Favorite hobbies / activities: Drawing, watching TV, going to baseball games (BIG time - I seriously go NUTS), hayrides, working in my vegetable garden, playing miniature golf, making people laugh, traveling, making random stuff, batting cages (even though I stink at hitting!), listening to music (I'm obsessed), playing with my dogs, hanging out with my friends, swimming, problem-solving, non-fly-fishing (my record is 21 fish in 2 days - and yes, I throw them back), learning languages, skills, or useless information, going for walks preferably in non-urban areas, bowling, attempting to play my hammered dulcimer, updating my website (obviously), and playing badminton (I'm undefeated except by experts - bring it on!!! ;o) ) I've also recently started enjoying giving presentations in class, etc. (Who would have ever thought?!?!)
Un-favorite hobbies / activities: Anything where I could die or get injured in a silly and frivolous way, such as rock-climbing, water-skiing (although I LOVE riding in boats), playing volleyball (This is perhaps my least favorite activity in the entire universe - I ALWAYS get hit in the face!!!)
Favorite hobbies / activities I'd like to try / become better at: Parasailing, scuba diving, horse back riding, roller skating, ballroom dancing (all I currently know is the polka!), golf (so I can play with my dad :o) ), painting, sculpting, learn (and be able to use) different languages besides Spanish and Italian, learn how to sew properly, travel to places I haven't been before (like Egypt, Agra, or Germany), go to an ACDC concert, go for a hot air balloon ride, etc.
Favorite educational / edutainment topics: Evolutionary biology (BIG time), quantum physics, archaeology, creatures from the very deep parts of oceans, ancient history (for example, did you know the great wall of China stretches the same length as the distance from Miami to the north pole? Snazztastical!!!) I'm even starting to like accounting...
Un-favorite educational / edutainment topics: Calculus and immunology
Favorite alternate careers: Astronaut (!!!), fine art restorer, archaeologist, farmer, dog kennel owner, artist, sculptor, inventor, film editor
Un-favorite alternate careers: Recycling plant refuse-sorter, lunch lady, primary care physician for an insurance company
Favorite colors: Sky blue, aqua, blue-purple (hence the backgound color of this website), bluish green, red-orange, yellow-green (wow, a lot of hyphenated colors - geez!)
Un-favorite colors: Mustard yellow, teal, mauve, taupe, powder blue
Favorite clothes: Stuff from Anthropologie (unique) and American Eagle (comfy), Dansko shoes for work (comfy and appropriate for a Midwest girl), Vans tennis shoes for play (comfy and snazzy), comfy t-shirts with funny sayings or pictures on them - overall anything really soft and comfy! If I could wear anything without having to worry about looking crazy, I'd probably wear t-shirts, shorts, and tennis shoes on casual days and 50's and 60's inspired stuff on fancy days. I love the look artsy retro girls often have, with thick bangs, kooky glasses, and old-fashioned clothes - however, I don't think I could ever pull it off, nor would I want to!
Un-favorite clothes: Anything that says "Nascar;" tight non-breathable items; pants that are too short (my inseam is about 36 inches, so this is unfortunately frequent); ~pajama~ pants that are too short (this absolutely drives me nuts); tights that are too short; pants that are "extreme low-rise" and hit at the part of your hip where most of the fat is, hence making it bulge out; jackets that fit perfectly except the sleeves are too short; mesh items; cute but ridiculously uncomfortable shoes
Favorite food: East Indian, German (probably my absolute favorite because I don't get to have it very often), scallops, hot dogs, grilled cheese sandwiches (with cojack cheese), pepper jack cheese, dill jack cheese, cheese curds, chocolate pudding, Jell-O (lime, peach, lemon, raspberry, and orange are some of my favorites), veggie burgers, 'real' macaroni and cheese, carrots, snap peas, corn on the cob, beans, non-watery pasta, items that are barbequed but not charred, sushi, milk (I drink about two gallons a week when I can keep a steady supply!), Mountain Dew Code Red soda, ice cream (mint chip, chocolate chip, or cookies and cream), graham crackers, applesauce, popcorn, gummy fruit snacks, butternut squash, acorn squash, spaghetti squash, pasta salad (BIG time), non-raisin-containing cookies, red and green seedless grapes, strawberries, blueberries, bing cherries, nectarines, apples (especially Pacific Rose ones - VERY BIG time!), oranges (VERY VERY BIG time), chocolate milkshakes, roasted pumpkin seeds, cashews, brownies, any non-raisin-containing bread, chocolate milk, fruit smoothies, tunnel of fudge cupcakes (I'm an expert at making these!), rice, red cabbage, falafel, dolmas, spanikopitas, certain types of soup (especially clam chowder in a bread bowl), Singapore rice noodles (YUM!!!!!!!)
[Despite my love of food, I'm surprisingly skinny]
Un-favorite food: Mexican items with gobs of cheese; overdone pork chops with tiny burned bits of residual bone sticking to the surface of the meat; coffee; egg nog; thinly sliced turkey medallions with soy sauce (my parents and I were served this in London one year on Thanksgiving); mushrooms; bell peppers; any form of tomato other than tomato sauce, paste, or soup; raw onions; zucchini; cucumbers; any kind of olive; raisins; pumpkin pie; cheesecake; past-their-prime midwest beef sticks that spurt out congealed, room temperature fat when you bite into them (bad memories!!!!!); bean sprouts (BIG time), Chinese food with bitter ingredients or "crystal" sauce
Favorite restaurants: In Phoenix: Oregano's, Chico's; In Tucson: Sushi Cho, Caribbean Squeezers, Oven, Bison Witches; In Los Angeles / Westwood: Junior's Deli; In Portland, OR: Gustav's, Clay's Smokehouse Grill; In WI: Al Johnson's, Ella's Deli
Un-favorite restaurants: In Phoenix: La Pinata (sorry Mom!), Steamers, Sweet Tomatoes (I love the food, but I always eat too much - even though I try REALLY hard not to - and get sick), Crazy Jim's (sorry Mom and Dad!); In Tucson: Old Chicago (bad memories!!!), Chili's (I got food poisoning and almost died - when I called to inform and warn them not to serve what I had to anybody else, they didn't seem to care...)
