100 Things

In honor of boredom and apropos of nothing, I present you, dear Reader, with 100 things about me.

1. I love grape jelly. This probably stems from my mother’s dislike of grape jelly, so all we had growing up was strawberry. In order to complete the Circle of Life, any kids I have will have to grow up hating grape jelly. Except they shouldn’t, since grape jelly rocks!

2. I am close to both my parents, but closer emotionally to my mother.

3. I am Jewish and worry about the amount of “benign” anti-Semitism in my country and in the world.

4. I work at a medium-sized company (more than 400 employees) along with 2 cousins, my brother and my father.

5. I don’t like driving over bridges and have to do deep-breathing exercises in order to cross the bridge. If I’m riding in the car though, no problems.

6. My greatest fear is being electrocuted.

7. I am a hard-core C-SPAN junkie.

8. I sunburn very easily and have had two instances of skin cancer (basal cell). I wear sunscreen every day – my favorite (currently) is Neutrogena Healthy Defense.

9. I love going to the movies and used to go every weekend. I haven’t seen as many as I’d like to in the past several years due to law school, John Dear’s painful feet, all-around busyness and the fact that movies are now a million dollars a pop.

10. Both of the dogs in my life have been boys. I don’t know if I could have a girl dog, because I’d tell her she was a good boy.

11. I am a repeat orderer. I always say that I’m going to get something new and I almost always get the same thing. Why mess with perfection? My orders: Cheesecake Factory – Chicken Marsala with Bowties; any diner-type restaurant – Western Omelet.

12. I cannot defy gravity, but I can touch my tongue to my nose. Ah, my one great skill.

13. I am left-handed.

14. Most embarrassing story about myself: I once bought so much in one trip at Lane Bryant that they sent me a bouquet of flowers.

15. My favorite soda is Dr. Pepper, closely followed by cream soda and root beer.

16. I’m a sucker for a good home-improvement show – but nothing on HGTV beats the classic Hometime from PBS and TLC.

17. In the course of my post-college education, I have attended 4 different universities in the greater Washington, DC area. I’d consider doing a Ph.D. if only to bag some more schools for a grand slam.

18. I love to read and try to do so as much as possible and as varied a selection as possible. See my LibraryThing widgets on my sidebar for specifics. I’m constantly trolling for recommendations, so pass ‘em along.

19. I saw The Graduate and hated it. Sue me.

20. Best thing ever: rainy day, cozy chair and hassock, crackling fire, good book, cuppa tea, buttered scones.

21. Overseas place where I could see myself living: London or Amsterdam.

22. Stateside place where I wish I was living: Maryland.

23. Stateside place where I am living: Virginia.

24. John Dear and I met on E*Harmony. I was his first match!

25. Growing up, I believed that the Flintstones was based on my parents, as they resemble, both in looks and character, Fred and Wilma.

26. I was never a Brownie or Girl Scout because they shut down the local troop before I was old enough to join.

27. I only wanted to be a Brownie because I liked the uniforms. Ditto for the Poms Squad, Cheerleaders, Field Hockey and Crew.

28. My first car (that I got to drive, not that I owned) was a 1990 Buick Roadmaster station wagon, white with wood paneling.

29. I memorized my credit card number in law school so that I could buy stuff online while I was sitting in class.

30. I’m not good at video games because I get terribly motion sick. Instead, I am the best video game spectator on earth.

31. When I’ve driven safely through a yellow light, I kiss my hand and touch it to the roof of my car as a thank you. A friend taught me this in high school and I’ve never been able to break the habit.

32. Favorite author: Diana Gabaldon for her Outlander series – it’s history, it’s time travel, it’s romance, it’s everything. Sigh.

33. I love listening to comedy specials and going to see comedians. Current favorites: Jim Gaffigan, Carlos Mencia, Frank Caliendo and Patton Oswalt.

