100 Fun Facts to Know About Me
Updated: Tuesday, 08-Mar-2011 14:39:58 MST 1. I am the middle child with 4 living sisters and one deceased. Diane, Traci, Teri (Traci’s twin who died as a baby), me, Jenny, and Kelly. 2. I grew up in O'Neill Nebraska, Irish Capital of Nebraska, current population 3,733- Racial profile: White:3678, Black:1, Native American:16, Asian:6, Pacific Islander:0, Other:15. (From uscityfacts.com) Scarily, this is MORE diversified than when I grew up there! And yes, my heritage is also predominantly Irish. I hitch hiked across Ireland (including Northern Ireland and Belfast) years ago with my dear friend Susan. The Irish are the most friendly and giving people I have ever met. They do not understand the concept of Irish/American. To them (I'm speaking in generalities now) you are either Irish, or American...not both. 3. I have phobias regarding my belly button and alien abduction (not necessarily in that order) 4. I have dyed my hair probably 10 different colors but quit coloring it altogether a couple years ago. 5. My mother was a singer with an amazing voice. 6. I grew up in a musical household where all of my sisters played instruments. I played the flute, tenor saxophone, and piano and currently I play the guitar, ukulele, dobro, Irish penny whistle, and musical saw. 7. Besides Nebraska I have lived in New York, Southern California, Spain, Alaska, and Hawaii. 8. After graduating from high school my best friend Michaela and I visited our friend Omega in Chihuahua Mexico for the summer where we rode Mexican race horses, had a shrine built in our honor when our visit coincided with much needed rain, and where I got deathly ill from food-poisoning. 9. I have traveled to 15 different countries. My favorite two that I have visited (several times): Spain and Morocco. I *really* want to go to Egypt or Hong Kong someday, but my next big trip will be to visit my friend Subi in Switzerland. 10. Nearly all of my closest friends live in or around the DC area. (Baltimore, Washington DC, and Alexandria Virginia). One of my biggest fears is an attack on the nation’s capital. 11. I moved to Alaska after graduating from high school due in large part to a National Geographic's article I read "Hello Anchorage, Good-Bye Dream" that came out (March 1988) right before I graduated. 12. I attended the University of Alaska Anchorage where I earned a BFA in printmaking with a secondary emphasis in oil painting. My first choice was Skidmore in Saratoga Springs NY but even with a 50% scholarship I couldn’t afford the tuition. I often wonder how my life would be different today if I had stayed on at Skidmore, where I attended an AP art program when I was 18. 14. My gay best friend Rick and I coined a phrase to describe ourselves in college ' fantasexuals”. Fantasexulas are people who hold long-term, meaningful relationships with people who do not know they exist. Now he's in a healthy long-term relationship and I'm happily married. Still...fantasexuals of the world, unite and take over! 15. I have had nightmares my entire life and suffer from what is sometimes referred to as ' thin boundaries”… meaning that I remember dreams in my long-term, rather than short-term memory…thus often confusing reality with something I dreamt. 16. In nightmares I have died in as various a number of ways as Kenny on South Park, here is a sample: Shot in thigh by president Nixon, drowned in car going over bridge, nuclear explosions4*, alien invasions*, volcanic eruptions*, floods*, earthquakes*, tornados*, flood/tornado combos, knifed by strangers, decapitated, burned in fire*, disemboweled, hung, electrocuted, squashed by Big Foot, shot by thugs*, airplane crash*, fall into glacial crevasse, fall into mud pit, avalanches*, strangulation by Muppets/evil clowns, fall under cracked ice, attacked by ax, scythe, lawn mower, pencil, rake, etc. (* show multiple repeating variations on a theme). 18. I know how to brew very tasty beer. 19. I love taking naps and hate talking on the phone. 20. I currently have 10 nieces and nephews. Five girls and five boys (1st Photo is of my niece Michaela and nephew Ethan, second is my neice Jenna and the third is my nephew Xander).
