gogmagog | It's a small town after all

...OK, I totally lied. I can't go for a whole week without LJ. (Apparently, I can't even go a whole day.) But anyway, I've found that I'm quite a bit further along towards finishing these things than I thought I was (yay!), and so I'm allowing myself back online to a certain extent.

Anyway, I spent today having fun with microfilm and running into people from my classes. Seriously, everywhere I went today except for the restaurant where I had lunch, I ran into a fellow first year. (Or several, in the case of the library.) The result of living in a college town, I suppose, but I kinda like it.

20 Facts About teh Yosi (taken from like 75% of the flist)
- The inside of my nose is asymmetrical. No, really - you know that ridge of cartilage or whatever inside your nose, and in between your nostrils? It's almost nonexistent in the left side of my nose, and really prominent in the right side.
- I have a scar on the side of my forehead that I got when I was, what, about 4 or 5? My uncle John and aunt Mac had come for a visit from wherever the heck they were living at the moment (Germany, I think?) and I was so excited that after they left I was running around the living room and ran into our coffee table, which was about head-height for me. >_<
- One of my favorite snacks is plain white bread dipped into barbecue sauce. Mmm, mmm, good. :9
- I totally used to be, like, a congenital liar (seriously!). When I was in kindergarten one of my classmates was from Africa, and I think I thought that was cool because then I tried to convince my classmates and teachers that I'd gone to Africa over Christmas vacation. I even did an illustrated essay for class on "my trip to Africa," with a little drawing of a giraffe and everything. Then parent-teacher day came around, and my teacher showed the essay to my mom as an example of what good work I did. Then the jig was up, of course. XD
- I also totally used to make up completely ridiculous "secret codes" for video games in grade school and convince my friends that they were real. "No, if you beat Reptile 255 times and then do a Fatality on Sub-Zero with Sonya, you'll totally unlock Baby Goro! No, really, I've done it!" And then they'd go home and be totally unable to get them to work. ...I was so evil. XD
- Until I was about 13 or 14 I refused to take showers. The couple of times I had, years before, I got soap in my eyes and HATED it, so I stuck exclusively to baths. Then I finally ended up having to take a shower (I don't remember why) I didn't have any problems, and was all "well, that was silly."
- I discovered RPGs through Nintendo Power...I picked up their strategy guide for Final Fantasy at the public library around the time I started kindergarten and was all "this looks like the coolest game EVAR, I must have it!" So I eventually got it from my dad for Christmas (or maybe my birthday, I forget) and I've been hooked on the damn things ever since. (I totally never beat it then, though...I only got to Chaos once and got my ass thoroughly kicked. I eventually lost my copy, and didn't beat it until I picked it up again around the time I started homeschooling, which would have been about eighth grade, and beat it in like two days, all "Wow, that wasn't hard AT ALL...was I retarded as a little kid, or what?")
- When I was little, my mom and stepdad and I would read a chapter from Nicholas Nickleby to each other at night before bed. We were most of the way through it when I, leafing through one of my mom's lit books, discovered that OMG SPOILAR, SMIKE DIES!!!1! and refused to read any further. This is interesting, given how much of a spoiler-whore I am now. XD
- My cousin Hacky tells me that when I was two years old, I was reading the newspaper out loud to family members. XD
- When I was in grade school, I collected the entire set of Fleer '94 X-Men cards. I bought zillions of packs, traded with my stepbrother and classmates, and eventually got my last card (Professor X, which I think was #10?) in a cereal box. XD
- For several years after that, I spent the vast majority of my allowance on comic books. Specifically X-Men comic books. (For those of you who are fans, this would be roughly from the beginning of the Phalanx Covenant circa Uncanny X-Men #316 to, let's see, somewhere around the whole arc with Storm fighting Marrow.) I still think the Age of Apocalypse is the best X-Men storyline EVER.
