Saturday, August 04, 2007

100 Things You Didn't Want to Know

This began as a comment on Ilene's blog in response to her list of 100 things, but the comment had obvious potential of being way too long.

She took this idea from our friend Shonda's blog. And now I am taking it. I didn't actually think I would come up with 100 things, but talking about myself is easier than I thought -- especially when my stream of conciousness is on a roll.

1. I am afraid of lasik eye surgery.
2. It took me a long time to buy my own furniture because I liked the freedom of owning nothing.
3. When a Hummer is in front of me on the road I get a little tense.
4. Whenever my mom casually mentions something that happened in church that day, I smile inside.
5. The “Little Women” soundtrack makes me feel at home.
6. Jet skis and motorcycles freak me out.
7. That violinist guy on PBS with the wavy hair and brooch annoys me.
8. I think those singing Celtic women wearing prom dresses and headsets on PBS are weird.
9. I really do like PBS most of the time.
10. I love cinnamon in my hot chocolate
11. I would cry during just about every episode of Party of Five back in the day.
12. If you write me a nice note or email, I keep it.
13. I have about twenty pens, pencils and markers in this drawer at my desk that I never use.
14. I get anxious before a haircut.
15. I love thunderstorms and I love to open the windows so I can smell the rain.
16. I really want to grow my own herbs and vegetables.
17. A well-balanced and beautiful-looking meal is incredibly satisfying to me.
18. Family Home Evening was infrequent at my house, but I looked forward to it and I tried to get my mom to organize them more often than she did.
19. Unless I’m a huge fan and I have a good seat, attending a rock concert isn’t my favorite thing to do.
20. I’m willing to pay the extra money for a better seat at a play or other performance (unless it’s the symphony. I don’t need to see anything there).
21. In college, my heart would ache as I passed the choirs rehearsing in the Madsen Recital Hall. I don’t regret taking violin lessons, but I often wished I stuck with choir.
22. I don’t like to begin a new project until I’ve cleaned up everything around me.
23. I feel lucky that I get to work in a historic building rather than an office building.
24. Fluorescent lighting depresses me a little.
25. I love getting emails from friends.
26. I take criticism about my character very seriously.
27. I hope Lisa knows that I think she’s a great sister.
28. I like wearing jewelry but don’t miss it when I don’t.
29. The Mamas and the Papas will forever remind me of our family road trip to Canada.
30. I’ve never been one to sun bathe. In fact, I try to avoid getting tan most of the time.
31. I don’t know how to dive.
32. I owe a lot of my self esteem and confidence to my dad.
33. I make it a point to eat breakfast every day.
34. I love to walk, but I don’t think I’ll ever enjoy running no matter how hard I try. Of course I don’t try very hard.
35. I wish I read more.
36. I love it when Ilene leaves me five minute voice mails about nothing.
37. Saving money is a sport for me.
38. Sometimes I feel like I’d fit in better on the east coast.
39. I don’t have to be, but I love being the hostess.
40. Mom was right when she said I wished I had Alex Keaton from Family Ties as a big brother. I don’t know why.
41. I wish I didn’t forget how to speak Italian.
42. I don’t like to let dirty dishes sit in the sink.
43. If you’re trying to set me up with someone and you say, “He’s got a lot of money,” to me that’s more a red flag than an attractive quality.
44. I love fancy cars, but they don't necessarily impress me.
45. I’ve had my iMac for six months now and I still use my PC at work for certain things because I haven’t learned how to do it the Macintosh way.
46. I used to be indecisive but now I'm not so sure.
47. I don’t remember the last time I bought white bread.
48. I used to think it was Crown Burger until Rhett told me it was Crown Burgers.
49. I can go about four days before I really start to crave meat.
50. A couple people have shown me how to change a tire but I’ve never had to do it by myself, so I’m not confident that I could.
51. Buying quality mattresses was one of the nicest things I’ve ever done for myself.
52. I’d rather look up a phone number on whitepages.com than in the actual white pages.
53. I look forward to moving into or building a house where I can design the lighting scheme myself, that way my art collection will actually look good.
54. I love checking things off my “to do” list. I even write down things I’ve already done so I can check them off.
55. I hope my kids have dark hair.
56. People with a broad vocabulary really impress me.
57. Good manners impress me.
58. I’ve watched the first season of the following shows at least twice on DVD: 24, Alias, Arrested Development, Gilmore Girls, and the West Wing.
59. I’ll do just about anything for you if you ask me to.
60. I am much better at writing than I am at talking.
61. I think I’m going to look into taking some graphic design classes.
62. Sometimes I wish my job was like a school year, so I could get a different “summer” job and then return to this one in the fall.
63. I think cuplets would taste a lot better than mini’s cupcakes.
64. I don’t think Adam Sandler is that funny.
65. I’ve never had fake nails.
66. Nail polish doesn’t last very long on my fingernails.
67. I loved it when my cat would jump up on my bed and take a nap with me.
68. I greet most animals as if we’re old friends.
69. The thought of people hunting rabbits and ducks makes me sad.
70. I don’t like violent and gory movies.
71. I don’t mind movies that don’t end happily.
72. If I couldn’t have my dad, I would choose Atticus Finch. More specifically, Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch.
73. It took me about three different sittings to get through Lawrence of Arabia.
74. October is my favorite month. Somehow, it makes me feel nostalgic, cozy and safe.
75. I love to window shop with people, but I usually only make purchases when I’m by myself.
76. Grocery shopping is relaxing for me.
77. I worry about potential problems too much.
78. I love it when people walk up to me and give me a hug, just because they’re glad to see me.
79. I like speaking in church.
80. I wish I knew how to dance.
81. I wish I knew how to take really good photographs.
82. I get cold pretty easily.
83. I don’t like to start any kind of project unless I’m confident I can do it well.
84. I love decorating for Christmas.
85. After cooking a lot of food, I don’t feel so much like eating it.
86. I’m not a camper, but I’ll pretend to be.
87. If I do get a finance charge on my bill, I’ll usually try to talk my way out of it.
88. I prefer to wash my car at home than go to the car wash.
89. When I do go to the automatic car wash, I refuse to get out of my car and “pre-rinse” it with the bucket of sudsy water. I don’t know when they started doing that, but to me, they’re sending a message that says “Our car wash doesn’t work that well.” If I wanted to wash my own car, I wouldn’t have paid for the car wash.
90. I hate WalMart. I hate the lines, I hate the layout, I hate how little they pay their employees. I especially hate that it’s not beneath me to shop there on occasion simply to save money.
91. I battle back and forth between the satisfaction of eating healthy (but spending a lot of money to do it) and saving a lot of money (but eating crap).
92. I like it when people have last names as first names (Carter, Anderson, Hales, Maxwell, etc.)
93. I don’t like watching people in uncomfortable situations.
94. My life would be easier if I wasn’t so afraid of people’s feelings being hurt.
95. If you can genuinely make me laugh, you can be my friend.
96. I don’t eat as much pasta as I used to.
97. I have little patience for kids that talk back to their parents.
98. The drowsy and loopy effects of NyQuil linger in my system for days.
99. I love giving gifts.
100. I wouldn’t want to return to a life before email and instant messaging.