34. There are four remotes on our coffee table now. TV, TiVo, Cable, DVD player.

35. What do I worry about? Everything. My mom calls me Very Worried Walrus after the Sweet Pickles books. Now that I’m a lawyer, I say that I’m employed as a professional worrier.

36. I have a relevant quote from Friends for just about every situation.

37. TV Shows I watch currently: Deadliest Catch, Grey’s Anatomy, Ice Road Truckers, House, How I Met Your Mother, Top Chef, 24.

38. When I was little, I wished that I was Christian so that I could sing in a church choir.

39. My favorite carol is “O Holy Night.” I first heard it in the movie, Home Alone.

40. My least favorite carol is “The Little Drummer Boy.” Whenever I hear it, I start to hate Christmas.

41. Favorite TV shows ever: Friends, West Wing, Quantum Leap.

42. I’ve visited 24 states and 9 countries.

43. My type? Waldo. Yes, Waldo from the children’s books. EX: David Tennant (Dr. Who), John Oliver (from The Daily Show), all of my ex-boyfriends and my husband.

44. Crazy decision: a prone-to-motion-sickness person going to Venice for her honeymoon. John Dear carried several different kinds of Dramamine for me on that trip.

45. I helped my team win a talent show in Hebrew School by lip synching to a Janet Jackson song.

46. I am unable to light matches or small cigarette lighters without burning myself and/or heirloom tablecloths in my vicinity. I (and I’m sure a grateful fire department) now rely on those long trigger lighters for all my ignition needs.

47. I love musicals! My favorite of all time is Guys & Dolls. I prefer the 1992 revival with Nathan Lane, Faith Prince and Peter Gallagher.

48. The restaurant at which John Dear and I had our first date was knocked down soon after we went there. They rebuilt in time for us to have our second anniversary there.

49. I reached my lowest weight ever in my adult life during my first year out of college. Then, BFF and I went on vacation and I proceeded to eat my way through Europe. Eight years later, I’m still struggling with the aftermath of that trip.

50. The first rock concert I ever went to was in college. I saw Alannis Morrisette when she was touring for her hit song, “You Oughta Know.”

51. I’ve since seen Counting Crows, Letters to Cleo, Velocity Girl, Guster, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews Band, Paul McCartney, N*SYNC, Elton John, Billy Joel and U2.

52. My BFF has a theory to which I completely subscribe. In a family of three kids or more, the youngest child when grown up will state that his/her favorite flavor of popsicle is green or orange. Why? BFF says, and I agree, that it is because the older kids always picked red and purple first, so the younger child only ever received orange or green.

53. My first boyfriend was very geeky and into computers. After many intervening years and many different boyfriends, my husband is very geeky and into computers.

54. I used to be addicted to McDonald’s. In my first and second years of law school, I probably had fast food eight times a week. After watching the movie Supersize Me, however, I went cold turkey. I have not had any fast food since October 2005.

55. I love watching fireworks. John Dear loves lighting off fireworks. It works for us.

56. My favorite movie changes from day to day and moment to moment. Here’s the list of my current faves: Weekend at Bernie’s, The Hunt for Red October, Elizabeth, High Anxiety, Sense & Sensibility, Spaceballs, Ever After, Run Lola Run, Crimson Tide.

57. John Dear and I share the same favorite ice cream flavor – mint chocolate chip. Yet, we’ve never ordered it at an ice cream store since we met.

58. I think Glide is the best floss there is, but I don’t have a similar level of love for any kind of toothpaste.

59. I believe that the best tomato sauce is simple, made of stewed tomatoes with diced onions and spices.

60. I’ve learned that the key to fluffy scrambled eggs is to: a) add about 2 Tablespoons of water or milk to the beaten eggs and, b) allow the eggs to set in the medium-high heated pan for about 45 seconds prior to scrambling.

61. My favorite quote: “Some people see things as they are and ask, ‘Why?’ I dream things that never were and ask, ‘Why not?’”

