Because my life is so boring (thanks grad school) that I have nothing else of substance to post

Another quiz, yoinked from Rob, but modified a little by me…

1. Do you consider yourself a "grown up" at this point?
Sometimes, but it's tough to wrap my mind around that concept. I probably feel it most when I get sick and my mom isn't there to make me papaling soup, bring me some ginger ale, and force me to lay on the couch in front of the t.v. all day while she cleans up the house around me. Now, when I'm sick, I either take care of all of that myself or it doesn't get done – so I usually opt not to be sick.

2. Where were you on September 11?
I was working at my first post-undergrad job, which was an extenuation of my student work study job at the University of Pennsylvania Archives http://www.archives.upenn.edu. My boyfriend at the time called me at the office to let me know what was happening – it didn't even look real.

3. If you went to college, do you think it was worth it?
I wouldn't exchange my college experience for anything – that is where I met the greatest people on earth and really learned a lot of things about myself. I could wish for a higher GPA and less student loan debt, but the friends and experiences more than make up for that.

4. What did you drink on your 21st birthday (or at any related celebrations)?
Oh my, I vaguely remember Michelle and Ally wrenching my head back and forcing me to consume a "blowjob" shot – the glass it was served in was far too big for my mouth… The drinks for the rest of the evening are blurred.

5. What do you remember most about High School graduation?
Wow, taking me back. Two things: a) I remember that the song I had hoped would be our class song was reneged at the last minute (despite the democratic vote) by our chorus teacher and a handful of the "popular" girls in our class – so now instead of the Beatles "In My Life," the sound of sixty tone-deaf high school students attempting to hit the high notes in Whitney Houston's "One Moment in Time" will forever haunt me; and b) I gave the valedictory address and changed a few things last minute so some of my friends could get a shout-out – then I had the privilege of helping hand out the diplomas. That was pretty cool.

6. Do you keep in touch with friends from High School (stalking on Facebook or MySpace doesn't count)?
This would nearly be an incontrovertible "no," except that I am the fairy godmother to my dear Christy's first-born, one Ms. Sarol Madison, and I do my best to send my love to Christy's twin sister, April, who spent some time running in circles with me as members of the track team. I should also take a moment to give yet another shout-out to my gal, Petes (What up, P?), who is so generous to remember me and send me little notes every once in a while.

7. Are you any good at texting, or do you prefer a good old-fashioned phone call?
I don't text, and I hate talking on the phone. I have to reconcile myself to it because many of my closest friends are scattered to the four winds, but it is a painful, torturous procedure. I've said it before and I'll say it again, just why can't we all live in the same building so I can pad over to your places in my PJs???

8. How old were you when you got your first cell phone?
Twenty-one? Shoot, I don't know.

9. Best Apple IIe game: Oregon Trail or Number Munchers?
What the heck is IIe?

10. Who was your favorite member of New Kids on the Block?
I'm not gonna lie, it was Jordan. And I even went to their New Year's Eve concert because my mom is the rockingest and gave me tickets for Christmas.

11. How many friends do you have on Facebook/MySpace?
I haven't a clue. I don't have time for networking sites. I never signed up for MySpace, and I just added myself to Facebook in January because I heard that my old Pookah could be seen there – but I've been really negligent since.

12. How many of those "friends" do you actually know?
Any friends that I actually have on Facebook are people I actually know – the bulk of them are friends of mine from my undergrad days.

13. Do you have a job?
If only to pay for the mortgage, groceries and gas for Bubba (yes, my Jeep has a name).

14. Do you contribute to a 401(k)?
Yes, two of them in fact. The 401(k) at work, and the IRA through my financial institution.

15. Relationship status?
I'm as good as married, but not even engaged. Anthony and I are going on four years now (not quite up to the years racked up by Nishchay and Roxanne, Martha and Brian, KT and JD, or even Nicole and Hans, but pretty significant no less).

16. How often are you in contact with your parents?
Da' Momma and I are in contact every couple of weeks – it would be every day if she didn't think that she was irritating me – and I haven't had any meaningful contact with my dad, other than a forced reunion at da' Momma's hands which resulted in nothing, since shortly after graduating from college in 2001.

17. When you really think about it, does the fact that you are 30 (or close to it) blow your mind?
No.

18. Do you remember what a hanging chad is?
I never knew what the hell that means.

19. Did you vote in 2004?
Yes – how could I not when I was working for a nonprofit that built its reputation on being an election watchdog group?

20. Do you still live in the town that you grew up in?
Not even close. I live in DC, which is a significant distance from Clinton, MA.

21. What is your favorite 90's era Disney movie?
That really narrows it down to Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Little Mermaid for me, none of which I'm content with singling out.

