 I am an East Coast expatriate hiding out in the Midwest... I am an urban gal living in the suburbs and occasionally hiding in the country I am a yoga practitioner, fitness enthusiast, believer in the mind-body-spirit connection... I am a mid-life "revert" to the Roman Catholic faith in which I was raised and which has become an enormous source of support, encouragement, inspiration, and joy in my life... I am a mom, sister, daughter, and wife... I am an explorer; adventurous and curious about the world and people around me... I am educated in the formal sense but I gain insight through everyday living... I created this blog at a time of great fear and apprehension in my life. I chose to sustain it because of the discoveries about myself and the world around me that it has revealed. What you can expect to find here: the documentation of a love-hate relationship with the greater Philadelphia area reminiscing about the good-ole-days (the 80's!) complaints about my various ailments and injuries, both real and imagined pictures and stories of gardening, decorating, shopping, sewing my love of irony links to kooky news stories way too much scatological musing for sane people
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Saturday, December 04, 2004
So I was sitting around one day...
...and decided to compile another list of useless factoids about myself. Whoopee! Ooh, and in this one I drop lotsa names.
Yet 100 More…
- I am married to someone who is colorblind
- My favorite color is mineral green
- I collect transferware plates and toleware trays
- My general clothing size is "petite medium"
- I have been hospitalized twice in the past 5 years for unscheduled "emergency" surgeries
- My husband was nearly killed by an exploding milk bottle
- It took weeks and quite a few bottles of hydrogen peroxide to clean up all of his splattered blood from that accident. Ick.
- I make nerdily annoying Sienfeld references in everyday conversation: Not that there's anything wrong with that.
- Despite a jaded past life in the world of indie rock, certain Celine Dion songs make me cry
- Come to think of it, plenty of corny commercials make me weep, as well.
- As do hokey "happy" endings to Hollywood movies.
- Ah, I also cry at my town's 4th of July Parade.
- Despite my frequent teary-eyed state, I am a really nauseatingly upbeat person.
- Thus, frequent use of exclamation points! and Smiley Faces J in my writing.
- Sometimes wearing earrings gives me a headache. Maybe it’s a pressure-point thing…
- Necklaces of all lengths and materials also give me headaches
- I still own and USE an embarassing yet utilitarian collection of ponytail scrunchies
- If you haven't noticed by now, I am a pretty sh*tty typist.
- My other excuse for my embarrassing typos scattered throughout blog-land is an overused, gunked up keyboard.
- Yet more evidence that I'm a nerd: I love Trivial Pursuit.
- The only makeup items I wear EVERY day are eyebrow pencil and lipgloss.
- I have oily skin and use high glycolic acid content facial products to remedy this
- My facial/skincare products are among the few "premium" items I buy for myself.
- Most everything else is secondhand, generic, dollar-store…
- All of the recent "hype" about red and blue America has goaded me to reacquaint myself with my religious/spiritual self
- I consider myself a Catholic in the Fransicsan Way/method of prayer, but as far as non-Faith issues are concerned I really would consider myself more Unitarian.
- Despite my religious persuasion, I rarely feel guilt. About anything.
- I overuse hyphens, ellipses, parentheses and semicolons.
- Since I am freckle-faced, I am asked, quite often, "Do you have any Irish in you?"
- To which I always offer my favorite cliché, "Only my husband!"
- When I am awake, my feet are always cold no matter what socks or slippers I am wearing
- But I cannot stand wearing socks to bed.
- Nor long nightgowns or pj pants
- I prefer cotton shorts and a tank top, as unsexy as that is, as my nocturnal apparel
- My husband usurped my terry cloth monogrammed bathrobe years ago
- I think I am the only housewife in America without a bathrobe…
- So upon arising, I usually throw on sweatpants and a sweatshirt for warmth and "coverage"
- I never aspired to be a "mom"…
- …but I have found that I enjoy it and I'm pretty good at it.
- I adore most things "leopard print"
- Since getting our dog last year, my relationship with my husband has improved markedly; we think she adds a calming influence to the family dynamic.
- I play some sort of card game (freecell, solitaire, etc.) on my palm pilot every night in bed. It makes me sleepy.
- If my husband doesn’t get to me before the palm pilot is in my hands, he's lost his chance for the evening.
- I don't wear a wedding ring but my husband does.
- My first crush, at age 2 ½, was "Jimmy" from H.R. Puffenstuff.
