Here are 100 things about me in random order, randomly written -- but the real question is whether anyone
but me will make it through this list?
1. My middle initial is the same as my last initial. When I was born, my parents assumed that I'd get married and lose my last name, so they wanted to facilitate the "switching of the names" -- that is, if I wanted to keep my "maiden" name and make it a middle name, it would be easier since the initials were the same.
2. So far, they have been wrong about my getting married.
3. They are definitely wrong that I'll lose my "maiden" name if I ever do marry.
4. I grew up a middle child. That explains a lot, doesn't it?
5. I grew up with an older brother and a younger one too. That explains even more, eh?
6. I cannot seem to drink take-out coffee without spilling it. Every time. No kidding.
7. I lived in Japan for almost four years.
8. No other adult has my name with my spelling, although there are at least four near-misses.
9. I graduated from college with a double major in Sociology and Anthropology.
10. During the Bush, the elder, administration.
11. Because of my majors and the other programs I pursued as an undergrad, I had only
one elective after my first year.
12. And I stupidly used it on calculus.
13. Because my dad wanted me to.
14. Even though I had taken calculus in high school.
15. I don't do everything my dad tells me to.
16. Or my mom.
17. And I liberally ignore my brothers too.
18. I am and have always been a registered independent.
19. But I caucus with the dems.
20. I spend
way too much money on cheap shoes -- quantity over quality, man!
21. I don't eat mammals (read: chicken, seafood and fish = dinner, but no pork, beef, venison, mutton, etc.).
22. I haven't eaten mammals since I moved back from Japan in 1994.
23. I watch
Nightline.
24. I also watch
Oprah.
25. I don't have -- nor ever have had -- cable.
26. I have ABBA on my iPod.
27. My favorite color growing up was green.
28. I no longer have a favorite color.
29. In fact, I don't have favorite anythings.
30. I am allergic to alcohol.
31. I have never seen a full episode of
Melrose Place or
The Apprentice.
32. My hands are so large that I can reach more than an octave on the piano.
33. My left foot is bigger than my right foot.
34. I can swear in Arabic.
35. I prefer Coke over Pepsi. Diet Coke, definitely Diet Coke.
36. I was born in Washington, DC -- really!
37. I collect masks from around the world. Someday, someone is going to make a ton of money off of them on
Antiques Roadshow or
eBay.
38. I own more hot pink jackets than anyone over ten rightfully should.
39. Every once in a while, I
Google lost friends and ex-boyfriends.
40. I once voted for a Republican --
Connie Morella -- but she doesn't really count as an R.
41. I have never done any illegal nor illicit drugs.
42. I have never cheated on anyone, but I have been cheated on -- and I was once the "other woman".
43. I don't know which is worse -- being cheated on or being an accomplice to it. Both suck.
44. I collect memorabilia of Asian American politicians (buttons, campaign propaganda, signed business cards/photographs).
45. I can wiggle my ears.
46. I have been known to have ice cream for breakfast.
47. I have travelled to more foreign countries than I have U.S. states.
48. I remember life before VCRs, personal computers and remote controls.
49. I have a Master's Degree in International Affairs.
50. That degree is, essentially, worthless.
51. I can eavesdrop in Japanese.
52. I play canasta online. More often than I should.
53. I am the worst housekeeper on the face of this earth. Or on any other planet.
54. I dye my hair to cover the gray.
55. The first real piece of furniture I bought was a bed for $500 in 1996. Until then, I had hand-me-downs and gift furniture.
56. I still have that bed, but I have gotten rid of the hand-me-downs.
57. I own way too many clothes that I am likely never to wear again, but somehow can't manage to get rid of them.
58. I graduated from law school with a 3.51 GPA -- and I am very proud of that accomplishment. However, it's not something I can or do brag about except when buried in a list of 100 things about me.
59. I look very good in purple and red. Not so good in yellow or pastels in general.
60. I am incredibly lazy.
61. "Procrastination" and "rationalization" are my confirmation names.
62. No, I was never confirmed. I only made it as far as being baptized. That didn't require any work on my part.
63. My mother grew up Catholic. I grew up skeptical -- and obnoxious.
64. I was a breech birth. My mother actually delivered me. Go mom!
65. Despite my law degree, I seriously doubt that I'll achieve a standard of living that exceeds my parents'.
66. I am the first woman directly up the matrilineal side to attend college.
67. My mom was the saludatorian of her high school class but didn't have the economic means to ever attend university. Instead, she went to "B-school". In those days, B-school meant "secretarial school".
68. My mother's mother was pulled out of school after the mandatory eighth grade education to work on the family farm.
69. To the best of my knowledge, my grandmother's mother was uneducated. However, she came over from Croatia on a boat with her two young daughters, not speaking any English but knowing that she would probably never see her homeland or the rest of her family again. I can't imagine doing that and admire her courage tremendously.
70. My father and his family were interned during World War II in Arizona.
71. No, they were not spies. They were and are Japanese American. Perfectly innocent.
72. That makes me CroAsian American(tm).
73. I have now provided enough information about me to figure out my identity. But don't bother. Nothing too exciting to learn.
74. I lettered in three sports in junior high school. I didn't do any sports in high school.
75. My first car was a Datsun. Yup, ya' know -- before the company became Nissan? It was bronze.
76. I talk back to the television. But not to movies in the theater. I get really annoyed when people do that.
77. I can drive standard and parallel park just about anything.
78. I prefer public transportation or walking to driving.
79. Fortunately for me, I live in a city where all that is possible and one doesn't need a car.
80. But I have one anyway.
81. I keep it out in the 'burbs.
82. It's a Toyota. 1988.
83. If I were to buy a new car, I'd get a hybrid.
84. Because I'm ridiculously pragmatic.
85. Both my parents drive hybrid cars (the same one in fact, in different colors).
86. If I were a soccer mom, I'd buy a Plymouth PT Cruiser.
87. I will never buy an SUV unless I live out in the woods. They bug me.
88. I have no intention of ever living out in the woods. Maybe the 'burbs. With a lakehouse in the mountains.
89. I once googled myself and among the results was a porn site.
90. It wasn't me on that site.
91. One of my greatest peeves is smokers who throw their butts on the street. Selfish, rude litterbugs!
92. I prefer the aisle seat to the window on plane trips.
93. I am quite vocally opinionated... as if you didn't already figure that out.
94. I am the oldest person in my family to remain unmarried... ever. I do this to take the heat off my younger brother. My grandmother used to lamant my single status, but now I think she's just given up. My mother has never hassled me about this, but I think it might be because so long as most of her kiddies are single, she can remain in denial about how old we (and by implication, she) are.
95. I am my mother's favorite daughter. I am also her least favorite daughter. I am, in fact, her only daughter.
96.
John Stossel drives me batty. So does
John McLaughlin. I steadfastly refuse to watch them or even hear their voices. I change the channel whenever they come on.
97. I buy Christmas and birthday presents all year 'round but have been known to "lose" them (because I put them in a "safe place") such that I end up having to buy something else.
98. My middle name means "beautiful, blessed child" in Japanese.
99. I have five tattoos. None of them are readily visible unless I am wearing a tank top or open-back shirt.
100. I am considering getting more. Shh, don't tell my grandmother!
UPDATE (7/4/06):
The Travel Yup likes exotic and adventurous travel, but prefers big cities with fast paced life. She has a keen interest in other cultures and always brings home a few souvenirs. 
