100 Random Facts About Me

100 Places, New and Old

1. I cried for days when my first “100 Things I Bet You Didn’t Know About Me” were deleted. I guess to other people they were just lots of random facts, pretty boring, and the product of time I should have devoted to work. But to me, they plotted exactly where I was at that moment and I wanted to keep them forever to look back on. I don’t have them anymore. This is all I have now. I titled these “100 Places, New and Old” for a reason.
2. My hero and role model is unquestionably my priest. When I feel far from God or unable to discern His will, I look to Fr Dairo and I am there.
3. I detest worms; my goal in life is to go forever without touching one. But I’m not afraid of spiders or mice and any other creatures that make girls squeal.
4. Various things I wanted “to be when I grow up” have included over the years an astronaut, a Disney animator, a teacher, a writer, a musician, a CIA or FBI agent, an illustrator of children’s books, a Marine, a bush pilot, an archaeologist/anthropologist, an obstetrician, a zoologist, a hair dresser, a fashion designer, and a bar owner. I have no idea what I’m going to be when I grow up.
5. My online radio station plays Tom Jones and yes, I’m dancing to “She’s a Lady” right now in the computer chair. And people call me weird. (It also plays Tears For Fears like no other and I’ve never even rated them.)
6. I own earrings of the following types: buffalo, eagles, manatees, dream catchers, skeletons, skull and crossbones, peacock feathers, shamrocks, American flags, stars and moons, waddling ducks, guitars, Tinker Bell, fireflies, and various other obnoxious shapes.
7. I am passionately Catholic. In fact, I AM all those stereotypes (I even want to go to divinity school). AND DAG NAB PROUD OF IT! :D
8. I’m not a hippie but I listen to hippie music. THE WORLD HUSHES (by my command) WHENEVER “SILVER DAGGER” BY JOAN BAEZ COMES ON.
9. One of my favorite hobbies is to walk up and down aisles in the library. The science and math section is one of my favorites.
10. Someday when I have a house, I want a library with large vertically-tall windows with drapery and a piano left of middle of the room. I also want glass walls of binary codes and a jellyfish tank. And I want to paint a mural in the main hallway, cave drawings somewhere in the bathroom, and space scenes on the ceilings of my children’s rooms. I want it to be an old possibly blue Victorian house with a wrap-around porch. Or an old wood house VERY similar to The Burrow. But most of all, I want a happy house…busy, full of people, and usually never completely clean…“clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy.” I also would like to turn the attic into an observatory.
11. My alias is Oliver Wendell Twisted. Ever since I joined the Navy I considered having it legally changed to Oliver Hazard Twisted. My two rap names are Li’l Amish Cow and Vanilla Xtract. My Academic Team names are Braniac and Lesley Crusher, because I’m trying to dispel the stereotype that quiz bowl participants are geeky.
12. There are few movies I’ve cried through: The Passion of the Christ, Life is Beautiful, The English Patient, Edward Scissorhands, Life as a House, Forrest Gump
13. I’m cool because my mom says so.
14. I have one sibling: ickle Hollis. When she was younger, she memorized the script to Mulan and would perform it for me. She also does amazing impressions of characters from The Simpsons and Spaceballs. My mother and I call her “the twit.”
15. My first love was Todd from pre-school. He had a mullet. Mullets were in then.
16. I once told my track coach freshman year that my theme song is “Casey Jones.” And she believed me. (And just for the record, I never behaved in a way to justify it. I was polite and timid and very very slow.)
17. Meghan, Mary Beth and I have been part of a triumvirate since fourth grade, and we are, respectively, The Assassin, The Tyrant, and The Inquisitor. It’s funny because I was usually so quiet and never asked questions in class.
