01 October 2008

two six


Yup. It's my birthday. I was thinking about doing a birthday year list (as in 27 things to do before I turn 27), but since I just made my fall manifesto, I'm feeling like that's good enough for now. So instead, I thought I'd share 26 things about me. Here goes:
1. I grew up in Manhattan, and the first place I moved when I left was rural Vermont. My parents wondered what had happened to me.
2. I didn't get my driver's license until I was 20 years old (see above re: living in Manhattan).
3. My parents gave me my first car. Now Jared and I drive a 1983 (almost as old as me!) Mercedes station wagon that runs on biodiesel (when it's available).
4. I've also lived in Bar Harbor, Maine; Berkeley, California; Quito, Ecuador; and now, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
5. When I lived in Ecuador, I once spent a night riding in the back of a coconut truck. It wasn't so bad until it started to rain and the drivers had to put the tarp over the coconuts to keep them dry. I had to lie down on top of the coconuts, under the tarp.
6. I'm not claustrophobic. Or afraid of heights, or bugs.
7. I've traveled to 18 countries (that I can think of right now).
8. I've traveled to 24 states in the US, plus DC plus Puerto Rico (that I can think of right now).
9. I love to cook, but I love to bake even more.
10. I worked in a bakery for a year when I lived in Berkeley. I would totally do it again if it didn't require getting up so dang early.
11. Other jobs I've had include door-to-door fundraising, anti-sweatshop campaign organizing, sandwich/smoothie jerk, office assistant, climbing wall monitor, freelance event planner.
12. I once got kicked out of Niketown in New York (see above re: anti-sweatshop campaign organizer).
13. I have nine holes in my ears (total). Four of them were made with a safety pin by myself.
14. After I got my rook piercing, I passed out on the sidewalk. Luckily my best friend was standing right next to me and caught me. She laughed hysterically while yelling for help. Now she's a doctor. A nice stranger bought me some orange juice.
15. I have some pretty good scar stories, including a run-in with a ceiling fan, and a parasite that made its home in the side of my head for six weeks.
16. I've been a vegetarian since I was 12 (I think, having a hard time remembering) and have only eaten meat a few times since then (when I was in Ecuador and sort of had to. And by "had to" I mean a woman killed a chicken for me- you don't exactly refuse that!).
17. I love cheese. This is the single reason that I can never be a vegan.
18. I have 25 pairs of shoes. A few years ago, I think had 5. I blame my grandma for being a bad influence. And my mom. In a good way.
19. When I was in middle school I played the saxophone. I haven't played an instrument since, except for one sorry attempt to learn how to play the guitar in college. I sort of learned to play "Blackbird."
20. I think I'm tone deaf. Jared says there's no such thing.
21. Jared and I met at a party at his old apartment in San Francisco. He thought I was cute. Then his roommate (who was also my friend) set us up. I had to spend the night on our first date because I missed the train from SF back to Berkeley. It was not on purpose, I swear.
21. I really hate cats. And it's not just because I'm allergic to them. It's nothing personal against any particular cat, just the species in general. Sorry to all you cat lovers. I love dogs.
22. I have a very small immediate family--two parents, one brother, two first cousins, one grandparent, three aunts, one uncle-- but they've managed to scatter themselves all across the country.
23. Being far away from my family is the thing I hate most about living in Minnesota.
24. Being with Jared, having a job that I love, living in a city that exemplifies my values and has four seasons are some of the things I love most about living in Minnesota. And I do love living in Minnesota.
25. I love fall. And I even love winter (note to self: reread this in January). I missed cold weather when I lived in California.
26. When I was younger, people always thought I was younger than I was. Now, people always think I'm older (even though I'm kind of the baby of all my friends here, or maybe that's the reason). Sometimes, I forget how old I am. I'm pretty sure twenty-six is going to be a very good year.

14 comments:

  1. happy birthday, sweet woman. i loved this post.
    ps: my daughter shares a birthday with you. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. happy birthday, sweet julia! i hope it's a great year.
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  3. oooh! this was fun to read.
    again; happy birthday, julia!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy Birthday!
    Oh Julia, I absolutely love this list!
    We have a lot in common...I know why I was drawn to you via flickr. I hope today is so much fun for you, let me tell ya-26 is a good year!
    p.s. I spent the first night with James, too...nothing much happened and a clue party was involved...someday we'll swap stories ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. happy birthday Julia!!! I hope it's a fantastic day!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Happy Birthday! I hope you've had a wonderful birthday. Here's to many more!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Happy birthday, my dear! May you keep fighting the good fight for many years to come.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Happy birthday!

    You've lived a lot of places to be so young!

    And sure, right, not on purpose, missed the train. OK. Whatever. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  9. happy happy (belated) birthday, sweet julia! i love this list. and the number of times i missed the bart from sf back to berkeley? infinity. infinity times.

    ReplyDelete
  10. i remember the days when i used to run to catch the muni bus to get to the embarcadero to catch the BART. the fun days... that was 20 yrs ago! YIKES! funny thing is, i'm still catching the bus and the train to get to work to frankfurt. some things never change, eh?

    anyhoodles, happy belated birthday! i'm sure you had a blast! wishing you to many, many, many more years to come. enjoy life!

    ReplyDelete
  11. happy belated birthday sweet julia!
    26 is a great age :) i hope this year brings you all sorts of wonderfulness.
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  12. you've lived in such amazing places!! and happy happy birthday!!!

    ReplyDelete