Sunday, January 1, 2012

101 Random Things About Me


Since Bouchra over at Pink, Purple and Fuchsia did this… and I thought it was awesome, here's my own list!

  1. I'm a mother hen according to my main Tae Kwon Do instructor.
  2. I'm a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
  3. I'm an Eastern Orthodox Christian.
  4. I speak Romanian fluently.
  5. I was born in Romania.
  6. I was born six days before Christmas.
  7. I get presents August 15th for my name day, which basically means that I get celebrated because the Virgin Mary, who I was named after, has a holy day on the calendar. I also get a lot of calls from relatives. -_^
  8. I'm ridiculously practical.
  9. I'm a stickler for rules. I'll bend them every once in a while, but on my terms only. Seriously, a stickler.
  10. I'm a chronic overachiever and planner.
  11. I get really nervous before big events.
  12. I like Easter more than Christmas.
  13. I don't like decorating the Christmas tree at all.
  14. I love listening to old music like Buddy Holly, The Beatles, ABBA, etc.
  15. Anything with a sweet melody and sweet lyrics will be on my 'favorites' list.
  16. I'm teaching myself French by reading Les Trois Mousquetaires.
  17. I think 17 is a beautiful number, and not just because I turned 17 in 2011, but because 1 and 7 in combination are just… beautiful.
  18. I'm most like my dad's grandmother in a lot of ways. (Awesome fact: she's 97 but looks 80.)
  19. I like spring because of the tulips and the temperature.
  20. I love tulips, but not the red or yellow ones.
  21. From the age of ten to the age of fourteen, I was obsessed with creating genetic strings for made-up animals.
  22. After 14, I became a tad more normal.
  23. I participated in NaNo'08 at the age of 13, won in 19 days, and then wrote 100k in NaNo'09. Both books sucked. The last two NaNos I have not managed to finish by Nov 30. They sucked too. But less.
  24. I've been on an airplane more times than I can count.
  25. I love to read.
  26. I read War and Peace for fun to procrastinate on studying for the ACT.
  27. I got a 35/36 in ACT's reading section.
  28. I used to like rabbits, then dogs, then horses. Now I like cats. They're the quietest and the sleepiest.
  29. My legs are in an 'O' shape. It's annoying.
  30. I drank orange juice almost every morning with a sandwich for years. Then we left America for the trip.
  31. I'm really interested in how the mind works, and what people think about things.
  32. I can't decide if I want to go to college in America or in Romania.
  33. My life plan is going to college to be a doctor (psychiatrist, possibly) or a teacher before getting married to a bilingual and having 3-4 kids and homeschooling them. 
  34. I like getting told what's wrong with my writing by people I don't know. It annoys me when people say it's 'perfect' because I know it's not true. Saying it's 'awesome,' though, bolsters my spirits.
  35. I used to sulk all the time until my dad promised me the game Rush Hour for not sulking for a week. I haven't sulked since, and I played that game for perhaps a week. I lost one of the pieces at a friend's house.
  36. I was a really skinny kid with big teeth and glasses. The days of my bangs were terrible.
  37. I used to have hair down to my hips before my great-grandma told me it was too long.
  38. Whatever my great-grandma comments on about me usually ends up changing (she told me I needed something red, I ended up buying a red jacket… and then an entire red outfit two years later… I got a haircut.)
  39. I once hit 122 wpm. For about one millisecond. Usually, though, I write 50-70wpm. I can hit 80 if necessary.
  40. I was homeschooled from kindergarten to second grade, skipped third, took fourth in a public school (as well as part of fifth), was unschooled until 7th grade, and then was homeschooled from 8th to 12th grade. I taught myself for practically the last two-three years.
  41. I'm the oldest grandchild of my paternal grandparents, as well as the oldest great-grandchild of my parental family.
  42. I have a ridiculous amount of connections in Romania which I know nothing about.
  43. I ramble about things I like, things I don't like, and things which annoy me. I barely talk at all about subjects in the middle.
  44. I need deadlines.
  45. I love romance novels.
  46. I'm a hopeless romantic.
  47. I love reading classics. 
  48. Once I start reading something, it's hell getting me to give up on the book. I only did this three times in my entire collective memory.
  49. One of my goals is to beat my dad's score of 350ish (300-400) books in a year. He was 17 when he did it… I'll be eighteen.
