25 November 2002
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102 Things about Sushibob! - 12:31 p.m.
Last updated 28 April 2005
I got tired of my first two "102 Things" lists, so here's my new one.
001. No, Sushi is not my real name. That "real name" would go to Sujin, but someone nicknamed me Sushi between fifth and seventh grade. The name stuck.
002. I would not be who I am today without my love of writing. If I weren't a writer, I would probably be a criminal. You should be thankful I chose the former.
003. Diaryland has been my home of choice since June 26, 2001 (all under the same name, too!).
004. I made my first B during my senior year of high school. It was in Calculus I.
005. I actually can't remember too much before I started writing. Most of my pre-writing memories are probably figments of my imagination. I still wonder that.
006. I've written three novels, one in twenty-three days, one in twenty-seven days and one in thirty days. The thirty-day novel is somewhat more coherent, but not by much.
007. I never really fit in with my classmates. I try to keep on a happy face, but I eventually give up and turn back to my writing. After all, if you can't beat them, DO NOT join them. Do what you love anyway.
008. I've had seizures since fourth grade, and I'm currently taking Zonegran and Keppra for them.
009. I hold my pen funny when I write, bearing down on my right ring finger instead of the middle finger like most people do. Because of said holding technique, I have a bump on said finger. Granddaddy tried to correct this when I was young but to no avail.
010. I am slightly obsessive-compulsive. I have neat piles of mess, I wash my hands on a very regular basis, and I love symmetry.
011. I have never moved, except to change bedrooms a few years ago when we were expanding our house. (Yes, there is a rear end of nowhere--that's where I'm from.)
012. My biggest fear is failure. I can just see a boggart turning into someone telling me I failed everything with a Super F.
013. I didn't discover my adding inability until Algebra II, which I took during my sophomore year. Don't ask me how, but I still made an A in that class.
014. My kindergarten year was scattered with tears of boredom because I was already an avid reader while the rest of the class was learning how to read.
015. French is a close second passion in my life besides writing. Besides being in the French Club and French Honor Society at my school, I also taught French the summer before my junior year of high school at an elementary school.
016. People always used to think I was the "perfect couple" with someone. This stopped... Actually, I'm not sure of the exact time it stopped. I'm just glad people aren't trying to play Matchmaker on me anymore.
017. I can't drive, partially because of my seizures and partially because I'm too lazy to learn.
018. Spelling bees were a large part of my life in elementary school and middle school. I have been in five school spelling bees, four county spelling bees, and two regional spelling bees. I won the county bee in seventh grade and placed sixth in the regional that year. I always wanted to go to the national spelling bee, but that never happened.
019. I have weird little happy-sad days. It's quite interesting.
020. I overanalyze the Harry Potter books. Actually, I overanalyze just about everything.
021. After my brother was born, I became a hermit for more than a year. (I was talking like a "normal" child before that, though.)
022. I gave myself my first haircut. Mum still has the hair.
023. I can't stand the smell of baby powder deodorant.
024. I criticize people who use "I'm from Georgia" as the only excuse for abysmal grammar.
025. Even though I love the French language, I also know smatterings of Spanish and Latin.
026. I collect anything with Spongebob on it. Case in point: I even have a candy wrapper with Spongebob hanging on my bedroom wall, an empty box of Cheez-its with Spongebob (and those disturbing Cheese Nips as well) protruding from the wall, and Spongebob wrapping paper.
027. I am very nearsighted, yet I have astigmatism in one eye.
028. My favorite number is 37.5, a number picked off the top of my head one day. The number 42 is a close second. I must admit, though, that the numbers e, i, and pi are tantalizing as well.
029. I embrace my Nerd status. Nerd-dom is not about too-high pants, pocket protectors, and thick glasses. I also can't stand the nerd stereotype, especially since Nerd Days are always popular during Spirit Weeks, and many people dress up as the stereotype.
