Auragone Knitting

100 Things About Me (is it lame to do this when no one has tagged me with a meme?)

1. I say I’m 6′ but really I’m somewhere between 5′10 3/4″ and 5′11 1/3″.
2. My inseam is 34″. My 6′2″ husband’s is 30. HA!
3. I can’t stand broccoli. Blech.
4. I have never mowed a lawn and vow to never in my lifetime. I’ve made it this far!
5. Despite not mowing a lawn, I truly love to garden.
6. I am slightly OCD. Okay, maybe more than slightly. More in the obsessive rather than compulsive side.
7. I have two stepkids but no biological kids of my own.
8. I am 99% sure I won’t have kids of my own – with some misgivings, but overall, I feel okay about it.
9. I can wiggle my eyes – and when I do it you look like you’re vibrating.
10. Secretly I have favorite students. But I try not to let them know.
11. I guess I should also say that I teach at a local college. I both love/hate it.
12. I get very nervous over small things but often maintain composure for larger events.
13. I don’t sleep in the same room as my husband. He snores. Badly. Loudly.
14. I am a light sleeper.
15. I actually really like having my own room and space. And don’t worry – the lovin’ is still happening! It wouldn’t if I was chronically sleep deprived.
16. I was married at 21, divorced at 29, and remarried at 32. The second time around is scarier but perhaps more worth it, for me anyway.
17. I am on good terms with my ex, even though he cheated. He screwed up but in the end, we were always meant to be friends, not married.
18. I have a terrible work ethic for paid work (unless it’s writing or being in the classroom).
19. I type very fast – 85 wpm+. This saves me buns and gives me the reputation of a high producer at work. FUNNY!
20. I also grade very fast. This helps because grading sucks buns.
21. I used to knit English style, but switched to Continental because I couldn’t knit in the round very easily that way. I still have trouble purling with a rhythm, but it’s better Continental.
22. I have a slight addiction to buying yarn off ebay etsy.
23. I am a J. Crew slut. 90% of my clothes are from there (the clearance section, ahem. That stuff is mad expensive). Their tall sizes fit me to a T.
24. I can be very gregarious but at the same time, I am quite the homebody.
25. Perhaps my sign explains that: Cancer.
26. I cannot stand Jethro Tull. That is one guy (group? Band?) that just doesn’t have a song I like.
27. I once went from red hair to blond, and I don’t advise it.
28. I have been every shade of blond (including platinum), lots of brunette, and several shades of red. Including the red hair Jim Carrey sported in Batman. That wasn’t good.
29. I *almost* went pink but decided against the non natural shades.
30. I really enjoy cutting hair, but only do it on my stepkids. Muahahahaha!
31. I met my dh on the personals at salon.com. He was the only guy I dated from the internets.
32. I was a midwesterner until I was 27; then I moved West.
33. It is my goal to one day live in England (or somewhere in Europe – Spain or the Netherlands?)
34. Since dh is English and retained his citizenship, I think my goal may actually come true!
35. My dh believes I may have missed several callings. The first is: opera singer. I can really belt it out. I’m not kidding.
36. The second is: wedding gown designer. I was going to design my own gown (but I can’t sew) and I must say, I came up with a cool design.
37. I ended up wearing a green silk gown to my second wedding. I loved it.
38. I sold my gown on ebay! As much as I loved it, what was I going to do with it?
39. I have a stripe fetish. I love striped clothes – sweaters, shirts, socks, pants, undies. One day I shall have striped shoes. I guess i do – striped flip flops.
40. I used to hide yarn at work. I went on a wee bit of a binge.
41. I learned to knit as a kid, but i never completed anything. Partially because all I knew was the knit stitch – no cast on, no bind off.
42. My brother used to knit with me. That’s one of my better childhood memories.
43. I still have a bit of a Wisconsin accent, dammit.
44. My parents are 41 years older than me.
45. I am a writer, but an unpaid one – sorta; in 2007 I received a grant and a fellowship to support the revision of my novel. And I do write a lot for my PT job.
