100 Secrets: 100-91

Confession: This isn't my first blog. Gasp! I started my first blog my junior year of college using LiveJournal. I blogged fairly consistently for the last two years of college and then in the period between returning from London and moving to D.C. I made all the entries private years ago -- not that 20-23 year old Bonnie posted anything too private or profound -- and haven't thought about it in months.

But recently I came across a document on my computer titled "blogsecrets". Then it started coming back to me and after several failed login attempts, I finally remembered my username and password and logged on to the site. Hello, time warp. Posts about packing for D.C., my last trip to San Antonio, thoughts on graduation, stressing about finals, stressing about homework, and just general stressing. And then there they were, the posts where I decided to reveal "secrets" about myself and my life.

I started the series in January 2005, when I was 21, had never had a drink, never been out of the country, never rushed Franklin Street. The last time I posted secrets was July 2007, post-graduation, post-London, and pre-D.C. I made it from 100-22 and that's it. Looking through them now, the vast majority are no longer true because I could name at least five people who know that particular bit about me. And the rest either no longer apply or just seem silly.

Thus I thought it would be fun to start almost from scratch and reveal 100 new or recycled "secrets" about myself, with the same caveat I used seven years ago:
I don't know if I actually have 100 secrets, but we shall see. And I really shouldn't use the word "secret" because I'm sure some of them plenty of people know about. Disclosures? Personality quirks? Revelations? I'll just stick with secrets for now.

100. I have a strong disgust for candy, gum, and food wrappers after their contents have been discarded.
99. In pre-school I was terrified of a little boy who always threatened to flush me down the toilet.
98. I have about a dozen short stories and novels I’ve never finished.
97. I can’t wink.
96. Up until I was 18 or 19 years old, I used to have nightmares nearly every night.
95. And I'd wake up my little brother in the middle of the night to have him sleep on my floor.
94. I hate the smell, taste, feel, and look of milk.
93. I can’t have posters or pictures on my wall with people in them staring because it feels like they are looking at me.
92. I wish I could dance ballet.
91. And play the piano.

Things That Happened in March

On Sunday afternoon, armed with iPhone photos and an actual desire to write, I flopped on the couch with my laptop ready to blog. And then that thing happened that I don't want to talk about. So instead I spent several hours in a depressive funk, stress-cleaning my apartment before attempting to forget about it entirely by watching "Mad Men." Which did work for a few hours and then it was back to trying not to think about that thing that happened that I don't want to talk about.

But now, several days later, again armed with iPhone photos and a desire to write, I'll post some thoughts and photos of my March happenings. All of which are things that happened before that thing that happened that I don't want to talk about.

March 13

I've been so lax about going to the theatre this year. As in, seeing "Spamalot" with my roommate the second week of March was my first show of 2012. Shameful. But what a good show to see! And my second time doing so. Unlike the last time I saw it in London, when my only Monty Python knowledge came from Wikipedia, I now know more about the group and have seen the "Holy Grail" movie, making the play all the more enjoyable. As was seeing it with the roomie, since I rarely seem to go to plays with others.

March 14

The officemates and I celebrated Pi Day by taking an afternoon trip to La Madeleine for some pie/mini-tarts. And why yes, we may have timed it so we ordered at 3:14. Because we are that cool. And also, as we're all writers, any time we can actually enjoy numbers, we pounce on it.

March 20

Grocery store blooms purchased to honor the first day of Spring. When will I stop forgetting how happy fresh flowers in the apartment make me?

March 22

 I try to get out and about during the day on Thursdays when I work from home. Last Thursday I had an appointment and took a different route home to my apartment. It was a route that happened to be flanked by flowering trees. Perfection.

March 23

Before that thing that happened that I don't want to talk about happened, there was still hope, fun, and a Friday in the office in which I wore a Carolina tshirt and a "5" on my wrist. And then there was Brandie and me at a sports bar for 4 hours talking, drinking, eating, watching, stressing, and then sighing. I also drew a "5" on her wrist and we think the waitress thought we were exchanging numbers. Oh well, we're both great catches.

My last post mentioned me trying to find something to wear for this game and I think Mom asked me what that ended up being. (And if she didn't just pretend she did to justify yet another lame bathroom mirror post.) So I went with this year's official student shirt. (Which prompted one of my coworker's to feign shock/concern and ask, "Wait, what? Together we are Carolina?") But since I'm such a diva who can't just wear a plain tshirt out and about, I cuffed the sleeves using hem tape and tied a knot in the back to make it fit better. We'll just call this tricks of the trade.  

