65 Things About Me

This is an initial list, I'll add more now and then. Several of the items below are copied from my friend Catsudon's own list. Talk about birds of the same feather! Hehe!

1. I was an average student in a highly competitive university.

2. I could have done better but was too preoccupied with so many extra-curricular activities.

3. Contrary to what many say, the four years in college (not high school) were by far the best of my life.

4. I’m a very loyal friend.

5. I am still in touch with most of my closest college friends, despite the oceans and continents that now separate us.

6. I am fiercely independent.

7. I was a very observant but headstrong child.

8. I climbed trees and got into all sorts of scrapes as a child.

9. I always want to be different, but always in an understated and inconspicuous way.

10. I tend to simplify and rationalise many things, including major events.

11. Though I’m generally law-abiding and a stickler for rules, I also have a rebellious streak.

12. My sense of direction is very good and am always the designated navigator on group trips yet…

13. I can’t (don’t want to learn to) drive even if my life depended on it.

14. I can’t ride a bike.

15. My swimming skills are almost non-existent. Floating and backstroke are the only things I can do.

16. But I was in the judo varsity in college. I used to be able to throw someone twice my weight.

17. Brisk walking is my form of exercise.

18. I’m a bookworm! I can finish a thick book in three hours or overnight if I want to.

19. The first real books I read when I was in pre-school were my mom’s Reader’s Digest Condensed Books.

20. I’m a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes.

21. In high school, I used to win gold medals for my feature articles. Now I’ve deteriorated, I think the only writing I can handle is the technical kind.

22. I alternately wear glasses and toric contact lenses. Though contacts make me see more clearly, I prefer glasses if I have some heavy reading, a cross-stitch or tatting project on hand.

23. I sometimes think faster than I speak. An indicator is if I’m stammering or not making sense anymore. Then I have to re-trace my verbal path and take it from the top. Very inefficient.

24. I cook well even if I say so myself. My discriminating aunties crave for my siomai, polvoron and palitaw. Even my mom admits I cook better than she does. Reason: I was my grandma’s apprentice and she was an extremely strict master.

25. When I cook, I don’t use precise measurements. I use my senses of taste, smell and sight instead of proportions.

26. I’m allergic to coffee.

27. But I like my tea strong enough to strip paint.

28. I’m not a chocoholic but I can’t resist dark chocolates.  

29. For cakes and candy bars, I prefer dark and bitter chocolate (hmmm… sounds like the men in my life),

30. For ice cream and shakes, I like vanilla (I don't like chocolate ice cream) if there are no fruity concoctions.

31. I love nuts but not in ice cream.

32. I love travelling and long plane trips.

33. On planes, I always take the window seat because I can sit out the whole trip away. There was a 17-hour flight I took and I didn’t bother to stand up.

34. Since I used to travel frequently, I’ve become very efficient in packing. The security personnel at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv were impressed with how compact my suitcases were. They couldn’t fit in a third of the contents after the routine check.

35. I used to do my tatting while waiting in airports but since 9/11, sharp objects are no longer allowed in carry-on luggage. Now I have to content myself with books. Too bad for me.

36. I grew up on Sesame Street and remember a lot of the episodes.

37. I love watching reruns of old cartoons such as Rankin-Bass, Bugs Bunny and the Christmas specials (Charlie Brown, Family Circus, etc).

38. Among the current cartoon shows I love are Spongebob Squarepants and Dora the Adventurer. I even stop and watch Blue’s Clues if it’s on. In Haifa, I sat through the Israeli shows even if I had no idea what they were saying in Ibrit.

39. I love gardening but I hardly have time for it now.

40. I like sewing.

41. My online chat application of choice is Yahoo! Messenger.

42. I love mystery/suspense and horror movies.

43. I’m a Do-It-Yourself person.

44. I consider myself a devout Catholic though not of the goody-goody-pious-pious variety.

45. I never leave home without my rosary.

46. I control my emotions well.

47. I am a loner.

48. On the Enneagram, I am a 1 with a 9 wing.

49. I am a fast learner, especially with manual skills.

50. Colleagues find me thorough, precise and extremely analytical yet I am such a dunce in Math.

51. A lot of people notice how O-C (obsessive-compulsive or anal-retentive) I am about a lot of things, most especially about research and writing!

52. People I work with and my former students call me a slave driver – to my face and behind my back.

53. But I try to be understanding and compassionate as much as possible. It’s not always successful though.

54. I love cats! When I was in university and living in the dorm, cats would follow me back now and then. My mom would notice that there were more stray cats in the garden when I came home on weekends or on vacations.

55. If some women are blinded by wealth and good looks, I’m forever falling for brilliant but difficult men (think Beethoven and a hybrid of Einstein and Heathcliff).

56. I am piqued by people who are arrogant and culturally insensitive.

57. I can’t sleep with the lights on.

58. Time is the first thing on my mind when I wake up.

59. My friends say I’m irreverent and not afraid of authority. I grew up with old people and they allowed me to speak my mind as long as I was respectful.

60. I am a head person and can almost always calmly argue my way out of a predicament.

61. I am a head person even in matters of the heart.

62. I am an ambivert – very sociable if the situation calls for it though under normal circumstances I prefer solitude.

63. Teaching college freshmen has made me more expressive and affirming.

64. Rain brings out the child in me. It gives me a feeling of newness. I know where this comes from. In elementary school, before we were experiencing the symptoms of climate change, the rainy season coincided with the opening of classes. Subconsciously I associate rain with new books, uniforms, shoes and other school things.

65. My bags are almost always heavy. Once I relented to a guy who offered to carry my bag, just to get him off my back, and he was extremely surprised at the weight he almost gave it back to me. Hah!

 

Sunday, 07 December 2003 02:56:49 +0800