100 Things
My 100 things list was written in 2004. I’ve made some notations of things that may have changed since then. 
1. Despite what my blog name implies, I am not Irish. Not even a little bit.2. I am of Italian heritage, part Sicilian.
3. I’m from a small town in rural Pennsylvania.
4. My favorite baseball team is the Pittsburgh Pirates. It’s a curse.
5. I used to be a cheerleader. (How funky is your chicken?)
6. I was also in a sorority. (Alpha Delta Pi, Eta Beta chapter, Allegheny College)
7. I swear to you, I am not a flake.
8. My undergraduate degree is in communication.
9. I have a graduate degree in education. I’m certified to teach secondary English.
10. I’m allergic to dogs, cats, dust, dust mites, and grass pollen. This doesn’t stop me from living with cats. (well, I no longer live with cats. but I still like them.)
11. I will publish a novel one day. Hopefully more than one.
12. I love movies. A movie has to really, really suck for me not to find some enjoyment in it. A few of my favorites are “The Princess Bride,” “When Harry Met Sally,” and “Say Anything.”
13. My favorite TV shows are Alias and The West Wing. Though I much prefer TWW with Aaron Sorkin at the helm. (now, I have to add Lost, Scrubs, and the dearly departed Arrested Development)
14. My favorite book of all time is A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle.
15. I hate coffee, but I love the way it smells.
16. I drink tea, British style, with sugar and milk.
17. I think Dave Barry has the coolest job in the world.
18. I collect lions.
19. I’m a Leo.
20. When I was in high school, I went to Hawaii for ten days to be a cheerleader at the Hula Bowl. (Although when I went in 1990, it was in Honolulu, not on Maui.)
21. I can recite (actually, sing, if you want the whole truth) the Greek alphabet.
22. I’ve never had any formal dance training, but I love to dance, and I like to believe I’m pretty good at it. I was in a student-run dance company in college, and choreographed a couple of my own pieces.
23. When Jen and I met freshman year of college, one of the things we bonded over was the song Nobody by Sylvia.
24. I love the 80s. The music. The cheesy sitcoms. However, I kind of wish the hair/makeup/clothes would stay dead.
25. I was an unabashed lover of hair bands. I still love Bon Jovi.
26. I have a younger brother, who is a TV cameraman/editor in Pittsburgh. He’s 23. (25, and he got married this year)
27. I have a mild obsession with the number 27.
28. My parents are still married (35 years!).
29. I want to travel the world. A few of the places I want to see….Italy, Australia, Ireland, Mexico. I want to see the Grand Canyon, the Florida Keys, and all kinds of other parts of this country that I’ve never seen before. I desperately want to go back to Hawaii, both to see the things I didn’t get to see and appreciate it as an adult.
30. I’ve been to England and Scotland, with my ex’s family. I want to go back there someday, too.
31. I spent a summer driving around the country as a cheerleading camp instructor. That was one of the coolest experiences of my life.
32. I was born on the Naval base in Portsmouth, VA, because my dad was stationed there.
33. I love Stephen King, and I don’t care what the critics say…although, I have to admit, I haven’t been big on his recent stuff other than the Dark Tower installments.
34. I have an adorable goddaughter (my cousin) who was born on my birthday. She turns six the day I turn 30.
35. I have a tattoo. This is shocking, given my extremely low threshold for pain.
36. I never intended to work as a journalist. I’ve kind of fallen into all of the journalism-type jobs I’ve had.
37. I’ve been fired. Twice.
38. My first real kiss was with a boy named Billy, when I was 15. He wore Obsession for Men, and to this day, that smell reminds me of him.
39. My favorite scent is vanilla.
40. I am addicted to Pepsi. Regular Pepsi, not diet. And always Pepsi. Never Coke. (Lately, I’ve become obsessed with Dr. Pepper)
41. I can’t stand the taste of artificial sweeteners. (not so much anymore…I’ve learned to live with them)
42. I am a live music junkie. I can no longer count the number of concerts I’ve been to.
43. I love Billy Joel’s music. I’ve seen him in concert twice, plus I saw his Q&A tour.
44. In addition to the many, many other types of music I like, I enjoy country. This is a result of a brief relationship I had while I was in college. He took me to my first country concert at the fair.
45. My favorite country artist is Collin Raye. He has the sweetest voice I’ve ever heard.
46. My very first concert was Richard Marx.
47. I went to that concert with my first boyfriend, J. My memories of that concert, as well as much of that relationship, are not good.
48. I’ve never been good at any sport involving a ball. I played softball as a kid, and I was relegated to the two positions given to the kids who couldn’t play–catcher, and way, way outfield. It was years before I learned that catcher is actually an important position.
49. I tried a whole bunch of other sports…gymnastics, swimming and diving, track. But cheerleading was the one thing I was good at.
