One hundred random facts about Meredith.

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1. I'm an only child, which I usually appreciate and advocate, but occasionally lament.
2. I was born in Utica, New York, but I moved six months later.
3. I have lived in New York, Michigan, Virginia, Illinois, Georgia and technically Florida, but I think of myself as a culturally Midwestern Virginian.
4. I'm single.
5. I finished college in three years, which is starting not to matter, at least not till at least the third or fourth conversation I have with people, when "perpetual studentdom" comes up.
6. I live on the edges of Northern Virginia, a scary place in many traffic- and commercialism-related ways.
7. The Va. Bar sent me a certificate and I send them checks--I'm officially an attorney at law.
8. Shoe size: 9, but I'm flexible about it in direct proportion to how good a sale it is...
9. I didn't have any freestanding pets (dogs, cats, etc.) as a kid, and since then only roommates' pets have met that standard. I like these critters pretty well, but honestly, animals in the house sometimes baffle me.
10. I have a reading habit. Voracious. Financially crippling. Physically demanding when it comes time to move.
11. First kiss: age 14. Goodness. Let's not think about how long ago that was!
12. I have had 24 housemates over the years, but now I own my own place. It's a change of pace, but fairly nice for a while to live on my own, I think.
13. Domesticity is my thing. I prefer to think of it as competency, but I've been known to make and mend my clothes, and I cook nearly continuously.
14. I am in my first year of not being in school. I'll let you know how it goes.
16. I'm now a whole lot of people's pastor. I'll also let you know how that goes.
17. I loathe chocolate with a longstanding passion, beginning with my first taste and horrible face at age 3.
18. I have only a sporadic sense of smell due to minor head trauma a few years ago.
19. I adore road trips, and I firmly believe in the three traveling unities of a good trip: walking speed, willingness to spend time & money, and talkativeness.
20. I have a serious weakness for Bob Dylan's music.
21. My favorite book of all time is East of Eden, by John Steinbeck, though the reasons why I love it have changed over time--the mark of a true work of genius, I think. Definitely a desert-island top five selection.
22. I think my ultimate sign for compatibility is being able to enjoyably watch both The Daily Show and Talk Sex with someone. Clearly, you'd have to trust and respect one another on many levels, and you'll probably never run out of things to talk about or do.
23. I was captain of the MacArthur high school quiz bowl team in Illinois--source of many stories and much of my general education.
24. Card playing is one of my least favorite activities when I contemplate it ahead of time; I usually like it fine once I get roped into playing. I feel the same way about eating pizza and watching football.
25. I'm 5 foot 9, unless I'm slouching or wearing scary lawyer heels.
26. I adore knowing about things--I'm a junkie for nearly all magazines, articles, google searches, etc. Just ask me...
27. Etiquette (the real kind about civil society, not the stupid imagined rules about forks) is very important to me, from both sides.
28. The live concert I would most like to see is an REM concert from back in the day when the Indigo Girls opened for them. Time travel not yet being an option, I may have to develop a second choice or two.
29. Christmas is a family holiday; Halloween, New Years, Easter and Independence Day are friend holidays.
30. No smoking for me, although law school gave me a real tolerance (that I'm sorry to say sometimes borders on enjoyment) of being around second-hand smoke when the occasion arises.
31. I have been known to happily wander off by myself in foreign cities.
32. I still have a full set of the Little House books on my shelves, a nearly complete collection of Roald Dahl books, and I kick myself for giving away all my Wizard of Oz books.
33. I'm United Methodist, born and bred. And now, commissioned as well.
34. Stained glass in almost any form is one of my favorite kinds of art.
35. My impossible dream is to be a botanist and live in a tent on a deserted South American mini-island. This will not happen--I was happy, but lousy, in botany class in college.
36. Mix CD's (especially thematic ones) have always made me extremely happy; a CD burner is one of my best investments and mix CD's count as some of the best presents I've ever received.
37. I have celebrated Jane Day annually since 1998; in honor of Jane Austen, friends gather for tea and movie marathons. Sometimes this is in costume. Really.
38. Woodshop was one of my very favorite classes in school.
39. Scottish accents do it for me.
40. From the age of 12, Tom Clancy novels were a surprisingly influential force in my life. I can now admit that I started reading them just because the boy I liked in middle school said Patriot Games was really good, but probably too gory for me to handle.
41. I've never gotten a traffic ticket; I was in one small not-at-fault car crash as a teenager.
42. Birthdays are important to me--both mine and others'.
43. I really hate completely tucked-in sheets. Once, on vacation, my mother told me that this dislike was weird and that no one would sleep with me. It was a supremely awkward moment--there is no good response to that to your mom as a young adult! (Think about the options) But I still hate feeling trapped in tucked-in sheets.
44. Wearing dress-up clothes makes me happy--be they Halloween costumes or formals or cocktail dresses.
45. I had my jaw wired shut for the summer that I was 16 (surgery).
46. At one point in life I could speak a little bit of Russian (probably--okay, definitely--the ultimate result of #40...).