  50. I lose interest in things pretty quickly.
  51. I sold an online adoptable once for $100— I was approached about them and I sold them. I spent maybe $20 ordering the lines… and I've never made that big a profit since. On anything.
  52. I'm frugal. Give me a box of chocolates, it'll be there a month later. Give me $100, it won't be spent for a while.
  53. I love the library.
  54. My laptop was an early sweet 16 gift. I paid for 33% of it without knowing.
  55. I wrote 15k in a day once when I was 14, and I haven't beat that record since.
  56. I don't actually mind bugs until they're within six inches of my person. Ants and ladybugs don't count.
  57. I love groundfighting.
  58. I'm a very 'hug' type of person.
  59. My love language is 'words of affirmation' and then 'physical touch.' I couldn't care less about 'gift-giving' (books are awesome, though!) or acts of service (I am the one who can do it best!). But I do enjoy quality time, sometimes.
  60. I do not understand the allure of video games and don't want to. 
  61. I have trouble giving up control.
  62. I can be suffocating. I'm not sure if that's changed yet or not.
  63. I realized I 'had to be a doctor' when I realized I needed a high-paying job (relatively), and that I could only be a lawyer, doctor, or businesswoman. I couldn't stand being a lawyer (fighting all day!) or a business woman (marketing!), so I realized I had to be a doctor.
  64. I love babies. I could live with a sleeping baby on my chest and a book.
  65. I love little kids.
  66. I'm more comfortable with guys than with girls because of the mean girl cliché.
  67. Guys also seem more socially awkward than me, which is always a plus.
  68. I don't understand Facebook. I wouldn't even be checking FB every day if it weren't for my writing group and going around the world.
  69. I can lose hours surfing things I already know about on the internet.
  70. I want to become polyphasic so badly. So I can read and write more.
  71. I want to learn to cook, but never could because our kitchen is small.
  72. I have a talent for wasting time.
  73. I'm ridiculously practical. My favorite gifts are those I can use for years to come.
  74. If I could be clean without showering… I'd never do it.
  75. The pool isn't very interesting for me.
  76. I used to play Petz 5 all the time. Then I grew up. Sometimes I wish I hadn't.
  77. I'm extremely loyal.
  78. If anyone attacks my family, I get really mean. Not rude… but cutting.
  79. I was a nightmare before my birthday for most of my life. The past few years I've holed myself up before, though, to prevent myself from hurting anyone.
  80. I don't get sick often. When I do get sick it's the runniest of runny noses and the worst of coughs.
  81. I have one sister, 14 (she sings), and one brother, 12 (he… is awesome. He doesn't do much else).
  82. My sister and I are absolutely completely total opposites.
  83. I don't mind talking about normal life processes at all.
  84. I can't stand talking about injuries— I get all empathetic and imaginative and it's… ugh.
  85. If something looks like a human body part it's harder for me to eat it.
  86. Sometimes I start wondering why I'm putting something into my mouth. Like cheese. Or chocolate.
  87. I don't like things too sweet, too salty, too spicy… too anything, really. Chocolate is too sweet. 
  88. I love pickles in brine. I hate pickles in vinegar.
  89. I used to hate jeans, and then I loved them. Now I like my travel pants and my wrap-around skirt.
  90. I could wear a shirt for a week without caring.
  91. I love apples, but only certain kinds. And bananas. I used to hate bananas, but now I don't.
  92. I stopped drinking milk at the age of five when, no matter how much honey I put into it, it still wasn't good. I still remember the incident and my dad telling me to stop and just drink it.
  93. I don't understand the point of dairy any more.
  94. I once ate an entire plate of green tomatoes so sour neither of my parents could stomach it. I was two years old.
  95. I've never had a cell phone. I don't want one either.
  96. I talk a lot when I'm happy. I also bounce and hug people.
  97. I get the urge to tell people I love them when I'm happy. Then I have to stop and not say it because you never know if they'll take you seriously or not.
  98. I tend to criticize people I know before I think about it.
  99. I don't like big changes. I don't like schedule changes. I don't like big changes of plan.
  100. I can't wait to get my own house. I've actually started planning it.
  101. 101 random things looked much smaller to me from the other end of the list. I don't usually like lists, unless they're to-do lists.

