25 Things You May or May Not Want to Know About Me

1. This past summer, I was obsessed with Facebook for a couple of weeks. Then school started back and I've only checked it a few times since then. I wanted to spend some time on it today, and discovered the 25 Things list.


2. Sometimes I fall asleep watching Colbert on Comedy Central and end up sleeping on the couch all night. Then, around 3-4 in the morning I start to have dreams about Girls Gone Wild.
   
3. My dog, Dobby, licks me all the live long day. I must have bacon coming out of my pores, which is odd, since I’m a vegetarian. It must be the peanut butter.
   
4. I’m afraid of falling, but not afraid of heights. Flying? No problem. Climbing down a ladder? Panic attack. When I was in high school (before I knew my limits), I got stuck in various places and had to get people to help me down. For example: in a pueblo in New Mexico on a trip with my family, at the top of the Statue of Liberty on a chorus trip, and (most embarrassingly) on a bunk bed during a trip with my youth group.
   
5. I didn’t start coloring my hair because I was going gray, but because I’ve always wanted red hair. I usually choose neutral colors for everything but now I have a dark red bedroom, cell phone, and purse. Of course, now I am going gray.
   
6. Ironically, I was a huge Carolina basketball fan until I started college and lost interest in basketball. Oh, it’s ironic because I want to Carolina and lived right next to the Dean Dome. This drives my sister crazy, who still calls to invite me to watch big games on her big screen and I say, “Oh? I didn’t know they were playing.” This relieves my husband, who went to State and hates Carolina. It’s nothing against basketball or Carolina, which is still my favorite team – I just don’t care anything at all about sports. I enjoy Wimbledon every couple of years, but that’s about it.
   
7. I have a Journalism degree with a focus in Visual Communication. The only things I use this degree for anymore are making fake baseball cards for my husband’s baseball card blog and taking pictures of my nieces/nephew and dog.
   
8. I have an “I Want to Believe” poster behind my desk at school just like the poster behind Mulder’s desk in the X-Files.
   
9. Sometimes I get really obsessed with something for a day or two - I don’t eat or sleep or shower. It usually happens during the summer when school is out and I get bored. One July I spent two days shopping for my Halloween costume. Eventually, I’m going to post a list of these little obsessions on my blog for posterity.
   
10. I own more pajamas than regular street clothes.
    
11. I thought U.S. History would be my least favorite subject to teach, but this is the first semester in five years I’m not teaching it and I kinda miss it. Apparently, I’ve grown attached to Gilded Age political cartoons, Imperialism report cards, and Great Depression bingo. But I never miss teaching World History to average ninth graders who can barely read and write and don’t even find WWII interesting, much less the Dynastic Cycle or the Enlightenment.
    
12. After I read Bridget Jones’ Diary, I thought in a witty British accent for two days.
    
13. The library near our house sucks, but I still love going there and looking through books for hours. I bring home a whole bag of books that I may or may not read, but it doesn’t matter because they are free. Even $14 in late fees is cheaper than buying one book.
    
14. We get Molly Maid to come clean our house once a month. It’s not so we can get a break from cleaning ourselves, it’s so it gets cleaned at all.
    
15. There are these roasted red pepper hummus and pretzel chip snack packs in the prepackaged salad and fruit section at our Super Target. I love them with all my heart. Some weeks they aren’t in stock, and when they are there they don’t have enough for me to buy in advance. I can get the big package of hummus and the big box of pretzels, but I need the portion control and convenience of the snack pack.
    
16. I’m terrible at checking my email, voicemail, and calendar. Sometimes I forget to check them for several days in a row.
    
17. I heart Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy/Angel, Firefly, and now Dollhouse. I’ll even read comic books if he writes them. I wasn’t sure about this new show (not crazy about Eliza Dushku’s acting), but I wasn’t sure about Firefly at first either and ended up adoring it. He’s certainly earned my trust.
    
18. I misplucked my left eyebrow two years ago and it's never grown back.
    
19. Gandhi is my hero. Ever since the ninth grade when I watched the movie at home alone on a Friday night. When it was over, I rewound it and watched all three hours over again. Then I checked his autobiography out from the library and read it cover to cover. A couple of years ago I got a Gandhi plush doll for my birthday!
    
20. A few years ago I joined the NC Master Chorale in Raleigh. I hadn’t sung (other than in my car) for about ten years. We sing with the NC Symphony several times a season, as well as the Carolina Ballet. If we ever sing Carmina Burana with the ballet again, I’ll advertise. No tutus. And even though it’s in Medieval Latin, its all about temptation and sex.
    
21. My first few years of teaching, I used to wake up in dread every morning. I would actually be happy when I got sick so I could stay home.
    
22. I have these book/journals called This Book Will Change Your Life and This Book Will Change Your Life Again by Benrik. Each day is a different set of directions and a place for you to write notes about the experience. Easy: “Today, decide what you’d prefer to be reincarnated as.” Intermediate: “Today, make your own super fresh pair of jeans and wear them proudly.” Advanced: “Today, topple a dictator using only the internet.”
    
23. I haven’t been to church in almost ten years. I never miss it, even though I grew up voluntarily going 3-4 times a week.
    
24. I wanted to go to Wake Forest for college but couldn’t afford it, so I went to Carolina. I wanted to go to Carolina to get my masters in education but ended up going to Wake Forest instead because it was free, thanks to a fellowship program and very generous friends who let me stay with them.
    
25. Today is my birthday. Technically, though, it’s not for another three years. I wrote this list instead of grading papers. Now I'm going to go eat Indian food with my family!

Bonus: I am a compulsive message editor. I read emails five or six times before I send them, and sometimes I even read them again from my Sent box. This is the third time I've updated this list today.