62. I can run a mile (given enough time).

63. I think the world would be a better place if we laughed at least once a day.

64. I’ve learned that the greatest gift in the world is to have someone who can make you laugh so hard you spit out your drink.

65. My favorite tea is Twinings. I prefer English Breakfast or Irish Breakfast, both with milk and a spoonful of sugar.

66. Favorite song? Too many to count. I prefer to go by the CDs where I love every song on the album. That’s both from Maroon 5 (Songs About Jane and It Won’t Be Soon Before Long), Vertical Horizon’s debut album (Everything You Want) and John Mayer’s Room for Squares.

67. Biggest childhood fears: Darth Vader, ET, Hitler.

68. I’ve voted in every general election for which I was eligible to vote, but the first time I voted in a primary was this year.

*69. I know you called.

70. The best Girl Scout cookies are, without a doubt, Thin Mints.

71. I’d be super-clean and organized if I didn’t get in my own way.

72. These ladies made me wish I could write like they do: Mel, Geohde, Julie, LJ, Alexa and JJ.

73. Don’t let me get hungry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m hungry.

74. Seriously. I almost killed John Dear on our honeymoon for “betraying me and not letting me eat food.”

75. He should have listened to BFF’s advice to have a snack or sandwich for every hour that you could be out of the hotel. That’s how she has lived through many trips with me.

76. In high school, my favorite color was green and the large proportion of green items in my wardrobe attested to that. Green eventually gave way to blue for my college and post-graduate years, but lately, I’ve been moving back to green.

77. I can never move away from this area because I’d have to take the bar exam again. Not that I refuse to take another bar, but John Dear has made it pretty clear that he can’t live through me taking the bar again.

78. My current weekday breakfast: two scrambled eggs and cheese on whole wheat toast and a large hazelnut coffee with cream and sugar.

79. I’ve never worked in retail nor at a restaurant. I did work the refreshment stand at my high school’s basketball games, but that was for fundraising, not as a job, so it doesn’t really count.

80. The best hot chocolate made in the entire world is at The Phoenician, a hotel in Arizona.

81. I used to only get hot chocolate at Starbucks, but transitioned about a year ago to Chai Tea Lattés.

82. I love hockey, but more importantly, I love the Washington Capitals. I’ll drink their Kool-Aid any day.

83. I have snored so loudly that I’ve woken myself up. I have done this more than once.

84. I started learning German in graduate school eight years ago. I did really well in the class, but have lost the great majority of what I learned. All I can remember now is how to count, how to ask someone’s name, how to tell someone my name and how to tell you in a grammatically-incorrect way that I forget all my German.

85. Ich vergesse meinen Deutsch. (Told ya it was grammatically-incorrect).

86. Since I studied French for so long, however, I am able to pick that back up relatively quickly.

87. Voila! Je souviens la français!

88. I can calculate a tip, but cannot make change.

89. On my wedding day, I was so drugged with Dramamine (because of nausea) that I had my sister help me out of my dress just before the ceremony so I could take a nap.

90. I’m a lifelong Democrat, but I’m usually only a little left of center.

91. I can usually remember my dreams; they are always in color.

92. I never got into The Simpsons. I’ve seen episodes here and there, but I was never a huge fan.

93. I thought Ricky Schroeder’s racecar bed in Silver Spoons was cool, but I would have preferred to have the duck-shaped phone.

94. I rock at logic puzzles, crosswords and Sudoku.

95. I also rock Trivial Pursuit. I am a font of useless trivia. Like the fact that I know where the phrase “hocus pocus” comes from.

96. I’m not a huge fan of Mexican food, but I do love me some guacamole.

97. I grind my teeth at night so I have to wear a night guard to prevent me from cracking the enamel.

98. I used to wear acrylic nails but had to stop wearing them in order to use the mikveh. I miss having nice nails all the time, but appreciate the mikveh and the drop in expenses more.

99. I love the Container Store so much that I’m not allowed to shop there without someone to stop me from impulse buying.

100. I much prefer even numbers as opposed to odd.