46. I have two master’s degrees – one is an MFA in writing.
47. I hope to quit my PT job in a few months to take on more teaching, but spend more time at home writing too.
48. Besides needing more time to write, I dislike my PT job due to the monotony.
49. I love the people I work with. It’s a total catch-22.
50. I read very fast.
51. I have terrible spatial skills. TERRIBLE.
52. The only sport I could possibly be good at is rowing – because it does not involve throwing or catching a ball.
53. I could also be good at fencing. I guess I have the right body for it – long limbs, short torso.
54. But I don’t have very fast reflexes.
55. I have great blood pressure but potentially high cholesterol.
56. I rarely watch TV, unless it’s a DVD of a series.
57. I love me some Battlestar Galactica.
58. Deadwood is a close second. Then there’s Veronica Mars, Doctor Who, and I will ALWAYS love Buffy.
59. I have monovision, in which one eye sees distance very well, and the other sees very well close-up. It’s somewhat rare, I guess.
60. I once got in an argument over the color of my eyes. I think I just really want them to be green, even though they’re mostly blue. HA! In general I love shades of blue-green.
61. I really like cat humor, a la stuffonmycat.com, mycathatesyou.com. I am a true dork that way but I don’t care.
62. I would love to own a Greyhound and name it Fastie. I know it’s absolutely idiotic but I don’t care.
63. In college I had a cat named Zeppelin. What does that tell you about me.
64. I once did medical transcription for a urology department. That was very interesting. Tell me, do YOU void to completion?
65. I recently learned how to operate a drill and I feel like such a bad a$$! It’s funny, but it really was empowering to finally know how to operate it enough to build a cabinet on my own. Okay, assemble a cabinet. Stop being so picky! I now can operate a saws-all and a weed whacker. Watch out.
66. I have strong gag reflexes.
67. DH and I bought a house in the country. We now live in a town of 1500 which is amazing.
68. We commute in every day about 20 miles. It sucks. I can’t wait to work from home.
69. Our home was once foreclosed, and the previous owners were growing a massive amount of, um, watercress.
70. This is the second home I have ever owned.
71. My all-time favorite book is Stones From the River.
72. I don’t have a single all-time favorite band, although Chris Isaak has remained near and dear to my heart for a long, long time. Slurp.
73. One of the best concerts I’ve ever attended was Elbow in Portland. I think I have a crush on the whole band.
74. The day after I saw Elbow some jacka$$ student T-boned me and totaled my car. That was the second accident I’ve ever been in.
75. My big toes are quite hairy. There, I said it.
76. I stopped sunbathing when I was 20. As a result, I believe I look much younger than my age (born in 1973).
77. I can rock a very believable sunless tan.
78. I have had three moles removed. All benign, thankfully.
79. I am a huge sunscreen Nazi. Hello, mole removal!
80. I am afraid of heights. I really can’t do roller coasters anymore. Waaaayyyyyyyyy too much stress.
81. If I had cable TV, I would watch Food TV 24/7.
82. The only channel I can get at home is CBS. Hello, Wheel of Fortune. I miss PBS.
83. One day I’d like to learn how to play the drums.
84. “Auragone” was coined when I was feeling particularly down – as in, I lost my aura. I think I’m slowly getting Ive got it back. This house and work schedule and parenting thing really is more stressful than I initially believed.
85. It is my goal to one day sell tomato starts from my driveway.
86. I think I’d also like to have chickens. And a llama. And an alpaca.
87. I have knit a thong.
88. My oldest friend I met when I was a baby! She remembers me on my tricycle.
89. I met my best friend by having a crush on her husband in college. It embarrasses me to this day.
90. I talk to my cat A LOT. It may not surprise you to learn he talks back. I channel him, ya know. JZ Knight.
91. I try to eat only organic meat. Because I really, really like meat.
92. I eat chips of the potato and chocolate varieties nearly every day.
93. I suck at most mechanical tasks, although I’m improving.
94. I look terrible with long hair.
95. Despite my height, I gain muscle fairly easily. I once tried high intensity interval training and I bulked WAY up. Not good.
96. I talk to myself quite a bit.
97. I am a fan of Jim Carrey and proud of it.
98. I once called a bull a “cow with horns.” Oops.
99. I have enough yarn for four Clapotis, nine sweaters, two bags, three scarves….
100. My childhood nickname is Beaner, and all variations thereof. I won’t go into more detail.