There’s a YouTuber tag going around called “50 Facts About Me” and I wanted to join in. But, I’m not YouTube ready! But, I’d like to share some fun tidbits about myself if you’re willing to learn!

1. I like things in multiples of three, especially 15 of anything. 9 and 15 are my “lucky” numbers.
2. Because of my three fascination, I’ve actually noticed I get restless every three years and ache for change.
3. My middle name should have been Wanderlust. I’d be happy living from town to town and country hopping as I please. [The run off of last year’s multiple of three “I need to move” craving is lingering.]
4. While I’m still adamant I’d like to be a published author, I still secretly wish I had majored in theatre & become a struggling Off-Broadway actress, mercilessly slinging Shakespeare or contemporary theatre to those who live for that type of thing.
5. One of these days, I’m going to learn how to tap dance.
6. When I was a child, I ate anything that was given to me, including steak & kidney pie, or liver, or fresh mussels. I’m sure my parents still have a picture of me from when I was about 5 or 6. In my wet raincoat, I was looking incredibly feral and canine, with a hand in a bucket of mussels and the other hand stuffing a mussel in my mouth. I remember that night vividly.
7. Now, I am much more particular about what I eat. As I grew older, my tactile sense became a lot more sensitive. I love the taste of beef, lamb, and bacon. Both my body & mind can’t grasp the sensation & action of eating animal flesh. [Rice pudding, bread pudding, and Jello as well.]
8. I’d happily eat nothing but broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, and lentils for the rest of my life. Those four foods are what I crave most.
9. For someone who eats a vegetarian (with a Greek yoghurt or a few nibbles of cheese eaten very sporadically) diet, I constantly surprise phlebotomists & my doctor at how iron rich my blood is. I haven’t taken an iron supplement since I was 13. The last time I had my blood drawn, the guy doing so said “Wow, I haven’t seen this much hemoglobin in a long time. Did you eat a big, raw steak in the last 24 hours?” I said, “nope, I haven’t eaten beef since I was 11. I did, however eat a hefty salad last night.”
10. I used to run competitively (and hard) between the ages of 12 and 18. The moment I graduated high school, I swore off running for a very long time.
11. For my 31st birthday, I registered myself to run my first official half-marathon. This is a distance I was very capable of running as a teen and did so a few times to blow off steam. I’ll be running the 13.1 miles in less than a month.
12. I can’t help myself when it comes to collecting books. I have a hideous amount of books I’ve bought over the last ten years that I’ve yet to read. A week ago, I made a promise to myself to not buy any more books until I’ve read twenty of the books on my bookshelf.
13. The book that changed my life is Taming The Beast by Emily Maguire. For those of you who didn’t pay attention in English in high school, the title pays homage to my favorite Shakespeare play, Othello. Ms. Maguire’s book was jarring, unnerving, and emotional. I feel that this book came into my life just at the right time. I was destined to read the book when I did. I is a permanent fixture on my bookshelf, even if I haven’t re-read it yet.
14. The quickest way to get me out of a crabby mood is to wave peppermint essential oil under my nose for 15 seconds.
15. I think Mark Rothko is a genius and hope that all of you get to have a moment of peace with one of his paintings.
16. I have an ear for (Western) European languages, even though I don’t spend anytime learning, practicing, and seeking them out. I hope that my wanderlust allows me the chance to finesse my francais and become more comfortable with my espanol and relearn conversational italiano and machen ein paar bier in deutschland mit freunden. I’m grateful to work with many native Spanish speakers. I desperately want to know what they’re talking about, so I force myself to figure out what they’re saying.
17. I hate long, overly crafted nails. I think they are unattractive and useless. Nails that go just above the tips of your fingers are fine. I naturally assume a person with overly crafted nails don’t want to get their hands dirty or lift heavy boxes or do manual labor. With that said, I keep my nails short, and every time I try to grow them, I fail.
18. My favorite household chore is doing dishes. I could easily live without a dishwasher, as I keep it basic and love doing dishes by hand. Some people knit. Others paint. I do dishes to calm down or distract myself on a bad day. It is such a simple chore that it doesn’t feel like a chore.
19. As a child I hated milk with my cereal. I would either eat it dry or use orange juice. To this day, I still love Cheerios in orange juice.
20. Just over a decade ago, I wanted to open a bookshop/cafe that featured art from high schoolers up to recent college graduates, as well as hosting a bi-monthly Salon and a bi-weekly open mic. I still do, and waxed mildly poetic about it in a post at A Life In Paperback.
21. If I don’t have to wear shoes, I won’t. The shoes are on only at work or while I’m exercising or am in a place of business where social etiquette requires people to wear shoes.
22. I don’t like driving, unless I’m driving long distances. I’d be happy to settle in a major metropolitan area with a strong public transportation system. Or in a contemporary commune that is able to sustain each and every resident.
23. I’m convinced I was born 30 years late. The history of the 50’s-70’s in Western Society and amazing cultural & political changes that happened were amazing and seeing all of that happen first hand would have been amazing.
24. I seem to always root for the underdog. Brian Kinney from the US version of Queer as Folk is my favorite underdog. He was incredibly selfish, pretentious, arrogant, and guarded. But, deep under that really hard veneer was a huge softy. In fact, I like the idea of doing a podcast about underdogs in literature, film, and TV.
25. Video games baffle me. Sure, I understand that satisfaction of competition &  completing tasks. But, sitting at a computer or at a TV to get that kind of satisfaction doesn’t appeal to me. I’d rather have some sort of physical or financial reward for completing tasks and having a healthy sense of competition. I’d rather play a game of touch football than play Halo.

I’m not going to take up anymore space. I’m going to make this a two parter! And, to be special, Part 2 is at my other blog, A Life In Paperback. To find out more about me, wonder over there!!