- My second notable crush, at age 4, was Donny Osmond. I had 4 of his albums.
- And then cupid struck me at age 6 while viewing re-runs of The Monkees – I fell hard for Mickey Dolenz.
- First teenage crush was Nick "I wear way more makeup than you" Rhodes of Duran Duran fame
- I have a hard-to-fit bra size: 37 almost-B (I have been measured by professional fitters 3 times in the past year.) I usually wear 38's on the tightest setting, but even then it's not a perfect fit.
- Merely 5 years ago I was a 44DD!!!
- I love having small breasts. FREEDOM!
- Even though I have been triathloning for 2 years now, I only recently learned to run correctly, comfortably, at a sustainable pace.
- Even though I have been triathloning for 2 years now, I still ride a 15-year-old Schwinn mountain bike with upright touring handles!
- Lack of proper racing bike makes me a total FRED (nerd) in the tri-pack.
- I personally don't give a rat's bum about what the elite racers think of my entry-level stylin'
- I have had the opportunity to meet, hang out with, or at least come within 25 feet of a number of "famous" people. Not that it made much impact on my life; it's just good cocktail party fodder:
- Jason Bateman
- Andy Williams
- Jimmy Kimmel
- Bill Curtis
- Michael York
- Jerry Ryan
- Alan Ruck
- Jello Biafra
- Alan Ginsberg
- Kurt Cobain
- Courtney Love
- Dave Grohl
- Rob Lowe
- Gloria Steinem
- Billy Corigan
- Nash Kato and the UO gang
- Chris Cornell
- Bill Gates
- Tony Kucoc
- Della Reese
- Jerry Springer
- Lots of various 90's "grunge" band figures
- All the guys in Einsturzende Neubauten
- Jim Ellison
- Liz Phair
- There are more "obscure" sightings/encounters that I won't list here. It's a small world!
- I used to collect vintage lingerie and corsets but my collection is now languishing in my attic
- When I was collecting, my most sought-after items were black Contessa Di Roma shapewear (girdles, long line bras) from the 1960's.
- I also used to collect boots (vintage) and they are also now housed in the attic.
- I played bass in a band in college and I was absolutely AWFUL…
- …But the drummer was even WORSE!
- The band was called Thee Vermillionaires
- The guys in the band wrote some insane song about "Captain Kirk"
- It was supposed to be amusing and kitschy; it was merely embarrassing.
- I was once a judge at the now-infamous Chicago Poetry Slam.
- I used to have a huge problem with shopping and managing money.
- At one time I had 32 credit cards!
- Now, I am on a tight budget and LOVE the structure and effectiveness of it.
- And have only ONE credit card.
- Which is paid off every month
- Second only to our mortgage payment is my grad school student loan payment
- Getting "flamed" in posts or in chat actually hurts my feelings and raises my blood pressure
- I survive my low carb lifestyle with the aid of Pure Delight Dark Chocolate bars (sugar free, natch)
- My singular monthly high carb splurge is a Chocolate Cream Puff (chocolate "buttermilk-style" donut with frothy vanilla crème filling) from Palatine's own "Spunky Dunkers"
Posted at 06:51 am by brandy101
 |  |  | Mephisto December 9, 2004 02:42 PM PST
What an excellent addition to the first set! Thanks for that fascinating look into your psyche, B ... |  |
  |  |  | Dreama December 8, 2004 04:22 PM PST
Great list Brandy...love #30 Lol |  |
  |  |  | brandy101 December 7, 2004 11:09 PM PST
lol, Lyly; well since I am into RUNNING now, it helps alot to be smaller. But I certainly don't fill out a sweater like back in the day... oh well; there are trade-offs for everything. |  |
  |  |  | Lyly December 7, 2004 08:00 PM PST
wow I'm still a 44 DDD and don't mind it at all. |  |
  |  |  | Kristy December 7, 2004 12:40 AM PST
we studied that poetry slam in my high school creative writing course. Very cool that you judged it! |  |
  |  |  | Nibs December 6, 2004 09:16 PM PST
My last brush with greatness involved Rusty Wallace. In one of the pics, I look like I am picking my butt. What a freaking SpEd. |  |
  |  |  | brandy101 December 6, 2004 04:12 PM PST
heh, Kristy, true enough.
