Thursday, October 29, 2009

List

1. There is a ballerina in my soap.

2. I love the word bejeweled.

3. Only three windows in my house have blinds.

4. I've never read the Bible.

5. Part of me is always sad.

6. I have brown eyes.

7. Sometimes I call the Goat a warlock.

8. I live next to a Serbian church.

9. My other neighbor's dog is named Sassy.

10. Elizabeth Shue hugged me fourteen years ago.

11. I love to choose cars for my fictional characters.

12. I once maintained a website exclusively for my erotic writing.

13. There is a bottle of 100 proof Rumple Minze liqueur on the window sill of my office.

14. I make a good scalloped potato.

15. I have a friend who was a heavyweight world champion cage fighter.

15. My great-grandmother's name was Emily.

16. My favorite piece of jewelry is a Zuni bracelet.

17. I love that my kid loves salted licorice.

18. I once had a 17-pound cat named Al.

19. I buy luxury sheets, but can only afford the "slightly imperfect" ones they sell at TJMaxx.

20. I am a terrible housekeeper.

21. I have a medal that reads "2 MILE RUN Ohio University June 5-1905" that was garnered by my great grandfather.

22. My favorite number is 22/7, aka pi.

23. I have an old Schwinn "Hollywood" that I pulled from a trash pile.

24. My house is not air-conditioned.

25. There are things I am not telling you.

26. My chewy brownies won third prize in a bake-off when I was eight.

27. I walk 20 to 30 miles a week.

28. I am afraid of the ocean.

29. I always listen to "The Pina Colada Song" in its entirety when it plays randomly on my iPod.

30. I possess magical powers.

31. The Serbian church hosts loud elaborate week-end long parties.

32. I used to travel constantly for my job.

33. This bunny is cute and I adore the person who sent it to me.

34. I love to pet and nuzzle the Goat.

35. I have reed scent diffusers all over my house.

36. I used to cough for 10 minutes every morning when I smoked.

37. My first car was a $200 10-year-old VW Bug.

38. It ran for two weeks before throwing a rod and dying.

39. I have never been overseas.

40. Unless Jamaica counts.

41. I don't want an iPhone.

42. I hate macaroni salad.

43. I climaxed the first time I had sex.

44. I paint my toenails sometimes.

45. I don't paint my fingernails.

46. My hair is 20 inches long.

47. I miss my dad.

48. I have triumphed over evil people.

49. I married the Goat in a private ceremony in my parent's living room.

50. I found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

51. I floss daily.

52. I wonder if there is such a thing as plastic underwear.

53. I remember biorhythm charts.

54. Strangers talk to me all the time.

55. My letter opener is a tiny faux sword.

56. I LOVE Jelly Bellies.

57. I have screamed at tombstones.

58. I have visions.

59. My grandfather became wealthy manufacturing instrumentation for the military in WWII.

60. I think pomegranates are weird.

61. I physically repel at the site of a gun.

62. Men.

63. Treating people well is more important to me than anything else.

64. I will probably get breast cancer.

65. I cannot do cartwheels.

66. My Kitchenaid mixer is over 50 years old.

67. My Gram pulled it out of a garbage pile and gave it to me. It works perfectly.

68. I make my own chicken stock.

69. I am terrible at parallel parking.

70. I played the clarinet in grade school.

71. The Goat just brought me coffee.

72. I waited for him to return to the kitchen before using the landline to call him on the cell phone to say thank you.

73. This is fun.

74. Sudoku drives me crazy.

75. I love jigsaw puzzles.

76. My kid is beautiful.

77. I am chubby.

78. I love Johnny Cash.

79. I fantasize about ballroom dancing.

80. Down dog is my favorite yoga position.

81. I like silly hats.



82. I long to have better style, but never will.

83. I always fall asleep on the couch.

84. My house is surrounded by trees.

85. I am an artist.

86. There are 2974 songs in my iTunes program.

87. I made throw pillows from my dad's Pendelton shirts after he died and gave them to my mom for her birthday.

88. I have flown in a helicopter.

89. Coffee ice cream, please.

90. Profound grief almost killed me before I realized it was a gift.

91. I was 32 when my kid was born.

92. I have nice legs.

93. I like to play with men's nipples.

94. A very talented seamstress designed and sewed the outfit I wore on my wedding day.

95. The Missionary position is my favorite.

96. I am superstitious.

97. I make a wonderful apple crisp.

98. I am a lot like my dad.

99. I loved algebra and trigonometry and calculus.

100. Hi. I'm Erin.

First posted in August 2007. Original comments left intact.

