Not quite 100 things about me - a work in progress

1) I grew up a dog person, but converted to cat personhood at the age of 29.

2) I don't like jazz, and don't think I ever will, even though it seems like it is the hip grownup thing to do.

3) At one point in my life, I wanted to be a gym teacher. Now I am a doctor, but I did get certified as a YMCA fitness instructor last year.

4) I like wine, but have never aquired a taste for beer.

5) I looove chocolate - especially dark chocolate. So called "white chocolate" is an abomination, and does not deserve to carry the label "chocolate".

6) I always shut my eyes when I turn off the lights at night so that I don't see whatever happens between the light and the darkness.

7) I procrastinate horribly, especially about dictation - in fact, at this very second, I am sitting beside a bunch of charts that need to be dictated.

8) I am a CBC Radio One addict - that's the only station that my car radio is ever on. I can even listen to it on Sirius. I don't plan my evenings around the programs, but I do try to be home at 9 PM for Ideas.

9) I have fairly broad musical tastes for the most part, but I do seem to have a preference for female artists. And I don't see the attraction of urban/hiphop. Why couldn't the 80's last forever?

10) I managed to make it through 4 years of medical school, 3 years of residency, and 3 years of fellowship training without drinking coffee - I like the smell of coffee, but can't stand the taste. Diet Pepsi is my portable caffeine source of choice (because it's not possible to make a good cup of tea in a mug, or [horrors], a styrofoam cup). Once every so often, when I am really really really tired, I will buy a cup of coffee, a small carton of chocolate milk, and mix the 2 together to try to mask the coffee flavour. Sometimes it works, but it is best if the coffee is flavoured already, or is a mocha. Then I end up being really edgy and peeing alot, but am at least a little less sleepy.

11) I love to take naps on weekends; the best time is between 1 and 3:30 or so for a few reasons - it is far enough away from bedtime to still be able to fall asleep at a decent hour, it is the time of day when alertness is the lowest anyways, and it is usually after lunch {I can't nap if I am hungry}.

12) I could have cereal for breakfast 365 days a year. I have a rubbermaid cereal container which I fill with different mixes of cereals, nuts, and occasionally dried fruit.

13) I am not very superstitious, but sometimes when an odd collection of events happens, I wonder "Does that mean something?". Maybe because my ancestors "back in the old country" were superstitious.

14) I went to dental school for 1.5 years, then switched to medicine. Even though that was over 15 years ago, I still notice people's teeth.

15) I am shy among people that I don't know, and am more apt to sit and listen to other people at a social gathering than to join in on group conversations. I am more comfortable with one on one conversations.

16) My right fibula pops slightly out of joint if I maximally flex my knee. This has never caused me any problems at all.

17) I got out of the habit of watching TV when I moved into my first apartment. I only had the TV from my family's cotttage during the winter, and because money is tight, I didn't want to have to pay the connection fee each fall.

18) Despite the fact that I rarely watch TV, I still don't seem to get much done. And that was the case BEFORE the Internet was a big time waster.

19) I remember all kinds of details about people, but I have lots of problems remembering their names. Sometimes I know the last names of my colleagues, but I can't remember their first name. Luckily I can just call them "Dr. surname". Nametags are greatly underrated.

20) I learned how to tell right from left at a later age then usual. I often make mistakes between the two, which can be a problem if I am the navigator as we drive.

21) I have a bad habit of forgetting that the person who is driving might not actually know where they are going, and I often forget to give them instructions to turn until the last minute.

22) I have a split personality wardrobe - part of it is earth tones, and part of it is black/vibrant colours. At times I can combine the 2, but often this is not the case.

23) My favourite colour changes fairly regularly. It was lime green for a good 2 years, then teal. Turquoise is getting some action of late. Faves in the past have included blue, burgundy, purple, and forest green. Mostly this just applies to clothing.

24) I have never fit in with the rest of my family, which means that I am not very close to them. We are still in contact, and I visit them from time to time, but there are often awkward silences when I am speaking to one of my siblings on the phone.

25) I don't want to have kids; my cats satisfy any rudimentary maternal instincts. I've never been that into kids, was never around many children (except for when I myself was a child), and don't really want to make the sacrifices involved in having kids. Not to mention the fact that the sound of a crying/yammering baby or screaming kids is like nails on a blackboard to me.

