Tell the Lounge Four Things About Yourself.

[bertha katzenengel]

I'd never seen a chipmunk, a fox, a cardinal, an American Goldfinch, a blue grosbeak, a heron, an eagle, a titmouse, a chickadee, a Carolina Wren, a junco . . . until I moved to Maryland.

On a shelf in the front room, I have a bottle full of sand from the beach at Beach Blvd. in Huntington Beach, CA. A dear friend gave it to me when I moved to Maryland. When she moved to England 20 years ago (she's back), I gave her a bottle of sand.

I think a lot about age. Specifically there are four elevens that I ponder: Mrs. V. was born eleven years after my mother was born. I was eleven years old when my mother died. Mrs. V. is eleven years older than I am. And one that will change on my next birthday: I am eleven years older than my mother was when she died.

I love - love - love - to drive. I love road trips. I love to drive instead of flying to Tennessee, I loved it when we've gone to Assateague and the Outer Banks. I can't wait for the next road trip.

Tell us four things about yourself.

[Debi]

1. I've never worn braces but my teeth are nice and straight

When in high school my friend and I went around town and stole 'For Sale' signs from yards and placed them in front of the SAE Fraternity house.

I carry an Amethyst in my purse - it symbolizes wisdom (among many other things)

Outside of my husband I don't have any friends that I will let too close to my heart. I have many many acquaintances, but I have been hurt by untrustworthiness and deceit too many times. :(

[femmocrat]

2. Thanks for the fun topic, bertha!

I'm the first one of a very large family to graduate from college.

I'm petrified of heights.

As a teenager, I was in beauty pageants! (no kidding!)

I've been interested in politics since I was in junior high.

[skygazer]

3. Four things

1. I love old cemeteries, preferably dating from the early 1800's or earlier. The old inscriptions are fascinating to read and some of the images on the stones are beautiful. I find them very peaceful and relaxing.

2. I compulsively pick up stones. Pretty stones, odd looking stones, interesting stones. My eyes are drawn to them. Mostly they're small but sometimes I see large ones that I can't resist - I took a walk in Wyoming on my way to California and ended up lugging several very big stones about a mile back to my car - they were so cool and looked almost like fossils. I have a big box of stones in my storage unit back in Vermont. :blush:

3. I've never been out on the ocean. It's something I really want to do but just haven't gotten around to it yet.

4. I drink tea. Earl Grey. Hot.

[bertha katzenengel]

13. You walked from Wyoming to California? With rocks?

;)

[skygazer]

14. Yeah

I'd flown from Vermont to Wyoming but when I picked up all those rocks, I couldn't flap my arms anymore. :P

[bertha katzenengel]

18. Touche!

:thumbsup:

[JitterbugPerfume]

16. mmmmmmm! Earl Grey is my favorite too!

:thumbsup:

[Labors of Hercules]

51. and you like Star Trek.

obviously. *GRIN* :hi:

[skygazer]

55. Nice catch

:hi:

[FredStembottom]

52. Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.

Make it so!

[Left Is Write]

4. I'm trying to think of four things!

1. I have a collection of vintage radios and stereos, including the pink RCA kitchen radio I was just looking at.
2. My mother saved lots of my drawings from childhood, and I'm doing the same with my daughter's drawings, putting them in a scrapbook for her.
3. I love office supply stores, and I specifically love notebooks and pens.
4. My favorite little trivial tidbit about me: I have had babies in three different decades, two different centuries, and two different millennia (1987, 1999, and 2002).

[FredStembottom]

53. My collection of vintage radios and "record players" grows, too!

4 of my favorites y'all can "know about me".

[RetroLounge]

57. vintage radios and stereos...

I love my vintge Telefunken Contessa Console Stereo. Records sound great played thru Tube Stereos.

I also have a few vintage 50's portable record players.

and my favorite notebooks are Moleskins and Pentech Focus LX pens seen to feel like an extension of my hand...

:hi:

RL

[Writer]

64. I have two vintage radios, as well.

A 1948 Philco tabletop console and a 1930's (?) General Electric AM radio. They both work :)

I would love to start collecting vintage televisions, too. :hi:

[FredStembottom]

66. Watch out for mind-bogglingly high voltages....

inside those old TV's! Can be 30,000 volts in places, I believe!

[Writer]

75. Really? Interesting.

Okay... I will keep that in mind. Thanks!

[FredStembottom]

83. The really high voltages happen in what they call the

"flyback" transformer. I only know enough to repair tube audio stuff - that's about all I know of it.

[Heidi]

5. Okie dokie.

1. I'm adopted.

2. I've never been to a rodeo.

3. As a 36th birthday gift to myself, I drove cross-country alone, all the way to Gainesville, Florida, then took the bus to Key West because I'd never before gone "Greyhound," then flew alone to Europe for a writing sabbatical.