49 comments:

Nin Andrews said...

I LOVE this list. It's brilliant. And: you said you aren't a poet. This is a poem.

Nin Andrews said...

And if you need any more vitamins, just let me know. I seem to buy them and put them on the shelf. So much for my coat and nails!

Maureen McHugh said...

101. Tropical storm Erin is currently hitting Texas. With a name like that, you'd think it would be at least a Cat. 3 hurricane.

Daniel Poehlman said...

Trust me. Your style is just fine. If you change it, well... the world would not be the same.

Trée said...

93 is important, very important. :-D

dean said...

The sxKitten pointed out to me that there are currently Tropical Storm Erin and Hurricane Dean brewing.

How weird is that?

My nipples are an erogenously dead zone.

Anonymous said...

101. you are a special person to many people.

Anonymous said...

hey someone did 101..f*ck..okay 102

SIMON said...

Erin brilliant oh and #43 a rarity I'm led to believe!!

Nice one!

The Fool said...

An extraordinary list...you are just way cool!

Unknown said...

A terrific list I enjoyed reading!

Reading the Signs said...

I love this list. Trying to think what it is that makes it so good - your style, obviously.

Joe said...

Hello Erin.

Libby Spencer said...

This is unequivocally the best one of these lists I've ever seen. You've inspired me to finish my own.

#111. I love the way you write. It's like talking to a dear friend.

Erica said...

I love men's nipples, too. And, within reason (like, say, a-cup or smaller), I could also dig manboobs.

I should read your blog more often. Every time I do I think it kicks ass.

Anonymous said...

Oh Erin, #5 melts my heart because I feel the same way. I put it down to Irish melancholy.

casey said...

Nice sheets are AMAZING. Try Overstock.com for some wicked sales - cheaper and nicer than TJX.

Anonymous said...

I don't believe you are a terrible housekeeper. The backgrounds of the photos you post are always neat and clean.

1. I have an ego investment in denying O'Briens domesticity because I AM THE LOUSEY HOUSEKEEPER, DAMNIT!

RJ

Chuck said...

Love this idea. Did it once myself...
http://simplyodd.com/blog/2005/10/24/100-things-about-me/

Briasmama said...

I love this, I'm totally inspired to make this kind of random list, it definitely made me laugh at some points and reflect at others, love it!

alexa @clevelandsaplum said...

this is fabulous.

that is all.

Cosmic Navel Lint said...

This is very good indeed - as well as having an eye for the wondrous and frivolously essential minutiae, pieces like this always require that you speak from a position of honest exposé.

And a wonderful economy of words - the bite of brevity!

Joshua said...

Hmm...I did #43, too...but that's not too hard for a guy, is it?

I love this list and could poach plenty of them on a list of my own.

Plentymorefishoutofwater said...

I don't normally like lists like this but this is really cute. Nice blogging.
plentymorefishoutofwater.blogspot.com/

DogsDontPurr said...

You are a magical person.

Kirk said...

Speaking as an agnositc, Erin, you really should read the Bible. You don't have to believe a word of it, but it is an important part of Western culture. At least, an awful lot of people think it's important, and that's a good enough definition of culture as any. You regularly critisize such bible thumpers as Sarah Palin. Read the Bible and see where they're coming from. Or where they're NOT coming from, as I suspect they haven't read as much of the Bible as they claim.

You can also read the Bible as literature. Ever enjoy Greek mythology? King Arthur? Robin Hood? You can enjoy those stories without believing them to be the factual truth, can't you? And the King James Version has some great language, though I understand it's not the most accurate translation.

The worst things the Buble thumpers have done is put off people from the very book they're thumping.

Kirk said...

Had Elizabeth Shue hugged me, I would have climaxed.

John R said...

"My favorite number is 22/7, aka pi."

Ahh, the old high school approximation.