030. I grind my teeth.
031. I love to shop, but I'd rather shop alone so I have only one critic to deal with--my inner critic.
032. I created the DBIDs after I realized that some people act like the blonde stereotype, yet are not blonde.
033. I don't like making telephone calls.
034. I grew up in a tiny town, which I couldn't stand.
035. I do discriminate based on grammatical correctness. This has resulted in several flames in my direction, the most famous [or infamous, depending on your view] of which is here.
036. I normally don't send forwards. If you send me a forward and don't get it back, it's not because I don't like you [I don't need an e-mail to tell me how loved I am!]; it's either because I forwarded it sometime five years ago and don't want to send it again or because I don't want a teal buddy list. Doesn't that take the fun out of things?
037. I am a Christian. Yes, I put this near my favourite number intentionally.
038. I use Real English in online conversations, much to the dismay of certain people. Okay, so I drop end punctuation sometimes if said punctuation is a period, but other than that, it's Real English. I also tend to criticize people when they use excessive Netspeak, which is the topic aforementioned infamous flame.
039. I don't like mayonnaise because of the fatty taste in it.
040. I don't like salt either, partially because I have great salt taste buds. They work a little too well, as I found out in AP Psychology. That's right, I unsalt my fries, my eggs, and almost anything that "normal people" salt.
041. I couldn't live without books. Some of my favourites are the Harry Potter series [by She-who-need-not-be-named], A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Yesterday's Child by Sonia Levitin, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte,... and the list goes on.
042. The first "classical" novel I read out of my own free will [read: I had to read something for a class, so I chose this one] was Anna Karenina. I chose an 850-page novel out of my own volition? Even I thought I was nuts, and I have high standards for nuts-ness.
043. My bedroom desk is very messy. Back in Dark Ages, I tried to keep it neat in order to walk to a neat writing space every day, but that thought disappeared quickly as homeless papers piled on it.
044. I get good ideas for stories and novels from almost every imaginable source. One idea that I'm still working on came from the school cafeteria when I switched tables!
045. I don't fancy marrying, settling down, or having a family. I'd rather get a doctorate, travel the world, research, and write.
046. I can entertain myself easily. A paper clip isn't limited to clipping paper together in my hands. It can be a fish hook or a sword or even a tool used in brain surgery.
047. I had a brief stint with the popular crowd in fifth grade. Actually, I'm not sure why it didn't last. Maybe it was because my idea of fun wasn't chasing the boys on the playground. Either way, I would probably be a different person today if that had lasted.
048. When I was in elementary school and middle school, I typically befriended the new kids before anyone else could grab them. After all, the new kids had the clean social slate, and I [by an informal "outcast" definition] also had a clean social slate. It worked--until said new kid moved again.
049. I mentioned my love of French a few times. Well, I originally signed up to take Spanish [I guess I fell into the trap that Spanish was easier; I don't remember now]. When Mme Ruth [then Mlle Bayne] and one of her advanced French classes did a presentation for one of my classes, I realized that I had to take French. I got my schedule changed from Spanish to French. I haven't regretted it since.
050. I've taken French and Spanish, and I can say this: Spanish is NOT easier than French. Even though I'm a tad bit biased toward French for obvious reasons, I think Spanish is more difficult for too many reasons to explain here.
051. I am always doing too much and not enough at the same time. My busy times come in sudden bursts.
052. I am cold-blooded. If someone asks if I'm cold, I typically get cold. I don't know why that is so.
053. I've collected Barbies since I was old enough to understand that keeping them in the box equals prettier dolls. Oh yeah, and getting more money didn't hurt much either--I'll be honest! I still have all of them; they're on shelves around my room. Well, six of them are in my closet because I ran out of shelves.
054. I am definitely not a morning person. I can't even classify myself as a "type of day" person anymore because I'm always tired now. Is that good or bad?
055. I normally don't take too many pictures. I'll buy a disposable camera and it'll be ready to be developed two years later. I still have a roll from eighth grade that needs to be developed. Funny, I think there's a picture of the guy I liked at the time, and I took the picture specifically for that purpose...
