One Hundred! 100! ...or "The other Big C"

(ha. Get it? "C" like as in Roman Numerals? 100? I'm such a dork.)
Some people would have us believe that on your 100th blog post you are supposed to list 100 things about yourself. What is that supposed to do? A. That's a very long list. B. Yes, I suppose I could list 100 things...but it would be incredibly dull. What 100 things?

What 100 things would I want to list for readers who don't know me? I'm not sure if there's a rule that the list of 100 should be things not divulged elsewhere in my blog. However, I know some people just recently started popping in here, and not everyone feels drawn to read every archived post by every blogger they follow. 

To make this Herculean labor easier for myself, and to make better sense for you, I'm breaking the 100 into 10 sets of 10.

Let's give it a whirl...
(upon re-reading, I think the boring stuff is first. Keep reading.)

I'm the little one with the crazy grin.

A. GENERAL, GROWING UP

1. I'm the 4th of 5 kids.
2. I was born in Iowa.
3. I started piano lessons at age 5. (For the story about my 5th birthday, see this post.)
4. I know all the words to a lot of old songs because of giant piano books we'd play from as kids: Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, Blue Moon, Beer Barrel Polka, Heart and Soul, Downtown...the list goes on.
5. I grew up in Asia.
6. I don't know where I'd live if I had my choice, but I'd like to get back to the Indian subcontinent someday.
7. I'm obsessed with Stonehenge.
8. Yes, I've been there.
9. I'm obsessed with the Taj Mahal.
10. No, I've never been there. (Ironic, huh?)

B. THOUGHTS ABOUT SCI-FI

1. I don't really read sci-fi.
2. I do not speak Klingon.

3. I do enjoy Star Trek.
4. In college, we played the Star Trek drinking game while watching The Next Generation. I no longer have the rules.
5. I do not speak Wookiee.
6. I know more about Star Wars than anyone I know (unless you count the videogames).
7. Yoda does NOT always speak with reverse sentence structure: the script-writers of the prequel trilogy were lazy.
8. My secret weight loss goal is to be able to successfully wear the Princess Leia slave-girl costume from Return of the Jedi.
9. I've watched Dr. Who, but not enough to be caught up with current plot-lines and casting.
10. I prefer Red Dwarf, when it comes to Brit-Sci-Fi.

C. A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT BOOKS

1. I was reading and writing in sentences at age 3.
2. My favorite book is Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker Guide trilogy. (yes, the 5 book trilogy)
3. I own everything he's written.
4. My most consistent author to read on a whim is Agatha Christie.
5. I do not own everything she's written... I only have 40-some of hers.
6. I started reading her mysteries at age 11.
7. My favorite living author is Christopher Moore.
8. His book "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal" is HILARIOUS ... if you can separate fiction from your faith.
9. Another whacky-fiction author? Jasper Fforde. Grandly twisted. Check him out.
10. In the past, I have organized my books alphabetically, by color, or by Dewey.

D. ABOUT WORK

1. I don't really know what I want to be when I grow up.
2. My ideal job would ultimately be overseas.
3. My former boss used to say I only ate popcorn, peanuts and pizza. He was pretty close. Add peanut butter.
4. My last job was at a marina. I could smell the ocean from my office when the windows were open.
5. I've worked in housekeeping.
6. I was on a paint crew for a summer job once.
7. I worked in a TV studio during college.
8. From there I worked captioning videos.
9. Captioning was probably the most fascinating job I've had... too bad my boss was insane!
10. I am about to go insane if I don't get a job soon!

E. RESPONSIBILITY AND IRRESPONSIBILITY

1. No kids: don't have any, don't want any.

2. Eight nieces and nephews.
3. Once when I was babysitting my niece and nephew for a weekend, there was a thunderstorm. My niece was 5, and terrified. I had no idea how to calm her: fear of thunder & lightning was absolutely foreign to me. She survived.
4. Four godchildren. (In the church sense, not in the sense that I am responsible for them if their parents die.)
5. I taught middle-school Sunday School at my church in Delaware. (grades 5-7)
6. They were unbelievably fun.
7. One of the 10yo's admonished me before I moved here to Indiana "Don't tell your new friends out there that you live with your parents!" She was embarrassed for me. Cute.
8. No pets, mostly because I hate being a burden on someone else if I go out of town and they need to be cared for.
9. I had a Dragon Amigus named Spartacus.
10. Plants die in my care. I am fortunate to still have two that have lived for more than 2 years: a spider plant and a jade.

