1. Apparently, I sleep-eat. It’s either that, or someone regularly breaks into my house in the middle of the night to raid the ref while I’m in bed Sometimes when I wake up in the mornings, there are empty food containers in the sink and crumbs on the floor that I don’t remember putting there.
2. When I was 6 or 7, I tried to kill a stray cat that my father took in. I was never good about sharing attention. One day, when no one was looking, I took the cat by the tail and tried to drown it in a tub of water. The cat didn’t die but it never came back again. And, no, I never physically hurt my sisters.
3. I took in 1 year of Japanese language lessons and was accelerated to the next level on my 4th month. Was the Teacher’s pet. I reached Level 2 of the French Language course at Alliance Francais. Was the teacher’s pet. I enrolled in singing lessons. Was not the Teacher’s pet.
4. I have Amy Winehouse, Ben Folds, Housemartins, RiverMaya and Eraserheads currently on active rotation in my iPod.
5. I’ll be spending 1 week in Egypt next month then 3 weeks in Dubai for work. The countries I want to visit next as a tourist are Italy, France, Spain, and Greece.
6. I watch out for and keep tabs on old people traveling alone in an airplane. I actually walk up the aisles just to see if they’ve eaten or are still alive.
7. My favorite things to do when in a foreign country are walking around , eating street food and watching the locals go about.
8. I enjoy buying/trying out cleaning chemical products. Among my favorite stores in the US are Walgreens, Longs and CVS. I go straight to the household section to check out what’s new.
9. I was in a major car accident 9 years ago. I miscalculated a turn on an incline. My car turned-turtle and ended up upside-down on a 45 degree angle a few feet away from a ravine and a sign that said "Jesus Saves". I had to crawl out of the car. I wasn’t wearing a seat-belt. I had no cuts, bruises or broken bones.
10. My house is cleanest when I can’t sleep. It’s not unusual for me to be scrubbing the bathroom walls or kitchen floor at 2 am.
11. I was the undisputed Oratorical Champion of Region 1 until I retired at 17 when I got 2nd place in a completion.
12. I think I might have made a good actor if I pursued that interest. I had leading roles in a few college theater productions and there were 1 or 2 standing ovations that I can recall. I enjoyed the process of getting into character and being someone else for a time.
13. This may sound contradictory but –. I’m actually very shy and insecure. It’s always a conscious and deliberate struggle to fight my natural inclination to just stand in a corner and wait for someone to approach me.
14. I enjoy buying books (going to a bookstore, leafing through the pages, smelling the books) as much as I enjoy reading them. I do most of my reading in the bathroom where the lighting is best in my house. The ones I’ve read that I like – I like giving away or sharing with friends.
15. I’ve been wanting to do volunteer/NGO work for the longest time. I wonder how my abilities and good intentions will fair under difficult conditions.
16. I think I’m a better writer than I am a speaker. I want to be very exact in what I say and writing gives me the opportunity to think through my thoughts before articulating them. Thinking aloud on the spot makes me stutter.
17. Whenever I have a public speaking engagement, I try to script everything out in advance and I rehearse to sound like it’s all natural. I also prepare an outline and write down my key points to prepare. At some point, I'm able to get my bearings and relax and then I drop the notes and just wing it.
18. I have a hard time remembering figures and formulas but I remember what I ate or what somebody wore or smelled like 20 years ago.
19. I appreciate thank-you notes. More people should do it.
20. I partially paid for my high school tuition fees by selling Readers’ Digest subscriptions. I made extra money in college by selling rice cakes door to door. I had a food catering business with friends. I had a laundry stop in partnership with another friends. The businesses failed. Most of the friendships survived.
21. I’m more generous when I volunteer something rather than when it’s asked for or demanded.
22. I’ve decided to stop buying Christmas gifts in bulk. No more candles, potpourris or key chains from me. I’d rather give you something that I’ll know you like in February or August.
23. I wonder where my best friends from freshman year in college – Eric Mole, Wrani San Juan and Abet Santos – are.
24. I can spend days in my house without going out.
25. It takes me forever to get my ass to the gym (although I live right across mine) but I actually have a good time after I get through the difficult 1st 15 minutes on the treadmill.
Monday, February 2, 2009
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