100 things (as seen EVERYWHERE)

1. I am 36.
2. I learned to drive when I was 27.
3. The NYT interviewed me for an article about people who learn to drive as adults.
4. I still can't drive stick.
5. I will try to make time to learn.
6. Our other car is a Jeep. Manual transmission. I'm an idiot for not having taken the time to learn how to drive our other car.
7. I admit that I planned ahead last week so that I could fill up my gas-guzzling mini-van at the cheapest place. I was near empty the day before and got 3 gallons at the expensive place to tide me over.
8. If anyone comes out with a hybrid mini-van whose pedals I can reach without having to turn off the airbag, I'm gonna buy it the next day.
9. In Brooklyn, garbage disposals are rare. After 7 years, I still get a kick out of using ours.
10. If I'm channel surfing and I come across "When Harry Met Sally" I'll stop and watch the whole thing.
11. Even if it's cut with commercials.
12. Even though I own the DVD.
13. It's changed for me since 9/11, though. I get choked up when they part ways for the first time in Washington Square, because you can see the Towers framed in the arch.
14. I refuse to watch any new series on the Sci-Fi channel.
15. Especially if they look like I'll get hooked on them.
16. Ask me why. Go ahead. Ask me.
17. Favorite shows that have been prematurely axed (not just by the Sci-Fi channel): Far Scape, Invisible Man, Joan of Arcadia, The Tick (animated), Samurai Jack, Nero Wolfe...the list goes on and on.
18. Everything I know about racing, I learned from Dick Francis.
19. Everything I know about Alaska, I learned from Dana Stabenow.
20. Everything I know about the French and Indian War, I learned from Lois Lenski.
21. Everything I know about London during the Blitz, I learned from Noel Streatfeild.
22. I have a complete set of Howard the Duck comics (issues 1 through 33 inclusive.)
23. I'd rather see the OB/GYN than the dentist.
24. I'd rather see the dentist than watch another episode of The Doodlebops.
25. I have lots of favorite foods.
26. Two of my favorites are liver and sushi.
27. The only foods I really don't like are cilantro and green peppers.
28. I do like roasted red peppers.
29. I loved IHOP's potato pancakes. They just recently took them off the menu. Sigh.
30. On the other hand, they're really not on my diet.
31. Just last week I got down to my marriage weight.
32. My goal is to get down to my still-working-at-the-bookstore weight.
33. I'm not sure if that's realistic.
34. But I'm sure as hell gonna try.
35. Even if I don't get there, I'll have reached other goals (Eating better: more veggies, more water. Getting more exercise). And they are good on their own.
36. I've been really motivated to get healthier this year because, when he was my age, MakesBooksForGrandkids had a heart attack. I'm completely grateful that he is so healthy now.
37. When I'm feeling sad or angry, I bury my nose in Muffin Man's hair and take a good sniff. It always has the power to make me feel better.
38. I've been sniffing his hair quite a bit the last few weeks.
39. My Amazon wish list is 3 pages long.
40. I feel guilty about that.
41. It was longer, but I made a new wish list just for things I want for Muffin Man.
42. All my parents are great about buying stuff for me off the wish list.
43. I feel guilty about that too.
44. Three of my four parents had birthdays in the last month.
45. Two of them on the same day.
46. I was going to blog about the simultaneous birthdays, but I hadn't blogged about the other birthday and so I didn't.
47. Because I felt guilty.
48. This is obviously something I need to work on.
49. I actually feel guilty less often than I used to.
50. I used to be on the radio in college at two different radio stations. 16 years later, I can still recite their phone numbers.
51. Those were truly my all-time-favorite jobs.
52. But they didn't pay. Anything.
53. My all-time-favorite paying job was working at the bookstore.
54. But it didn't pay. Much.
55. One of my best friends from high school died in a fire 9 years ago.
56. I miss him.
57. I can still recite his parents phone number. I should give them a call.
58. I can tell you the address of every house I've lived in since I was 5.
59. And most of their phone numbers.
60. Without looking them up.
61. But I don't remember names all that well.
62. Including step-cousins and step-step-cousins, I have 27 first cousins.
63. The oldest is 50 something, the youngest is 3. The newest is 8. (Adopted from Russia)
64. I share a birthday with the newest one.
65. All the cousins on my mom's side of the family were born on the 18th of their birth month. Me, my sister, my cousin in France and my new cousin.
66. I love the smell of the city after a summer rain
67. But the smell of the country after a summer rain is even better.
68. My favorite diet-breaking food is a Big Mac. Mmmmmmm....
69. All my favorite breakfasts include eggs.
70. I invented a breakfast sandwich I call the Jewish Egg McMuffin. Take an english muffin or a bialy if you've got one. Toast it. Fry up an egg. Schmear the toasted muffin or bialy with chive cheese, add some smoked white fish, pop on the egg and top with the other half of muffin or bialy. Have lots of napkins handy. So delicious. But not at all kosher.
71. I love to cook, but I haven't done much of it lately.
72. I think Alton Brown is terrific.
73. Rachel Ray annoys me. Keep your hands still for a minute! But I like her $40 A Day show.
74. All my favorite tv shows have a considerable amount of snark.
75. Chef! is a great example of the kind of show I like.
76. If you haven't seen Chef!, all I can say is, I pity you.
77. I haven't seen a movie in a theatre since the first X-Men. I think. Was that after the first Harry Potter?
78. It's not the ticket prices, or even the concession prices, it's the commercials and the talking.
79. That said, the Coke commercial with Dave Chappelle was pretty good.
80. I do the NYT crossword puzzle on-line most days. I spend $20/year for the privilege.
81. I play way too much Spider Solitaire.
82. My husband and I are pretty evenly matched at Scrabble.
83. We play all our games strictly "Top of the Box".
84. Except "Man Bites Dog", we added a few poker variations to that.
85. Hearing my son laugh can make me giddy with happiness.
86. I love watching him become an independent boy, but I miss my little baby.
87. He made his own toast the other day, butter and all. I wanted to cry.
88. Christmas is my favorite holiday.
89. Yes, I'm Jewish. You wanna make something of it?
90. Both my sets of parents were totally into Christmas. Trees, carols, the works.
91. Thanksgiving's good too.
92. But, let's face it, Christmas wins because of the fabulous music, the pretty lights, and the whole idea of it. Peace. Good will. Love your neighbor.
93. We could use a bit more of that.
94. I bite my fingers, not my fingernails.
95. I hate that I do this and have often tried to stop.
96. I used to bite my fingernails too, but I finally stopped that. So there's hope.
98. I sucked my thumb until I was nine. At nine, I finally lost my last lovey (I called it a "Silkie") and stopped the thumb-sucking cold-turkey.
99. My teeth look great. Never had braces.
100. My favorite shopping experiences are Wegman's, Nordstrom's, and Amazon.com/co.uk/ca. Pretty much in that order.