Wow… 1776 words for… random things. AWESOME!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Maria. Many happy returns. I wish I could get (here we are with the dreaded word get, but let's move on). Speaking about things in the 101 things I am totally, deeply, insanely curious about Khan Academy (I don't remember now what was the random entry number, but you know what I am talking about. The big ???? I have for you (I hope you care to let me know) are: how long have you been with that site ? Have signed up? or may be not. What categories (Mathematics, science, Lit etc) have you pursued ?? How long were you throughout a week or may more often. Did follow one thing (i.e.: MATH ) fully (Arithmetic, Pre-Algebra, Algebra etc etc within MATH)

A propos ( I don't know where to find the accent on A) so you know that much French to know what I am talking about) of the LIST of books to read ( and I have to confess that I have thought long and hard about this book , that's Khamasutra. Just leave it alone for a while longer. You may want to visit it before you get married and you want to have kids). But that title I would sugest to be replaced with another Indian entry like for instance Rabindranath Tagore an Indian guy who actually was bestowed upon (instead of the word got) Nobel prize for Literature some years ago. I may add if you let me, later on, some Chinese books and may be Japanese (I have read some and I shall read some more). Enough of me.
Many HAPPY RETURNS in 2012 December when somebody whom I know better and better will be 18. What a joy, truly joy to know you.
Be good. Stay well.
Get things done with speed.
And yet there is this LATIN thing that comes to mind (I know you say you don't know Latin but it goes like this FESTINA LENTE. In Romanian (though I am sure it has the English equivalent, which I have not found out) means GRABESTE-TE incetisor. Slow down and think about it. You are doing so many thinks. Sometimes it's so much and moves so fast that I wonder if you could slow down on a phrase, a word, a picture (to study) to read between lines and so so so and so.
I am looking forward to being in touch with you.
E Richards Roc NY USA ernvr@aol.com

Anonymous said...

RE ITEM 87 and cross reference with someting else. I get to it now. No wonder that you can look at chocolate bar for a week or a month. You don't like it. In my humble opinion is not a virtue of postponing the pleasure of having chocolate if you don't even like it. The same ERichards Roc NY USA ernvr@aol.com

Anonymous said...

thank you!

I've been with KA about... three months, studying math on and off because of time-constraints. I've started with the physics videos there, and I will be studying chemistry and biology as well. I'd log on about a week, every day, working quite a lot at a time, but then not be able to access it for a while. I tihnk I completed Pre-algebra and arithmetic completely, but I've done some exercises from the rest as well-- just haven't managed to take the challenges yet.

Eh... I feel that I'm mature enough to read it. If I can't handle it, I'll stop. But at the moment, I'll keep it on the list. Thank you for the suggestion, though! I've got the Ramayana and the Maha-bharata on the Indian list as well, in case I hadn't posted that.

The more things I have going on, the more time I actually devote to each thing-- if I only have one thing to do a day, it rarely gets done, but if I have ten things to do, then I tend to be very interested in finishing them, so that I don't have twenty things to do the next... which means that everything gets finished. ^_^

Don't worry about me! If it ever gets too much, I'll stop of my own accord and fix things.

Thanks for the comments! I'm not sure if I understood what you meant with the chocolate, though.

Maria