50. I once dreamed of being an actress. (that is, wanted to be one. not had a dream about it. 
)
51. I used to hate Doritos, and I now eat them compulsively.
52. I like two kinds of cake: Devil’s food, preferably with no icing, but buttercream if there must be icing at all; and White, with my homemade chocolate peanut butter icing.
53. My grandmother passed without any of us learning how to make her homemade apple pie. Mine is the one that comes closest to hers (crust and all!), and this makes me intensely proud.
54. I am very good at my job, but I don’t like it. (this referred to a past reporting job)
55. The very first music I purchased was the 45 of “Eye in the Sky” by the Alan Parsons Project. (wow, I’m old…)
56. I don’t like math.
57. I know how to make meatballs. And they’re pretty darn good, too.
58. I love Disney movies. The musicals. “Beauty and the Beast” is probably my favorite.
59. I wear my hair short, and I like it that way.
60. I love to fly.
61. I love rollercoasters, and thrill rides of all sorts. My very first coaster ride was the Viper at Darien Lake.
62. I would like to try skydiving or bungee jumping someday.
63. In college, I took a class about pornography and the first amendment. The professor was doing her disseration on the subject. It was strange, but really interesting.
64. I was raised Roman Catholic. Technically, I still am, though I don’t really practice.
65. I went to public school, and plan on sending my future children to public school.
66. I think I’d like two, a boy and a girl.
67. I don’t really have names picked out. I was partial to the name Emma for a girl, but had given it up because of X’s last name. (I hate it when people give their kids the names of famous people. I find it annoying…) So when we broke up, I thought I could reclaim the name….but I’m not sure if I will, because of “Friends.”
68. I can do calligraphy. (want your wedding invitations done? E-mail me!)
69. I was a Girl Scout. I stayed in all the way through high school and got my gold award. (that’s kind of like the equivalent of Eagle scout.)
70. I feel very fortunate to have known all four of my grandparents. Three of them are still living.
71. I love the beach.
72. I knew how to read before I entered kindergarten. I used to drive my parents crazy by reading every street sign when we were riding in the car.
73. I was an orphan in a community theater production of “Annie” when I was 12. I caught the acting bug in a bad way, and was horribly disappointed when there was not a single musical production during my four years of high school.
74. I love bread. I would never survive on the Atkins diet.
75. My favorite mixed drink is a margarita. Traditional. On the rocks.
76. Last year, I discovered the perfume Addict by Dior. I love it.
77. I have brown eyes, and I love songs that mention girls with brown eyes.
78. My favorite board game is Scrabble.
79. My high school’s mascot is the Flying Dutchman. It’s a boat. It’s also the international symbol of bad luck. What genius do you suppose picked that out?
80. I tend to be very shy and reserved in new social situations. It takes me a while to get comfortable and open up to people. In the past, this has led a lot of people to believe that I am stuck up/bitchy/conceited. I don’t think any of those things are true.
81. I don’t like vegetables.
82. I do like fruit, lots of fruit, but I rarely buy anything but apples. This is because I’m poor. My favorite is pineapple, which tends to be on the expensive side.
83. My favorite kind of apple is Macintosh.
84. I don’t like any type of melon.
85. When I was in high school, I had a huge crush on Barry Bonds. This was before he got all puffy and freakish. My new(er) Pirates crush is Jason Kendall.
86. I hate the Atlanta Braves with the fire of a thousand suns. Their little drum chant sends shivers down my spine.
87. Certain songs, movies, books and even commercials make me cry like a little baby. Anyone remember the USPS commercial during one of the Olympics, where the male gymnast screwed up and his little sister mailed him a crayoned “10″? Yeah. *sniff*
88. I wear glasses. I’ve only had them for about 2 1/2 years. I should have been more diligent about regular eye exams, considering the fact that both my mom and my brother had been wearing them since childhood.
89. I like wearing glasses.
90. Someday, I want a big Victorian house with a wraparound porch and a turret.
91. I am an INFP according to the Myers-Briggs personality profile. I think it’s pretty accurate.
92. When I was 7, I smashed my big toe with a bowling ball.
93. I share my birthday with a Catholic Holy Day, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
94. I don’t know how to drive a stick shift. My HS boyfriend tried to teach me once, and I’ll give you one guess as to how well that went.
95. I like my pizza plain (cheese only, thank you).
96. 1996 is the year I graduated from college.
97. I’m very close with my family. In fact, I’m a tiny bit homesick right now…
98. I love Shakespeare, but I much prefer watching it to reading it. (not that I dislike reading it…)
99. I still like going to the playground and riding the swings.
100. My assertion of being a member of the tone deaf club goes back to my rejection from the middle school show choir. The music teacher was a flaky blonde who used to be a nun, then married the high school art teacher, who turned out to be gay. I never really got over the rejection.
Themocracy
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