4. I don't own a dryer. I hang our clothing and linens to dry in the sun. It's a lot of extra work, but it's worth it.

P.S. for bertha: :hug: :loveya:

[Left Is Write]

8. I want a clothesline.

I had one at our old place, and I miss it.

[Heidi]

10. Nothing in the world smells better

than cotton bed sheets that have dried in the sun. :)

If you have space in your garden for a clothes line, go for it, LIW! I have to iron our sheets after they're line dried, but it's well worth it, especially in the summer. :hi:

[Left Is Write]

12. I have plenty of room, but what I really want is a u-post clothesline.

I might have to settle for an umbrella clothesline.

[KitchenWitch]

33. You have been to a cat rodeo!

:P

[Heidi]

39. True!

Too often to recount. :scared:

[racaulk]

6. Four random things about me...

1. At the age of 31, I'm just now learning how to swim. I never learned as a child, and I'm currently taking swimming lessons at my local YMCA.

2. I have an irrational fear of dolls and mannequins. They really, REALLY creep me out!

3. I have never understood the appeal of the Star Wars franchise. Every single movie I saw bored the heck out of me. I just don't get it. :shrug:

4. I'm from a small town in North Carolina just on the border with South Carolina, and I was a very sheltered child. I therefore spent my entire childhood within the borders of North Carolina and South Carolina, and didn't visit another state until I was 18.

Thanks for the fun topic! :)

[racaulk]

7. Dupe

[WinkyDink]

9. I'm an only child Scorpio born on Guy Fawkes Day. Right there is a LOT of info! :)

~~~I drink only wine and Diet Coke;