I'll tag ya back... |  |
  |  |  | Kristy December 6, 2004 02:59 PM PST
I really liked this entry. Geez, care to share any stories about your encounters with namely Liz Phair, Courtney Love, Dave Grohl and other said grungers with us a Vintage Rock? We'd love to hear about it!
The closest I ever got to greatness was being in the front row of a Bob Dylan concert and the front room on an Ours/Jimmy Gnecco acoustic concert. You'd really like Ours, if you haven't already heard of them. If you have MSN Messenger, I'm pretty good about sending music files, or if you ever just want to chat.
Sorry again about the other day and my paranoia. You are a truly cool chica and I plan on visiting your blog daily now. I even linked ya'! So no hard feelings?
OH, as a sidenote, I found it hilarious that you said you were disapointed in my Beastie Boys pick while Celine Dion songs make you cry *double wink*:) |  |
  |  |  | Adam December 6, 2004 10:04 AM PST
So, how come none of you drooled over Andrew Dice Clay? :P |  |
  |  |  | Lyly December 5, 2004 08:50 PM PST
green is also my favorite color. there are several shades i like. what is an example of mineral green that i could look at?
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  |  |  | SOSwryter December 5, 2004 12:47 AM PST
I used to be in love with Jason Bateman.
I used to cry watching episodes of Little House on the Prairie.
Newman!!!!!
sos |  |
  |  |  | FreudianSlip December 4, 2004 11:46 PM PST
What a high dose of you.. Got my injection of your info for today..
Ill be back tomorrow for another shot. hehe
- An addict of your blog. |  |
  |  |  | brandy101 December 4, 2004 02:18 PM PST
lol, Michelle - well it WAS quite a dramatic change ! :) |  |
  |  |  | Michelle December 4, 2004 01:10 PM PST
OMG sorry for making an assumption. I really have to stop doing that..you know when you assume...you make an a$$...blah blah. I had no idea that weight loss could affect breast size so much. Anyway I think you look great so keep on doing what you are doing! |  |
  |  |  | raejane December 4, 2004 11:10 AM PST
I think I need to do one of these.. but I'm afraid I would bore people to death.
I'm really not that interesting...lol |  |
  |  |  | Michelle December 4, 2004 10:15 AM PST
44DD to 37 B? Breast Reduction? I had a BR in March 04 - BEST thing I ever did. |  |
  |  |  | Miss Ginger December 4, 2004 08:32 AM PST
OK, this is freaky.
From your list, applied to me:
5. I have been hospitalized twice in the last 5 years as well. One c-sec, and one gall bladder removal. All in all, though: 2 c-secs, one gall bladder removal (not that I could have had two), two knee surgeries (I broke my knee, ow), 1 breast reduction.
8. I make ridiculous references to the Simpsons on a daily basis. Everything in my day can relate to a Simpsons episode.
9. Not Celine (hey, I'm in Quebec, there is such a thing as way WAY too much of her), but many "Top 10" songs do that to me, shhhhh!
10. Me too. Shhhhh.
11. One reason I don't watch movies.
13. Same here.
14. Me too!
16. I rarely wear any jewellery for that same reason.
17. My pal Mel makes fun of me for it. I have a collection to end all collections. (and still use them, too)
20. I demand that you come up to Montreal. We must play. I love that game, too. As a matter of fact, and pure geekiness, I play the "dictionary game" with my husband. We try to stump each other on word definitions.
21. If I didn't wear eyebrow pencil or lip gloss, I'd look like I had half eyebrows, and no lips. You'd have to see my eyebrows to get it.
31. Yes, I hear ya. I frequently find myself putting my feet in warm water just to 'warm up'. I take my socks off, first.
33.-37. Same here! No bathrobe, either. Feh.
38. Never wanted to be a 'mom', either. Something 'clicked', and I'm glad it did.
40. you'd love my leopard porkpie-style hat.
44. Me neither. I get contact dermatitis. I tell people I suffer from "Marriageitis".
46. ME TOO!!!! Oh, how I loved him! I'll dig up the pic of my second (may have been the third)Christmas, where I got a small portable record player and a couple of his albums. I'd set them up in front of me and sing to 'him'. Hee hee!
48. This is freaky. Me too. Then I moved to John Taylor. Never Simon LeBon. Remind me to tell you how I scored John's home phone number.
56.-82. I'll compile my list, we'll compare notes.
98. I stew for days when it happens to me. Really. I get a knot in my stomach, and all. Like yesterday... I had an email fight with a colleague. Argh.
Neat stuff!!
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