- I also was very much into Magic: the Gathering cards. (Yes, this is the history of my dorkdom.) I dabbled a bit in other CCGs - Marvel's OverPower card game, and the Wildstorm card game - but M:tG was totally where it was AT for li'l me. For the record, my favorite card was the Vesuvan Doppelganger.
- In grade school, there was actually a class discussion about how I was a creepy perv. No, really. I, being a huge X-Men fan, tended to draw a lot of X-Men and X-Women. They had skintight outfits, so unless you looked closely you might assume that they were partially to completely nude. Ergo, certain morons in the class totally thought I was drawing naked people. (Let's ignore the fact that clearly if I'd actually been drawing naked people, y'know, I totally would have done nipples and genitalia, especially since at that age I knew more about sex than any of my classmates thanks to my extensive reading. Dumbasses.) >_<
- As far as I know, I have no allergies. However, every time I drink cream soda, I immediately (like within half an hour) throw up. So that may count.
- I've yet to finish a novel, but I've started lots. The one I got farthest on was probably back when I was twelve or so. My mom took me to her critique group one day, which had quite a few professional published authors, and I read my little bit and they were all like, "wow, that's better than most of the GROWNUPS who read!" I dug what I'd written up a year or so ago, and I was surprised at how well-written, stylistically, it was. It read quite nicely. Of course, my plotting was of the "of course this character will come here and do this because that's what I need for the plot; let's not worry about things like, say, MOTIVATION," so it was still pretty dismal storywise, but I was impressed at my tween self.
- I worked as a waiter once. NEVAR AGAIN.
- My mom is lapsed Catholic and my stepdad converted to Judaism when I was about 9, so I grew up celebrating both Christian and Jewish holidays. It was especially nice come Christmas/Hanukkah-time. >D
- But actually my favorite Jewish holiday was Purim, because of the noisemakers and because one of the local Jewish organizations (the Jewish community center, maybe?) did the coolest ever Purim play, with blonde shiksa Esther running around in hot pants and roller skates, and I think there was a disco ball involved. XD
- The first concert I ever went to was Holly Near (a lesbian folksinger). I was like 7, and I think some of the other folks there wre giving my parents the stink-eye for bringing such a little kid to a show that centered in large part around the wimmen-lovin', but my parents and I all totally loved her music (despite the fact that I totally didn't "get" all the sex stuff). I even waited in line after the concert (kinda droopy, since it was WAY past my bedtime) and got her to autograph a copy of her autobiography for me. (...I was a weird kid.)
- Er, not sure whether I've mentioned this before or not, but I went to grade school with a son of former NFL player Kellen Winslow, Sr. (who at the time I think was playing with the Chiefs). Because of this, Derrick Thomas came to our grade school class for a visit (this is before he died, obviously). I actually got his autograph on a piece of notebook paper and got it laminated...I should hunt around for it, it might be worth something. [/ghoulsih]

I tag...whoever wants to take this. XD

Let's Positive Linking!
- Efforts to clone thylacine resume. It would be SO COOL if this pans out.
- More on suspected euthanasia in New Orleans, this time NOT from a tabloid. (From a couple of people.) I can't imagine having to make this kind of decision...I'm glad that I'm going into a profession where it's very unlikely that I'll have to kill people. Though I might have to occasionally choke a bitch when it comes to literary theorists.
- Handwritten Beethoven manuscript found, put up for auction. Very cool, 'nuff said.
- Dear god, what is up with the crazy ladies trying to cut babies out of pregnant ladies and take them for themselves? Has the crazy Missouri lady started a trend? x_x
- Videogame violence opponent proposes violent videogame. Er, dude, what an asshole. Let's not go into the massive logic holes in his argument (like, say, maybe they won't make this game because they're "scared," but because they can make more money by making a, y'know, GOOD game? Not to mention the possibility of being sued by the in-game murder victims). I composed an e-mail to send him, but apparently he's got so much mail that he shut down the address and it bounced back.
- I totally want to go to Dubai now. Maybe