6 Things

1. I have no concept of time and/or pasta.  Know that anytime I give you a time for something (e.g. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.” or “Oh, that will only take five minutes.”) you should probably double it.  At least.  I also cook way too much pasta at any given time.  This is slightly less bothersome to others, however, than having no concept of time.

2. I don’t take compliments well.  I don’t know how to receive them, and usually ignore them or offer an awkward “thank you” and run off.  A guy at work has recently nicknamed me “Beautiful” and greets me this way every morning.  I have no idea how to respond to this–so I don’t.

3. I can’t watch shows about animals.  If ever Tim and I were to get cable, I’d ask for a parental block-type situation on the Animal Planet channel.  I used to watch shows like Pet Hospital (or whatever it was called) and just burst into tears.  Those things would leave me depressed for the entire day.  I will cry when reading new stories or even fictional stories about animals being hurt or mistreated.  Just this morning I was searching for a new credit card and I found some that will donate a percentage of your spendings to the ASPCA and I got a little teary, thinking of those animals I could help.  I’m getting a little teary right here just talking about it.  Gah, moving on…

4. I am fascinated by war.  Most specifically WWII.  I enjoy reading about it, watching movies or documentaries about it, visiting museum exhibits about it, etc.  I couldn’t tell you why–I just like learning the whys behind it or the heroic acts during it.  This interest does not extend to any of the wars after WWII, however.  I have never taken the time to sit down and really think about it, but I think that perhaps it has something to do with our modernized warfare.  The creation of the atomic bomb changed the face of war.  Or perhaps recent wars seem a little less purposeful.  Korea, Vietnam, Somolia, and now Iraq.  With WWII there was a very clear and definite why to the war.  But like I said, I haven’t really thought about it.

5.  I have always been a writer.  There was a period of several years after college when I completely gave up writing.  In all truthfulness, I never started considered writing as a serious pursuit until just a couple years ago.  It was always more of a leisure activity.  But this week I was packing and cleaning and came across a large portfolio of scripts, stories, poems, newspaper articles, short stories, and plays that I had written.  It dated all the way back to junior high school so the quality of the work wasn’t necessarily the greatest, but the sheer volume of it was what got to me.  I thought, “How could I have ever doubted what I should do with myself?”  I have a stack of humorous newsletters that I created, co-wrote, and distributed to my friends for two years in high school just for the sheer fun of it.  Never once did it occur to me that most people don’t do things like that.

6. I like an N*Sync song.  If we’re being completely honest, I should probably go ahead and say that I like two.  “Bye Bye Bye” is just so darn catchy.  I also like the song “Would You Be My Girlfriend” despite the fact that Nelly is in it, and despite the fact that he is wearing a band-aid on his face.