March 25

My first pedicure of the season! I also splurged and got a manicure, only the fourth professional one I've ever had. But considering it started chipping the next day, there won't be a fifth one anytime soon.

 

Other things that happened this month: brunches with a friend, book club, Parks and Rec rerun watching, trans-continental Facetime with Jan, basketball, basketball, basketball, and a broken heart. The end.

Wednesday Words

"One moment was enough, Tyler said, a person had to work hard for it, but a minute of perfection was worth the effort. A moment was the most you could ever expect from perfection."

-Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk

Thoughts I Thought Today

• Even though it's my job to care if two words should be one word or connected with a hyphen, sometimes, I just really, really don't give a damn.
• McDonald's employs lying bastards and I'm a gullible idiot. Exhibit A:
• McDonald's employee: [handing me my order] Quarter pounder with cheese?
• Me: Without cheese?
• Employee: Yes.
• Little voice in my head: You know he's lying.
• Other little voice in my head: Meh, maybe not.
• [15 minutes later at home in my apartment as I'm scraping two slices of American cheese off my quarter pounder] Me: expletive deleted! expletive deleted! expletive deleted!
• American cheese truly sickens me.
• If I ever actually put my belongings where they belonged I wouldn’t know what to do with all the extra time I’d save not looking for my belongings. Most-often misplaced belongings include my:
• Perpetually missing “other” shoe
• Spare iPhone charger
• Earbuds (Which are always at the bottom of my bag, just to the left of where my hand didn’t graze.)
• Sunglasses (Which are always at the bottom of my bag, just to the right of my where my hand didn't graze.)
• Eyeglasses (Which are always on my nightstand yet I insist on fumbling half-blind around my bathroom and bedroom pawing at different surfaces for them. What’s that? Perhaps after 15 years of wearing glasses/contacts I should locate the glasses BEFORE removing the contacts? Well, aren’t you a smug bastard.)
• I'm so grateful for work from home days. So grateful.
• I'm also grateful for blooming cherry blossom and dogwood trees, which are all over my neighborhood.
• This actually isn't sarcasm: I really do need more Carolina blue clothing, specifically, shoes. In picking out clothes for tomorrow's game day, I've already worn it all, twice. Perhaps that's just a pitfall of my team making it to the Sweet 16. (That last part is sarcasm.)
• "Community" is too weird now and "30 Rock" isn't as good as it used to be.

Wednesday Words

"And don't worry about losing. If it is right, it happens -- The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away."

-John Steinbeck, in a letter to his son

(First read here.)

Day in a D.C. Life

Like most of the country, spring/summer has come a bit early to D.C. On one such recent perfect day I took the opportunity to enjoy the weather and play tourist.

A pretty dogwood tree in full bloom and my pre-lunch snack of a red velvet cupcake.

Sitting in front of the Newseum to eat my cupcake and looking up at the First Amendment carved on the outside.

The primary reason for this visit to the Newseum: to check out the new "Every Four Years" exhibit, covering the press and presidential elections.

Costumes from "Saturday Night Live"! The suits Tina Fey and Amy Poehler wore as Sarah Palin and Hilary Clinton, as well as the snowsuit Jason Sudeikis wore as Todd Palin and the moose costume worn by someone.

Paraphernalia from my two favorite news shows: Props and press passes from "The Daily Show" on the left and a debate script -- with his notes! -- from Anderson Cooper 360 on the right.

Tim Russert's infamous "Florida!" marker board from the 2000 debacle.

After the Newseum it was time for lunch.

Teasim used to be a favorite of mine, but since they took the meatball bento box off the menu, I've struggled to find something I like. This udon shrimp soup was only ok.

Next up: American History Museum

I was fascinated by these old firefighters helmet. They look so regal!

Daniel Radcliffe's robe from the first "Harry Potter" and Nastia Liukin's leotard from the 2008 Olympics and a torch from the 1984 Olympics.

A full-size house taken from Massachusetts. I've always skipped this exhibit for some reason but it covers the history of five families that lived in one house over the course of 200 years. Fascinating.

The Jefferson Bible.The bibles on the left are ones he cut verses out of, and the one on the right is what he pieced together to form "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth." Jefferson is my all-time favorite Founding Father so this was just awesome to see.