22. MC Hammer or Vanilla Ice?
"Can't Touch This" vs. "Ice Ice Baby"? Is it even fair to ask this question?

23. Did anything in your life turn out the way you thought it would by this point?
No, but nothing good ever does.

24. Are any of your friends married?
Yup – Nicole, Yael, Aurit, Christy, Tyler & Saleah, Katie (What up P?), Katy… And there's more to come – Nishbutt, Jeff, Martha…

25. Do any of your friends have kids?
Yes! – Yael, Christy, Tyler and Saleah, and April have have little chub-chubs. And I STILL don’t know what the hell to do when faced with an infant (the first thought is usually “Run!”).

26. How about your siblings (if you have any)?
Nah, Dan is still living the life of a single, tattoo-ed, overworked bachelor. Any of you females free up there in MA?

27. During your quarter century (+3.5!) on Earth, what is the coolest place that you have visited?
I have been privileged to travel quite a bit, but I’d have to say my favorite place to go was the Grand Canyon – you can’t beat rafting down the Colorado…

28. Did you play an instrument in high school?
Nope, only in middle school. And if you must know, I started on the flute, worked up through the clarinet, and ended on the piano.

29. Do you still play that instrument?
Nah, I leave the music to the people with talent.

30. What was your first email address?
Something or other @aol.com.

31. How many Troll Dolls did you have?
ZERO. Even then I thought they were kind of stupid – kind of like the pet rock of the 90s.

32. Sesame Street or Mr. Rogers?
I never had to make the choice – I watched them both!

33. Who was your favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle?
Was there really a difference?

34. Who was your favorite Spice Girl?
If I had a gun to my head, and had to choose one over the rest, I’d say Scary Spice. For two reasons: 1) Her hair in the good ol’ days rocked, and 2) She was on Dancing with the Stars, one of the few shows I DVR. LOVE IT! (Although I didn’t much care for their music – “If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends…”????)

35. Are your grandparents still around?
Still kickin’ it old school: I have one grandmother and 2 grandfathers (one of which isn’t technically my grandfather – he was my Nonnie’s 4th husband and the only Grampie I ever knew).

36. Favorite book that you had to read for school?
Back in the day it was probably Lord of the Flies. But I will read almost anything.

37. Any old person aches and pains yet?
Absolutely – something about having a herniated disc a little over a year ago really put a kink in things.

38. Can you still do the Macarena?
No, never could, but I bet Mel can.

39. Did you believe in the Y2K hype?
At the time, I was working for a chemicals company helping them get their computer system Y2K ready – so sure, why the hell not?

40. What is the oldest article of clothing that you still wear?
I have a suit that’s about six years old – but generally speaking, I don’t keep old clothes. I am often giving things away to Martha’s Table or to my little sister. It’s called “recycling.”

41. Have you been brainwashed by Apple and purchased an iPod?
I love that one necessarily leads to the other…but dogmatic quibbles aside, yes, I purchased one, but no, it wasn’t for me. I had an old I-River MP3 player up until a few weeks ago, when someone actually stole it from the gym. I can’t believe anyone would take it since it was basically held together with a piece of Scotch tape.

42. How many times did you see Titanic?
I saw it twice in the theatre, and the last half or so at least once on t.v.

43. Do you think you'll have kids before you are 30?
That’s relatively unlikely. I turn 29 this year and I am not yet married – it’d be tough to crank out multiple kids in a year and a half, plus get married first so they’re not traumatized by the fact that mommy and daddy conceived before becoming hitched.

44. Are you the youngest person at your job?
It depends on how you look at it. Of the twelve contractors, I’m the youngest by a few months. Including all the government employees that work in the office too, I am older than a number of them.

45. When did you start your Blog? Who introduced you to it?
I don’t remember how I got introduced to all things Blogkind, but I have been writing on here since October 16, 2002.

46. How many Blog entries have you made since then?
Only 326 – I’m not a very prolific writer. That makes it approximately 65 posts per year.

47. If you could be any age, what would it be and why?
This is a really dumb question. I have no reason to wish to be anywhere or anytime else than I am right now. I am where I am supposed to be.

48. Caffeine of choice: Coffee or Soda?
I am in the process of kicking the caffeine to the corner. I don’t drink coffee anymore (except the occasional post-dinner cappuccino) and I only drink soda when I’m sick (da bubbles!). So that means that my real vice is tea.

49. What teacher has had the greatest influence on you?
Hands down, Mrs. O’Connell, 3rd grade. She was so encouraging.

50. What do you think is your greatest accomplishment in life thus far?
Does “making it thus far” count?