18. If you haven’t been able to tell by now, I am the Queen of Sarcasm.
19. I’m an honorary Mexican, which for some reason surprises people when I inform them of the fact.
20. I am also the Queen of Sentimentalism.
21. I lost my innocence to Calc II.
22. I have no rhythm. AND I’m white. I know, strange combination. I’m just strange in general.
23. I do believe that if I wanted to, I could get rhythm.
24. The Captain calls me “Hermione,” which, until Calc II, was extremely justified.
25. I really like math though! Especially hyperspace and geometry, even though it’s been concluded that I operate more algebraically. I get a serious high when I’m working out a math problem that “flows.”
26. I am so upset Flatland was already written because I can definitely see myself writing that. I love stories that expose a truth or an idea through fantasy (C.S. Lewis is my hero). I think the imagination is not valued enough in our society.
27. I love receiving letters. And I wish people would write love letters more. I think it’s more thoughtful, more honest, more daring, and I think love requires that.
28. One of the proudest moments of my life was when I figured out how to French braid my own hair. It was chopped off a month later. And such is my life.
29. I love praying with other people. I love God, but I just am not at the point when I can pray well to Him by myself.
30. I am a constant daydreamer…and evening-dreamer (citing the ingenious TLF).
31. I’ve been described as “inept.” My response to this is “In ept? IN ept?!” Sorry I just love The Three Amigos.
32. Yeah, I can never keep a straight face whenever I hear the word “plethora.” Actually, I can never keep a straight face. I dated the Bearing Bear over Plebe Summer at the Naval Academy.
33. I. LOVE. GEORGE. BAILEY. ;-)
34. I love that line in It’s a Wonderful Life when George lists off his favorite sounds because I really do have a list of my favorite sounds, including, but not limited to (hehe), a train whistle!, water, machine gun fire (don’t ask), harps.
35. If I could, I would learn every language. I at least want to know how to pray in every language. If someone could find me a book of that, I’d forward his/her name for Ruler of the Universe nominee.
36. I hate sleeping in but I do it anyway when I get the chance.
37. Tim Burton is a genius. Two words: Big Fish. Two more words: Edward Scissorhands. Three words: Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!
38. I like music that can tell a story or can allude to one in whoever hears it by its emotion. That’s part of the reason I despise almost all modern music. I’m a really big folk music fan. I really love the idea that folk music is generated for music’s sake, not for entertainment only. In fact, I would rather listen to an unskilled folk musician/singer than a trained singer because I think the art of the music is more honest that way.
39. As a matter of fact, I am white and nerdy.
40. I am fascinated by linguistics. I think this is because I think you can learn so much about people through their language (for example, in Chinese, the word for “happiness” or “peace” – I don’t remember which – is the character for a mother and child). I really love learning about how people have evolved because I love learning about how we as humanity came to be and how we are growing.
41. I am 100% terrible at team sports. I attribute this to 13 years of karate, 9 years of dancing, and 6 years of running. I’m also REALLY shy which doesn’t help.
42. I was so shy the first two or so years of high school that I would be afraid even to ask questions in Student Council. By the time I graduated, I had been President of Pro-Life Club for two years, President of the National Honor Society, Editor and Creator of the Spirituality Page for the school newspaper, Vice President of the Junior Class, and other random nerdy things. As a freshman again, I don’t like to talk much because I’m convinced everyone is smarter than me.
43. I put the most pride into having been President of Pro-Life Club. I even have my (bursting) pro-life binder in my dorm room. (I still think it’s weird to call Bancroft Hall a dorm.)
44. I’m still bitter about having my first school newspaper article title changed from “Look Ma!...No Analogies!” to “SATs Transform!”
45. I believe a lot of (especially interrelational) conflict in this world is caused by an inability to understand that people have a right to their emotions (that these emotions are neutral and that the response to them is what matters). That’s why every time I’m trying to comfort someone who is distressed I say, “You have a right to how you feel.” I think that would have a profound impact if people learned this.
