Facebook memeage

[beccastareyes]

I got tagged with this over on Facebook, so I'm cross-posting. This means that they will be nothing I wouldn't show my mother and her side of the family.

1. I like airports. I don't know why I do, but I find the sense of purposeful activity relaxing. While I'm nervous about preparing to fly -- mostly about missing the flight, or accidentally booking myself for the wrong date/time/place* -- but flying doesn't bother me.

* Both of these have happened.

2. I'm pretty sure I spent most of middle school depressed, or at least lonely. I didn't realize this until high school, when I started becoming more social and having friends.

3. Before I became a science fiction fan, I conflated SF with horror, so refused to watch any. I hated horror. I don't know why I did this. Maybe it was the Aliens franchise. My sister and dad were fans, though, and she kept trying to tell me how I'd like it. Once during a tornado warning, they were watching Trek (TNG) in the basement and I realized they were right.

4. There might have been earlier SF shows I watched, but all of them were about space exploration and stuff. And SeaQuest. I'm kind of afraid to look for the DVDs of SeaQuest, lest it be less awesome than I remember.

5. I never had this problem with fantasy, perhaps because in encountered it as books first. We read 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' in class, and I got the rest of the books right away. Surprisingly, I think I didn't realize that it was all supposed to be a metaphor for Christianity until Book 2 or 3, when Aslan pretty much said 'yeah, in your world, I'm Christ'.

6. On a visit to Arizona I got to see the mirrors for the Large Binocular Telescope being cast. It says something about me that I thought this was the coolest thing ever, and that I was impressed to get to visit the UofA's mirror lab. (I even got to touch one, since it was waiting to be polished and the finish applied.) I was in high school at the time.

7. Secretly, I'd like to get into politics. I caution this by the fact that every time I serve in student government, I am much more of Representative Log than anything else. I guess I should just save my opinions for my blog.

8. When I snap my fingers, I do so with my ring finger against my thumb. I'm the only one I know who does this.

9. I love peanut butter, but hate it in chocolate or baked goods.

10. I recently noticed that I tend to use 'live' to refer to the location of an inanimate object, but only if it is where it normally is. So, for example, 'the cookies are in my desk' means that's where they happen to be right now, but 'the cookies live in my desk' means I habitually keep cookies in my desk. I have no idea where that came from.

11. I cry during movies about space -- so far, it's been the Rover IMAX movie, something on Phoenix, a Space Station IMAX movie and the simulation of the de-orbiting of Hubble shown at the 2004 AAS. I just find the emotions space stirs in me overwhelming.

12. I can tell how well-paced a class is by how full of doodles my notes are. I've gotten to ratios above 3:1 doodles-to-content.

13. I have a tremendous sweet tooth.

14. The first video game I ever beat was Pokémon Blue. The first one I ever owned was either Earthbound or The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time.

15. I don't remember what the first tape I bought, but I think it was a Disney soundtrack. I bought a grand total of maybe 2 CDs in high school. Most of my music was the local top-40 station.

16. I learned to swim so I could be a marine biologist; I first tried roller coasters in case I ever got to be an astronaut; I got over my pyrophobia in chemistry class lighting the Bunsen burner; I got over my fear of the dark to go stargazing. Science is a wonderful motivator to stop me worrying about things.

17. After seeing a poster for the movie Splash in preschool, I once convinced my sister that if she stayed in the bathtub for long enough, she'd turn into a mermaid. She used that fact to give me a hard time occasionally until high school.

18. I have a recoil reaction to large amounts of pink, normally found only in the doll aisle of a toy store/toy department. I blame never liking pink as a girl, and resenting the 'pink is for girls' color.

19. For some reason, I feel my most feminine when I'm either dressed in a very smart-looking blouse and dress pants, or right after a workout. The former makes sense to me, but the latter doesn't, unless all those dance lessons sunk in.

20. Speaking of dance, I took three years of ballet, and five of tap. Somehow I still run into corners/door frames and trip over my own feet. Dance was the first thing I struggled at and wanted to be good at. (Well, it was tied with baseball.)

