A River Between

A good exercise I’ve seen other “bloggers” do - list out 100 interesting factoids about oneself. Hopefully you’ll find them amusing and hence, get a better glimpse into the eccentricities that are my life… I wrote these in early 2004, and surprisingly, have maybe only changed two things in this list.

1. Though I am an only child, my mother did have two other children after me who were stillborn.

2. I have sung in Carnegie Hall!

3. I generally crave a good Mocha all day long.

4. I do not smoke. Never have. Never will.

5. In the fourth grade I was “the little Democrat”, trying to convince everyone I knew to vote for Jimmy Carter for President.

6. Jimmy Carter is still my biggest hero.

7. I have met and am still a fan of Deborah (Debbie) Gibson.

8. I met Sally Struthers once and successfully insulted her by making a joke about “Do you wanna make more money” - I received a mocking laugh back from her “HA!… HA!….HA!…”

9. In 1996 I lived in Sonoma County in California and worked on Apple Computer’s internal employee helpdesk.

10. I’ve visited Alaska, and it’s one of my favorite places on the planet.

11. When snow accumulates on the ground in winter I find I play a lot more Playstation games.

12. Growing up, my father made HUGE solar panels for our house.

13. I give $5 a month more to my utility company for Wind Energy development.

14. I’ll be a student again in Fall of 2005 in Arts Administration.

15. I’m a recovering Barnes and Noble junkie.

16. For my 6th birthday I asked for a chocolate cake with orange frosting, and got it! yay mom!

17. When singing at a wedding I once got the phone number of the groom.

18. After singing at another wedding, the bride thanked me and told me that I would have to sing at her next wedding too.

19. I still can’t trill my rrrr’s well when singing.

20. I sing tenor. On a good day or lesson I can hit a high E-flat an octave above middle C.

21. I’ve seen Sarah Brightman in concert and liken her to The Karate Kid because of her moves on stage.

22. I buy music mostly from independent and local musicians.

23. I drive a 2002 Saturn SL-1 named “Chloe”.

24. My mother waited until I was 21 to tell me that she and my father lived together before they were married, and simply said “Hmm..a lot of things about your mother you don’t know..”

25. A famous expression my mother uses is “I love my mother. I love her over there!”

26. I lived in Alabama for four years growing up. Had an accent moving there and leaving there.

27. After living in Minnesota, then moving to Wisconsin in 2000, my friends got a good cackle with my Minnesota accent when I explained “I have a rattle in my car under my hoooooood.”

28. I love my mother dearly. I love her over there.

29. I do not eat mushrooms.

30. When I moved out of the house my parents bought cream of mushroom soup in lots as if it were endangered.

31. Don’t even TRY to sneak mushrooms into something you cook for me. I’ll know!

32. I pay my bills online…all of them…what’s a stamp?

33. Once I had a part time job with a psychic hotline reading tarot cards.

34. I lasted a whole 2 days in the fast food industry early on in my working years.

35. I’ve never had to operate a cash register for any job so far.

36. I was born with only 3 wisdom teeth. They have all grown in fine, and I’ve not needed to have them removed.

37. The Cubs WILL win a world series before I die!

38. While I have my own car, I avidly take public transit to work.

39. I love the study of ancient cultures.

40. I believe in Atlantis.

41. I believe there was once human life on Mars.

42. I’m a registered Metro Skywarn storm-spotter.

43. I’ve never actively spotted and reported a storm..
44. …But I know what a tornado looks like and what to do just in case…really I do!

45. I go to two or three science fiction conventions a year.

46. I dressed up as Harry Potter for Halloween once and was mistaken for Count Chockula by a co-worker.

47. I’ve only done drag once for a high school production of “Here Come the Brides”. It did not warrant any more attempts.

48. I love to play Dance Dance Revolution on my Playstation 2!

49. I’m still playing Final Fantasy IX.

50. Someday I WILL perform in a production of Into the Woods.

51. I want to still be young enough to play Jack and sing “Giants in the Sky”, but as I get older, I like the role of the Baker.

