100 things about me

1. I have a thank you card from Mikhail Baryshnikov.
2. I lived in Chicago for five years in the 80's.
3. I moved there to be with my boyfriend, who later became my first husband.
4. Not long after I left him, I left Chicago.
5. I went to Europe.
6. Vienna was my favorite city, where I lived for a few months.
7. I didn't learn much German.
8. I hung out with a bunch of ex-pats from Bolivia.
9. I kissed a bunch of them.
10. I slept with two of them.
11. I was a late bloomer, sexually.
12. I made up for it, though.
13. I almost gave birth to Hijo in the back seat of my mother's white Oldsmobile.
14. I have been married and divorced twice.
15. I have no plans to ever get married again.
16. I like my coffee strong and sweet and with some half-and-half. 
17. Even better, heavy cream.
18. I have a bachelor's degree in psychology which I got from the University of Washington in 1984.
19. Damn, that was a long time ago.
20. I volunteered for a couple of years at the Crisis Clinic, a suicide prevention hotline in Seattle.
21. A few years before that, so did Ted Bundy.
22. Ted Bundy and I have several things in common.
23. I never killed anybody, though.
24. I lived in Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico for two years.
25. That's where I met Hijo's dad.
26. I taught ESL there.
27. It was one of the best jobs I've had.
28. I ate a lot of tacos al pastor.
29. My friend and I lived with a señora whose husband had killed himself less than a year earlier.
30. You could still see the bullet hole in the wall in their bathroom upstairs.
31. I think he haunted that house.
32. If I could have any talent in the world, it would be singing.
33. I wouldn't sing opera, I'd sing jazz.
34. I used to be a really good water skier.
35. I have one sibling, a younger sister.
36. I like to take really hot baths.
37. I like to read in the bathtub.
38. You can easily tell which books in my collection I have already read, and which I haven't.
39. I laugh at corny jokes.
40. I have a soft spot for cheesy puns.
41. I also love a dry wit.
42. I gesture a lot when I'm excited.
43. I talk really fast and mumble sometimes.
44. Though much less than I used to.
45. When I lived in Mexico, I was terribly afraid of scorpions.
46. Once, Hijo's dad killed one on our wall, and hundreds of just-hatched babies went sucrrying.
47. I didn't sleep much that night.
48. We used to watch Beverly Hills 90210 dubbed in Spanish.
49. I was ambivalent about becoming a mother.
50. I love going to the movies and eating popcorn. 
51. I love watching the previews.
52. I like being backstage.
53. I helped Hijo's dad produce a one-man show that he performed in the Seattle Fringe Theater Festival.
54. I waited tables in Chicago.
55. I was a terrible waitress.
56. I still have anxiety dreams about it.
57. People often ask me for directions when I am walking down the street.
58. I got glasses in the fifth grade.
59. I got braces in the sixth.
60. Junior High was a ton of fun.
61. The boy that I was madly in love with for two years ended up going steady with my best friend.
62. When her father died twenty years later and I attended the service, that boy was there too.
63. The first thing I said to him was, "You broke my heart back in 9th grade."
64. He looked perplexed, but then very gently said he was sorry.
65. I was always friends with the librarians at school.
66. I used to go dancing three or four times a week at the salsa clubs in Seattle.
67. I didn't always use the best judgement during those days.
68. But I danced a lot.
69. It was my karmic payback for the dances in Jr. High.
70. I am very observant.
71. I went through a born-again Christian phase.
72. It was for the love of a friend.
73. I tend to love my friends almost as passionately as my romantic partners.
74. I really want to get a new camera. I love my new camera.
75. I'm also ready for a new car. I love my new car.
76. It would be nice to have a four-door vehicle before Hijo is grown up.
77. I consider myself a pretty radical feminist.
78. Until recently, all my closest friends have been women.
79. I've never slept with one, though.
80. I did have a crush on one once.
81. I acted just as stupid as when I have a crush on a man.
82. I'd always hoped it'd be different with girls.
83. I have a fantasy about creating a line of confections that go well with coffee.
84. I still haven't figured out if I believe in God.
85. Certainly not in any traditional sort of god.
86. Nor goddess.
87. Buddhism makes the most sense to me of any formal religion.
88. It is the hardest to practice.
89. It won't let you flinch from reality.
90. I would love to show my fotos in a gallery someday.
91. I admire people who are quiet.
92. I am a good dancer, cook, and kisser.
93. If I believed in reincarnation (haven't really decided about that one either), I'd say I was Italian in a past life.
94. I indulge myself too much.
95. Especially in food.
96. I love visiting new cities.
97. I don't get to use my brain nearly enough anymore.
98. I'd like to walk a very long distance someday.  As in hundreds of miles.
99. My parents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary next year.
100. I'll never have one.

Comments

[jen]

I nearly always read people's list of things about themselves. I like your list.

[Ruth]

I like your list, too. Especially #6 (being from Vienna)

[Mr. Smith]

I should have gotten more than just the one kiss.

[xath]

Great list. I laughed out loud at 60. And funny, but my best friend from high school worked at the Seattle Crisis clinic for years. I must ask him if he knew Ted Bundy.

[cc]

Your life has been interesting. That makes you lucky! And that Ted, he gets around. I worked for some people for a while, and he used to babysit their kids. Also, whenever I would go on a date my mom would say, "Meet him somewhere public!" and I would say, "But Mom, he's *nice*!" and she would say, "So was Ted Bundy!"

[Mary-Ann or alternately I answer to]

I have never read a blog before, however when I googled "single working mom blog" just out of curiosity, yours was the top of the list. I have enjoyed it a great deal. You have a soft way of writing which is quite poignant. Having read yours, I aspire to writing 100 things about myself too. I guess that will be my #1.
:)

[Andrea Williams]

My smile became wider, accompanied by wince or sigh for each item, as your list progressed.

I like you. A lot. If I constructed such a list, I would not be surprised to find five exact matches. But who knows where my thoughts would lead as I constructed such a list. You are more brave.

Maybe tomorrow I will do the same. Thank you.

[Kim]

Great blog! Love it

[greg]

Very few people have a 50th.
You are young -- 25 is still in reach.
Or not -- it's your choice. It sounds like you've lived well with the choices you've made.

The list, and your most recent post, tell me you are doing well -- though you probably don't think so.

It's been a while since I've checked in here, but your reflections reminded me of how honest, earnest and refreshing your writing is. Oh, and your camera work is noteworthy too.

As ever, thanks for sharing.
Wishing you all the best...

G