Fifty Useless Facts

This page has been completely rewritten as of April 2007. Many things have changed since I originally wrote this list in September 2005! These are fifty semi-useless facts that… well, you probably didn’t need to know!

  1. I can’t remember how many times that I’ve moved, especially since many of them were minor moves. I can tell you that I’ve gone to eight different schools and also have been homeschooled two separate times.
  2. StatesOklahoma is the fourth state I’ve lived in. The other three are Pennsylvania, Oregon, and California (see map - green states).
  3. I’ve been through / in over half of the states. We always drove when we moved, and various road trips have added to the score (see map - yellow states).
  4. I’ve only flown in a plane once, and I don’t remember it, so it doesn’t count. Therefore, I’ve never flown. - This will change May ‘07!
  5. My favorite teachers of all time were Herr Hoffman (German teacher from eighth grade to eleventh grade), Mrs. Muth (Algebra II teacher, tenth grade), Mrs. Williams (English teacher, eighth grade), Mr. Galen (Biology, tenth grade), Ms. H-G (gifted, high school), and Mrs. Ustezewski (second grade). No particular order.
  6. My lowest grade ever on a report card was an F (first marking period Health, eighth grade). It ended up being a B for the year.
  7. My highest grade ever on a report card was an A+ (first and second marking period, tenth grade Bio) that represented grades over 100%.
  8. Currently, my family’s got two dogs, four cats, and six kittens.
  9. I’m thirteen years older than my youngest sister… so therefore, I’m technically old enough to be her mother.
  10. I was born at 8:30 a.m. on a Wednesday.
  11. My eyes are hazel, but I suspect they change color sometimes.
  12. I’ve worn glasses since first grade. My vision is so bad that when I take my glasses off, I need to put a normal book (with normal text size, that is) about eight inches from my nose before I can start to read it.
  13. When a friend of the family tried to teach me to ride my bike, I would only pedal backwards (it was a little bike with hand brakes). I claimed that it was too hard the other way.
  14. My only memories of California are 1) the color brown, and 2) an oatmeal bowl that moved across the table by itself. I was three. I suspect that while I was there, there was a drought (confirmed), and there was a small earthquake that moved my bowl.
  15. I have reason to believe that the house I lived in when I was about six was haunted. My mom believes that there was a spirit in the in-law suite. To this day, just thinking about the upstairs bathroom that shared a wall with the in-law suite scares me for no reason at all. The house was later condemned.
  16. I got so tired of people telling me to stop biting my nails as a child that I stopped… but took up biting the skin off the ends of my fingers.
  17. I would not eat french fries for the first five or six years of my life… until my little sister came along and tried them first. I did, however, eat lots of foods then that I don’t like now… for example, steak.
  18. In sixth grade, I figured out that the only thing that would happen to me if I didn’t do my homework was that I’d have to stay in for recess. Being a slightly anti-social bookworm, that was invitation to just forget homework. I was getting straight A’s anyway.
  19. When I was in eighth grade, my best friend Amanda died suddenly of some kind of heart failure. The last thing I told her was “have a great weekend!” We had just made up after fighting.
  20. My family and I became Messianic in 2002 after leaving our church.
  21. I used to be in a church puppet team. I’m talking the real deal. I still have my puppet… she’s a redhead named Alejandra (pronounced Alley-andra). Her twin, Ashleigh, belongs to Kristin.
  22. I could not smell skunk until I was at least fifteen or sixteen.
  23. I’ve never dated or been kissed. If any guy has liked me, ever, he’s hidden it extremely well and never told me.
  24. I had Bells’ Palsy in third grade (paralises half of your face), and to this day one eye opens wider than the other. Most people, however, don’t notice anymore.
  25. I have all of my journals since 2001, when I started keeping regular journals. Journal-keeping nowadays is spotty at best.
  26. One of my life goals is to speak seven non-coding languages fluently, including English. Most likely, this list will be: English, German, Hebrew, Spanish, Italian, Russian, and French (I hate French!).
  27. I don’t have a “best friend” because I generally don’t show one person the entire me. My closest friends tend to know some of my deepest, darkest secrets, but only in certain areas of my life. I suspect when I find someone I can tell everything… I’ll marry him (ha!).
  28. The only thing I know I’m allergic to is poison sumac.
  29. My biggest fears are absolute rejection, falling (okay, the sudden stop), nuclear bombs (hush) and tornadoes.
  30. When I picture myself in ten or fifteen years, I see myself as the crazy cat lady that every good neighborhood needs… me and my twenty two cats (one for each letter of the aleph-bet). I’m a freelance webdesigner and a novelist on the side.
  31. I have a weakness for purses. A serious weakness for purses.
  32. I can’t stand the smell or taste of alcohol.
  33. If I could have one superpower, it would be to make everything in the room become invisible until you find the one thing you’re looking for (which would, consequently, not be invisible). If that one’s not available, I’ll settle for time travel.
  34. I love coding websites. Seriously, there’s no words to describe that.
  35. Breakfast is my favorite meal… and cereal is my favorite entree. I love cereal. I think I could survive for weeks on cereal alone.
  36. There is a beaver that lives in my head. He causes writer’s block literary constipation.
  37. I will never get my ears pierced because once I heard of some girl who was holding a baby… and the baby accidentally ripped the girl’s earrings off…
  38. It takes me a while to make friends. Not only am I really bad with first impressions myself, it takes me a while to trust people. Once I do, though, I’m way too trusting. It just takes me a bit to get there.
  39. I have always wanted to play an instrument. Any instrument. I consider myself a frustrated musician… I’ve never had any lessons or training, but if you hand me something and show me the basics (and be patient with me!), I’ll be picking out tunes in no time.
  40. I always used to wonder what you would do if your house sat right on the line that divides where you say “soda” and where you say “pop.” Hey, that’s serious! Say your living room was in “soda” territory, and you called into the kitchen (which was “pop” territory) and asked for a soda, and they didn’t know what you were talking about! (Give me a break, I was four at the time.)
  41. I sometimes obsess over inside jokes, because they make me feel connected to people.
  42. Sometimes when I’m just about to fall asleep, I jerk awake because I feel like I’m falling… literally falling asleep.
  43. The only browser I use regularly is Firefox. And I love it.
  44. I have a dinky first-generation 1Gig iPod nano (white)… and I love it to pieces.
  45. My cell phone used to be my dad’s, until we all went in on a family plan.
  46. My computer is a Dell laptop that my grandfather got for my about three years ago. My dream computer, however, is an iMac!
  47. I can only really remember my friends back to about third grade, but I can remember the name of every guy I’ve liked over the years… clear to kindergarten!
  48. I’m starting to develop an Oklahoma accent.
  49. I’ve never been ice skating!
  50. I’ve been working at Braum’s since the end of August 2006.