1. Howdy.
2. Wanna read one hundred things about me?
3. Wow, you�re still reading.
4. Shit. I'd better make this interesting then.
5. I've seen nude men giving blowjobs in broad daylight.
6. That got your attention.
7. I�ve also been to fifteen countries in three continents. Not as exciting as blow jobs, but pertinent nonetheless.
8. I�m an artist.
9. Yes, really.
10. I have an art studio in a sketchy neighborhood. No pun intended. I live in an affluent urban neighborhood, which I only add to illustrate that I exist in opposite worlds simultaneously, which I hope keeps me grounded no matter how much or little I have in my pocket.
11. My least favorite color is blue.
12. I have no desire to produce offspring.
13. I am multilingual.
14. I�ve traveled with gypsies.
15. I�ll try nearly anything once.
16. I'm of Mediterranean, Eastern European, Indigenous Central American Indian, Native American Indian, Nordic, Mexican, Western European, Jewish, and Australian descent.
17. I have cousins in eight countries with whom I keep in contact.
18. I wasn�t told I was Jewish until I was a teenager.
19. I�m married to a Soviet exile.
20. We met in a library.
21. We eloped six years ago.
22. I love him very much.
23. I�m fascinated by rhythms.
24. I painted before I knew how to walk.
25. I was kicked out of kindergarten on my first day of school for questioning authority.
26. I was an honor roll student despite attending 13 different schools by age 18 due to my mother�s restlessness.
27. While being constantly uprooted isn�t ideal, it allowed me to meet many different kinds of people, accumulate more friends, and experience a diverse education.
28. I am currently applying for grad school.
29. I�m easy going, but very ambitious about my passions. Once I decide I want something, I'm unstoppable!
30. I�m 29 years old. (One year till I'm thirty and dirty!)
31. I take my tea with milk and sugar.
32. Sometimes I swim in the ocean after midnight with my kooky friends.
33. I was detained by border patrol during a road trip with a famous immigrant in the southwestern desert. Search dogs and all. Suffice it to say I'm not a fan of borders.
34. I�ve kissed a girl. It was euphoric and freeing and intense and beautiful and perfect, and the best kiss I've ever had.
35. I lost two family members and two friends to suicide.
36. Maybe everyone is crazy. It can be a gift, if you know how to use it.
37. There are a lot of musicians, artists, actors, and writers in my family. You've heard of at least two of them.
38. I love dark chocolate.
39. I cut my own hair.
40. I prefer alternative means of transportation such as bicycling.
41. I�ve witnessed a drive-by shooting.
42. One of my favorite books is the Journey of Ibn Fattouma by Naguib Mahfouz. It�s a parable about the search for utopia. A simple concept, but so profoundly human.
43. I love Charlie Chaplin�s earlier films.
44. I remember everything you say.
45. I have a poor memory for numbers, but I�m an excellent estimator.
46. I sexually fantasize about things I would probably never tolerate in reality.
47. I dine out often.
48. I have an excellent sense of direction, and no sense of time.
49. I dislike receiving gifts but I love to give. Ditto with oral sex. Is this getting too personal?
50. I�m a feminist.
51. I believe gender roles are restrictive social constructs. Gender is not an innate personality trait.
52. I love my city.
53. I have a performance troupe.
54. I pack light.
55. My best qualities are adventurousness, independence, resourcefulness, and focus.
56. My worst quality is unpunctuality.
57. My earliest memory is escaping my crib by building a ladder of pillows and toys.
58. I believe in quality, not quantity.
59. I�ve peed with a friend while holding hands outdoors in the dark.
60. My favorite time of year is autumn.
61. There are no photos of me as a child because my mother burned them when I eloped.
62. I�m very resourceful when it comes to networking.
63. I�ve survived a major earthquake.
64. I�m good with animals.
65. I was sexually assaulted at age 26 and kept it secret for three years because of denial, guilt, and fear of losing my husband.
66. I think of my ancestors as being my own past lives, in a sense. I'm very mindful of them.
67. I�ve somehow managed to surround myself with brilliant, magical people.
68. I�ve been on television, in magazines, in newspapers, on stages, on a catwalk, and on the radio. But people still call me shy.
69. As a child I was hungry to learn all things. I�m still curious as ever.
70. Xenophobia is my biggest pet peeve.
71. I don�t believe in horoscopes.
72. Respect and recognition are more important to me than money.
73. I sleep best when it�s foggy. Foghorns comfort me.
74. I am very aware of the fact that I could die at any moment. That I could be left with nothing but the name I gave myself. How will I be remembered, and will it matter when I�m dead?
75. Although I sometimes seem outwardly aloof, at my core I love everyone I know.
76. Pomegranates are my favorite fruit.
77. Life is too short not to live the way you choose.
78. If prostitution was legalized (with strict health regulations) I'd be ok with that.
79. As an art form, I think music is the medium of mediocrity, but I appreciate the entertainment.
80. I�ve had reoccurring dreams about changing ocean tides, trains, ancient ruins, abandoned houses, the Shoah, and the countryside where I grew up.
81. I don�t believe in a one-size-fits-all set of values. No action can be judged outside its context.
82. My mother, both grandfathers, and great grandmother were painters. The rest of my family members have visual-related careers or creative hobbies.
83. I have always admired my father�s steadfastness, authenticity, impeccable taste, humor, and gentle manner. He has always let me be myself, and is my greatest ally and most trusted source for advice.
84. My mother suffers from severe mental illness. I wish she didn't, but that's life.
85. When I face obstacles, I think of the comically harsh advice my papa would have given, and laugh, in the middle of my tears. He was a joker, but also sentimental. When I was young he typed stories for me which my Nana would decorate and bind with ribbon. He was brilliant at absolutely everything he ever did. His charm filled entire audiences with laughter. He infiltrated the country club as a tattooed Jew of precarious upbringing. He loved his wife and family, spoke his mind, and gave a damn. He was the best grandfather a girl could have.
86. I�ve done naughty things in a church.
87. And the roof of a museum.
88. We won�t even discuss the year with the famous musician�
89. There is a lump in my right breast.
90. My great great grandma was a noblewoman. For serious.
91. When giving in to the evils of caffeine, I only drink coffee grown in Oaxacan soil.
92. I legally changed my first name.
93. Naming myself was one of the most empowering (and fun) things I�ve ever done.
94. I ate fried grasshoppers in an indigenous village and liked it.
95. I bellydance.
96. I�m a slow eater.
97. I hate rules.
98. I love plants.
99. I think it would be funny and really narcissistic to make this �1,000 Things� just to see if anyone would read it the whole way through.
100. You read a hundred though, and that�s pretty impressive. I like your style. Rock on sister.
9:42 p.m. - 2008-02-29