~~~I played trombone many moons ago, because my father did, and he was taught by Old Man Dorsey;

~~~I'm the world's greatest fan of Chad Mitchell, even if I've only seen (and met!) him once!

[FredStembottom]

54. Tommy Dorsey?

Really?

[WinkyDink]

76. His father, Thomas Dorsey, Sr., a music teacher and marching band director.

"Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey's father, Thomas Dorsey, Sr., was a cornet-playing coal miner who also led the Shenandoah town band and gave music lessons on the side. He was his sons' first teacher."
http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:pz5-hYhm0-EJ:www.imdb.com/name/nm0234153/bio+tommy+dorsey+father&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us

I'm a Coal Cracker from PA.!

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

11. Ahh, that's EASY.

1. I'm good.
2. I'm DAMNED good.
3. I'm the best there ever was.
4. I'm EXTREMELY modest.

[JitterbugPerfume]

15. four things?

I love living alone

my sisters are my best friends

I climbed to the tip top of a lighthouse last week

I have blueberries , asparagus and strawberries and corn in my freezer that I personally picked ( with help from my daughter-in- law)

[LeftyMom]

17. I'm an amazing cook and I bake wonderful stuff too.

I'm trying to figure out what car I want when it's time to replace my current set of wheels, but I don't see anything that I'm really crazy about.

I'm having full sedation for the first time on tuesday to get all four of my wisdom teeth out.

I got hired before my boss finished reading my resume. He was that impressed. :)

[mainegreen]

99. Oooh, the wisdom teeth.

Good luck with that. Full sedation is the way to go!

[Clintonista2]

19. Four things about me

1) I'm Canadian
2) When I was little I "ran away from home" and hid in the trunk of my moms car... she called the police and they found me
3) I HATE pie
4) I once slept 22 hours straight (and I wasn't sick)

[MrScorpio]

20. I have four nipples... And I've named them....

Pinky, Winky, Dinky and George

I believe that the apostrophe is planning to conquer the Earth, by the year 2047.

I don't lust after money... I just want to date it.

I think caviar is godawful nasty... But I love a good liver and onions sandwich with mayo

[jane_pippin]

21. Ok: I just got a dog.

About 2 1/2 weeks ago. He's two, and he looks like Santa's Little Helper, and he's the best behaved little sweetheart ever, (except for when he wakes up at 4:48 a.m. and scratches at me to wake up. And when he gets too excited on walks and tries to play with other dogs by barking at them, which is no fun for anyone. Who wants to play with someone who's yelling at them? But we're working on all that.)

I'm in The Love, for real. Like, I wanna marry this one love. It's weird, in that it's a whole new experience, but it's fantastic.

I've listened to the same band over and over and over again for about 4 months now. This is not new. I do it all the time. When I get sick of this one, I will listen pretty much exclusively to whatever band I feel like listening to next for months and months over and over and over.

I almost always have scrambled eggs, Boca breakfast links (soysages), and fruit, a bagel, or hash browns for breakfast every weekend. I'd like to add a bloody mary to this in-house brunch, but someone forgot to refrigerate the mix I bought a few weeks ago, so that was a short-lived treat. I'll get a replacement bottle soon though because it's summertime and why not?

"Bonus" #5: I rarely get to hang on DU thanks to work, the boy and the dog, but I'm happy to see you and a lot of other people still around. :hi:

[RetroLounge]

58. We missed you at the meetup

Dolo said you were out with "The Boy".

:hi:

RL

[jane_pippin]

60. I wasn't so much out with him as

I was in my house with him freaking out about having a dog and being exhausted thanks to having a dog. (I think I'd only had him--the dog, not the boy-- for a week or even less at the time and was just a ball of nerves, as it wasn't the original plan--he was supposed to be my dad's dog--so I needed some quiet pseudo-family time).

I saw the pictures though--It looks like you had fun! And Dolo said it was a nice time too, so I'm sorry I couldn't make it this time.

[RetroLounge]

62. There will be more...

You'll have to stop by my bookstore once it opens and say hi, anyhow...

:hi:

RL

[davsand]

88. I love Boca and I'm not a veg!

I like it better than pork or turkey sausage, and it grosses kevsand and Material Girl out whenever I eat it.

2. I am a Midwest farmer's daughter and I learned how to drive in pickup truck with a gearshift on the column in a field of wheat stubble (the little stubs of wheat straw that are left after you harvest the actual wheat.) I was just able to see out the windshield so I can't have been much more than ten or eleven at the time.

3. My first warm beer was a PBR behind the outfield fence when I was 18 years old and dating a softball player. Since that day I make it a point to only drink COLD beer because that PBR tasted so nasty.

4. I have always had cats. Literally, I can't remember a day when I did not have a cat. When I was four I cut the whiskers off the family house cat with a pair of round ended scissors. I thought he needed a "hair cut." His name was Whiskers in honor of that.




Laura

[CaliforniaPeggy]

22. OK, my dear bertha!

Four things about myself:

I was born a month before my due date...

I was left-handed until I was five years old...

I have a cocker spaniel-shaped birthmark on the inside of my left forearm...

I drive a hybrid car...


:bounce: :bounce:

[NewWaveChick1981]

23. OK...

:hi:

1) I have a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from UNC-Chapel Hill, a Bachelor of Science in Management from UNC-Greensboro, and a Master of Education in Higher Education Administration (also from UNC-Greensboro). I've gravitated around the higher education world my whole life, and my career has been centered on it.

2) I never drank coffee until I was 39. I still only drink it occasionally, but I didn't like it before I turned 39. Not sure what happened, but there you go. :P

3) I LOVE to travel. I've been to Europe twice and I've been all over the US, including Hawaii. I still have a few states west of the Mississippi to visit, but I'll get there. :)

4) I have a big-time makeup Jones. :P I love to play with new colors and formulas, and I love the high-end stuff. :) I have over 100 lipsticks and about 25 lip glosses. :yoiks: And yes, I do actually use them. My makeup "collection" takes up four big drawers in my bathroom. :rofl:

[Guava Jelly]

24. k

I got my high school diploma 2 minutes before my mother did..

I got my drivers license when i was 21 and have never had a ticket.

I have never seen Frank Sinatra in concert :(

I befriend females far easier than males.Probably because they are less arrogant

[Rabrrrrrr]

25. Ooh, fun!

1. I have a morbid and cruel sense of humor.

2. One my best days ever was a day spent sailing in Honolulu harbor with grad school friends old and new, drinking beer and being totally relaxed and natural with no cares about work, time, or the next moment. We watched the sun set, then went back to my apartment where one of the guys made a delicious curry and we sat and talked for most of the night with beers and good fellowship. One of only a few days in my life that I was utterly relaxed and in the moment.

3. I hate to drive. I hate being in a car. But if I'm gonna be in a car, I would prefer to drive - I feel safer that way, except for a few friends whose driving I totally trust. Or, if I have to be in a car, I prefer a limo so I can read and work and relax. My preference is for trains, whether subways or Amtrak, etc.

4. People touching me without permission pisses me off (except accidental touches).

[Mz Pip]

26. Hmmm

1) I'm an only child and have always hated it. I had two kids so they wouldn't get lonely.

2) I live in CA with my husband of 32 years and entirely too many cats.

3) I am allergic to aspirin and kiwi.

4) I do photography and pastel drawings.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[terrya]

27. Mine

1) I don't own a cell phone. I'm lagging behind in getting one. Not having one can be an occasional source of frustration.

2) I LOVE to fly. Everything about it. I still love the feeling as the plane takes off and ascending into the sky. Hey...that just rhymed. :-)

3) I was in the Boy Scouts for a while. I ultimately quit. Knowing their stance on homosexuality now and not allowing gay Boy Scouts, my decision to quit was a good one.

4) I never thought I'd know true love...until I met IntravenousDemilo.

[catmandu57]

28. Okay

(1) I turn fifty is nineteen days, though I don't feel that old.

(2) In my younger days I hitched everywhere, I've probably got twenty thousand miles maybe more on my thumb.

(3) I've attended 11 different schools four in the first grade alone.

(4) I'm married to a wonderful woman.

[Phentex]

29. I have duck feet yet I'm not a good swimmer...

2. I listen to Muppet Radio and it makes me smile.

3. I rarely make any beds at home. Don't feel the need. Don't make my kids do it either.

4. I really want to visit North Dakota.

[1gobluedem]

30. Wow, everyone is so much more interesting than I am....let's see

I collect 'malt shop lit;' teenage romance series from the 1940s, 50s, and 60s and belong to an internet book club of women who do the same. We gather in a different city every summer to laugh, shop, sightsee drink, and play our own customized version of Apples to Apples (with such shrieking mirth and glee that the front desk at our hotel in Boston last year had to call and tell us to quiet down).

Even though I have very small feet, my toes are extremely flexible and I can write with them; not well, but legibly.

My father was the varsity football coach at my high school and the reason why I never had a date in high school as I learned at my ten year reunion (team members afraid to ask me out).

I am deaf in my left ear, the result of brain tumor removal sixteen years ago.

[Tikki]

31. Sometimes...

When I'm home alone I will listen to punk rock really loud....
I will go a month or so without driving a car.....
My little doggie will chew a little bit of callous off the heels of my feet...
I will read my high schools' alumni web page even though I haven't been to that
town in many years and I don't even remember the people who post there...


Tikki

[KitchenWitch]

32. Okay!

Today is the twentieth anniversary of my final radiation treatment for Hodgkins Lymphoma.

I am currently the same age (43) as my maternal grandmother was when she died of malignant melanoma. She died 4 years before I was born.

I was told, after my radiation treatments that I would never be able to bear my own children. I gave birth to two beautiful children, so they were wrong.

I used to be in a folk band in Minneapolis called the Too Much Fun band. The band itself was named after a commune in Minneapolis called the House of Too Much Fun.

[ThomCat]

63. The house of too much fun.

That sounds like a place where we should have a chance to live for a few years. :)

[KitchenWitch]

67. I never actually lived there

But I did spend quite a lot of time there, as part of the band.

Gosh, that was over 20 years ago. <feeling rather old today>

[SeattleGirl]

34. Four things about me:

**I starred in a commercial, along with a friend of mine, for a major department store I worked at at the time. We were told to look like we were having a great time, walking to that store, so I told her dirty jokes as we walked up the street to make her laugh. (We had no mics on us, so no one knew what I was doing.)

**I was the first person on either side of my family to graduate from college.

**I have turned into a total political junkie. I was aware of things political most of my life, and that awareness got ratcheted up during Watergate, but now it even more intense.

**I used to be extremely, painfully shy. I occasionally still get bouts of shyness, but thank goodness, it's not a 24/7 thing with me any more.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

35. Four incredibly riveting, fascinating things about the amaazing being

that is ME (OK, you can stop :eyes: now).

1. I have all of my wisdom teeth.

2. I have never been to Las Vegas.

3. I have flown an airplane upside down.

4. I have performed at Carnegie Hall.

[BreweryYardRat]

36. Sure, why not?

1. I write for fun, but I'm hoping to sell a short story or two in the next two college semesters (September-May) to pull down some money.

2. I have a passion for amateur paleontology. I'll buy fossils from other people, but I prefer to dig my own. My most prized one is the tip of a giant ground sloth rib that I found when I was about 10. If it didn't look so phallic, I'd make it into a necklace.

3. I want to learn how to scuba dive this summer, both so I can do offshore dives and enjoy the wildlife, and so I can do river dives for fossils.

4. I'd like to work as a park ranger in Africa or Asia for a year or so.

About your #4: I love driving too, depending on the vehicle. Case in point: my dad's car. I have never felt anything that handles better. I could drive it for hours.

My station wagon, or my mom's SUV, on the other hand, I don't like using at all, because I'm too worried that the shitty way they handle could get me wrecked.

[LeftyFingerPop]

37. okay...here's mine...

1) From a personal perspective, the thing I am most proud of about myself is my demonstrated ability to endure untold physical and mental duress by working severely long periods of time with no sleep, little food, and no shower. I was able to meet deadlines involving many millions of dollars for my employer. There deadlines required working 50 hour straight shifts, all the while having to maintain keen concentration and solve difficult problems. In addition to the 50 hour straight shifts, I needed to work 100 to 120 weeks several months at a time. I am NOT proud of the fact that I did this for an employer, but I am proud of the fact that I had the fortitude and work ethic to do it.

2) I cry at movies.

3) I got my ass kicked once trying to help a girl who was getting beaten by her boyfriend.

4) I kiss my dogs.

[lost-in-nj]

38. HM MM

1) I have an addiction to buying shoes......
way to many

2) I don't like the Beatles or the Rolling Stones
never did


3) I write notes to remind me of everything
I have notes ALL OVER the house..... LOL

4) I love to dance in my backyard at night


lost

[SPKrazy]

92. What!!!!

don't like the beatles or rolling stones? :wtf:

lost, why DO YOU HATE 'merikuh?

:patriot:


:rofl:


:hug:

[snailly]

40. .

I love juncos and lemurs. They make me happy.

I have really nice legs and feet which surprises me as I get older.

I'm a hypochondriac. It's very bad.

I love trees. They make me happy.

[Lyric]

41. Okay. Here goes.

If I look at any relatively bright light at a certain angle, I'll sneeze. Therefore, I can "make" myself sneeze.

I've never been further West than Cleveland, Ohio.

I read extremely fast. Last night I re-read "Anna Karenina" in about 2 hours.

I have the audial/aural version of a photographic memory. If I'm paying attention to something I'm hearing, I can recall it perfectly later--it plays back in my mind like a recording.

:hi:

[stuntcat]

42. ooooooo four

1. I worked at the World Trade Center in '96/97
2. I've moved 13 times
3. I can say the alphabet backwards in 5 seconds
4. I'm kinda hot for Jim Lehrer :blush:
5. I stayed up too late just now.

[reyd reid reed]

43. Four things about me:

1. I go through fairly severe periods when I have zero confidence. Absolutely none. And it usually doesn't take much to trigger one of these bouts.

2. I've never seen a shooting star.

3. I'm a pack rat. I know, I know...but I really am one.

4. I'm a patient person who gets frustrated easily. If you figure that one out, let me know, willya?

:hi:

[Writer]

44. Okay.

1. Many people would not be able to tell when they see me, but I'm a geek, complete with awkward social skills. I play Dungeons and Dragons once weekly with my computer science friends and enjoy fantasy fiction. I also dress up and attend the local renaissance faire every year. In high school I was an A/V geek.

2. I was 16 when I made my first television appearance, on KTVT-TV Channel 11 in Dallas-Fort Worth (then an independent station) for a segment called "Kid Cam 11." I did the VO and on-air reporting for a story about our school's yearbook video.

3. I attended school with actresses Stephanie March and Angie Harmon. The former was a bit conceited, the latter was nice and surprisingly down to earth. I bumped into both later when I began working at NBC.

4. Although I like to write, I have realized very recently how little I actually read. I think it's one of my greatest faults. This year I plan to make a concerted effort to read more.

[underpants]

45. I ran 10 miles today, white, male, Northern hemisphere

what, do you want my blood type?

[unsavedtrash]

46. about me

1. Due to an upbringing in a very restrictive, fear driven Southern Baptist church I am afraid of a lot of technology.

2. I was the first person in my family to graduate from high school.

3. I get very upset when anyone picks on my Southern accent.

4. Other than mama, my first words were "Roll Tide."

[SPKrazy]