52. I kill plants.

53. My favorite movie is “Muriel’s Wedding”

54. My favorite color is Green.

55. My favorite food is Potato and Leek Soup.

56. My favorite song is “Love Changes Everything” from Aspects of Love.

57. I grew up Presbyterian and Lutheran, but now I think I’m a UCC-Unitarian-Celtic-Shamanistic mix of faith.

58. I believe that the best way to have faith is to know that you don’t have all the answers, and that you must believe in the mystery of faith.

59. I of course believe that gay and lesbian people should have the right to marry.

60. I believe that church and state should be separate.

61. I am a Green Party supporter, and have voted for Ralph Nader in two elections.

62. I believe that one needs to believe in and envision peace first, in order to achieve it.

63. My next life I want to be an Artist and just paint!

64. I do not currently own a pet, but would like to have another Sheltie dog someday.

65. I still can’t wrap presents very well.

66. I play a little bit of folk guitar.

67. I barely passed piano proficiency while in college. Too many fingers and too many notes.

68. I was accepted into graduate study in Voice at the University of Iowa twice, and twice I opted to not enter the program due to the horrible treatment I had in both auditions by the chair of the opera department.

69. My first solo was in seventh grade when I sang “Let it Be” by the Beatles in a school assembly.

70. I have been studying voice and taking lessons since I was 14 years old.

71. I played in a USTA juniors tennis tournament when I was 15 years old.

72. I got creamed in said tennis turnament when I was 15 years old, but had a great time.

73. I got to play Tom Thumb in a production of “Barnum” when I was 21 and 6′1″ tall.

74. I hated it when they took out the Ewok song from Return of the Jedi when they remastered it. How dare they!

75. I have treated all illnesses herbally since 1998 and have not taken any antibiotics since then.

76. Up to now, I’ve never been hospitalized for anything except birth.

77. I want to live to be 100 years old.

78. I love using Priceline.com for motel rooms. I’m addicted!

79. I’ve owned my own business and worked from home at one point in life. Loved it, despite not making a lot of money.

80. I would someday love to open up a coffeehouse.

81. I’m comfortable being single…mostly.

82. Sometimes I get “my period”…that one time a month where I think I really need a partner. Sometimes it’s quite the heavy “flow”. Then I get over it, and I’m blissfully single again!

83. I’d love to retire in a small lake-cabin area, where the love of my life lives in their own cabin, and we sneak over to eachother’s places and the neighbors talk about us.

84. I have purchased my first home in Northfield, MN in 2004.

85. I know that I have a strong intuitive sense. Sometimes so strong that I get a little scared. I could tell stories about when I read tarot cards that many folks might not believe.

86. I threaten to someday write a book called “Get Over it!”… a modern day self-help title full of tough love.

87. I graduated 3rd out of 30 in my high school class.

88. I was kicked out of an honor society in college because I never went to meetings. I was practicing instead…how dare I do that?!

89. I see images and pictures in my mind when I do bodywork. I am a Reiki Master and also do Acupressure. I can often see auras.

90. I make street lights go out a lot of times when I walk under them. Its been happening to me for about 20 years now.

91. I still never swear in front of my parents.

92. My mother and I like to go places together and say we are mother and son, because neither of us looks our age.

93. I’ve been on the internet since 1990. Not non-stop! I’d be very hungry by now…but you get the picture.

94. I drink sugar free vanilla latte’s now instead of mochas…even though I still just wanted a mocha. Ok…well maybe I do this half the time.

95. I love going to the public library. I can’t even remember a time in my childhood where my mother and I didn’t go to the library regularly together.

96. I’m good at remembering names and conversations, but very bad about sending cards for birthdays, holidays, etc.

97. I love to watch Steve Irwin on Crocodile Hunter!

98. I once watched so much Crock Hunter in a week that I had dreams where Teri Irwin, the Crock Hunter’s wife, was NARRATING MY DREAMS.

99. I’m a National Public Radio junkie..err..member.

100. I love Blue Bunny ice cream. Bunny Tracks is my favorite!