Exhibit on the slaves of Monticello, which documented the families that spent generations working the plantation. Also just fascinating.

After relaxing in front of the Museum for a few minutes, basking in the beautiful day, I decided to swing by the National Archives to see what special exhibits they had.

Looking up at the Archives while waiting to go in. Stunning sky.

After that I walked down Pennsylvania Avenue to the metro.

I was struck by post after post of the D.C. flag, American flag, and British flag, in honor of the U.K.'s Prime Minister David Cameron visiting this week. I may or may not have skipped a bit as I rejoiced in three of my favorite flags hanging side by side by side.

Finally my day concluded with a trip to Foggy Bottom.

Thanks to wine night at the restaurant Circa, my friend Lauren and I were able to enjoy a Prosecco-filled Happy Hour on their patio in the 70 degree weather. Perfection.



Pinterest Challenge, take three

As I did in August and November, I'm linking up with Bower Power and Young House Love's Pinterest Challenge.

I've been a nail polish addict since middle and high school, throughout which my nails never went unpainted. During that time, my insane collection lived in a rolling cart that was probably 8 inches wide, 3 feet high, and 2 feet deep. I downsized for the college and post-college years, though my collection has started to grow again thanks to a slight obsession with Essie. Then these two projects caught my eye and inspired me to put my collection on display:

(Source for the left and source for the right.)

After casually looking for old spice racks in thrift stores and discount stores for a couple of months, I finally just turned to Ebay around January and bought one. No before picture so here is the in-process sanding shot:

After a coat of wood primer, three coats of black paint, and some stapling of shelf paper, this was the end result:

(It's a coincidence that the shelf paper I already had is so similar to the pinned versions.)

Doing its job:

(And yes, there are two rows of Essie polish on the top shelf, plus another row of mini Essie balancing on top. It's an addiction, people!)


The little drawer holds my nail files, orange sticks, and a few other accessories:

Unfortunately, my inability to do math hurt me yet again as I underestimated the measurements and it wasn't quite as big as I was expecting. So I added these little buckets (3 for $1 at Target) to hold the rest of my polishes, because yes, there are more.


Now, the crazy thing is, that as I type, my nails are bare for the first time in months. Time to buy a new bottle! (Probably kidding.)

Wednesday Words

"It's strange, how they pride themselves upon their lacks. "I never take anything seriously," they say. "I simply couldn't imagine," they say, "letting myself care so much that I could be hurt." They say, "No one person could be that important to me." And why, why do they think they're right?"

-Dorothy Parker, Sentiment, The Portable Dorothy Parker

Backdoor brag: A woman in my essay class last year said that my writing reminded her of Dorothy Parker. I finally picked up some of Ms. Parker's work last month and I'm in love. While I have a long, long way to go to feel worthy of being compared to her, I certainly now strive for it.

Wednesday Words

Always remember, there was nothing worth sharing

Like the love that let us share our name.

-Murder in the City, The Avett Brothers

The Avetts have so many good songs but this one might just be my favorite; it makes me think of my sister and brother every time.

Who does that?

Due to that don't-know-how-to-drive thing, I spend a lot of time on public transportation. With all kinds of people. The vast majority are normal people just trying to get from Point A to Point B. Then there are the Other People. The clip their nails on the metro kind. (Seen three times.) The pick their nose on the bus kind. (Seen so many times.) The stare at you so long you get off a stop early to get away from them kind. (Happened once.) And now I can add the give you back your hair kind.

This morning, on the bus from the metro to my office, I had a seat to myself, earbuds in, staring out the window. There was a 20ish woman behind me eating an apple--which is such a gross thing to do on the bus--and then a 20ish man in a suit sat beside her. About two blocks from my stop, I hear him start to talk to her. Now, it's a well-known rule that you don't talk to strangers on the bus, so naturally I had to listen to see what was going on. This is how the conversation went:

Man: I think this is yours.
Woman: What?
Man: Here, I think this is yours.
Woman: That hair? That's not mine.
My Inner Monologue: No way, he did not just try to give her back a piece of her hair! What!?
Woman: That's longer and darker than mine. I think it's hers.
Man: Ok.
MIM: What in the hell is happening?!

Then the man reaches his hand around to the seat beside me and DROPS A PIECE OF HAIR ON IT. Without saying anything. I glance up in shock/disdain as he sits back and the woman laughs a little. (I was too angry at this point to determine if it was a "don't upset the crazy man" laugh or a genuine "hilarious, he gave her back her hair" laugh.)