21. My parents never got divorced and all of my sisters are married to their first husbands. 22. Though I *never* wanted to get married, my wedding in July of 2008 was the happiest day of my life. My husband is the most amazing man I've ever known (except for my dad of course!). 24. I have been told more than once that I live in a "fantasy land". All I can say to that is "lucky me!" 25. I bought a Catalina 22 sailboat Rozinante almost 8 years ago without knowing how to sail. I have since learned and absolutely LOVE it, although sailing in Alaska is a tricky thing and I have much to learn. My husband Aaron also loves to sail. In fact, we got to know each other because we both owned Cat 22s in the same harbor on the same float. He has since sold his so we can concentrate on throwing money into a single "hole in the water". 26. My self-identified worse qualities are talking too much, being self-centered, and somewhat neurotic. (I also suffer from poor spelling abilities). 27. My self-identified best qualities are being generous, extremely loving to the people I care about, and I'm empathetic almost to a fault. I generally strive to make the world a better place even though I am cynical by nature. 28. I donate as much as possible and do a lot of community volunteer work. I constantly fight against my inner consumer and share Ghandi's belief that we should strive to "live simply that others may simply live". My favorite charities are
29. I love to throw parties but I hate attending other people's parties. 30. I have been painting since I was a child. The first award I ever won was a blue ribbon at the state fair for a drawing I did of a heart person when I was in Kindergarten. 31. I have done work in watercolor, ink, marker, pencil and color pencil, oil and chalk pastels, ceramics, intaglio, mono printing, silk screening, batik, impasto, lithography, oil painting, sculpture, installation, video, and performance art. 32. I have written and illustrated 4 children's books and have completed one novel comprised of 8 related short stories. (I am not ready to attempt getting anything published yet but hope to some day.) In November 2005 I participated in the NaNoWriMo project where you try to complete a 50,000-word novel in one month. This time I didn't succeed but I plan to give it another try in November, 2009. 33. I love to cook and have a kitchen full of gadgets including a really nice set of knives. 34. I belive in community supported agriculture. I'm a member of the organic farming co-op Full Circle Farm and every other week I get a big box of fresh, organic fruits and veggies...opening it up is just like Christmas morning! 35. Two of my favorite jobs of all time were working at a movie theater in Anchorage called "Totem Theaters" and working as a grounds keeper on the ornamental crew at UAA during the summer. 36. My least favorite job was working as a detasseler in a popcorn field (you remove the tassels so the corn can cross pollinate). 37. I worked in a pizza joint called Godfather’s Pizza all through high school where I had a huge crush on an older co-worker named James Babel. 38, I went to a Catholic School since the first grade and was voted "most likely to become a missionary". I used to argue with the priests and nuns over theology with great delight. The photo is of me on my first communion. I added in the Cosmopolitans (my fav. drink) with PhotoShop.
39. I tried out for cheerleading when I was in ninth grade but I didn't make the cut. (I freaked out and totally forgot the routine). 40. My graduating class had 28 students. 41. I was one of the first girls ever to play on the all boys golf team. They took the team photo for the yearbook on the day I missed practice. 42. My favorite sports besides sailing are raquetball and tennis. Growing up I wanted to play in Wimbledon. I had a huge crush on Boris Becker. Update! Someone who read this and works at the International Tennis Hall of Fame sent me a tag clipped from hi Prada suit and a photo she took at his induction which I having hanging in my cubical at work! (Thanks Kira) 43. I also love downhill and cross country skiing. We have a great public owned ski resort on Douglas Island called Eagle Crest. A season pass for all lifts is only $250. 44. I used to baby sit and was convinced my neighbors were Satanists when I found their bong and grateful dead posters in the basement. 45. When I moved to Alaska smoking pot was still legal.
49. I own an enviable collection of power tools and I know how to use them. However, now that I have a live-in handyman I don't use them as much as I used to. 50. I also enjoy cooking, knitting, sewing, and gardening. Summer 2009 we are putting in our first "gutter garden". 51. I always have candles lit when I’m at home but I always blow them out if I feel a nap coming on (paranoia drummed into me by my father). 52. I own my own home and like fixing things on my own. So far I have fixed a leaky toilet, changed the light fixtures in the bathroom, caulked up leaky siding, painted nearly the entire interior, and installed my new washer and dryer. But again, now that I'm married my sweetie does a lot of these things for me. 53. I hate asking for help or admitting that I don’t know how to do something. 54. I am pathologically modest when it comes to my own nudity which prevents me from working out in health clubs. 55. I went through a systems administrator’s tract when I went for my masters in library and Information science. 56. I love computer geeks and anything high tech. I even know how to do a lot of geeky things myself and was called one by the head of our campus IT department (high praise). 57. I teach two classes at the University of Alaska Southeast and generally get very good evaluations. I got faculty tenure in July 2006. 