I started out tonight thinking I was going to write about language and my experience living in a very multicultural town where there are more languages spoken than I could ever hope to learn. I was going to write about how it affects my life, how different it is, and so on. I've been thinking about it for a while, but now that I'm sitting here, it's not what my mind is on. It will have to wait. Tonight I've been thinking a lot about things I left behind; things I miss and miss doing. At the same time I'm aware of all of the things that I love about where I am and what I'm doing now. Part of me is wanting to go into engineer/problem solver mode and tally them all up in columns, assign numbers, maybe invent some weighted point system to determine whether I'm breaking even or not. I'm glad that this thought makes me laugh. I'm pretty sure at some point in my life that would have seemed like a sane, logical, and perfectly responsible thing to do. Now it's just a bit of self deprecating humor that makes me feel a little better when I'm starting to feel the need to fix things.So instead of categorizing the things I have, the things I had and so on and so forth, I'm going to take a few minutes to write about the things that I like. Pure and simple. Some I have now, some I'll have to wait to have again some day, some aren't things you actually have or do, they just are.
1) I like being uncomfortable. Seriously. I like being pushed beyond my comfort zone; challenged, scared. It doesn't matter if it's physical, mental, emotional. It's not always pretty, but I can honestly say the best days of my life, the ones most worth living, have been the ones on which I was scared shitless at some point. I admit that sometimes it's just for the adrenaline rush, but there's more to it than that. I like finding my limits, or more often than not finding I underestimated them. I always feel like I know myself a little better afterward and for someone with my particular issues, that's a very nice feeling.
2) I like sports. Partly this ties into the first thing I listed, but it's also about the people and the settings. I love being outdoors or even at the gym sharing something I love with other people who appreciate it. Whether it's climbing, surfing, mountain biking, running, snowboarding, or pick-up team sports I enjoy spending the time. Of course I also like sweating like a pig, getting my heart racing, and ending the day physically exhausted. I like being fit and strong. It makes me feel capable, gives me confidence, and gives me one solid thing to fall back on when other things in life are uncertain or I just need a win.
3) I like sleeping. Particularly when it's cold and or raining, and preferably with a lot of blankets. My 8 years of University and all-nighters made this a pretty obvious one. It's easy to identify things you miss. This one could easily segue into some rated R likes, but I"ll keep it to the fact that waking up next to someone can really top a good sleep off. Unless of course it's New Years day at a frat house after a few too many drinks (I only remember making it to 3...) and your friends are pulling a prank on you, in which case waking up next someone is a good way to have a heart attack. But you know what I meant.
4) I like lightening bugs. I don't care where I am or what my day has been like, they always make me happy. It's just a little bit of magic. (Yeah I know how it works and can write the chemical formula for the reaction, but it's still magic.) Coincidentally luciérnaga (firefly) is also my favorite Spanish word.
5) I like stripper boots. Knee high, black leather, preferably with platforms and a stiletto heel. The higher the better. And yes I can walk in them. And dance. They're also one of the few things I actually enjoy shopping for. If I'm really honest about it I kind of have a thing for shoes in general. It's my one really stereotypically feminine vice I guess. I think the stripper boots balances out the fact that almost all of the rest of them are specific to some sport or another.
6) I like dancing. With said boots or not. Alone, on stage, or out with friends. It doesn't really matter.
7) I like music. I'm not much of a musician. I played clarinet in the middle school band and that's about the extent of it. I'm not a bad singer, but I suppose that could just be my opinion. I have a tendency to go for periods without listening to anything, often when I'm struggling with something emotionally. I tend to use music to control my emotions and as a result I listen to a lot of things. You'll find everything from latin rap to James Taylor to 80s rock, Old Crow, and peruvian pan-pipes on my playlist. Mostly you will find Linkin Park. And never, ever, under any circumstances pop country. Songs about dead dogs, rusted pick up trucks, and drunk ex-boyfriends do not elicit anything but my gag reflex.
8) I like beer. I don't drink much anymore, but a good cold microbrew is a great thing. Especially if it's wheat and shared with friends after a long day on the rock wall or some other adventure.
9) I love the outdoors. I grew up on the Great Lakes and in the Rockies and have traveled all over the U.S. Now I live on the Pacific ocean in the jungles of Costa Rica. I never get tired of seeing new places outdoors. My mesa back in Golden will always have a special place in my heart though, no matter what spectacular places I visit.
10) I like teaching. I really enjoy sharing my enthusiasm for things I enjoy doing. I've taught surfing, climbing, wrestling. I've also been a tutor and while teaching pre-algebra may sound like the world's worst way to spend a day, I have to say that having a girl who started out thinking math was something she would never need and hated leave my lessons excited to show her mom how she uses formulas every day is a really great feeling.
11) I like grilling. Food should be cooked over an open flame. Period. If said food is turkey, asparagus, and sweet corn and the flame is somewhere in the vicinity of Maybee, MI, all the better. Oh, and Barbeque sauce. I really like barbeque sauce.
12) I like building things. Or fixing things. More accurately I like Jerry-rigging things from whatever pile of crap I have on hand. I also like taking things apart, but that's usually just so I can figure out how it was made so I can either make it better, or so I can steal parts for something else. On a related note I really really like tools. It's very satisfying to have the right tools for a job and incredibly irritating when I can't do a simple task myself because I don't. I'm pretty well known for trying to do it anyway with whatever I have on hand, resulting in blood and broken parts more often than not. I definitely like tools.
13) I like mud. maybe it comes from growing up in a rainy state like Michigan, but there's nothing quite like going for a run in the rain and coming back filthy. Maybe it's just the feeling of giving up on trying to be careful and stay dry and clean that I like; the permission to make a mess.
14) I like performing. Whether it's dancing, public speaking, or acting, I enjoy being on the spot in front of an audience. Usually anyway.
15) I like playing 20 questions. Maybe more accurately I like getting to know people and getting beyond the polite and mundane. I like being real and seeing people without the pretenses. I also like people who are blunt, abrasive, and borderline offensive. And dirty jokes. I guess this item could also be titled 'I don't like PC', but I'm going with the affirmative on this one. And yes there is someone out there who understands this one. Someone other than me. I swear.
16) I like tattoos. As a general thing. There are a lot of bad tattoos out there, but even a bad tattoo can be interesting. I don't have any myself, bad or good, but I'm working on that.
17) I like heights. Always have. If there's a big tree or a rock in my general vicinity I will feel a compulsion to climb it. If there is a 3000 foot sheer cliff nearby I will go stand at the edge. It's not a death wish really, it's more a sense of mortality. The only heights that scare me are then mid range ones. The ones that you would probably survive falling from, but would leave you disabled for life. So I'm not scared of heights really. It's the inability to use my body anymore that gets me.
I also like prime numbers, which seems like a good enough reason to stop at 17 to me. I could keep going but things are starting to get either too obscure or specific and some are seeming like they're repeats. That and I'm tired and ready to get some sleep before an early surf tomorrow. Did I mention I like morning surf sessions? Hopefully this was more fun to read than the table and scoring system I was considering earlier.
