10 Things About You
I have been thinking about blogging lately, and how grateful I am to Sparkling Squirrel and the others who have been keeping up with this blog. I often think about things I want to say, but never find the time to say them. I realized that I have not been good about getting conversation going here on GBKD.
So, I thought it would be fun to have some mini-lists about ourselves and about events, big and small, that have happened over the last year or so. This is inspired by the "100 things about me" lists you often see on other people's blogs. But, I don't have time right now to write down 100 things - and many of you would already know many of those things. So I think we should pare the list down and change the format a bit. Here's my suggestion. In the comments, write 5 things about yourself and then 5 things (big or small) that happened over the last year that you maybe did not get a chance to blog about here. I hope you are all game! My list will be in the comments.
Jennifer
17 comments:
5 things you might not know about me.
1. I was born in Puerto Rico, but I left when I was two. Though I don't remember much, I attribute my complete dislike of cold to those two years.
2. When I was growing up, I wanted to be a ballerina. Instead of Micheal Jackson, I listened to Prokofiev (Romeo and Juliet)making up my own choreography (I wanted to be a choreographer especially, because my dance teacher had a poster on the wall with a diagram of a person's head divided into all the different jobs associated with dance. The choreographer had the biggest area).
3. I really dislike anything with a brand name stamped all over it - be it clothes, toys, or cereal bowls.
4. While I was finishing my dissertation, my favorite breakfast became roasted chicken deli meat on a toasted sesame bagel with provolone cheese and honey mustard. To drink I would have earl gray tea with milk and sugar. I don't have as easy access to good sesame bagels since moving to Independence, so I haven't eaten my favorite breakfast in a while. Hmmm - maybe I should remedy this.
5. I don't have a favorite color, I like all sorts of colors, but I am drawn to red shoes and red cars.
5 Things that happened in the past year.
1. I visited my Dad and step-mom Linda in Dallas last October. They live in one of the high-rises downtown and had a spectacular view.
2. I am starting a prairie restoration project on campus to be used for class-projects and undergraduate research. I have gotten a lot of support for the project and am extremely excited about it.
3. I have struggled with how to dress at work. I want to look professional without feeling like I am (1) boring and (2) giving in to materialism. Plus, I don't have a lot of money to spend on clothes right now.
4. For Christmas, I received Rock Band for our Wii. I like playing the bass the best. I can play some song on the hard level. The highest level is expert. I have not even attempted it.
5. I am now a Dr. Who fan. Steve got me hooked on the new BBC show (excellent, with lots of geeky biology references). We have also been watching some of the old episodes on DVD. I highly recommend it. If you don't have cable or don't have BBC America on your cable - try getting it from you local library.
Ok - my turn. 5 things you might not know about me.
1. When I was little I did lots of crafts including wood working and paper making. I even one an honorable mention for an art piece in high school.
2. I directed a world premiere of a show my senior year in high school and loved it. I hope to get back to theater at some point.
3. I learned to read really young (I wasn't three) and my parents found out when I asked my mom why the cat's water dish said dog. She asked me what I meant and I said it says dog D O G and backwards that's god G O D. At this point my parents wondered how long I had been reading and spelling...
4. I was Gilbert in Anne of Green Gables one summer (I seem to be on a theater bent).
5. I got earrings when I was 6 because I was tired of everyone thinking I was a little boy.
5 things in the last year
1. I had to have physical therapy on my shoulder for two months because I had bad muscle spasms that were causing migraines.
2. I have a student doing an independent project with me this semester working on urchin development.
3. My hubby's website has been launching most of the year and is finally ready to be marketed. I'm very much excited about this.
4. We went to see my folks over the holidays and hosted turkey day this year. For turkey day we had us and both sets of parents in our house (oh and the puppy too).
5. I've been struggling with making time for research (this could take a whole post) and how to juggle all my time commitments effectively. ideas?
I really am going to do this. Perhaps tomorrow.
Hi Beth,
Hope your shoulder is better, that sounds pretty awful.
And urchin development huh? (I am assuming you mean sea urchins.Though a project on the development on Dickensian urchins could also be interesting.)
My shoulder has been much better - it still twinges every once and a while. Usually after I don't do any stretching for a few days. And yes, she's working on sea urchin development. :-)
Some days my belly fills like I am working on an urchin development project.