47. Four Things About Me

1. I got my OWN first cell phone last fall, coincided with separating process from wife

2. I HATE spiders and have no problem killing the little bastids

3. I love helping coach my son's soccer team even though i've only played for fun (he's only 7)

4. Most of the time I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing even though I get paid to know that.

[RushIsRot]

48. I once worked at the FBI in Washington, DC.

I slept overnight in a stone house at Macchu Picchu.
I once worked in the Pentagon.
I shook hands with Bobby Kennedy when he was Attorney General.

[datasuspect]

49. 1. i'm too sexy and outrageous for television

2. i am love

3. on a shelf in the front room, I have a bottle of night train from the stop and gulp in cut and shoot, tx.

4. i am soul-crushingly amazing and awesome, and when i ride into town, men hide their daughters and husbands hide their wives.

[bertha katzenengel]

78. dig it

:bounce: especially number 3

great reply!

[Rhythm]

50. Four random things

1.) I cannot deal with "wet bread", i.e. bread dunked into anything, or anything with roughly that slimy consistency. It makes me ill thinking about it.

2.) I have at least set foot in every state in the US, except 4: Alaska, Hawaii, North Dakota, and Vermont. And have taken a swim in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and the Gulf of Mexico

3.) I was in the operating room with Oktoberain when our son was born, and had the honor of carrying young master OktoberDrizzle to the nursery.

4.) I have been a member of the ACLU for as long as i have been registered to vote (22 years now)

[GirlinContempt]

56. I don't like being hit on by strangers.

It doesn't give me an ego boost, it makes me feel uncomfortable, defensive and icky.

I hate my job.

I have a really hard time disguising my real feelings. I have no poker face, everything shows through.

I'm in love with Leon Trotsky.

[UrbScotty]

59. Alright

I was an astute observer of the stock market during my middle school years.

I'm thinking of vying for a spot at the Convention in Denver next year.

I was the MVP of my high school's Quiz Bowl team.

I was not an athlete during my school years. If I was, I probably would have wrestled.

[RetroLounge]

61. Four Random Things About Myself.

1) I was once a homeless, unshowered, unshaven, scary-looking, alcoholic who begged change and dumpster dove to survive. Used to run into friends from college who were horrified when they figured out it was me. I tried to end my life during this period. Turned into a long funny story about how NOT to commit suicide. It (being homeless) only lasted a few months, but it had a amazing effect on my outlook on my life. Whenever I think things are bad, I can always say "Be grateful. At least you are not a homeless hopeless suicidal smelly drunk anymore." I am eternally grateful for the woman who gave me her pocket change, then invited me into her home, fed me, shaved me, cleaned me up, helped me put a resume together, gave me a place to sleep, held me thru the DT's, and got me on my feet again. She was an angel, to be sure...

2) I love Model Railroading, and real trains too. I have built several large HO scale layouts, and was a founding member of a reailroad club in Milwaukee. I have taken long weekend vacation just to drive around and photograph trains. It is a geekiness that knows no bounds. I am amazed I ever got married and had kids. Mention Model Railroads to women, and they usually run away, fast. Uhm, never mind. Model railroading? Who me? No idea what you mean...

3) I am the first and only person in my family to go to college and get a degree. BBA in MIS and a MA in Creative Writing. The MIS pays the bills, the MA keeps me sane. Both degrees were accidents, really. I went to the University of Illinois for 2 years for engineering school, and found it so fucking boring that I did drugs instead of studying. Well, that didn't work out. 5 years later a woman I was dating moved to Milwaukee to go to UW-Milwaukee for her masters degree. I followed her, enrolled in business school, and when my TA said I should major in comouters, I said OK and I did. I finished the degree, she never did. Then a few years later while working in Chicago, I had a job that consisted of 8 hours of sitting in a cubicle and smoking while surfing the internet. Literally, that's all I did for 6 months. So I began writing. Filling out notebooks with journalling, stories, poems, odd shit that I needed to get out of my head, etc. Someone suggested I should go to school for Creative Writing, so since I still had residency at UWM, I submitted a manuscript and got turned down. But a few days later the head of the department called me and asked me to enroll as a special student for one semester and take 2 classes in english, and if I got A's, I should reapply. So I moved back to milwaukee and took 2 semesters, 4 classes each, and got all A's. By that time they already had a place waiting for me in the masters program. I graduated both degrees with the same 3.72 GPA, Magna Cum Laude.

4) I am a writer. Although I don't do it for a living. I have a poetry manuscript in the works, and a novel about 2/3 of the way complete. I once was poetry editor at a nationally recognized literary magazine, and I once wrote a column for a railroad historical society. I have published a few poems, and a short story, and I used to do open mikes and poetry slams quite often. I was invited to read my poetry at The University of Wisconsin and at Marquette university by professors who had read my work. It always feels like I'm a fake when I'm reading in front of people. I get nervous reading in front of crowds, so I banter quite a bit and tell stories about the poems, humorous usually, but really just a defense mechanism. I once had a regular guest reading spot at a bar here for their poetry slam. I used to laugh at the slammers who were screaming crap in the microphone that on apaper would look like the lyrics for a bad rap song...

