What are your 25?

What is the most interesting thing about you? Top three? Ten? How about the top 25? Would you be willing to share these things in a public forum, say a public square? If you made a public list, what would you consider too private and omit? What if the public forum were electronic?


There is an internet sensation going around right now concerning "The 25 Random Things" that people don't know about you. It seems silly (or stupid, as the Times described this trend), but I have actually had fun learning some quirky and interesting facts about my friends that have sat down and created their own lists of 25 random facts about them.

Even I broke down the other day and created my own 25 list. Things omitted? Not too much as I figured there is nothing too personal on this list, and if there was, I could always edit privacy settings. Granted, I didn't mention that I have a thing for nerdy guys (can spot 'em miles away - nothing like a hot set of brains), that despite the ridiculous amount of stuff that I own & the fact that I like fashion, I tend to be on the cheap side (will benchmark and price-shop for a long time for many purchases & you can ask Jessica about the "Mac'n'Cheese & library movie nights") or that I also get bored really easily and tend to make or find adventure in the most mundane of tasks (my coworker insists I was fated to write a book because of all of the wacky conundrums I get into - and then out of... if only most of them weren't too embarassing to tell you about...). Or any of the really personal things that none of you know ;)

I've seen a lot of these lists come through from friends all over the world in the last few weeks & many major news outlets are picking up on this, so this is definitely a cultural trend. Maybe it is stupid, but if you haven't heard of the 25 lists... here's your first example (my 25):

25 Random and not so random things about me.

1. I am a travel and culture junkie. I've spent almost 5 of the last 10 years abroad, have been to about 35 countries (only counts if you're there more than 24 hours) and I don't really miss living in the US (although I do miss people).

2. I go through weird phases with food where I can't get enough of something for about two weeks and then it changes to something new. I've had about ten ham & cheese toasties in the last week and once ate fresh spring rolls for dinner for two weeks straight. Salad is the only food I could eat everyday and not tire of.

3. My eyes change color with what I'm wearing and there is a birthmark in my right iris.

4. I was born with two collicks (that swirly area where your hair goes in different directions) at the top of my head. This is apparently strange and - according to an old wives tale - means I will live in two worlds. Still don't know which two they will be.

5. I am pretty awful about emailing and keeping in touch. This is especially true with good friends because I'll wait until I "have time" to write a real response and then let weeks or months go by before I get to it. I spend a lot of time online and have somehow known my best friend for 20 years in spite of this, but I pretty much started a blog so my mom wouldn't get upset about not knowing what I'm doing.

6.Despite #1, I am also awful with big transitions. I love new experiences and can handle goodbyes fairly well, but I often hate new places at first. Then I get over it, accept where I am and have so far come to love all the places I originally disliked.

7. When making decisions, I decide what I would regret MOST if I DIDN'T do it and go in that direction.

8. I really like running, but only outside. It's a great way to explore new places and is a form of meditation for me. I can get lost in my thoughts and honestly run 25 kilometers along a path without realizing my legs are even moving. I just get bored on treadmills.

9. I've never taken an art class, but I've always been drawn to art, feel like I have an OK eye and love museums. I also find art very therapeutic. When I was 18 and homesick in Norway (first time leaving home), I would go to the National Gallery in Oslo once a week and it always made me feel better. Since then, I've had a copy of Harald Solberg's 'Vinternatt i Rondane', my favorite painting from the Gallery, hanging in my room wherever I've lived. It's sort of like a paper blankie.

10. I have a real blankie. It's a full-size blanket I got for Christmas when I was about 9 and it has reindeer on it. I think having the blanket with me makes me feel like my place is a home wherever I go, but the thing has literally come with me everywhere (Norway, college, China, Japan...).

11. If I could choose any superpower, it would be the ability to teleport myself. Not only would it be awesome to go anywhere I wanted (say, Dubai for dinner and Paris for dessert) and save me a ton of money (transportation is where most of mine goes), but I'm pretty sure I'd actually be on time - all the time - too.

12. My favorite color is colbolt blue & I don't like yellow.

13. I went to 10 different schools by the 9th grade. I think this is why I crave change or get kind of antsy if I am in one place for a long time. Also why I like meeting and talking to new people :)

14. I am and have always been a night owl. I get my second wind at 11pm. On the dot.

15. When I was 8, I almost cut my finger off in a horrible pumpkin carving accident. I spent Halloween trick-or-treating in the hospital (which was pretty cool because we had a huge blizzard in MN and nobody else got to go) but my finger also stopped growing. So, yes, now one pinkie is freakishly smaller than the other and I have a Harry-Potter-wicked scar running down my right palm.

16. I had my (other) palm read in India last year and was told I will either get sick and die very young or get over "it" and live until a very old age. They also said I could be famous if I wanted to be, but I don't think I would like being famous very much.

17. I was a camp counselor for 6 years. It was actually a summer language immersion program through Concordia Language Villages and my Village name was Andrea. People I know from CLV still call me this in the real world and I answer to it as if it were my real name.

18. I get really excited about small things in everyday life but become extremely calm and focused in serious or really bad situations.

19. Both of my parents are only children. I was an only child until I was 8, as well, until I begged my parents for a brother for Christmas... and I got one the next year. No joke.

20. I have a fetish for shoes and handbags. I also think I have too many clothes, but it seems that I often end up just wearing the same things and almost always choose black.

21. I believe there is good in everyone and will give anyone a second chance. I've gotten burned because of this before, but rather than getting angry, I usually wonder what happened to that person in life that caused them to be the way they are.

22. I like being busy and function best when I have 10 things going on.

23. My grandfather was from Mavromatti (Kalamata), Greece and I am currently working on getting the paperwork together for my Greek passport.

24. I am both type A and type B at the same time. Someone once described me as "someone who likes to have their ducks lined up in a row, but they're all really funky colored and interesting ducks." I like that.

25. If I were an animal, I'd be a peacock. I can be shy so sometimes it takes me a while to show my colors :)