100 Things about me, Part I
1. I'm an Aries, born March 29, 1976. I think I am sort of a stereotypical Aries, but don't believe in astrology. I was born at 9:16PM.
2. I grew up in northern NJ, went to college in western MA, then came back. I studied biology.
3. I have a Master's Degree in Biology, and did my thesis on the evolution of mating systems & sex. Not as exciting as it sounds- I counted fruit flies. :) After that, I started my PhD at UCSD in San Diego, CA.
4. I had a lot of options for locations to do my PhD, but I might have chosen UCSD because of the weather & city, not the program itself. Needless to say, I didn't finish. I HATED the program there. I hated lab work. I had always thought of myself as a field biologist. UCSD disagreed. I should have gone to IU or UChicago, who did agree :).
5. Since I hated lab work, I got a job in a lab. Mostly because I wasn't qualified to do anything else.
6. My husband was along for the ride, from the MS on. We met in high school but were just friends at the time. We've known each other for 15 years or so, but been married for 3 1/2. He is a former Marine. While I am very proud of him for doing that, I'm glad the operative word is former.
7. I work from home now. I'm not particularly crazy about my job. I'm trying to do something about that.
8. I have a bulldog named Jersey. I spoil her rotten. She is my surrogate child, mostly because I am not that crazy about kids- I just don't enjoy them that much. Other people's kids are fine. Just not mine.
9. My husband feels the same way. I don't think either of us really wants to be grown up in the first place, so this is a good thing. If we ever do have children, we will adopt.
10. I think my biggest fault is a lack of patience.
11. I'm not very comfortable around people in general. I am actually very shy around new people, but once I know someone, I am the opposite. I am not good at reading people, or beng friendly to someone I don't know that well- it makes me very self-conscious.
12. I learned to knit when I was 8, from my mother. I thought knitting through the back loop was easier, and proceeded to do it that way until I was 24. I didn't knit much, so it didn't matter. I started knitting again after I left grad school, and was home all day looking for a job.
13. My grandparents lived downstairs from us, in a two family house. My mom worked, so I spent lots of time with them. My grandmother terrified everyone- she was loud & yelled a lot, but under it all, she was very loving. No one does anything right as far as she is concerned, but she will give you the world. My grandfather was always joking, and he sat on the front porch. When I was a teenager, I would go in the back door with my friends so he wouldn't talk to us. I am ashamed of that now.
14. I am an only child. My mom died of ovarian cancer when I was 18. My dad re-married and my stepmother has never had children. We get along really well.
15. My favorite colors are mostly earth tones, but I wear a lot of black. I'm not big on a lot of makeup or getting all dressed up.
16. I would really like to loose some weight, but I enjoy cooking and good food. I know some healthy food tastes good, but not much of it as far as I am concerned.
17. I have a 55 gallon fish tank in my home office, and I'm trying to re-establish it after the last move. It has 6 angelfish in it, and the ammonia concentration won't go above 0.25 ppm. This has gone on for over a month now. I'm thinking of adding more fish but I don't want to kill the angels.
18. I love animals. I cannot live without pets. The first apartment we had in CA was a six month lease, and we couldn't have pets. This was a serious problem. Before that, I don't think I ever lived without animals of one form or another.
19. I used to do reptile rescue. I don't anymore. It's exhausting because the only people that buy lizards are 12 year old boys (emotionally if not physically) who think it will be "cool." They get bored when they realize the animal is a lot of work, and by the time I get the animal, it's half-dead. It is difficult to remain polite to these brainless morons.
20. I grew up in NJ, which I have discovered means we tend to swear a lot more than other people. I worked in a small office in NC, and to keep the peace, my vocabulary became so edited I now say things like "oh poo," and "gosh." This irritates me. I'm glad to be back in NJ where four-letter words are acceptable in most social situations. The first time a man apologized for swearing in front of me I laughed in his face. I guess I shouldn't necessarily be happy about this, but sometimes a good string of curses really lets off some steam.