I come closer to appreciating its transcendent beauty and confirming my inner geek by remembering a mnemonics rhyme I first say in Martin Gardners' "Mathematical Puzzles and Games" forty years ago.

"Now I, even I, would celebrate
in rhymes inept, the great immortal Syracusan rivaled nevermore
who in his wondrous lore
untold us before
made then way straight
how to circles mensurate."

This same book taught me how to make hexahexaflexagons.

Erin O'Brien said...

Hello everyone and thanks for commenting.

Kirk, I am not opposed to reading the Bible, I just never have.

Angie said...

Maybe if you tried #4, you wouldn't have #5 Have a great day!

Kirk said...

I didn't mean to imply that you were. I haven't read the whole thing, either. Neither have I read War and Peace, the collected works of Shakesphere (I get by with whatever movie versions are out there), Plato's Republic, or Ulyssis. That particular sentence just jumped out at me for some reason. I think maybe where it was placed on the list has something to do with it. As I said, I'm an agnostic.

Leslie Morgan said...

Erin, what would be an appropriate waiting period before I blatantly steal your blog idea? I want to do this badly! I'd probably also do it poorly, however, unless I also snagged some of your factoids. ; ~{

Ha ~ word verification is raliabl. I wonder if that's pronounced reliable?

. said...

but 22/7 > pi. ): why not just like pi?

sevnetus said...

For some reason I missed many of your recent posts. Now I like them. They would fit well into Scene magazine as is.

jford said...

Moving, personal, informative, left em wanting more! What are your mystical powers, what type of visions do you have, why so melancholy? Thanks for sharing.

Two Flights Down said...

Great post. I only wish I was half as interesting...

ShaneColaBaby@hotmail.com said...

I Liked Reading This; It was really interesting. :]

The Debt Darling said...

I really like this post! So much so, I decided to follow your blog. You are unique, funny, and down to earth...a combination I like. Thanks for being you.

The Expatresse said...

I'm really coveting that 2 Mile Run OU medal (#21). I went to OU . . . eight wonderful years.

And my cat is somewhere in the 17-18 pound range (8.5 kg). He is named Cat-O. He think he's a dog. He is actually bigger than some of the dogs that live in our building.

Great blog entry. [fist bump]

Kristin said...

Hey, Erin, I'm a new reader and I've really enjoyed what I've read so far! Congrats on being a "Blog of Note", by the way.

This post was a fun read. There were a few items that were, "hey, me too!"-ish but you're definitely your own woman. : )

I started a brand new little blog this week- it has a grand total of three posts so far. If you're interested, I'd love to have you check it out!

http://excerpts-kristin.blogspot.com/

Cosmic Navel Lint said...

Agreed, a lovingly superb list, and one which I will reference repeatedly as being the the inspiration to do my own; but I can't help but feel you missed the section on appropriate footwear! ;-)

http://cosmicnavellint.blogspot.com/2009/10/venerable-lessons-learnt-1.html

Enjoy.

PS: Erin, please delete this is you feel it's inappropriate.

All the best,

Bren.

LiberatedButterfly said...

in response to 33o.ME TOO! #1 on my list:i think your a cool person
2:ths izz in txt tlk
3: LOOK AT MY BLOG!! hey-toxic.blogspot.com
4:i'm gonna follow your blog!! (^.^)

Jim said...

Thank you for sharing Erin. Very heartfelt and warming.

(S)wine said...

this is impressive, man! i cannot come up with 15 things about me which would hold anyone's attention.

and for the lady who advised you to read the Bible so you wouldn't be said...well, no one's said it so fuck it I will: you're a bit of a tool, dear missus, and i advise that you look long and hard at history and how the Bible has been used to...opp, uh, make others sad plenty.

i'm like you EOB, i am not opposed to reading ye olde Book, i just haven't. well, i have read parts and chunks, not all of it, however. there is plenty of good fiction out there i have yet to plow through, before i get to the bad fiction that is the Bible.

(S)wine said...

sad. so you wouldn't be SAD. not said.

thebikerblondie said...

I really love reading your blog, vinteresting

Anonymous said...

There's two #15's.

Diane Vogel Ferri said...

I believe to know oneself this well is a gift.

Kelly@TearingUpHouses said...

i just love this (particularly 49 and 90).

and i never read lists like this...

kelly