056. I am a perfectionist, which has resulted in many jokes, good and bad, over the years from friends. As much as I try to cure my perfectionism, I have realised that my perfectionism is like nicotine: it's addictive, it's stimulating, and--most importantly--it numbs me over time.
057. To give you an idea of my dating experience, you can count the number of guys I have dated on one hand. I have never dated anyone seriously enough to call him a "boyfriend", even though my silly teenage mind thought so at the time. This time, however, I'm holding out for someone who meets my intellectual and moral standards. Wish me luck.
058. My favourite colour is lavender. My bedroom walls are painted lavender [I believe it's more of a lilac shade, though]. I remember reading somewhere that lavender is a relaxing colour. If that's true, will someone please explain to me why I can't relax?
059. People say that I'm hard to shop for, but I'm really not. I'm normally happy with whatever I receive [unless you give me a sample of the last fungus you cultivated or something equally disgusting], but there are a few universal gifts that are not only useful, they also make me very happy. Notebooks, pens, chocolate, candy in general, socks, puzzles [the bigger and more difficult, the better], and anything involving thinking and trivia will be sure to satisfy my brain for a long time.
060. I despise attempts to ban books from public settings just because they upset a few people. I find this especially amusing because many of the people who try to ban books haven't even read them. Don't get me started on organised book-burnings.
061. I can't figure out how non-writers function in this world. How do they keep all their thoughts together?
062. I learned to read when I was three years old. When I read that first word, I discovered a world even better than the one I was living in and separated myself from my family forever. I also discovered that books can make even better companions than real people.
063. Even though I don't intend to marry, I do believe in soulmates. Somehow I think that a soulmate is not just the person whom you marry, but someone you have so much in common with that being with that person could mean courting either perfection or disaster. No, I don't know who mine is.
064. I have many, many muses. These muses are my fictional characters, but one muse shines out beyond the others. Her name is Nat.
065. Even though I am American and proud of it, I usually write my dates the European way, which leads to mass confusion when I read someone's calendar written the American way. I simply think the European way makes more sense. If all else fails, I write out the month if I know an American date-writer will be reading it.
066. I used to wear nail polish and jewelry almost compulsively back in my middle school days. Of course, that was middle school, and I didn't know squat about grooming. Now, however, I'm a bit more understated [and much busier]. I barely have time to grab my watch on the way out the door!
067. I have never traveled outside the United States. I hope that this changes in the future, as I would love to go to as many countries as possible in Europe, especially the French-speaking ones because I can actually communicate.
068. My favourite state [besides confusion] is Alaska. This actually started out as Nerding joke, but now I love the place. I get mad when people forget that Alaska is the largest state, though. Come on--it's more than twice the size of Texas!
069. There is no holiday on 14 February because I say so. After all, school (unless it's a weekend), Barnes and Noble, and Starbucks are all open on that day. That, if anything, should prove that it's not a real holiday. [Edit: Wow, this is on 69. That certainly wasn't intentional.]
070. While the rest of my family practically needs blaring televised voices in the background in order to exist, I cannot stand television and think that it is the worst thing to enter the home. I can't watch television if I'm going to write! Television corrupts imagination, decreases family time, and sucks the people's souls through the eyes. Have you ever noticed the glazed-over look that the viewers get? It's creepy.
071. I was inspired to write after I read Harriet the Spy. I was in fifth grade at the time. I even kept a notebook just like Harriet did, but that didn't last very long. When I was in sixth grade, I found that notebook and started again fresh. I haven't stopped since.
072. If I couldn't write and research for a living, I think I would like to teach French at a college or work in a library. Other people have told me that I should write, teach, or even [gasp] be a lawyer. I don't know where this one came from, except that the person said that I would "get to argue all day". Right.
073. I used to have very neat handwriting until my senior year of high school. Then the college classes [and extremely fast-paced lectures] transformed my normal script into a half-script, half-print shorthand that even I have a hard time reading on occasion. They're still good notes; they're just...illegible.
074. I'm usually the responsible one of the lot, which is kind of sad [or is that scary?] when you think about it. I actually have to get napkins for the guys at church because they always forget! Because of them, I grab a pile of napkins out of habit for those inevitable messes.
