stevenpiziks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stevenpiziks) wrote2009-03-06 02:10 pm
stevenpiziks) wrote2009-03-06 02:10 pm
25 Meme
My sister tagged me on this one:
TWENTY-FIVE THINGS ABOUT ME
1. I grew up out in the country, and I was sixteen before I lived in a place where you could order delivery pizza. The first time we did it, the whole process fascinated my brother and sister and me.
2. A lot of my friends become surprised when they hear me talk about butchering chickens or shoveling the horse barn or bringing in hay because I talk like an English teacher instead of a cowboy.
3. I have to write. Characters and stories and opening lines come to me, and the only way I can get rid of them is to use them.
4. I have a son who is autistic. It’s had an enormous impact on my life. I used to look for a reason for it, for someone or something to blame, even if it were myself. Now I accept is as just something that happens.
5. I always use the phrase “a son who is autistic” instead of “autistic son” so that the first thing someone hears is “son” instead of “autistic.”
6. It’s been over four years since I adopted Sasha and Maksim from Ukraine, but I can still remember with absolute clarity the moment I first laid eyes on both of them.
7. I’m always a teacher. I’m always looking for new and better ways to explain things or get a point across to people who don’t understand something. I rehearse lectures and other lessons while I’m driving to work in the morning.
8. I really get annoyed when people tell me teaching is an easy job because teachers get summers off and they get breaks at Christmas and Easter. The vacations are indeed nice, but I don’t get paid for them, which makes things rather less easy.
9. I sold my first piece of writing to THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS when I was fourteen. It was an article about raising rabbits.
10. I sold my second piece of writing to SWORD AND SORCERESS when I was twenty-four. It was a fantasy short story.
11. I play the harp, piano, and recorder. I can puzzle out a fair number of other instruments and get some basic tunes out of them, given time. It’s fun!
12. I’m a caffeine addict. I titrate diet soda until late afternoon to get it.
13. I used to get frequent, crippling migraine headaches. Now I take daily anti-seizure medication and lots of caffeine. The two things keep them under control, and I rarely get the headaches anymore.
14. I’ve been studying karate for a year and a half now, and I hold a second degree green belt.
15. When I’m practicing karate or the harp, my mind stays completely focused on what I’m doing. It doesn’t wander to other topics. These are the only two activities in my life where this is true.
16. I’ve never gone hunting, not because I’m opposed to it (as long as the kill is clean), but because I’ve just never been interested.
17. I still remember the moment I wanted to be a teacher. I was in fifth grade, sitting in Mrs. Deanna Pavlik’s classroom. She was teaching fractions, and I realized I wanted to be a teacher.
18. I did want to be an archaeologist from the time I was very small, and I almost went back to that dream when I was a sophomore in college. I took a class called “primitive life” to satisfy a science requirement, and the professor saw my interest. He offered to include me on a dinosaur dig that summer. I almost went, then decided against it. I think it was the right choice--I’m not meticulous enough for that kind of work.
19. During the summer, I try to go for a bike ride every day. I ride for miles down country roads, enjoying the green trees and farmlands.
20. I have a wide anti-social streak which makes it difficult for me to make new friends and gives me the tendency to pounce on people who I seem to click with.
21. When I was little, I hated macaroni and cheese. I can tolerate now, more or less.
22. I have a B.S German and speech/communication, a B.A. in English and health, and an MA in English.
23. I’ve taught middle school, high school, and college graduate school.
24. I think it’s important to exercise, but it’s equally important to do it in a way that you enjoy. If you don’t like it, you won’t do it. There’s always =something= movement-related that you like to do.
25. I’m a night person. I love summer nights especially and will walk or ride my bike for hours and hours after the sun goes down.
TWENTY-FIVE THINGS ABOUT ME
1. I grew up out in the country, and I was sixteen before I lived in a place where you could order delivery pizza. The first time we did it, the whole process fascinated my brother and sister and me.
2. A lot of my friends become surprised when they hear me talk about butchering chickens or shoveling the horse barn or bringing in hay because I talk like an English teacher instead of a cowboy.
3. I have to write. Characters and stories and opening lines come to me, and the only way I can get rid of them is to use them.
4. I have a son who is autistic. It’s had an enormous impact on my life. I used to look for a reason for it, for someone or something to blame, even if it were myself. Now I accept is as just something that happens.
5. I always use the phrase “a son who is autistic” instead of “autistic son” so that the first thing someone hears is “son” instead of “autistic.”
6. It’s been over four years since I adopted Sasha and Maksim from Ukraine, but I can still remember with absolute clarity the moment I first laid eyes on both of them.
7. I’m always a teacher. I’m always looking for new and better ways to explain things or get a point across to people who don’t understand something. I rehearse lectures and other lessons while I’m driving to work in the morning.
8. I really get annoyed when people tell me teaching is an easy job because teachers get summers off and they get breaks at Christmas and Easter. The vacations are indeed nice, but I don’t get paid for them, which makes things rather less easy.
9. I sold my first piece of writing to THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS when I was fourteen. It was an article about raising rabbits.
10. I sold my second piece of writing to SWORD AND SORCERESS when I was twenty-four. It was a fantasy short story.
11. I play the harp, piano, and recorder. I can puzzle out a fair number of other instruments and get some basic tunes out of them, given time. It’s fun!
12. I’m a caffeine addict. I titrate diet soda until late afternoon to get it.
13. I used to get frequent, crippling migraine headaches. Now I take daily anti-seizure medication and lots of caffeine. The two things keep them under control, and I rarely get the headaches anymore.
14. I’ve been studying karate for a year and a half now, and I hold a second degree green belt.
15. When I’m practicing karate or the harp, my mind stays completely focused on what I’m doing. It doesn’t wander to other topics. These are the only two activities in my life where this is true.
16. I’ve never gone hunting, not because I’m opposed to it (as long as the kill is clean), but because I’ve just never been interested.
17. I still remember the moment I wanted to be a teacher. I was in fifth grade, sitting in Mrs. Deanna Pavlik’s classroom. She was teaching fractions, and I realized I wanted to be a teacher.
18. I did want to be an archaeologist from the time I was very small, and I almost went back to that dream when I was a sophomore in college. I took a class called “primitive life” to satisfy a science requirement, and the professor saw my interest. He offered to include me on a dinosaur dig that summer. I almost went, then decided against it. I think it was the right choice--I’m not meticulous enough for that kind of work.
19. During the summer, I try to go for a bike ride every day. I ride for miles down country roads, enjoying the green trees and farmlands.
20. I have a wide anti-social streak which makes it difficult for me to make new friends and gives me the tendency to pounce on people who I seem to click with.
21. When I was little, I hated macaroni and cheese. I can tolerate now, more or less.
22. I have a B.S German and speech/communication, a B.A. in English and health, and an MA in English.
23. I’ve taught middle school, high school, and college graduate school.
24. I think it’s important to exercise, but it’s equally important to do it in a way that you enjoy. If you don’t like it, you won’t do it. There’s always =something= movement-related that you like to do.
25. I’m a night person. I love summer nights especially and will walk or ride my bike for hours and hours after the sun goes down.