Bonus #5) I opened a used bookstore just because I wanted to. :D

:hi:

RL

[ZombieNixon]

65. Umm...OK

1. Practically all my male friend play games like World of Warcraft and Dungeons and Dragons. I tend to avoid both like the plague.

2. I happen to think that Blind Guardian should have written the music to the Harry Potter movies. It's a great "listen and read" experience in any case. :P

3. I have been known to invent languages in my spare time.

4. I've been told I have an "intuitive grasp" of C programming. :shrug:

[riderinthestorm]

68. I have really ugly feet

I can't stand it when people anthropomorphize their animals. As a professional in the animal business, I take training animals and handling them respectfully way too seriously which usually means the average owner doesn't like me when my impatience with them peeks out.

I'm waiting to hear from the Irish Embassy about getting my Irish citizenship, and contemplating retiring there.

At heart, I am really shy and find social situations can be stressful. A confession: I actually got all the way to a Chicago DU meetup (an hour's drive!), parked the car, walked into the bar and then turned around and walked out. I was just too shy to meet everyone!!

[bicentennial_baby]

69. Ok!

1) I'm getting married to Sniffa on 7/14, next Saturday. We met here on DU over 2 years ago. I used to have him on ignore.

2) I love to knit, but I chronically never finish projects, unless I'm making them for other people.

3) I think cilantro tastes like soap. Disgusting stuff.

4) I hope that by this time next year I will be very pregnant and soon to give birth to our first child.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

70. here goes

1. i love kurt vonnegut

2. blackberry cabernet sorbetto from ciao bella is one of my addictions

3. rockit and i are changing our last names soon. we are going to hyphenate to mitra-hahn

4. i think flying is painful, even thought i enjoy going to new countries/cities etc

[yellowdogintexas]

71. four things about me

I used to explore caves

There are way too many books in our house but we keep adding to the collection

I love the ocean, beach, surf, snorkeling,and I was 21 years old before I actually saw the ocean.

my best friends are my sisters, my husband and our daughter.

[EFerrari]

72. I don't think there are four things I haven't already disclosed to DU

:silly:

Let's see.

I should have been a veterinarian, not a Shakespearean. Channeling cats is much more fun and I seem to be better at it than I am at channeling dead poets even though as a poet, I didn't understand that until recently.

I refuse to learn anything about what happens under the hood of my car. It's ugly in there and hot and maybe something will explode.

I'm in love with the great big ravens that live in my neighborhood. They're huge and their feathers ruffle in the wind and so far, they haven't evicted us.

Florence is the most beautiful place in the world that I've ever been, after Yosemite.

[cloudbase]

73. My four:

I was born and raised in Pittsburgh (somebody had to be!) and am the son of Eastern European immigrants. I left the 'burgh when I went to college, and was last there in 1980 when I had to change planes.

I have a very low tolerance for bullshit.

I am a private pilot and a motorcycle junkie.

I love animals, particularly cats, but dogs are really neat, too.

Bonus: I've got a great wife and wonderful kids.

[BlueIris]

74. I like baby raccoons.

They look like little ducks. Also, I have an eidetic (low-grade photographic) memory, I'm in Phi Beta Kappa, and my family had a pet pot-bellied pig while I was growing up.

[SKKY]

77. Since it's you asking...

1. Although I love what I do for a living, I only joined the Military when all other options ran out and it was obvious I was heading no where fast.

2. I have never seen the Grateful Dead in concert, and am very proud of that fact.

3. I am absolutely not convinced that marriage is necessary, nor for me (Although I love ALiberalWife immensely).

4. Am very insecure about my weight.

[bertha katzenengel]

79. since it's me asking

you are so sweet :loveya:

[SKKY]

95. :hug:

[bertha katzenengel]

80. I can't respond to all of you, although I wish I could

I've read most of these and I'll follow the thread as long as it's alive and read every response. This is the coolest thread I've started in quite a while - it's given what I hoped for.

Thank you all!

[lost-in-nj]

82. Thanks Bertha

I am having fun reading it!!!!

:bounce: :bounce: :hi:

lost

[Mendocino]

81. Have been chased by a grizzly.

Love Lapsang Souchong tea.

Met Sir Edmund Hillary.

Have been in 45 US states and 8 Canadian provinces.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

84. (1) I am posting from an hotel room.

(2) I get sent all over Brazil a lot, which explains (1).
(3) I'm nearsighted.
(4) My parents were born in a city surrounded by a Roman wall: http://www.world66.com/europe/spain/galicia/lugo/sights/the_roman_wall

[Control-Z]

85. oh key dough key

1. I was in the back-up group for the Righteous Brothers at the Greek Theater when they perfomed "Rock and Roll Heaven" (a long, long time ago). Our director had been Bill Medley's vocal coach, years prior.

2. I spoke on the same stage (on the same day) as Nancy Pelosi, in Washington DC, 2004. Had no idea, at the time, where she would be today but was still awestruck.

3. I have a photographic memory, well, had. You know, with kids, digital cameras, old age, etc... I've run out of film.

4. My mom died when I was 7. I still miss her terribly. If I had the talent to do so, I would write a book about it.