F. DEATH

1. My grandmother died 2 1/2 years ago, at age 101.

2. Her funeral was all planned out...by her.
3. At her 100th birthday, I asked her what the secret was to long life. She said, "love everybody."
4. DUDE! That's really hard! 
5. I don't want a funeral when I die. I want a "celebration of life".
6. My family knows I prefer to be cremated.
7. I want my sister to read Psalm 19 at my Celebration of Life, if she's still alive.
8. She hasn't said definitively yes.
9. There should be an open bar at the Celebration of Life.
10. You're all invited.

G. ABOUT THE PANTHEON OF MY LIFE

1. I do not use real names of anyone I write about from my personal life: I've swapped their names for a pantheon which can be found in this post.
2. I use (usually) the names of Greek gods and goddesses for pseudonyms in this blog.
3. That is because in our family, we are steeped in that knowledge, due to Dad's college education. Yeah. Weird.
4. ...Seriously. It was dinner table conversation. At age 4, I was hooked!
5. When we lived overseas, my sister Diana and I, and the two daughters of the other missionary, would take Poseidon into the ladies' cloakroom, put his hair in pigtails, and exit into the public calling him Persephone.
6. His hair wasn't really that long.
7. I took "Greek and Roman Mythology" as an elective in college. It was awesome.
8. Because of the whole boarding school situation, I really only got to know my oldest siblings when I was in college.
9. I think I broke my mom's heart when I told her that. (and I don't know why)
10. Not yet in the pantheon officially, my eldest niece will be Calliope for her artistic talent, and my youngest nephew will be Icarus for consistently going too far.

H. COLLEGE DAYS

1. I went to the same college with my older brother.
2. Unfortunately, this meant that I dated very little. His temper was well-known. I was gold.
3. I had tried to start going by my full name instead of the age-old shortened version, but having a sibling there ruined that.
4. I got my first apartment during my Junior year of college.
5. I kept a double minor all through college because I couldn't decied what my "practical" minor should be. I graduated with one minor and a TON of elective credits!
6. Like Old Testament Theology, from when my 2nd minor was theology.
7. Or Adolescent Psychology, from when my 2nd minor was psychology.
8. Or Music Theory, from when my 2nd minor was music.
9. The minor I graduated with was Geography/Earth Science.
10. This should have been my major.

I. A MOVIE WHORE IS BORN
...a.k.a. 10 movies I watch regularly if there's nothing on TV.
(Please note, these are not my Top 10 faves, just easy to have on and ignore because I know them well.)

1. The Star Wars trilogies (obviously)
2. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (obviously)
3. Star Trek - 2010 version (obviously ...and because I don't own any others. If anyone feels like supplying me with Wrath of Kahn, I will be eternally grateful.)
4. Casablanca (obviously)
5. Clue
6. Ghostbusters
7. Young Frankenstein
8. Kelly's Heroes (possibly the stupidest WWII movie, ever. But so funny.)
9. Bridget Jones' Diary
10. Muppets From Space (Best. Soundtrack. EVER.)

 J. The one you've all been waiting for:
The Red & Brett Story in 10 Key Posts.
(you're welcome)
p.s. There are others, but these are key.

Remember these? If not, read 5 & 6, below.

1. Your Bloody Valentines Day We'd been reading each other's blogs and commenting, but this is The Key Post. (If you don't read any others, read this and the comments.)
2. Evidence That I Am Harmless (posted at The Transformed Non-Conformist)
3. Of Axe Murderers and Other Creepy Folks This is my response to no. 2.
4. The Secret's Out and the Plot Thickens Because I'm an anonymous blogger, all of this was only in the blogosphere of my world until now.
5. Chaos Butterfly Powers (posted at The Transformed Non-Conformist)Red & Brett's Secret Squirrel Squad 
7. Red Arrived in the "Brett Zone" and Was Never Heard From Again Documenting our first meeting. There's a corresonding post at The Transformed Non-Conformist.
8. Allow Me to Explain (or What Really Happened at The Avengers) This one is kind of left-field, unless you'd been following some of the Twitter convos out there.
9. The Kids of Indianapolis Have a New Hero
10. Brett's Plans Fall Apart Again (posted at The Transformed Non-Conformist)

That wasn't too painful, was it? 100 things you never cared to know about me, in 10 quick sessions. ...and all the pictures came from elsewhere in this blog.

