25 things

1. Both of my pinkies are "flexed at the proximal interphalangeal joins to approximately 45 degrees" - they are always bent at an angle and pressing them down just pushes them back up again.

2. I don't drink coffee, mostly because my father drinks about 5 pots a day, and becoming that addicted to a substance is a scary thought.

3. My one regret about choosing science is the constraints it puts on my wardrobe. I am now limited to closed-toed shoes and pants, which is hard for a girl who owned 82 skirts at the end of high school. I miss the days when I'd put on jeans in the morning but smuggle a vintage dress in my backpack and then wear it all day, exasperating my poor mother. Now I'm just poor. Thank goodness for thrift stores.

4. My brother and I convinced Jacob that we had an older sibling who drowned in the sump pump in the basement. His name was Henry. He had curly brown hair. We'd also tell him "oh that was originally one of Henry's books" and he'd screw up his eyes and say "Nu-uh!" and we'd both nod seriously and say, "We're telling the truth." Jacob is getting to the non-gullible age now, and it's kind of sad.

5. I was never a very good actress or singer, and never had a lead in high school plays (although playing an Ozian in a green condom costume was pretty ridiculous, as was playing the sluttiest of the young ladies at a NY boarding school). I don't miss acting at all (but I do enjoy playing in pit orchestras now).

6. I dressed up as a mermaid in my junior year of high school wearing an awesome $5 sparkly aqua thrift store dress and shells in my hair (with silver heels!). Later that year, I lost my voice for three weeks, and ended up in the hospital. This lead some of the students in my band to send me a gigantic butcher paper card with the little mermaid stenciled on it. It made my day - I still have that poster.

7. I really like washing the dishes. It's therapeutic, and it warms up my hands. Actually, most cleaning relaxes me and makes me feel accomplished (barring scrubbing my roommate's boyfriend's hawked loogies in my shower--that's just gross)

8. I regret not studying abroad during undergrad. I hope I am able to post-doc or work abroad after I finish my doctorate. I don't know if I want to be an ex-pat or not, but it's a possibility. I think I'd prefer living in the states and doing a lot of traveling all the time. My parents raised us with the luxuries of travel and a home, and I am really glad that they thought it important to make sure we went to lots of different places in our childhood. Actually, my brother and I counted my dad's loose change (saved in nine Kemps ice cream buckets from 1972 to 1994) and sorted out the cool coins (like wheat pennies and such). After counting and rolling all of the remaining coins, we used the money to go on a family camping trip to South Dakota.

9. I had my first molecular and cellular pathophysiology course today, and it makes me wish that I had done an MD/PhD (or, even better, an MD taught in grad school, not in med school!)

10. I haven't eaten a hot dog since kindergarten.

11. If I wasn't in science, I would probably own a vintage clothing/furniture/jewelry/housewares store. Design blogs are my crack right now, and I love the idea that environment can drastically change your outlook on life (a very biological concept indeed!). It'd be great to go to the homes of people who are consolidating life when they are moving on to a condo or health care center, and work with them to preserve their memories and the memories that the objects contain both to the original owner (possibly through some sort of professional photo album that they can take with them) and passing on those memories to the next owner. And I love thrift stores and getting my hands dirty finding beautiful things that tell a story.

12. Although I am pretty much a ginormous failure in computer programming, I'm pretty sure I passed my kinetics class by writing good homework problems (the professors are writing a textbook and had us write review problems) as well as knowing a lot about circadian rhythms in plants (thanks Loni and plant class!).

13. Ear buds never fit in my ears.

14. One of the things that hurts me most is seeing others willfully try not to learn and understand the world around them. They bask in ignorance, and that apathy is just crushing to me. I'm not saying you have to learn/do/see/be everything. But explore topics that interest you...read the newspaper...be informed on all sides of an issue. Care about something.

15. Remember Boxcar children books? I read all of them in kindergarten, and I coveted the cardboard boxcar that they were stored in at the library, but alas--Mrs. Mills said that it was best where all students could appreciate it. Also, I thought their last name (Alden) was actually "Aladdin." Oops.

16. I love having more dishes than I know what to do with so I can throw parties for all of my friends! I have found everything at thrift stores, and the hunt is the perfect thing to get me out of bed on a Saturday morning.

17. My new roommate is my 11th in my educational career.

18. My princess bedroom room is on the third floor of the Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul in the turret at the corner of Washington and 5th.

19. Watching TED Talks while eating breakfast makes me want to take on the world---all the time.

20. Ever since I first saw the episode of "Wishbone" (the Pride and Prejudice one) I have wanted to be one of the extras in historical fiction movies or television shows so I can wear awesome costumes and dance and look coquettish.

21. I'm trying really hard to stay in touch with people from high school and college, and I've found it to be really difficult. Schedules don't match up, people are busy, and don't get me started on the fact that I still have zero cell reception in my apartment. That said, I love sending packages, making random phone calls during the day, and keeping up with people by reading their blogs or emails.

22. I think it's hilarious that I started out as a music performance major in college and ended up in engineering at MIT. I still don't know how that happened, and I lived through it.

23. Having to do my taxes the first time is really stressing me out (admittedly, part of it is because I'm on a grant, and no one really tells you what to do). It strikes me as odd that the government spends so much time and money to make taxes "easy" yet spends oodles more to audit people and make sure they did things right. How about just doing it for us? Or enacting higher sales tax? Whatever you do, make it less complicated.

24. I love cooking and experimenting, but I wish I had more time to do so! I'm also trying to be better about planning my week's meals in advance, but it's really hard! Also, I'm going to make bento lunches for my kids. I'm pretty sure they don't have a choice in this matter.

25. It is one of my goals to go on the Daily Show and talk about science.