47. I can be meanly sarcastic and terrifyingly bossy, but I'm trying to cut down. And have been trying for years, but it's only slowly improving.
48. Cake is excellent. I am highly susceptible to television ads and recipe pictures that involve cake in any way. I often walk directly into the kitchen and bake one when the idea is suggested to me even remotely. It's sad, really. But others benefit from it!
49. I hate wearing wristwatches, but I have been known to crane my neck quite awkwardly to take advantage of other people's watches in public.
50. Northern Exposure is my all-time favorite tv show, although Gilmore Girls runs a close, tho' untested by intervening decades, second.
51. I am pretty durn afraid of heights that I think I can fall from. (A flimsy guardrail and I'm fine...)
52. Economics major at college.
53. I save cards, letters, concert programs, etc. Send me a postcard and I'm yours forever.
54. When I was really little, I liked to make my hair stand straight up on my head and rock around the house acting like Tina Turner.
55. My dream vacation is the Coast to Coast walk (or similar) in England.
56. For about six months in college, and one month in div school, I had red hair.
57. Cooking with other people is one of my favorite social activities.
58. I'm politically liberal, in the manner of old-school midwestern liberals. But I imagine that I fall more moderately on today's ever-more-extreme spectrum.
59. I don't believe in diamond engagement rings on ethical principle and resentment of economic manipulation of myself and others. Do a little research on DeBeers, people--it's a bad scene.
60. My favorite color is green.
61. Men in green are automatically slightly more impressive. :)
62. I like to knit, and I liked it before it was a hepcat thing to do.
63. The Shawshank Redemption is my favorite movie.
64. Constitutional law was my favorite law school class.
65. I once tended a small sheep farm for a week.
66. I like to sleep on/under feather bedding (untucked! See #43..)
67. Sledding makes me very happy, as does river tubing. Skiing, both snow and water, freaks me out.
68. Patronization of the elderly makes my blood boil--people over 75 aren't inherently cute; so does religious talk radio--faithful people aren't inherently ignorant.
69. If I had my druthers, I would never have to wear socks. As I do not run things, I seek out the most interesting socks I can find. Without getting to the weird kind with separated toes.
70. Arts & Crafts are still pretty enjoyable in my world.
71. I adore blue cheese.
72. I have an antique harpoon in my room. (It was my uncle's, and it has conversational & sentimental value.)
73. My first real drink was a tequila shot; consequently, I like straight tequila pretty well (Also, I very much enjoy The Cutting Edge and have for years--if you'll remember, the movie is quite good at teaching you how to do tequila shots). Just ask to see my impression of ice skating...
74. The character in literature I most identify with is Elinor from Sense & Sensibility. But, honestly, Emma Thompson's interpretation is indelibly linked with Elinor in my mind.
75. I didn't properly understand or appreciate the appeal of The Princess Bride till 2004, rather late in life.
76. I love singing the 'Glo-oooo-oo-ooria' in Angels We Have Heard on High at Christmastime. Not singing it well, mind you, but singing it heartily.
77. Photographs of friends are very important to me, and I keep photo albums and frames pretty carefully.
78. I've read Newsweek since I was eight. Really.
79. I've kept one philodendron plant alive since 1989.
80. I use Colgate toothpaste and really dislike the taste of Crest.
81. All of my books, movies and music are in alphabetical order, and I recognize that I'm a tiny bit wacky about it.
82. I very much enjoy spicy food, but I enjoy it for the flavor, not just for the tear-inducing potential. "Native Thai" will never be a spice level to which I aspire.
83. I wish I still knew how to do calculus.
84. I belong to the public library, and I check things out regularly.
85. I’m an ENTJ and an Enneagram 9 the last time I checked, but I try to avoid those tests now, because I think I live into the description too much, rather than striving to improve on my faults.
86. I don’t often get really stressed out, but the once or twice a year when I do, it’s an utter disaster.
87. My one proven marketable skill thus far in life is taking standardized tests.
88. I wear skirts a lot--no good reason, other than that they are a fabulous clothing option sadly denied to most men in our culture. Sometimes, though, people think it's a "religious thing." It's not.
89. I still think the Muppets are tremendously amusing. Kermit was absolutely my childhood crush.
90. I love international souvenirs, bringing them back and receiving them. Imagine my feelings about postcards, multiplied dramatically.
91. I don’t swear very much out loud; when I do, it usually means something.
92. Kitchen and office supply stores are very tempting places for me.
93. In strange places, I wake up very early. (A friend I was waking up with once told me it didn't sound quite right to say it as "I wake up early in strange places," pointing out the utility of the comma in the English language.)
94. My mom is a quilter, so I grew up surrounded by fabric and quilts.
95. I don't ever plan to change email addresses again.
96. Having grown up in the midwest, my favorite holiday foods have a slightly alarming, but tasty, mayo quotient.
97. I have five cousins on my dad's side and none on my mom's side. It's a very small family.
98. I value kindness, hospitality, fairness, confidence, conversationalism and good humoredness a great deal.
99. I hope that I'm usually a decent human being.
100. I will keep trying to be a better one.