If I titled my entries, I would title this one Meme-Ganker.

I saw in Talia's blog she did the 100 Things About Me meme. And I read through all 100 things and contemplated some of them (Pony club?!?!). Now I want to do my own and hope that somewhere, someone reads it.

1. I've spent my entire life in the midwest.
2. The farthest north I've ever been is Paris. The farthest west is Austin, TX. The farthest east is Rome. The farthest south is some Caribbean island.
3. I spent much of my childhood in West Lafayette, IN, home of Purdue University.
4. Many of my friends' parents were professors.
5. My best friend was Nadia, and she was half-Lebanese. Her dad was a professor of computer engineering or something.
6. I remember being amazed when I saw her dad had written and published a textbook.
7. I used to play this really fun game on Nadia's dad's laptop where you try to take pictures of dinosaurs.
8. The rest of my formative years have been spent in the western suburbs of Chicago.
9. I lived in Geneva (IL, not Switzerland) for 6 months. I went to school there for 4 weeks at the end of the year, and then it was summer. I had no friends there.
10. In 8th grade I started at a new (for me) middle school. I was on the smart "team", so all my classes were with the same 11 people.
11. I still kind of keep in touch with one of those people. That is to say, I consider her a friend but I haven't talked to her since school got out in May. Oops.
12. I have a brother and a sister and I am very selfish. I do not like sharing my stuff. It irritates me when people touch my things.
13. I am currently kind of dating a guy whose grandfather was the namesake of the middle school mentioned in #10.
14. I've been to the namesake's house, and done many an odd thing there.
15. I am the shortest one in my nuclear family.
16. I might also be the palest. My mom is pale, but she has freckles all over, so I don't know what that counts for.
17. My dad is Jewish.
18. My dad's mom was Polish, and my dad's dad was Russian.
19. I like vodka. A lot.
20. My mom is Lutheran.
21. I was raised Lutheran.
22. I am now kind of my own half-assed breed of Protestantism. I have my own beliefs, but I am largely turned off by organized religion, although not for the reasons most people are. It seems that Protestantism has tried to "update" its public perception, with rock bands instead of organs and lyrics on overhead projectors instead of hymnals. I don't need to be told how Jesus is cool for teens today, thanks.
23. It's Nadia's (mentioned earlier) fault that I'm a big Beatles fan.
24. My favorite Beatles album is probably Revolver.
25. My favorite Beatles movie is Yellow Submarine.
26. I bought Radiohead's OK Computer back when Paranoid Android first came out, but I never listened to it beyond PA and Karma Police.
27. A few years ago I listened to OK Computer and I now realize what an amazing album it is.
28. Radiohead is tied with the Beatles for my favorite band ever.
29. I was in Girl Scouts from kindergarten until 8th grade.
30. I did the silver award project, but I never earned my silver award because I was too lazy to do the required badgework.
31. I did tap dance from when I was 3 until when I was 12 or 13.
32. I did Irish dance for a year and a half.
33. I started playing piano in 2nd grade. I consider this one of the best things my parents ever made me do, even though I hated it at the time.
34. I started playing violin in 4th grade.
35. My parents told me they couldn't afford to rent a musical instrument, but I signed up for orchestra behind their backs, and then they had to let me.
36. I chose the violin because that's what Nadia wanted to play.
37. I quit piano in 8th grade, after we had moved to the Chicago suburbs, because I hated the new piano teacher.
38. I consider quitting piano to be one of the stupidest things I've ever done.
39. I started taking piano lessons again last January.
40. I played softball from first grade until 9th grade.
41. I tried out for the team in 10th grade, but did not make it.
42. I played 2nd base, shortstop, and 3rd base.
43. I can still throw fairly hard and fairly accurately.
44. I ran cross country in 7th and 8th grade, and all the way through high school.
45. My best mile time ever is 6:54. I got this in 7th or 8th grade in a race. It was the first mile of two and a half in that race.
46. I feel very guilty now that I don't run daily.
47. I've pretty much had a steady boyfriend since October 29, 1999. There have been probably 7 non-consecutive months since then that I have been single.
48. A lot of my self-worth is based on whether I currently have a boyfriend or not. I know that this is very messed up, and I would like to change it.