46. I hate when people use the word “retarded” as slang. I also hate profanity and obscenities.
47. I. LOVE. HISTORY. ESPECIALLY. ANCIENT. CIVILIZATIONS. I just LOVE learning about people.
48. I want to see the world but I have NO desire to see it alone.
49. I love pressed flowers and I want to teach my children how to press flowers and make memories.
50. I never wear makeup (too stubborn and too concerned I’d be perceived/ I’d perceive myself as a valley girl or vain) and I think I’m usually hideous-looking.
51. I love learning about the music of different cultures because I think you can learn a lot about people through what they create. Music is a universal language!!! I love world music and I would love for modern musicians to tap into such a rich resource.
52. I love that I get bruises right below my knees from when I kneel on the floor at church. I admit I get irritated when people think they’re exempt from kneeling just because there’s no kneeler.
53. I love biology – all aspects of it: anatomy, ecology, evolution, etc. I once referred to someone as a heterotrophic bacterium and I was called a “bio geek”!! I KNOW. I can’t believe it too! It’s not as if I wrote limericks entitled “The Hungry Prokaryote” or “From the Kitchen of Gregor Mendel.” Oh, wait. I actually did that.
54. I love poetry SOOOOOOOOO MUCH. Especially British poetry and lyric poetry. I love Pablo Neruda and Rumi because of their sensual and spiritual mastery.
55. I think the musical interludes in There’s Something About Mary are ingenious. More movies should have them.
56. I despise running because I have leg problems and hate aerobic exertion. Yeah, feel safe now.
57. I rarely find people that I find it easy to talk to or confide in.
58. I collect lullabies.
59. I am extremely non-agressive but I have problems with jealousy.
60. I’m really artistic which gives me an edge in martial arts. But I’m terrible at sparring.
61. I despise boxing. I’m 100% terrified of the prospect of getting whammed in the face again. I’m really sensitive around the temples and the bridge of my nose (I actually snorted every time I got jabbed there and it was very embarrassing, besides the fact that I was getting creamed).
62. I’m extremely self-conscious, which probably contributes to #22 (not the being white part, the rhythm part).
63. I used to be a metal-head…in middle school…my life was Metallica. Ask questions. I’d love to answer them. I once attempted to pierce my lower lip.
64. I don’t own normal socks. Every sock I own at home has a strange design, holiday-theme, or Mickey Mouse. I used to wear my flower socks to take bio exams.
65. I love herbal tea! I never drink caffeinated beverages because I never want to dependent on something.
66. I’m dependent on people, though.
67. I finished one season of cross-country/track in high school. In three years, I got injured every season and had to stop early. My coach was delighted every time I told him I couldn’t run anymore so I got even by demanding to be manager. And that’s how I got my varsity letter…
68. I have a thing for names. I love names. Whenever I make up new characters for a story or something, I name them first or I spend a TON of time trying to pick out the right name.
69. I can remember numbers easily.
70. I had to wear headgear with my braces in seventh grade. Hollis never had to. I make it worthwhile by NEVER WEARING MY RETAINER EVER.
71. I hate things that are WAY too sugary. Cotton candy. YUCK.
72. I love pumpkin everything.
73. I LOVE certain smells…such as roses, chocolate, coffee, wine, vanilla. I’m one of those people who associate memories or people with scents.
74. Just like Alvy Singer in Annie Hall, I MUST watch a movie from start to finish INCLUDING CREDITS.
75. By the way, I LOVE Woody Allen. He and I have very similar senses of humor. HELLO. Love and Death.
76. I really like movies that seem to have no plot but you can’t help the feeling that you MUST watch them to the end. I find Mighty Aphrodite and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape to be fascinating.
77. I comment during bad movies like I’m being paid to do so.
78. I believe that if you are uncreative and are teaching just to have a job, then you shouldn’t teach. Teaching is a noble profession and it requires a very special mold of person. That’s why I am so incredibly flattered when people suggest that I’d be a good teacher.
