (math dyslexia). I can't picture more than 3 physical objects in my mind, and I can't read a string of numbers longer than 3 digits without breaking it down into 3 digit groups. I also have to close my right eye when I am reading long number strings.

5. I used to live in a haunted house. As in full-bodied apperitions and objects moving on their own in front of groups of people kind of haunted.

6. I am turning 40 this year. I ain't happy about it either.

7. I secretly want to be an inventor or engineer a utopian community.

8. When I was a kid, I thought his name was Donkey Hotey. I also thought that the radio made music because there were "Donnie & Marie" dolls in the speaker that performed wach song.

9. I am afraid of moths. they make me queasy.

10. I hate The Cure and The Rolling Stones. This makes people doubt my commitment to Sparkle Motion.

There is a LOT of musical talent here on metachat. I will admit to being supremely jealous (Like essexjan, I cannot carry a tune. To the extent that my husband banned me from singing to our baby :) )

I'm new so you (except for one of you) don't know anything about me, but here are ten things:

1. I used to play the oboe but didn't have enough wind and sometimes fainted.

2. Many years ago I worked at a bakery for two days, but quit because I was surreptitiously eating cookies and realized no good could come of this.

3. In college I was on academic probation twice and probably would not have graduated if, coincidentally, Nixon had not bombed Cambodia, resulting in prolonged student protests which allowed us to take as many incompletes as we wanted.

4. I still regret not providing coffee for my guests at my wedding (we got married in a house in the middle of renovations and the status of the electrical system was unclear, but it turned out the electrical outlets were live), and I still have the horrible memory of my cousin Salie* crying, "Isn't there COFFEE with this cake?"

*actual spelling

5. I make excellent brownies, using the recipe in The Joy of Cooking (Brownies Cockaigne).

6. I sit down in the bathtub when I take a shower.

7. In the 6th grade my science fair project was "How Earthworms Help the Soil" and I ordered mail order earthworms from a scientific catalogue and they were enormous, and I was terrified of them.

8. I wish I had learned how to use my thumb independently when I play the guitar so I could play on the beat with the thumb as a syncopate with the other fingers, but alas, I never did.

9. When my hair becomes frizzy in high humidity situations that is when I feel the best about myself.

10. I have a dream of creating a low-calorie salad dressing named "Undressing", but I haven't been able to create it to my satisfaction (yet).

(I didn't mean to type "as a syncopate" and have no idea what it means)

welcome, DMelanogaster!

thanks! nice to be here.