49. I am now in the second of two long-distance relationships.
50. All the guys I have ever dated (a total of 4) have been over 6'.
51. I am now used to the height difference, and it does not bother me.
52. I love the city of Chicago, and I can't imagine ever living very far away from it.
53. I study French, but I suck at speaking it.
54. I am decent at reading, writing, and listening.
55. I wish I had more time to learn other languages.
56. I took 2 semesters of German.
57. My favorite color is green.
58. I think I am starting to become more attractive. I now know how to do up my hair all nice, at least.
59. I was a huge nerd all throughout elementary school, middle school, and pretty much high school. (But who doesn't say that?)
60. I was very sheltered as a child.
61. I've never smoked, be it cigarettes or pot.
62. I didn't start drinking until I got to college.
63. I used to think that, for sex, the man just lay on top of the woman. I did not know that thrusting was necessary. I learned about the thrusting part probably in 8th or 9th grade.
64. In 9th grade, I was on a bus with the cross country team, on our way to a meet. A guy drove up; he wasn't wearing any pants and he was masturbating. That was the first time I'd ever seen a naked man. I felt very dirty for several weeks after that.
65. I keep a lot of secrets from my parents because I think they think I'm very, very ...not "good" per se, but moral. I don't know if they really think that, though. I would like to find out what my parents think I've done.
66. I have had a myriad of doctor appointments in the past year to figure out what is wrong with me.
67. I saw a doctor this past Tuesday who gave me some very sobering news.
68. Sometimes I secretly want something to be wrong with me so I can be special and people will feel pity for me.
69. Other times I think that if/when I find out that something is really wrong with me, I will keep it a secret because I do not want the pity.
70. I've ridden on a motorcycle once. We went 25 mph, and I was scared for my life. I did not wear a helmet.
71. I always wear a seatbelt.
72. I share a 1998 Honda Accord (black) with my brother (and soon my sister), and I love that car. I think my first car will be a Civic, or an Accord if I can afford one.
73. I've only had two "real" jobs.
74. I worked as a violin tutor for a while, and got paid for it, but I do not consider that to be a real job, mostly because I only did it for a few hours each week.
75. I was a "beauty advisor" at Walgreens, though I knew (and know) very little about makeup.
76. I worked two summers at Naper Settlement as a camp counselor.
77. I used to volunteer in the mansion at NS.
78. I can give decent-to-good tours in every building on the grounds.
79. When I used to dress up in my 1870s tea dress for the mansion, little girls would tell me that I looked like a princess. I loved this.
80. Pringles, Vienna Beef hot dogs, and Pepsi all make me think of my Grandma Dorothy.
81. I never really knew my Grandpa Seymour.
82. My mom's parents are divorced.
83. I see my Grandma Mary fairly often.
84. I rarely see my Grandpa Bill and his wife, Norma ("Grams"). My mom tells me that he was a huge jerk, and so now I do not like him at all.
85. My mom once told me that if I got pregnant at a young age, she couldn't be too disappointed because she misses having babies around the house.
86. I don't know if I could hold her to this, or if she would behave differently if I had a baby.
87. At this point, I think I would get an abortion over having a baby. I don't know if that makes me a terrible person, but I don't think it does. I think it just makes me selfish.
88. I will probably have kids when I am older, have a secure source of income, and am married.
89. I do not drink soda unless I'm at a restaurant.
90. I hold naps dear.
91. When I was little, I used to throw myself on my bed and cry because I wanted to own a dog and my parents wouldn't buy one for me.
92. We bought a dog 7 years ago (I think). Here are two pictures of him.
93. I am very, very allergic to cats. I cannot spend more than 5 minutes in a house where a cat lives, lest I get hives, swell up, and fall asleep for over 12 hours.
94. My brother once asked me if the bump on my nose had come from me breaking it and not getting it set properly. I have never broken my nose. The ENT doctor asked me the same thing last week.
95. I wish my hair was naturally very dark brown.
96. I wore braces for about 4 years. I still have a permanent retainer glued to my bottom teeth.
97. I never wear lipstick or lip gloss. I think my lips look ridiculous with it.
98. I hate country music.
99. I love people-watching. I love to invent a complete biography for a person based solely on what they're wearing or one thing I overheard them say.
100. I suck ass at miniature golf.