26) I plan to start travelling to faraway places more, but don't really have much interest in visiting Africa, Asia, or India. I would much rather travel to Europe.

27) I am all about "mixed chic" rather than matching things. Especially in terms of decorating our house.

28) I grew up on the Prairies, and lived for two years on the side of a mountain. When I drove up the road to our house, my ears popped. Every single time. Apparently I will always be a flatlander.

29) I can sleep on planes very easily; I often fall asleep before the plane actually takes off. This dates back to having to make flights in the middle of the night on the provincial air ambulance service while I was doing my fellowship training.

30) I have never been to Canada's East Coast or Territories, nor have I ever been to the Midwest or the Deep South (unless pre-Katrina New Orleans counts)

31) Most days I decide what I am going to wear the night before. On days that I don't do this, I usually end up having a horrible time deciding what to wear. Plus, I used to go to the gym early in the morning 3-5 days per week, and had to have my clothes laid out to avoid forgetting key elements like a bra, or socks.

32) I know my Social Insurance Number, my Aeroplan number, and my Credit Card number off by heart. It is not necessarily a good thing to know your credit card number off by heart; in fact, it can be dangerous if you have problems with impulse control.

33) At times, I have problems with impulse control.

34) I have three complete sets of Jours de la Semaine (Days of the Week, but in French) underwear (different styles and designs, bought at different times from Simons in Montreal). If I wear a pair, it is always the pair that corresponds to the actual day of the week.

35) I have size 11 feet, which means that I have a hard time finding shoes that fit. Socks are also a problem - any womens' socks that don't have Lycra in them are too short, and even some with Lycra don't fit.

36) I have 2 tatoos - one is a Moroccan symbol (which was part of the cover design on all of my favourite author's books), and one is a paw print.

37) I am trying to develop some artistic talent. I'm giving watercolours a try, but might switch over to acrylics. I also plan to start playing around with image editing software, as well as collage.

38) I am a feminist, but I am not a huge fan of female chauvanism. I tried out a pole dancing class last fall, and was perturbed when the instructor suggested that we could walk across the floor on our hands and knees as part of our "routine". I do not understand how that is supposed to empower my sexuality; it sounds like it is more about pleasing my "audience" than about pleasing me.

39) I am an avid reader - I'll read the sides of cereal boxes if that's all that is available.

40) I only get used to get the newspaper on Friday and Saturday (the Globe and Mail), but I will save the any newspaper and read it a week later if I don't get around to it the day I receive it (for instance, if I am on call that weekend). When I fly somewhere, I try to grab both a Globe and Mail AND a National Post; I then read most of it en route (when I am not sleeping, that is).

41) I have never been a fan of ruffles and hyperfeminine stuff in clothing. I like things that are a bit more streamlined. Part of this may be because I am somewhat muscular (especially my legs), and I always feel like a football player in drag if I am wearing something very frilly.

42) I am tall (5 foot 11 inches), but to some extent, I am unaware of my height in relation to others - I am often surprised when I catch the reflection of myself walking with a short friend at exactly how much of a difference in height there is. This may be because for much of my time growing up, everyone in my family was similar in height (my Dad is the runt of the litter).

43) I am planning to travel to Europe this fall to celebrate my 40th birthday.

44) My surname means "wrinkled pear" in German. Needless to say, it is not German in origin.

45) I love the potential that each skein of yarn holds. I love to play around with colour combinations, and feel the texture.

46) My husband does not understand why I need more yarn.

47) I like to explore a city that I am visiting, and have a weakness for funky places and restaurants that are "institutions" (neighborhood type places, not world famous places)

48) I prefer expressionist and modern art. I like to see the brushstrokes in a painting.

49) I enjoy cooking, although my husband does most of the cooking nowadays. "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman is my cooking Bible. When I do try a new recipe, it is rare for me to follow it to the letter; I usually end up tweaking it even the first time. This is one of the reasons that I don't bake - futzing around with baking is more problematic, because proportions are important.

50) I have a thing about salads; I frequently take a big salad to work for lunch. In the last few months, I have become more analytical in planning my salads; I give much thought to which type of dressing works best, whether to use spinach or romaine, if tomatoes should be added, etc. My husband has gotten on the saladmaking bandwagon - he is sweet enough to chop up nuts with a butcher's knife to add them to my salads. He will also stirfry the veggies in salad dressing to add some extra dimension to the taste when they are mixed in with the greens. I now find myself critiquing salads in restaurants; quite often the dressing they just isn't quite right given the other salad ingredients, IMHO.