So yes, I lost a piece of hair on the bus this morning and the man behind me felt the need to return it, not exactly to me, but to the seat beside me. Who does that? I wasn't flipping it around. I didn't yank a piece out and throw it at him. I didn't stand over him brushing it. If you ride public transportation you're going to have to get used to seeing way worse things than a lone strand of hair.

Filled with such incredulity that I couldn't breathe or speak, I practically ran from the bus as anger consumed me. But was I over-reacting? Considering what I've written about my hair in the past, the fact that I'm ok losing a strand here and there says a lot. Me gathering loose strands, would be crazy. A man returning a strand to me, also crazy! It's just a hair! (Verdict: Not over-reacting.)

After telling the story to my male coworker, he posited the theory that the man was trying to find a reason to talk to either of the women near him. "But giving back a piece of hair?!" I asked/yelled. "Yes, men will try anything to talk to women," he said. Then my head exploded and I decided to remain single for the rest of my life.

But first I tweeted it, because I wasn't done expelling my rage. And I'm glad I did because my brother tweeted a reply back that instantly calmed me and put everything in perspective:

well atleast he didnt smell it and put it in a envelope.

I can't argue with that, baby brother. I can, however, ensure that the next time I walk on that bus I do so shaking my head and flinging bits of hair about like I'm in a mosh pit.

Saturday night's alright for fighting

Except this past Saturday wasn't so much of a fight. (Unless fight=lay down and die.) In case you missed it, this happened:

Thank you, Did Duke Win?.com. (Though, to be more accurate, maybe we should have a separate domain for Did Duke Get Annihilated?.com Or, even better, Did Duke Get Annihilated On Their Home Turf And Did A Bunch Of Crazies Cry?.com.)

After last month's devastating loss -- still heartbroken, still don't want to talk about it -- we had high hopes for Saturday's rematch. The roommate/bff/fellow Tar Heel, Karey, and I set out for our other bff/fellow Tar Heel Brandie's place on Saturday night to watch the game.

Both decked out in our Carolina gear, we got on the metro and sat in two seats facing each other, beside two boys. We each immediately noticed that vomit-inducing shade of royal blue peaking out of their jackets. But we didn't say anything. I saw the one beside Karey notice my Carolina socks, but still, he didn't say anything. We continued like this for six metro stops before they got off, I shot them a nasty look, and then Karey and I burst out laughing. Sometimes, D.C. is just too small.

We didn't think to take a picture, but I've created this artistic interpretation to fully set the scene.

Thankfully that was the closest we got to Dookies that night, which was closer than Duke ever got to Carolina in points. Which was closer than Duke was ever able to get to the basket. Which was closer than Duke ever got to hitting a majority of their three pointers, field goals, or free thows.

I took this picture during halftime. It's hard to read, but the little stat box is titled "Duke's First Half Woes." That's right, not stats, but WOES. As I'm a classy Tar Heel I will say nothing more.

This was also taken during halftime. We wanted photographic evidence of what Carolina Girls look like when their team has twice as many points as Duke.

We got a little tense when they got within 15, but good prevailed over evil and Roy's Boys did what they came to do.

Other things that happened:

• We had Bojangles for dinner.
• And wine.
• We also took a sip of wine every time a Duke player flopped. I know you know what I mean.
• As a result we were really happy all night. However, was that the wine? Was it the beating Duke part? Was it the Bojangles, the chips and dip, the girl scout cookies, and the peeps? Was it three best friends hanging out? I'll have to answer all of the above.
• We re-created the game with a good old fashioned Peeps Duel

1. Karey marks the UNC peep.
2. Peep Duel: Dook v. UNC
3. Brandie pauses the duel to re-align the swords. The refs look the other way.
4. Another UNC victory! While the UNC one expanded to twice its size -- much like our halftime lead -- the Dook peep, curiously, barely expanded at all. It clearly had a pact with the (blue) devil, too.

And just for fun, our first Peeps Duel, circa  spring 2006, when we were undergrads:



It was a good night all around. (Unless you were a Dookie or a Dook Peep.)

In closing, as part of the pre-game, I wore this shirt to work on Friday. Because nothing says professional like an angry ram on your chest. (And I may or may not plan on wearing the same shirt this Friday for the ACC tourney.)