58. My birthday is December 23rd, 1969 which makes my astrological sign Capricorn: Practical and prudent. Ambitious and disciplined. Patient and careful. Humorous and reserved. On the dark side....Pessimistic and fatalistic. And my Chinese Zodiac sign is the Cock: Pioneer in spirit, you are devoted to your work and quest after knowledge. You are selfish and eccentric. Rabbits are trouble. Snakes and Oxen are fine. So, there ya go. 59. Two things I couldn't live without: My subscription to Napster and the color Quinacridone Rose. 60. I liked the same boy from 3rd grade all the way through high school. (Hi Mark!) No offense, but he doesn't hold a candle to my hubby! 61. I am a half inch shy of being 5ft. I always lie and say I’m 5ft because being shorter than 5ft seems freakish to me. 62. My middle toe is as long as my big toe. 63. I never buy new clothes for myself. If I spend money shopping, it is always online and generally for things like art supplies, books, music, movies, or computer software. 64. I have the capability to download and burn free movies and music but choose not to. Anti-piracy commercials at the movies piss me off. 65. My dad, whom I adore, is left-handed. 66. My mom died when I was 23 but both of her parents are still alive and living in my hometown of O’Neill. They are two of the most interesting and intelligent people I know (besides my dad). Both of my dad’s parents passed away when I was still in school. 67. My dad’s dad owned a bar in O’Neill and lived two blocks away from me growing up. I didn’t realize that my grandma Ollie was really my step-grandma. I could never understand why she didn’t like us and didn’t get us Christmas presents but got her other grandkids presents. 68. I finally confessed to my sister Traci this year that I stole the kitty pillow grandma Ollie made her after I lost my own. I still sleep with it every night. 69. If I could have my dream job it would be directing small independent films that receive high critical acclaim but never achieve hug box office success. (Second place: Egyptologist) 70. Someday I plan to enter a short film in the Sundance Online Film Festival. 71. I really enjoy being alone. 72. I rarely feel lonely but I get depressed sometimes for no reason. 75. I often watch the same movies over and over and over again. The ones I have watched the most are Bladerunner, Brazil, Harold and Maude, 28 Days Later, Donnie Darko, Dawn of the Dead, and Naked Lunch. 76. My biggest goal in life is to accomplish something creative every single day. 77. My whole life, people have always given me things for free. I don’t know if they feel sorry for me or what but it is nice. 78. I generally only wear two pairs of shoes: The Doc Martins I bought 9 years ago or the rubber boots I got for 3 dollars at the used clothing store. (OK, this entry is really out of date, as I now have 5 pairs of shoes.) 79. 50% of my wardrobe has stains on it from oil paint. 80. My least favorite chores are washing the dishes and cleaning out my paint brushes. Now that I'm married, my husband does the dishes. This alone has improved my life dramatically. 81. My favorite chore is vacuuming. 82. I have the most comfortable queen-sized bed ever. I have been perfecting it for the past 7 years and I would say it is nearly perfect. I have a very hard time getting out of it in the morning. 83. I used to be an insomniac but again, since getting married I sleep like a baby. Weird. 84. I LOVE being awake at night. It’s the time when I feel at my most creative. If I had my way I'd never sleep at night and just take cat naps during the day when I get sleepy. 85. Someday I will most likely buy a little casita in southern Spain with my honey and move there to live out my days painting, sailing, drinking tinto de verano and writing. 86. I speak Spanish, although it gets a little rusty when I don’t use it for awhile. 87. I am currently studying Mandarin Chinese and hope to visit China someday. 88. I'm a closet pyromaniac (but I'd never start a dangerous fire or one that would damage someone else property) I just love to start fires and watch things burn. 89. I will get my PHD some day; I just don’t know what in. 90. I made a list when I was in Jr. High or high school of all the things I wanted to do before I died and I have done nearly all of them. 91. One thing on the list I haven’t done yet it to get a tattoo. Even though I’m kind of getting too old for one, I already have it picked out. I am waiting to get it until I accomplish a secret goal known only to myself. 92. Even though I was raised in an extremely religious family, I no longer believe in an interventionist god. I’m not a new-ager and I don’t worship Gaia or practice Wicca or anything like that, I’ve just come to the conclusion that I really have no clue about how we came to be and I think people who think they know the One True way out of all the possibilities out there are a tad egotistical. This makes my family and some friends sad but a lot of my friends feel the same way. 93. I think people should have the freedom to believe as they choose as long as they don’t use it as a means to legislate their beliefs creating laws that affect my personal freedoms. 94. I do not hate men but I admit I don’t understand them very well. To that end, I don’t understand that many of my own gender very well either. 95. One of my all-time most embarrassing moments was getting sent home with lice when I was in grade school. 96. I still think about my mom almost every day. 97. I do not read nearly as much as I would like to. I spend too much time watching movies and playing on the computer. My TIVO is my favorite and also my most despised item that I own.
|
| elise.tomlinson "at" gmail.com (put "Elise" in Subject) | © 2013 Tomlinson Fine Arts |