100 Things

Yes, I know the 100 Things meme is SO yesterday. Everyone who's anyone has already done one. But coming up with 100 Things About Me is harder than it sounds. I started this list almost 5 months ago, on a 12-hour train ride to Kanyakumari, and it has taken me months to finish.

And yes, I realize that this is one of those narcissistic navel-gazing exercises. But hey - some would say that bloggers are by nature narcissistic. Why else would we hurl our every thought into cyberspace, for the world to snicker at? :o)

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, in a blogging context, a meme (pronounced meem) is a question, exercise, or idea, that is passed from blog to blog. (For a much broader meaning of the word, check here.) The 100 Things meme has been making the rounds of blogs for years. Here is my version.

100 Things About Me

1. I was born in Poland, and born again in Connecticut, California, Texas, New Zealand, New York, and India.
2. I love lists.
3. There are very few things that I'm afraid of.
4. I'm afraid of being underwater.
5. In trying to get over that fear, I've white-water rafted, black-water rafted, snorkled, rowed, sailed, canoed, kayaked, and swam with dolphins.
6. I'm still terrified of being underwater.
7. I've taken swimming lessons numerous times, and in theory I can swim. But if you throw me in the deep end of a pool, I'm convinced I will die. (So please don't.)
8. I think it's because the Aries fire sign does not mix with water.
9. On the other hand, I will eagerly jump at the chance to engage in any air sport. So far, I have tried bungee jumping, parachuting, flying a Piper Cherokee plane, flying an ultralight, hot air ballooning, and parasailing.
10. I bungee jumped the day after I finished my Ph.D. dissertation.
    
11. Given the opportunity, I would travel to any place on earth. Yes, including Iraq and Afghanistan.
12. I did not vote for George Bush. But you know that already.
13. I used to be able to recite all 52 varieties of Dunkin' Donuts. The last time I was able to do that was in 1975.
14. I don't do relationships.
15. Sometimes I do crushes though.
16. I've worked as a janitor, au pair girl, Dunkin' Donuts hostess, teacher, secretary, typist, lab assistant, neuroscientist, dishwasher, and instructional designer.
17. I find dishwashing to be very satisfying work.
18. Contrary to what some people think, I like animals ok, I just don't want to live with them.
19. Same with men.
20. My favorite animals used to be storks. Then it was dolphins. Then sheep. Currently, it's camels.
    
21. I've had a cat, bird, and dog named after me. I'm not sure whether I should feel flattered or insulted.
22. I've lived on four continents and visited 19 countries.
23. In New Zealand, they used to call me Baaaaaasia, because I was in love with the sheep.
24. I've had 27 different addresses.
25. In New Zealand, I had a house in the woods with an outdoor bathtub under the pine trees. It was very secluded, so there was little chance of anyone stopping by unannounced. The only person who ever did that was a Jehovah's Witness, and I figure anyone who tries to convert me deserves what he gets.
26. I got my U.S. citizenships so that I'd be eligible to join the Peace Corps. Then, I never joined the Peace Corps.
27. Still may, someday.
28. I love Excel spreadsheets. Everything about my life is arranged in Excel spreadsheets. I should be a poster girl for Microsoft.
29. I love boxes too. Not just the cute, decorative souvenir type thingys. Any boxes, even plain old cardboard ones. Anything that helps contain chaos.
30. I've never understood why people are afraid of dying. Since no one knows for sure what happens, what's to be afraid of?
    
31. When I was in grade school, I wanted to be a secretary or a stewardess when I grew up.
32. I speak Polish, English, enough Spanish to understand, and 100 words of Tamil.
33. Sometimes I think in Polish.
34. I do a mean rooster call. I learned it on a midnight walk through the villages of Poland.
35. Walking in the snow makes me cry. In a good way.
36. I'm a vegetarian, but I don't eat enough vegetables. I eat too much junk food.
37. It's not a moral or ethical thing. It's a taste-bud thing - I can't stand the texture of meat.
38. Maybe I'm more of a carbohydratearian.
39. Once, I ate a chicken fried steak for $900. I had to put tapioca pudding on it to make it go down easy.
40. Someday, I'm going to bicycle across America. Probably solo.
    