Whew.
Time for a beer.

Farewell, my Buddha!

I know I’ve been complaining about having to say good-bye so often, and how I’m so non-social that it’s just exhausting to me. I’m sad to say the “Helpmedrainmyliquorcabinet” party was cancelled because I left work that day with a sore throat and didn’t think that partying and making it worse would be a good idea a week before moving.

…but I had already made a pitcher of “knock-you-on-your-a$$” margaritas. So I borrowed a thermos from my officemate, and brought them in to work. …So that we can hang out after work and have a beverage! (Not for lunch - I’m not that much of a lush, geeze!)

However, last night’s “cookout” which turned into an indoor dinner because of the nor-easter that blew through was the best farewell yet.

Terpsichore
(She doesn't dress like this.)

This friend of mine, who I shall call… I think Terpsichore is the muse of song, so I that works. Anyway, Terpsichore started having occasional dinner parties with a small group of theatre friends and others last summer – or fall…it was after Hurricane Irene which I think was August –  so that’s who this group was. One of the guests – let’s just call him "Buddha" because he’s very zen-like – has a musically gifted son who was there, set up his keyboard and entertained us with live jazz piano! It created a fantastic ambience!

I tried to get video with my phone, but the only one that took is all dark. Apparently for video you can’t change the setting. Weird.

I had brought along a bottle of wine (and was reprimanded for bringing wine to a party in my honor, but I told Terpsichore that I have 4 bottles at home and what does she expect me to do - drink a bottle a night?). A white wine that I had introduced Terpsichore to before, which I remembered she liked. She said she could never remember the name of the wine, so she had me autograph the label and said she was keeping the bottle. Cute. Later, when she poured bubbly to make a toast, she gave me the champagne cork…so I made her autograph it. Now we're even.

Also, I have another RL Secret Squirrel now! (for the story of the Secret Squirrels, click that link) Oddly enough, it’s not the hostess. Since she’s been trying to set me up with a variety of men over the years, and met her husband through an online dating site, I don’t think I could have handled her reaction, positive though it probably would be.

Nope. It’s Buddha!



See? He's even doing yoga!



Buddha is a lovely man (married, so don't worry) who’s been cast opposite me several times. We make a good comedy team because he’s short. He comes up to about my shoulder. Think where that puts his eyes. Funny stuff if a director can work it into the action. He’s…oh, probably about 15 or so years older than me. And very protective of me, which seems to be a running theme with older men in my life. Buddha is the guy who took over from me when I walked away from the theatre a month ago (read about it here and in the comments), and he was very concerned that the director had offended me.

He likes to tell me that he doesn’t understand how come I’ve remained single, and blames it on the men in this county, discounting the fact that I am not a fan of the dating game in general. He is by far my greatest admirer. (Well, maybe just my greatest admirer who has actually met me.) We had an interesting conversation last night. (Please keep in mind that he probably thinks of me more highly than most people.)

Buddha: If I prayed, my prayer, or wish, or vision for your future out there [in the Midwest] would be that you would meet a man who could see and love your beauty, but stop and listen to the beautiful person you are and love that person as much.

~~~How could I leave him hanging after sharing this complimentary vision, and not explain what’s happening?~~~

Me: Well, let me share something with you that only two other people in Delaware know.

Buddha: I’m honored.

Me: I’m going to be meeting someone soon after I get to Indiana, who I’ve been talking to for months.

Buddha: (puts his hand to his heart)

Me: We met online, but not through a dating site, and neither of us really expected anything to happen, but, well, we’ll meet soon.

Buddha: (hands together in a “Namaste” movement) I’m so glad to hear it.

So now there are four Secret Squirrels in my Real Life (plus my father, the Mole), plus all of my blog Secret Squirrels. It suddenly occurred to me that I should not be complaining that Brett’s family doesn’t take me seriously when I’m not even being totally open with everyone in my life about him! So, I’m sorry about that Brett.

I am now down to 4 farewells: Tomorrow night, Thursday at work, Friday at the Symphony, and Sunday after church. Sweet.