[achtung_circus]

86. well....

1) I can talk to animals, at least most of them. There have only been a couple of dogs that I couldn't calm down, one of which the police shot several seconds later. Friday I talked a cat out of a 100' tree. Last chance before I sent the tree scaler up after him. Cows love me and horses relax when I talk to them.

2) Bats freak me the fuck out. I have a totally irrational fear of bats and the hint of a whisper of a squeak of a hint there is one around will turn me into a bowl of jelly quivering on the ground.

3) I have epilepsy, have had since I was 13 and have been on medication ever since. I'm seizure-free and drive but still live some of my life in fear. It affects every day of my life.

4) I'm having difficulty finding a woman who wants the same amount of interaction as I do. I don't want my life totally taken over, as I like my "my" time to read or think or nap or do nothing. I don't think that is weird, but apparently it is difficult.

5) Cool thread, Bertha.

[chieftain]

87. Here's 4 about me.

1) I grew up in a big family with constant money problems but surrounded by aunts, uncles and cousins. I have done well financially so my son had but to think of something he wanted and I got it for him, but he grew up far from other family. I had much the better deal.

2)I worked in leadership positions for several high profile political campaigns with the thought of running for office. I gave up on the goal when I realized that I did not suffer fools gladly and that without personal money or the commitment to spend the majority of one's time fund raising no one can be elected.Not my cup of tea.

3) I've been lucky in the jobs I have held. As I approach retirement I have increased admiration for people who go to work every day for not enough pay so that they can support their families.

4) Among the things that bring real joy to my life are my wife and son, baseball, music of all varieties, sitcoms, wild life, travel, Bob Newhart and so on.

[LynzM]

89. This ought to be fun :)

I'm always thinking... I can't turn my mind off, even when I wish I could. This is both a big benefit (in terms of things like school and work), but a hindrance in being able to really relax and enjoy things, sometimes. It's frustrating.

For me, reading is almost like a drug. It is a way to escape, to go another place and get caught up in imaginary things. My favorite way to spend an afternoon is generally holed up someplace comfortable with some food and a good book, and no one to bother me. Oddly, as much as I enjoy reading, I generally only re-read a book after I don't remember it from the first time.

I think that Ben and Jerry's should have a custom ice cream line - you could order exactly the kind you wanted. For me, I'd get vanilla ice cream with peanut butter swirls, and the four things in the "everything but the" mix - peanut butter cups, health bars, white chocolate chunks, chocolate covered almonds, and I'd add the pretzels from "Chubby Hubby" - I love having things to dig out of my ice cream. I know that financially this idea is so impractical, but it'd be wicked fun if they did it.

I'm related to someone who went over Niagara Falls in a rubber ball (http://www.infoniagara.com/other/daredevils/jean.html)... the craziness apparently is generations old ;)

[NC_Nurse]

90. OK

I have three great kids and a great husband.
My husband and I used to be in a rock band. We got tired and needed to go back to work full time. Sometimes I miss it.
My mom is losing her memory. It makes me sad.
We are moving to a solar house. I am looking forward to it.

[MassLiberal]

91. my four

When I was really little, I loved horses so much I wanted to grow up to be a horse.

My great-grandfather was an engineer on the Boston and Maine Railroad.

I don't own a microwave.

I'm addicted to "Sex and the City" reruns.

[AggieGal]

93. Let's see..

1. I watch The Girls Next Door.

2. I like flying standby since I like to hear my name called at the gate. When I travel confirmed it is not the same.

3. I set 6 alarms (3 each on 2 cell phones) versus using my bedside clock radio at home. A fear of power outages and being late for work is why I act this way. They are set for different times - snooze style!

4. I like the smell of dryer sheets, even at the Laundromat.

[mwdem]

94. One, I'm from N.C. and I love the Outer Banks!

Two, I've been married 34 1/2 years.
Three, I have two wonderful children, 32 and 25, whom I'm very proud of.
Four, I haven't been to Greece, but my best friend has, and I want to travel there on my next vacation.

[enigmatic]

96. 4

I'm a Mahayana Bhuddist.

I'm a beyond fanatical, bitter, self-loathing Cleveland Sports Fanatic.

I collect old radios; around 100 right now.

I've spent more of my life on the road than off it.

[Seabiscuit]

97. Four "things"?

About myself?

1. I'm writing this post.

2. It's through a new 20" IMac.

3. I'm 62.

4. And I don't mind.

Do you think the Department Of Homeland Security will now arrest me?

[annonymous]

98. Here's my list

1. I have been a member of DU since 2002 but have yet to reach 1000 posts.
2. I am ambidexterous but both my children are left handed.
3. I have all my teeth including my wisdom teeth.
4. I love to read, especially mysteries.

[seemunkee]

100. OK

1. I broke my arm when we were learning to write cursive. I had to learn to write with my left hand. I have since given up writing cursive, don't even remember how.
2. At 50 I have now lived 7 years longer than my father did.
3. I love almost any DIY type project. I just like to figure things out and build them myself
4. My grandfather once told me he had belonged to the KKK when he was younger. I wish I had never known, I was closer to him than to my father.