My 25 (somewhat under wraps)

Finally, a chain letter-like phenomenon has hit Facebook. I've been tagged to several notes written by various Facebook friends. These notes contain 25 random things about the authors that is supposed to help their friends get to know them better. Aww, Facebook is trying to inject a little Hallmark moment into it's culturally-sanctioned stalking engine. Or, is this stalking on steroids? Allowing people to know 25 things that they would never know unless they hired a private investigator or broke into your house and raided your scrapbooks? Ok, maybe I'm tending toward the dramatic. Anyways, there's no way I would ever write my 25 and post it in a note on Facebook, but the idea intrigued me enough to write them anyways. See my 25 below (written in the "privacy" of my own blog):

25. I've never broken any bones except for the fracturing the tip of my middle finger in second grade. I had to wear a cast that held my finger in the upright position (I didn't understand why some of kids laughed at me).

24. When I was eight, my mom and I moved to Maine by ourselves (my dad stayed behind in upstate New York to finish out his job). We lived in an old house in a tiny fishing village on the coast. This wonderful and scary experience brought us even closer than we already were, and continues to every time recollect that year.

23. When I was a toddler, I thought everyone's name ended with "Cora Bowen" like me.

22. I'm not very good at being taught or told what to do. When I was nine years old, I went with my mother to her spinning lessons (as in spinning yarn on a wheel). When the teacher asked me if I wanted to learn, I informed her that I already knew how (I almost broke her spinning wheel trying to show her).

21. I learn things the hard way.

20. I danced and drank many martinis in the Reading Room of the Boston Public Library with Boston's upper crust.

19. If I ever end up going to hell, or at least visiting, I have a great red dress to wear.

18. One day while I was walking down the street in Oxford, England, I ran into Mr. Bean (aka Rowan Atkinson), who bespectacled and sporting a perfectly grey and black argyle sweater, nodded to me in a most Bean-like manner and continued down the street, leaving me in a fit of giggles.

17. I lived in an eighteenth century flat in Bath, England, for a year, and felt every inch a Jane Austen heroine, especially when I hiked the city's surrounding slopes, carpeted in the greenest grass and the yellowest dandelions. There is nothing on this earth like an English spring.

16. I stayed on an island in Maine by myself for three days and two nights with only a sleeping bag, a jug of water, and a handful of trail mix.

15. I can sing opera (preferred: selections from Puccini).

14. I love original motion picture soundtracks (John Williams, James Horner, Thomas Newman) because their music acts as a perfect soundtrack for moments in my own life.

13. I ran the Boston Marathon in 4.5 hours (only stopping to walk twice, and I ran up Heartbreak Hill without a break).

12. I have the kindest, most loving mother in the world.

11. There are some people that I find hard to forgive. I try every day.

10. In this age of gender equality, I find it hard to strike the balance between being a strong, yet vulnerable woman.

9. Sometimes I live more in my mind than I do through my action.

8. I want to be a writer, but I don't write enough (see #9). I have to turn this want into action.

7. My dream is to someday live in an old house in the country with a man (preferably my husband), a couple of kids (ideally, my own and some adopted), a few dogs, cats, chickens, and a kayak. There must be a kayak (and hopefully, a lake or bit of ocean nearby to put it in).

6. The best place on earth is the north shore of Prince Edward Island at sunset. My soul thrills when the sun hits the ruby red earth of the cliffs, setting the whole scene ablaze.

5. I have a severe phobia about throwing up.

4. I can run 15 meters in 5 seconds.

3. I didn't drink alcohol until I was a sophomore in college because I didn't like how people acted when they were under the influence. I'm still not crazy about it or how I act when I drink.

2. I don't like when people interrupt me. Let me finish!

1. Someone once told me that I am like "every kid" they knew. I like to think that I'm never one person, never wholly definable. I hope that never changes.

0. I like question marks?