21. The two nicest things someone said about me was when my rock-climbing instructor admired my perseverance -- he said that normally students either took to rock climbing or gave up, and it was unusual for him to see a struggling student keep trying -- and a math professor told me (well, told another professor who told me) that I was clever and should consider a math REU (research experience for undergrads -- think summer internship) after I had put in long hours getting an A- in that class. Both compliments I value because I worked really darn hard for those achievements.

22. I don't like sewing or cleaning under artificial light -- it has to be daylight for me to want to break out the sewing machine or vacuum cleaner. This proves problematic in winter.

23. If I see a stand selling vegetables or fruit, I'll stop and buy something, to the point of finding an ATM or cash. Even odds I'll eat it before I get back -- peas, berries and cherries are in this group.

24. I didn't eat or drink anything caffeinated (well, chocolate, but that's theobromine) until college. Now, I'm a total tea addict.

25. If I was offered a chance at a trip to Mars (or Saturn, or whatever), the only thing holding me back would be the fact all my friends and family are on Earth. A couple of weeks in orbit would be fine, though.

And the senior year in high school meme, which I stole from one of my cousins...

Fill this out about your SENIOR year of high school! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be!! At the end, choose 10 people (or more) to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

IN YOUR SENIOR YEAR DID YOU...

1. Did you date someone from your school? No, but I dated someone I met while competing in high school math. That happened in college, though I knew in high school he had a crush on me. (My sister married her high school crush. I just dated for a bit, let it die for the summer, and then embarrassed him by gradually discovering that I preferred women.)

2. Did you marry someone from your high school? See above. I'm still single.

3. Did you carpool to school? Yes. My sister, her friend Bridget, and I all drove together. Before Brigdet got her license, her mother drove us -- her mother was a teacher.

4. What kind of car did you have? None.

5. What kind of car do you have now? Same car -- I don't like driving.

6. Friday night now? After anime club, I go home and watch stuff. Saturday is for socializing, Friday is me time.

7. Friday night then? Science fiction club, then staying home.

8. What kind of job did you have in high school? I watched my little brother. Seriously, that's what I told financial aid offices -- Mom paid me a small amount of money to make sure my autistic little brother had someone looking out for him. The money was mostly because Mom felt it wasn't fair to ask me to not get an outside job without some compensation.

9. What kind of job do you do now? Researcher and professional nerd.

10. Were you a party animal? Nope.

11. Were you considered a flirt? *bursts out laughing* I was pretty much asexual and aromantic in high school.

12. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? I did choir my senior year, because I could. I sang first alto, and wasn't terribly good at it.

13. Were you a nerd? I was very high on the nerd totem pole, and damn proud of it.

14. Did you get suspended or expelled? Surely you jest. (That's a no.)

15. Can you sing the fight song? Yes. I might have to hum through some of the words, though. I can still sing the college fight song too, and can hum the song of the school I work at now, though it's not a fight song.

16. Who was/were your favorite teacher(s)? I don't remember. I liked most of my teachers, but I think Señor Pierce was my favorite. (Trumble is not in competition here, as I knew her as Mom's friend before she was my teacher.)

17. Where did you sit during lunch? We had a Sci-Fi table in the cafeteria, and after that we'd all sit in the atrium and hang out.

18. What was your school's full name? Lincoln East High School

19. When did you graduate? 2001

20. What was your school mascot? Martin the Spartan.

21. If you could go back and do it again, would you? No. I had fun, but I'm glad it's over.

22. Did you have fun at Prom? I guess so. All of us nerds dressed up and went as a group to the Macaroni Grill and then to Prom, with the upperclassmen making sure the underclassmen got tickets. I had math practice the same day, so I ended up having to fight the urge not to bite my nails since Mom helped me paint them before practice -- it was the only thing we could do beforehand. And afterward we went to post-prom and sang karaoke and played games.

23. Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with? I don't think I technically had a prom date -- it was a giant group. I still talk to some of the girls. I suppose I was supposed to buy Anna O's ticket, since she was a freshman, but I haven't spoken to her in forever. We were just going as friends, anyway.

24. Are you planning on going to your next reunion? I don't know. Most of the people I like from high school are people I am in contact with.

25. Do you still talk to people from school? A few. A few more we read each others' blogs.

26. School Colors? Blue and white.

27. What celebrities came from your high school? Heck if I know. Am I famous enough to count yet?