075. I enjoy listening to all kinds of music... well, except techno. Classical is a big favourite of mine, though. It's my break from lyric analysis.
076. I am not athletic. I played some tennis in middle school [and got the "Most Improved" award], but I haven't played much since. If writing counts as a sport, though, I may be in the top 1% of athletic people in the world.
077. My paper journal's name is Dr. Nbook. We've been together [without breaking up, anyway] since my sixth grade year.
078. I have a love-hate relationship with math. I liked it okay until I took Calculus I. I hated it during that semester, but I fell in love with numbers during the following semester in Calc II.
079. I actually keep three journals: Tail, Fane [on Xanga], and Dr. Nbook [on paper, as I mentioned before]. Some of the entries overlap, but that's because I have only twenty-four hours in a day.
080. I have an odd gift for finding four-leaf clovers. Then I dry them in random places: in my Bible, in my dictionaries, in my favourite books...
081. My favourite month of the year is Nanowrimo... I mean November. I've been a Nanowrimo novelist since 2002 and finished every year.
082. My fictional crushes include Remus John Lupin, Charlie Weasley [both from the Harry Potter books], Gene Forrester, Phineas [both from A Separate Peace], and Strong Bad. Don't we all need a celebrity crush? I don't have celebrity crushes, just fictional ones. They keep me less insane. I think.
083. I don't believe in editing entries simply because they offend people. It feels too 1984-esque. I do edit my "extras" now and then, as they aren't real entries, and they've been around for a long time, and sometimes they do become obsolete.
084. I am very good at finding the silence in the middle of a crowd. Hint: carry a notebook with you.
085. I wore my hair very long until I was in third grade. Then I got it cut. Sometime after that I got it permed but hated the result, so I let it grow out [you can't even tell now!]. Now my hair length depends on my mood [and, yes, my willingness to get up and go to the salon].
086. I keep a food stash in my room because sometimes I'm just too lazy to get out of my room and get real food. Somehow, though, I don't think jelly beans and chocolate count as "real food". Whatever.
087. I have never been to a prom. While we're on that topic, I have never even been asked to a prom. Everyone has differing opinions on the experience, but I'm glad I could focus on my schoolwork instead.
088. I want to be on Jeopardy one day.
089. I procrastinate. Why do you think I'm making this list?
090. I normally get sick in February, miss school, and have to make up tons of work. I don't know why this happens aside from the usual bugs that go around. Somehow, though, I survived February 2005 without getting sick!
091. I own tons of nail polish from my beauty-obssessed days (back in middle school/early high school). I used to use it all the time, but now I rarely do because I don't have time! I do try to keep my toes painted because having a pretty color on my toes in the middle of winter is a nice secret to keep from the world.
092. I'm a terrible artist. I can't even draw a square properly. I can draw various objects out of integrals, like umbrellas, funny-looking people,... [What? I got bored!]
093. I normally keep a floppy disk in my purse--a true sign of nerdiness. It's handy, too!
094. I don't like PowerPoint. Other people love it, but PowerPoint always does weird things to me. Maybe that's because I make it try to overachieve. Meh.
095. I feel naked without my watch and my purse.
096. I overuse adverbs. I'm trying to stop, but it's one of those bad habits, such as how some people can't quit smoking.
097. Speaking of smoking, I don't smoke, drink, do drugs, yada yada yada. I prefer staying clean. There's also the smell that goes with it...
098. Wow, five things to go! Let's see... I can't open an encyclopedia for research purposes without looking up something for fun. Really.
099. I try to go to bed early, meaning that I would ideally get around ten hours of sleep a night. Of course, this includes my lying around in bed for about an hour before falling asleep.
100. I can get very annoying with one of those clicky pens.
101. I considered writing the numbers on this list in binary. Speaking of number systems, I can count in binary, hexadecimal, and decimal. However, converting one way or the other takes a little time.
102. Finally, the last item! I'm glad this is finished!