17 comments:

Maria said...

ok- I'm going to be honest and say I didn't read every item, but I have a question. If saving money is important to you and even a "sport", why is a guy with money a red flag? Just wondering....

Laura Lee said...

My list has a few contradictions. I guess lately I've heard a lot of stories of guys who have a lot of money but their business or means of getting it was kinda shady. It doesn't have to be an unattractive quality. And so I guess it's a snap judgement that perhaps they could be one of those people who have a money-centric mind and ambition. And I'm not into that.

Laura Lee said...

Oh, and don't get me wrong. Destitute and in debt isn't attractive in the least.

Ilene said...

Loved the list. Reading your list and Shonda's list makes me feel awfully simple. I guess it goes back to the item on my list saying that I tend to compare myself to others. I hate that.

Thanks for saying you like my 5 minute messages. I tend to nervously babble away when confronted with voice mail.

You DO greet every animal as an old friend. No one can say "Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty" like you. It is like listening to a Spanish-speaking person roll their "r"s.

TUG said...

My thoughts on your list.

11. When I was in college my buddies and I would tape Party of 5 reruns and watch it after school. (but we are still men)

31. This summer we tried to teach my nieces how to dive. I just put the video on one of them on my site.

38. The East Coast Rules. If you need a tour, just let me know.

71. Have you seen Love Story?

100. I wish I knew you so I could IM you.

Thanks for letting us know more about you.

Saule Cogneur said...

16. Once you go there, you can never enjoy grocery store produce again. Be ye warned.
38. People seem to get offended when I say that one. Being from Utah, maybe you are less condescending as I unintentionally appear to be.
44. The nice thing about my profession is that I'll never feel a need to project a snooty image onto anyone. I rather like the idea of never needing a car that costs more than $30k.
51. Last August, I paid three times what I'd intended for a mattress. It was all I could find, but next to my bike and maybe my guitar, it turned out to be the best purchase I ever made.

Steph said...

I cried during so many episodes of Party of Five. It was especially sad when Charlie got cancer and the whole family had to pull together. I miss that show.....

Laura Lee said...

And remember the intervention with Bailey when his drinking got out of control? That was rough.

I had a big crush on Charlie. Still do. Only now he's Jack on Lost.

alisa said...

i love that i can blog stalk old friends and remember all about them. great list!

TUG said...

If I remember Party of 5 correctly . . . didn't the family always have to pull together.

That show produced my second TV crush - Jennifer Love Hewitt. I know that you probably think that it is because of her looks, but in truth, I think that she is a great actress.

Charlotta-love said...

46. That made me laugh. A
54. I do that too. I have list of lists of lists. It's ridiculous. I need to make a list on how to combine my lists...
82. It's about 90 here in Georgia today but I'm wearing a jacket. How did I ever survive in Utah?!

Lisa Marie Trent said...

Holy crap. If I didn't know you at all- I would NOW.
I know I'm a good sister. At least I try to be..
I feel the same way about Little Women. However I hate grocery shopping. But then again I do it at WalMart so that would be explained easily by you..
Gosh. I wonder if I could come up with 100 things. Yikes.

Ilene said...

Hey, isn't it funny how the most self-indulgent blog post illicits the most comments? I was just noticing that about mine and then I check out yours to see if that is true in your case and voila! It is. Where are these people commenting on our other posts? You are a true friend, you comment no matter what I write. However, don't be surprised if I come up with "Another 100 things you didn't want to know" to satisfy my comment participation ego.

Boneck Family said...

that is a mother of a list. i think its funny that you get nervous before a hair cut. i guess with hair that long one misguided swoop with those scissors and it would take a lot to fix that mess.

Shanna said...

Fabulous list Laura! I loved every numbered little item. Funny thing about me...I read your list backward. Don't know why. I guess it was less intimidating that way:)

Cameron's Corner said...

I do the same thing. Having new comments emailed to me, that is.

If I did a list of 100 things like this, about 80 or 90 of them would be the same as yours. Funny, eh?

Nick said...

Let me know if you ever need help with number 78, or 82!! ;)