~~~

On an entertainingly different note, the Movie Whore may be getting her own avatar. I have several artistic friends and family members and put a call out for an image. We shall see. You know the artistic temperament…or maybe you don’t. Basically I don’t expect quick turn around because they can’t rush their muse.

~~~ 

And today’s Reason to Celebrate:

It’s St. George’s Day! ...I have no idea what is the standard M.O. for this day.

Catholics, a little help here?

Do we all go out and slay dragons, or what?

Jedi vs. Ninja - Who's In?

Today is “apropos of nothing” Friday.

Ever since I referred to my Secret Squirrels as “jedi knights” yesterday, I’ve been wondering:

Who would win…

A squad of Jedi Knights…

They have powers beyond just the light saber.

…or a team of Ninjas?

They have the gift of stealth. Surprise can be a formidable weapon! 

I have to think that the fight would go to the Jedi, because they have ninja-like skills PLUS the force on their side.

Any thoughts? Agree/Disagree? Details you foresee in this fight?

I just couldn’t leave this thought to wander alone in my mind...it might stumble and hurt itself... 

Red (& Brett's) Secret Squirrel Squad

If you’ve been following my blog, you may realize that no person who knows me in real life is aware of my blog. (There are reasons they aren’t allowed in, but that’s not what this is about.) Since they are not here, nobody who knows me knows about my internet fiancé, Brett. (If you missed the original post that started this, check this out and don’t forget the comments.)

That started what has turned into a wild, emotional, roller-coaster ride bridging the gap between reality and cyberspace. When we started talking about meeting, I decided to let my mom know this was going on. Not because it was such a big deal yet, but because if things progress to the point where it becomes a big deal it would only be fair that she had a heads up. (you can read that story here ) As you can see in that post, I left it to her discretion whether she thought it was worth troubling my dad about it.

I now had a Secret Squirrel who was in the know and supportive! It’s very hard to hold onto something like this all alone.

Two weeks ago I went to the symphony with my best friend Aphrodite. On the way up she saw the picture of the now-famous flowers,

which is the background on my phone, and asked who they were from and I gave her the whole story. She laughed a lot, not at me, but at some of the exchanges like the whole “axe-murder” thing, and at the concept of ME of all people in this kind of situation. (I am well-known for being defiantly single. I conscientiously avoid romantic entanglements. So this situation was cause for her enjoyment.)

With Aphrodite in the mix, I had just expanded my Secret Squirrel network to two. Better and better. And Aphrodite is a better sounding board, because she’s here all the time and of the right generation.

The other night at dinner, as I said here, I couldn’t help but mention this situation to The Nurse, because otherwise she was going to urge me into the Indianapolis dating scene. (Dating is torture, people TORTURE!...oh wait, The Nurse did play Nurse Ratched recently...) She didn’t take the situation seriously at all, but she still counts as a Secret Squirrel. That’s three Secret Squirrels!

I like to imagine my Secret Squirrel Squad as Jedi Knights.
May the Force be with them!

Eventually, Mom did say something to Dad. All she told me about their conversation was that he was concerned that I’m “meeting strange men on the internet”. …I don’t know where my dad wants me to meet strange men, or how he could possibly guess that Brett might be “strange”, but apparently that was the concern.

I don’t think he counts as a Secret Squirrel, because he did not hear it from me. So I’m calling him The Mole.

Meanwhile, I have continued to be in regular contact with Brett. We are getting to know each other quite well, I think.

After thinking about it for a while, and not hearing anything directly from my dad, I decided maybe the time had come to broach the subject (and encourage him to put down the axe). I emailed him to let him know that I had done my due diligence in looking into Brett’s character. I stated in no uncertain terms my opinion that it’s a plus that this started growing with no consideration of physical attraction. Then I called Dad out:

Also, it occurs to me that you and mom met by mail, through a friend of a friend as I recall...or was that a friend of a friend of a friend?... and is that really so different after all?

For real! They wrote letters for I don’t know – a year? More? – before meeting. How's that for irony? (or is it ironic...I'll have to check The Oatmeal.)

I think my email helped. After telling my dad about the whole “axe-murderer” theme, his response was to remind me of the variety of rifles and shotguns he has. Haha, Dad!

But he’s still not a Secret Squirrel.

It’s really funny to me, and I think to Brett too, how non-serious this is to people in the real world, because of the “met on the internet” part. And yet I know we both have readers who LOVE this stuff and are rooting for us. YOU, my blogging buddies, are the real Secret Squirrels. And as much as we are trying to keep things off the internet, to separate cyberspace from reality, trust me: you know the facts!