Favorite animals: Dogs and Manatees
Favorite movies: NAPOLEON DYNAMITE!!!, Breaking Away, Rushmore, This is Spinal Tap, the Pirates of Penzance (the Kevin Kline version), Psycho, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Some Like It Hot, Memento, Cube, the Kids Are Alright, Buster Keaton films, etc.
(Although it isn't one of my favorites, the scariest movie I've EVER seen is The Mothman Prophecies. It isn't like typical horror movies - no blood and guts or monsters jumping out at you. Instead, it is *incredibly* creepy - it's hard to describe... The second time I watched it, it was the middle of the afternoon, and I was sitting on my bed while doing so. Despite it being daylight and the fact that I had already seen it and knew what was going to happen, I still got so freaked out that I ended up under the covers with them pulled up to my nose. Now that's scary!!!
Besides this, the two scariest things I've probably ever seen are: #1, Aphex Twin's video for "Drukqs Spot" - it's about 30 seconds long, features a grainy black and white video of what looks like an alien having a seizure and making unpleasant noises, and it's EXTREMELY terrifying. #2 is the preview for a movie called "Cremaster 3." Jennifer (who says it was the preview for Cremaster 5, not 3) and I were at an art-film theater, and unfortunately saw it there. It features a long - make that VERY long - series of staged artsy VERY graphic torture scenes featuring weird and grotesque creatures. I thankfully can't remember many details at this point, but it became so unpleasant that we ended up huddling together and whimpering - according to Jennifer, we were "shrieking and calling for our mommies" - over the obligatory creepy soundtrack until it was over. *VERY* bad memories!!!!)
Favorite music: AC/DC, The Clash, the Righteous Brothers, the Shangri-Las, the Descendents, the Misfits, Supergrass, the Who, Mansun, Slender, Oasis, Gilbert and Sullivan, psychobilly, oldies, British invasion, old-school British punk, modern British bands, etc... :o)
[Click here for my favorite songs if you want specifics!]
Un-favorite music: Kenny G, Yanni, Norah Jones (sorry Mom!), Phil Collins (again, sorry Mom!), Michael Bolton, Britney Spears, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, death metal, black metal, Hanson, songs that I hear way too frequently on TV ads and which are then ruined when I hear them on the radio, most of the "indie" music I reviewed when I was a DJ at my undergrad college's radio station
Favorite places: Madison and the small towns of Wisconsin, especially the Nexium commercial-looking craggy areas of the Wisconsin Dells; the pacific northwest; an Arizona desert on a cold, cloudy, and/or rainy day; Monterey, CA; Disneyland on a weekday during non-tourist season; the Tower of London and Kensington Park; wide-open spaces in general; a warm and comfy bed on a cold and rainy day! :o)
Favorite TV shows: "Dirty Jobs"!!!!!!, "CSI: Miami," "Viva La Bam" (~hanging my head in shame~), "Mythbusters," and I've recently been sucked into "Lost." I also love Comedy Central, the National Geographic Channel, the Science Channel, and the Discovery Channel (I know, nerd alert...) As far as shows that aren't on anymore... "Monty Python," "Blackadder," "Fawlty Towers," "the Avengers" (only the Diana Rigg episodes of course), "Keeping Up Appearances," "the Tom Green Show" (I know, I know...), and the list goes on and on.
Un-favorite TV shows: "NCIS," "Cold Case" (what the HECK is up with her hair???), "Without a Trace," "CSI: New York," anything starring Don Johnson, "Monk" (arrrgh - every time I'm at my parents' house there's a freakin' Monk-a-thon on TV), "Sherlock Holmes" with Jeremy Brett, and other dry, sleep-inducing British mysteries. Stupid a$$ British comedies starring vicars or elderly people that complain a lot (except for "Keeping Up Appearances" of course), VH1 shows that consist of jaded C-list celebrities critiquing/criticizing people and events (sadly, one of the only channels I currently have is VH1, so I've seen them all even though I don't like them!), and this list goes on and on. As far as shows that aren't on anymore, this would consist of ones I was forced to watch while growing up, such as: Mike Hammer, the A-Team, Miami Vice, etc etc.
Favorite comedians: Pablo Francisco, Rich Vos, Jeremy Hotz, Mitch Hedburg, Dane Cook, and Zach Galifiniakis (sp?). Also, though he isn't technically a comedian, Henry Rollins' spoken word shows make me laugh almost to the point of passing out
(To see a clip of Rich Vos, click here for a slow connection, and here if you have a fast one!)
Un-favorite comedians: Paula Poundstone, Bernie Mac, Chevy Chase, Paul Provenza, Richard Lewis - I think you get the general idea.
Favorite sports team: Arizona Diamondbacks (I was at game 7 of the 2001 world series, and was holding up a sign that read "GO GONZO!" when he hit the winning shot!!!) People were so excited they were jumping out of their cars into the road on the way home! Luckily traffic wasn't moving too quickly...
Un-favorite sports team: Three words: New York Yankees!!!!!
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Last updated on 24 March 2005