1. I still consider myself shy.
2. I enjoy planning parties far more than attending them.
3. I was born in Southern California and my family heritage is in Illinois but I am definitely proud (as if I had something to do with it) of being a Coloradan.
4. I quit violin in 5th grade and never regretted it. I have regretted not playing piano until I was better.
5. I love to sing. I just wish it sounded better when I do it.
For the last year:
1) I became a regular watcher of Project Runway and Ugly Betty. Which is saying something since we don't have any television reception. Netflix is a good thing.
2) I threw a dud party last night. The first such in a very long time.
3) I started buying shoes over the internet. This baffles me because I am excessively picky about how shoes fit (I have to be able to walk a mile up a steep hill and teach all day in them) but somehow I have better luck with internet shoes than I do at the mall.
4) I became the older and jaded person in my department and actually started being a nay-sayer to our new optimist.
5) I melted the siding on our house with a grease fire cooking salmon on the grill. I still haven't tried to wipe off the soot to see how much is cosmetic and how much is burned on.
1. My favorite color hasn't always been purple. When I was much younger and less set in my ways, for a while it was yellow. I also had a phase where it was green.
2. I won a district spelling bee in 5th grade, but I still have trouble remembering whether tomorrow has 1 m and 2 r's or vice versa, and whether it's recieve or receive.
3. When I was growing up, my family didn't have enough money to travel for both vacations and seeing family separately, so our vacations would always be in Oregon where my Mom's family lives. I'm glad that was the case, because I think those memories are much better than if we'd gone to Bermuda or Paris.
4. One of my guilty pleasures is that I like catastrophes, despite all the obvious reasons one should not. I'm fascinated by hurricanes, tornados, fires, blizzards, and prettymuch any manmade thing breaking, collasping, exploding, and so on.
5. To me, crunchiness is not a desirable food characteristic except in fruits and vegetables where crunchy means fresh. Given a choice between, say, hot oatmeal and crunchy oat cereal, or crunchy cookies vs. soft cookies, I'd always choose the non-crunchy version.
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I'm having a hard time with things that happened last year, mainly because the two major events (baby and dissertation) were pretty all-comsuming, and you guys already know about those. But here are some that I don't think I've written about.
1. We're currently working on upgrading our floors to maple hardwood (from a motley assortment of old carpet and mismatched squeaky parquet). We are doing the work ourselves, so it's slow going.
2. My parents are in the planning stages of a major first-floor renovation project on their home. They hired the same architect who did their synagogue's renovation.
3.... ok, I'll add more if I can think of any.
5 things about me (pulled from a larger list)
1. My jade plants all have names. Japanese ones incidentally (Midori, Akeno, and Runa). I love them like pets and talk to them a lot (especially Midori who is my baby).
2. I love the smell of brand new, cheap plastic (the kind that kiddy intertubes and shower curtains are made of). If a man wore it as cologne I would be all over him.
3. I can’t wear the headphones that come with ipods (or other similar styles) because my ear holes are too small (so they hurt). It’s true for my mom too so I guess it’s genetic.
4. There are many things about my body that I would change if given the chance, but the one thing I will never give up is my 5+ inch scar on the outside of my right leg. I love that scar and it’s 2-inch (inside of leg) mate. I am always happy to show anyone who asks.
5. No offense to anyone here but I don’t like babies. At all. I don’t dislike kids (in fact I really like them when they walk and talk). But I have never understood why everyone gushes over baby clothes and the little larval form that fills them. They are so not cute. Give me a 3-10 year old any day.
5 things that happened in the past year
1. I went to Japan (I could fill a list of 100 with all the wonderful/horrible experiences I had there but I will just leave it at this).
2. The awful paper with Daphne and Jane got accepted, we are just doing the final clean up on it now.
3. I lost 10 pounds in Japan, 10 last quarter, and 11 this quarter so far. This is the year I have decided to get to a healthy weight.
4. I moved to the other side of town where I am much closer to parks and nice neighborhoods. I am really happy with were I live now though I still haven't settled in and put everything away yet.
