by the numbers

so technically it's my 29th birthday. i prefer to think of it as the 5th anniversary of my 24th, which somehow both makes me feel younger, and like i have the willpower to keep doing something for five years (even if it is only aging).

in honor of the Miracle in September, i give you these fascinating 29 facts about me and my life, as it appears right now:

29. i'm bipolar, which lead me to blogging in the first place
28. i'm no longer ashamed of that
27. there's something like 18 pounds of assorted meats in various stages of preparedness right now in my kitchen, awaiting tomorrow's festivities
26. i have the best brother in the universe, hands down
25. i make the best chocolate chip cookies of anyone i've ever known
24. i can airbrush pretty well
23. i am also one hell of a picture framer
22. i can recite "Jabberwocky" from memory...still
21. i won a math conference my first time out, presenting a paper on complex systems control theory
20. i am a trivia idiot. trivial pursuit, NTN, you name it, i play it.
19. i played jazz bass and tenor sax for eight years, gave it up for engineering, and eventually gave that up as well. guess which i'm thinking of taking back up?
18. my cat is named after michael faraday, because when i got her i was knee-deep in an electromagnetics class
17. my family has traveled as a family to england, france, scotland, canada, mexico as well as yellowstone national park
16. i was in marching band all through high school and i loved it. i miss it. i still make "L"s with my hands to determine left from right, occasionally.
15. my favorite band of all time is Steely Dan
14. however, my favorite albums of all time are Blood Sugar Sex Magic (RHCP), Abbey Road (Beatles), In Violet Light (the Hip), Angel Dust (Faith No More) and Don't Tell a Soul (the Replacements)
13. i'm fairly certain i've been in love, really, twice in this lifetime. statistics say women get three, on the average.
12. if i could only have one beverage besides water for the rest of my life, it would be milk. if i got three, it would be hard to choose between coffee and gin gimlets
11. best movie of all time? Raising Arizona
10. i've never been to jail, although i was incarcerated one night in a psych hospital, where i taught the other patient/inmates to play gin, then we watched a KU basketball game. all in all, not my favorite night, but it beats some dates i've been on.
9. i starred in a film spoof of the X Files as the Scully character
8. i've been to Graceland, as well as the only ornamental metal museum in the United States
7. i've also been to the bottom of the deepest hand-dug well in the U.S. upon returning to the top, i was given a wooden nickel, which i still have
6. my twenty-first birthday was spent at the Walnut Valley Bluegrass Festival, where we drank and sang all night, then slept in the woods, and when i woke, the symphony was playing as the sun came up, and it was like it had been scripted just for me.
5. i have a friend who has a snake named "Deep Throat"
4. i speak just enough German to really get myself into trouble
3. i have a freckle on the bottom of my right foot
2. my favorite outfit is a long sleeved t-shirt, overalls, and Birks
1. i think i'm actually looking forward to, and am hopeful about, the next ten years

cheers! happy weekend everyone, and Merry Ginnymas!