41. I'm a feminist. Yes, we are still around.
42. A fortune teller once told me that I've had three past lives: a geisha girl, a fisherman living on a small island, and a guardsman in Holland. She said I was happiest as a fisherman.
43. Gee, I wonder why I wasn't happy as a geisha girl?!
44. I've worked with battered women in Texas, New Zealand, and Rochester.
45. Sadly, they are everywhere.
46. I adore Melissa Etheridge, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, and Ellen Degeneres.
47. Yes, I am.
48. I love to go to a city I've never been, grab my camera, and walk for 7 or 8 hours.
49. I'm probably the only person in America who has never been to a drive-in movie. I want to.
50. I'm not afraid of hard work.
    
51. One thing you could never accuse me of, is being a Princess. I come from hardy Polish peasant stock, and am proud of it.
52. What I find most distressing and horrifying about the world is the violence and hatred perpetuated by organized religions. All of them.
53. At least once in my life, I want to do New Year's Eve at Times Square.
54. Twenty years ago, for a split-second, I saw a fresh-faced, red-haired young woman on a bike path in Barton Springs, Austin. We never spoke, but for some reason, I think of her at least once a year. I don't know why.
55. Summer is my least favorite season.
56. I started this list on a long train ride to Kanyakumari, at the southern tip of India.
57. I've been in love. I checked it off my list of Things To Do At Least Once In My Life.
58. Yes, I really do have such a list. I started it as a teenager, when I read about this man's life list. But instead of getting shorter, my list just keeps getting longer.
59. Phones annoy me. Especially cell phones. Especially other people's cell phones.
60. I need to see a person's face when I talk to them.
    
61. I frequently remind myself that things are rarely as they appear. I'm always surprised how often that turns out to be true.
62. I had lasik surgery so I'd never have to wear glasses.
63. Then I got old, and now I have to wear the other kind of glasses.
64. My three sisters and I all have the same chin and teeth.
65. In my next life I want to be a figure skater.
66. I've only ever had one broken bone, from a bicycle accident. Knock on wood.
67. When I was 15, I won a $500 bond for selling seed packets door-to-door and writing an essay about why I loved doing it.
68. I don't have a middle name. All my sisters do. The official explanation was that I was very sick when I was born, and they had to baptize me quickly because doctors didn't know how long I would live. I'm not buying that. During 9 months of pregnancy, they couldn't come up with a middle name??? :o)
69. I don't remember much before age 9.
70. My first memory when we moved to the U.S was on the train from Canada taking us to our new home in Connecticut, being fascinated by a little girl's corn row braids. I had never seen them before.
    
71. I remember the first potato chip I ever ate. I was 9.
72. I love potatoes. Chips. Fries. Spicy-ass. Mashed. Baked. Latkes. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.
73. It's a Polish thing.
74. I can't say the words "puss-in-boots." Go ahead, laugh.
75. I love the word "embouteillage." It's a French word referring to a kind of traffic jam where no one can move unless someone else makes a move first, so everyone is stuck. It often comes to mind as I sit in the traffic jams of Chennai, India.
76. I think that people should have serial careers.
77. I like to cook only when I'm feeling inspired.
78. Cold weather recharges me.
79. What I love most about my Rochester home is the fireplace.
80. Lily-of-the-valley makes me think of my mother.
    
81. I'm a firm believer in the mind-body connection.
82. I will try almost anything once.
83. Except food. I'm not adventurous when it comes to food.
84. I collect experiences.
85. I used to collect stamps, coins, postcards, and numerous other things.
86. Family legend has it that when I was little I used to collect pebbles in our yard, and organize them by size and shape.
87. I never have the TV on as background noise.
88. I have almost as many letters behind my name, as in my name.
89. I'm usually a penny pincher, with my own money or anyone else's. Except when it comes to travel, then I happily pay whatever it takes.
90. With all the traveling I've done, I've never seen the Grand Canyon.
    
91. I rarely watch the same movie twice. Or reruns of TV shows, for that matter.
92. I skipped third grade. I've always wondered what happens there.
93. I'm allergic to mouse urine; I break out in a rash. Don't ask. (It's an ex-scientist thing).
94. I've been told my expectations are too high.
95. I hate being late. I hate it even more when I'm late, than when others are late.
96. I'm impatient with people who won't cut to the chase.
97. I am an agnostic. I figure if there is no god, it won't matter. And if there is, she/he/it will understand my skepticism.
98. I applied for Survivor once. They didn't want me.
99. I completed the Hotter Than Hell Hundred. And yes, it was.
100. What would make my life better: an instant travel machine so I could flit about the globe without wasting time on a plane.

tags: 100 things  basia kruszewska