5. I met up with a childhood friend who I had not seen in a very long time. She now lives in Columbus. We have some history between us so I was worried about the meeting, but it went really well. In fact, I think we will do it again sometime.
Okay Abby, I'm intrigued by the scars. Explain further.
And, while I am looking forward to raising a child, and do think there is something amazing (and cute after about 2 months) about babies, they totally look like alien monkeys and how in the world did our species ever evolve with all of those problems? Most have a hard time latching on to boobs and they can't even hold there head up. We're debating at what point the kid will be more able than the cat, and it's something like 5 years from now, if ever.
My scars...well I think most of you know that I broke my right ankle badly in college. I had to have surgery and a metal plate and 6 pin in my leg (4 on one side, 2 on the other). Only one pin came out. So this left me with a 5+ inch scar on one side and a 2 in scar on the other.
But the reason I love them so much really has to do with what came after. I worked at the Field Museum that summer and had to take the train and then get from the train station to the the museum. It was awful. Seriously one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I cried almost everyday that first week because it was so hard and things kept going wrong. But on Friday I decided, to hell with it, I'm not getting upset anymore. And things got better after that. Those scars are a symbol to me that I can get through anything if I put my mind to it (and that things could be worse). I'm really proud of how I handled that summer and I see my scars as a sign of honor in a way. I'm really afraid that they will fade eventually...
SpSq - I am sorry about your dud party. We are planning a party here at school that I think you would like. Tomorrow we are having a Birthday Party for Darwin -complete with costume constest (dress up as your favorite adaptation, adaptationist, or evolutionary concept), pin the opposoble thumb on the primate, evolutionary poetry reading, and science songs. Incidentally, if you know of any good science songs or poetry, I would be glad to know of it. We hope it is not a dud.
Does Abby think her Jade plants are cute?
I'm probably too late posting this for anyone to actually read it, but probably that's just as well!
Things I did in the last year:
1. I made curtains for my sister's dining room, complete with embroidered ginkgo leaves. Took a shockingly long time, but that's how I feel about most things I undertake in life (i.e., if there's a really inefficient way of doing something, then I'll find it)
2. I made a rutual of cooking Sunday dinners for my grandma, aunt, uncle and sister. Totally worth the time and effort.
3. I went on a crazy face-lotion shopping spree and bought about 6 different potions that are supposed to smooth your wrinkles, brighten your skin, and cause you to wake up with a gold coin under your pillow each morning. Result may vary, but some users even found that their CV had an increased number of publications by the end of 6 months.
4. I successfully grew eggplants for the first time in my life, after a couple of years of failure in Lawrence.
5. I survived a 13 hour interview one Friday. But had a migraine that lasted all day the next day.
Well, I guess I should get back to work (reviewing a paper due tomorrow... boy, species descriptions can be SUCH page-turners!!). Hope everyone is well!
Molly, I would love to see a picture of your curtains. They sound awesome.
It may be too late for anyone to see this, but here it is:
Five things you might not know about me
1) I was born in Michigan. Like Jennifer, I don't remember very much, but perhaps that is why I really like snowy weather.
2) I had waist-length hair for many years, until I finally made the connection between headaches and heavy, thick hair.
3) My favorite (and first) job through high school and college was teaching swimming lessons. Really, it was the only pleasant way to be outdoors in the scorchingly hot Kansas summers.
4) I volunteered at the KC zoo in high school and underwent early Saturday morning docent trainings for months...only to spend the majority of my time shoveling dung. But one day I did get to pet the black rhino.
5) I love to play music and would really be proud of myself if I would actually make time to play instead of just thinking about it.
Five things that happened last year:
1) I worked with a very difficult person and survived it.
2) While canoeing on the Iowa River, I found a really cool coral fossil. I love thinking about how this land was once covered in water.
3) We had a really poor relationship with our previous landlord (when a check-out is scheduled for 1pm, isn't it wrong to do it without the tenants at 8am?), but we ended up moving into much smaller university housing that we really, really like.
4) I met Carole King, a favorite songwriter of mine, at an Obama event. I think she may be better at writing and singing than speaking for politicians, but it was still really neat!
5) Several people wrote and asked for copies of a paper that I never thought I would finish.
I just wanted to add that I really enjoyed reading everyone's responses! You all are such cool people!
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