79. Lloyd Alexander is the most amazing writer EVER. Par exemple: “And you,” said Sharpnack, “you’ve been warned. If you’re trifling with us, I’ll make you wish you’ve never been born.” “I’d never wish that,” said Rizka. Another example (also the BEST opening to a book to date): “This is a tale of a jackass and a young bean counter, a girl of marvels and mysteries, horsemen swift as wind, Goat Folk, Daughters of Morning, voyages, tempests, terrors, disasters. And the occasional rainbow.” And such is my life…again…
80. I’ve read tons of biographies of the Empress Josephine, Mary Tudor, and Mary Queen of Scots. I feel really really really bad for all of them.
81. I pity Judas and I think that God loves him very much.
82. I love stained glass.
83. I never had a high school sweetheart.
84. One of the biggest letdowns of my life was when an old travel agency in my town was turned into a Cingular. This upset me sooo much because every day from kindergarten to the eighth grade I would stare out the window of my bus on the way to school at all the posters in the windows of the travel agency of the places I want to go. I once collected travelogues and I’m upset that I may not still have them.
85. I think moose are awesome. I also like koalas. My mother says I look like a koala. I once wanted pet dolphins that I wanted to name Trigger and Ricky (short for “Rickover”).
86. My second toes are longer than my big toes. I’ve heard this called both “Princess toes” and “Roman toes.”
87. I like programming, but I’m not good enough to be called a computer nerd and that really upsets me.
88. I’m a HUGE fan of Carmen Sandiego.
89. My favorite series as a kid was Cam Jansen. I would read them all again in a heartbeat if I could get my hands on them. I’m definitely reading them to my kids. Whenever I’m having a hard time learning a piece of information, I close my eyes and say “click”!
90. I’m all Italian and yet I only know how to swear in that language (but I hate swearing so I never say them). My heritage is really important to me even though my ethnic group is pretty well assimilated, which I regret a lot. My goal is to learn to speak Italian, to cook anything Italian, and to start getting people to celebrate the Feast of San Giuseppe again (every March 19). This is important to me and I want my kids to know about their culture, including that of their father as well.
91. I “played” basketball in fifth and sixth grade. I “swam” in the seventh grade. By eighth grade, I had accepted my athletic crappiness. Unfortunately, I put it aside and joined the military like the idiot I am.
92. I was such a big fan(atic) of Savage Garden in the sixth grade that my friends and I would have birthday parties for Darren Hayes (May 8) and Daniel Jones (July 22). I taped our birthday cards to my wall and I would always have to explain when people came over. That have since come down and I’m learning to forget this travesty.
93. One of my happiest times was getting to see the Captain (and his two kids) after almost two years in a really cheap buffet restaurant in DC.
94. I don’t get nervous giving talks. I once had to give a presentation to the Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford on a project I had down three months prior. I prepared for possibly five minutes in the car and I was told afterward I should be a professor at MIT. Yeah, I’d love to fail Bizzle…
95. Contrary to the impression of #94 and probably several other ones, I really detest arrogance. I think one of THE most honorable and required traits is humility. However, I think people unfortunately confuse arrogance with acknowledgement. C.S. Lewis described this really well in The Screwtape Letters. It is not wrong to recognize that you are good at something; it is wrong to flaunt it or to preclude other people from learning that same skill.
96. #68 of the Captain’s own “100 Random Facts About Me” is one of the funniest real-life things I can imagine. I’m not even that bad.
97. I’m literally afraid of fear. And not in the FDR “the only thing we have to fear” thing. I’m not kidding I freak myself out about the prospect of getting scared. I have really bad anxiety.
98. I am the opposite of every military stereotype imaginable. For all I know, I may even be a pacifist.
99. I. LOVE. THUNDERSTORMS. I always make sure I lie in bed listening to the rain when it rains too. Aahh, paradise.

100. I think the most important legacy is children and, therefore, what they have been taught by the previous generation is one of the most significant matters of anyone's life. I think we all should strive to be teachers, even if we all can't be parents (a very special teacher as it is). To nurture is perhaps life's greatest pursuit.