I was tooling around on Facebook this afternoon when I saw a friend's post. She had filled out a "note" called "25 Random Things About Me". Her list had things like "my daughters dance better than I do" and "I married a man who cooks and he's realy good at it", and "I threw a triple header once in high school."
I was immediately obsessed with what kind of random factoids other people might find interesting about me - and sat down to write my list.
Forty minutes later, I had covered Space Camp, all of my undergraduate jobs, and the excessive amounts of shoes in my wardrobe. I was struck by what I wanted to talk about, which was travel, purchases, and the unique things I had done or acquired. And then, I immediately felt guilty.
It occurred to me: am I proud, interested, or amused by things in my life which are not the result of spending money?
So I've pondered. I've pondered all day. And I came up with a new list. One that talks about the things I love - and that don't cost a dime. As we wander through these tough economic times, I'm putting it out there - I'm challenging each of you - to list the things you have cared about, loved, experienced, or dreamed of - which didn't cost you a dime.
Call me an Oprah in training :)
My List of 25 Random Things About Me: Things I Love, Dream, Imagine, or Enjoy
1. Love: Dusk on Lake Michigan, behind Waveland Golf Course.
2. Enjoy: Teaching kids to do something - anything - they couldn't do before.
3. Love: Pacing the Chicago Distance Classic walkers - mostly first-timers, doing their first half marathon. Feel good moment of my year.
4. Love: Finding the perfect outfit - which already exists in my closet.
5. Love: Listening to Country Music. Yep. Love the Dixie Chicks.
6. Dream: Falling in love with a wonderful, kind, available man.
7. Imagine: How I would look with layered, long brown hair.
8. Dream: Of running for office someday.
9. Enjoy: Reading almost any mystery.
10. Love: Baking. Anything.
11. Dream: Of becoming the person who works out every morning.
12: Enjoy: Conversations with my sister and brother - we're all pretty different, but we share a sense of humor.
13. Love: Watching Bear Gryls - "Man v. Wild"
14. Enjoy: A good emergency. Don't ask me why.
15. Dream: Hiking the Bright Angel Trail to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
16. Love: Hiking by myself and with friends.
17. Enjoy: Laughing my ass off with my friends over a good beer.
18. Dream: Of running an Olympic triathlon again.
19. Dream: Of someday publishing something. Anything.
20. Imagine: Life in the suburbs. Then I wake up screaming.
21. Enjoy: The ferry ride over the Ohio River every time I go home.
22. Enjoy: Shopping without buying.
23. Imagine: Self-cleaning bathrooms. Oh, wait, was that a dream?
24. Enjoy: Running. Short distances.
25. Enjoy: Finding the stars above me, anytime, anywhere.
What do you enjoy? What do you dream about? What do you imagine?
Been awhile? Give it a go :)
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2 comments:
I was totally going to post MY 25 random things to MY blog. Instead, I will post to yours. And maybe mine, too:
1. I learned what "penultimate" means from a Monty Python sketch
2. I won an award Senior year for being the nicest person in my high school class
3. I can (sadly) name all the Three's Company blondes (actors and character names),
the 6 wives of Henry VIII (in order) and all 50 states in alphabetical order.
4. I lived in a trailer in Alaska
5. Someone once asked me what I wanted to be "When I grow up" (I was probably 27 at the time) and my response was "A backup singer for Aretha Franklin in 1968."
6. A Nobel laureate once told me he loved me. He was drunk.
7. My favorite karaoke songs are (in no particular order) Copacabana, The Devil Went Down to Georgia, Loves Me Like a Rock, and Shoop.
8. I took kung fu for 4 years
9. I have never broken a bone. Yet.
10. I have 2 traditions -- making candy buckeyes before the OSU-Michigan game, and watching The Life of Brian every Easter
11. I attend church regularly. And I'm a liberal.
12. I got married in Vegas, at the same wedding chapel where Cindy Crawford married Richard Gere and Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton wore vials of blood.
13. I prefer Gladys Knight's version of "Heard it Through the Grapevine" infinitely over Marvin Gaye's.
14. I turned 18 on the same day that Namibia became a nation.
15. When I was in elementary school, I thought I would get sick if I didn't wear something purple every day.
16. I own a life size cut out of Michael J. Fox as Teen Wolf.
17. I have visited the Himalayas, and tore my ACL in the French Alps, and still on my list to visit is Patagonia, Antarctica, the Galapagos and anywhere in Africa.
18. I called my son the cat's name for the first 2 weeks after he (the son) was born.
19. The most miserable I ever was, was on an un-airconditioned bus in Delhi in July.
20. I won a case of jug wine for breaking off an engagement.
21. I went to Normandy and skipped the D-Day beaches to see the Bayeux Tapestry instead.
22. I cried when Cujo died -- in the book, not the movie.
23. My most interesting friend is a PhD nudist, pagan bisexual who still celebrates the High Holidays.
24. I tried to get a job as a singing telegram in college, but they weren't hiring. At least, that's what they told me.
25. I wore Chuck Taylors (Black, and my mom helped me bedazzle them) with a mini-dress to homecoming.
I need the details behind many of these stories - because, well, just DAMN. I especially want to understand the laureate and engagement breaking stories, and the trailer in Alaska.
Your list rocks - and I'm SOOO glad you posted it here!!
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