51) I have a "doctor voice", which is different from my usual speaking voice. The tone is slightly different, but otherwise it's difficult to describe it. I occasionally lapse into it in situations other than talking to patients - say, when dealing with someone at the bank, or a salesperson. My husband HATES it when I use my doctor voice on him - which I do only rarely; usually when we are arguing.

52) I am one of the 10% of Canadians in a second marriage. This is my husband's first marriage.

53) I am 4 years older than my husband.

54) I don't brush or comb my hair. Now, before you assume that I have dreadlocks, I have very fine hair which tangles quite easily. To quote a former hairstylist I frequented: "you have fine hair, but you have alot of it". When I do brush it, large amounts of hair end up being pulled out of my scalp. Instead of using a brush or comb, I run my fingers through my hair instead of brushing. Usually I do this right after I wash my hair (and apply leave in conditioner). The first time I used "dry shampoo", I didn't realize until after I sprayed it into my hair that I was supposed to brush or comb it out of my hair. I got a combination of my father's hair (thick, and lots of it), and my mom's hair (very fine, not lots of it); fine hair, but lots of it. I can't believe that I once heard my sister complain that her hair had "too much body". Because I have a broad face, I would rather I had hair that was fuller than it actually is. Just like 99.9% of the population, I want hair different from what I have.

55) I love singing in the car, and I feel no embarassment if passersby either see or hear me.

56) I don't understand the whole scrapbooking schtick. Do people ever sit down and look through them once they are complete? Are they the slide shows of othis generation? However, I do like"papercraft"

57) I cannot wrap presents worth a damn - the corners always look like they were done by a 4 year old. I also cannot fold a sheet of paper exactly in half. It is always kind of embarassing when I fold a letter in 3, and then have to re-fold it when I realize it doesn't quite fit the envelope. I don't even do gift bags well; I can't get the hang of the tissue paper at the top. I do well at picking out paper and ribbons, etc, but I need someone else to do the actual execution. It's kind of like a pop star who has a fashion line - she comes up with the ideas, but someone else figures out how to actually do it.

58) I also can't tie a half decent bow; initially, I ended up tying it with both loops on the same side. I have since learned how to have a loop on both sides, but it still looks kind of wonky.

59) I sublet an apartment from Dean Jenkinson years ago. He's the host of the CBC Radio Festival of Funny, and does alot of humorous skits and songs on CBC. I think his wife was a budding animation artist at the time.

60) I played basket ball in school, but didn't play volleyball because I didn't get the hang of setting. I wish that I had joined the waterpolo team, because it was huge in my junior and senior high schools.

61)I took alot of math courses in University, and taught Intro to Calculus tutorials one year. If my Bachelor of Science degree had required me to declare a major and minor, my major would have been math, and my minor would have been psychology.

62)I have forgotten all of my calculus since then.

63)I even have troubles sometimes with calculating people's ages in my head if the last digit of the year they were born in is higher than the last digit of the current year.

64)I have, however retained the ability to be able to come up with a fairly accurate estimate of the result when multiplying or divinding large numbers.

65)I also have a thing for number patterns - like when the date is a palindrome, when the digits of a number add to another number that is of some significance, I even get some enjoyment if I am able to evenly divide the segments in my grapefruit half while I am cutting between them

66)I think that if I hadn't gotten into medical school when I left dentistry (see #14), I would have gone into engineering. Not because I am mechanically inclined, but because I enjoy problem solving and math. I have no idea if I would have enjoyed it, because I don't know any engineers well enough to have a good grasp of what their job is like.

67)Although I am right handed, I wear my watch on my right wrist rather than my left. I started to do this years ago when I had a watch that would never fit correctly on my left wrist, but fit my right wrist because it is somewhat bigger.

68)If I want to remember something, I transfer my watch to my left wrist - it's like putting a string on my finger, but less obvious. So every time that I go to check my watch, it's a little reminder. This is a trick that I picked up from my aunt (who also happens to be a doctor, and the middle child). It works well as a prompt, although I often forget what exactly it was that I was supposed to remember; I usually eventually get it.