25 Things

I did this in my Facebook notes and am republishing it on my blog for lack of another post just yet. (Still debating the wisdom of publishing a post or two.)

1. The original version asked you to tag 25 people, but I only tagged back the people who tagged me first. Because I didn't know which 25 people in my friends list would appreciate being tagged with such a note, and thus being expected both to read it and to pass it on. [And/or because I don't like being ignored/rejected and have ridiculously low thresholds for both.] Anyway, I'm not tagging anybody here for the same reason(s). 

2. I do, however, love talking about myself.

3. Seriously, if you think I talk too much about myself, you should know how much I hold back.

4. I once told a guy I had a crush on that I wanted somebody in my life who'd be the type to echo this sentiment from IQ: "No, you're not babbling. If I had a mind like yours, I'd never stop talking." 

5. This guy later, in a different conversation, told me I wasn't babbling. Way to humor me, nice person. [Before we blog-fight on this, Trudy, no, I did not think he was serious. I do not ever assume anybody is serious in this sort of situation.]

6. I have since decided that feeding somebody pick-up lines is a waste of my energy...I'd rather give the lines to a character I'm writing. They're more believable then. 

7. I have experimented with several writing forms and have spent the most time in writing poetry, fanfiction, and (surprise) blog posts.

8. Writing helps me to understand what I'm thinking. It's like thinking out loud.

9. I think out loud. Talking to myself, talking to somebody else, talking to myself in the presence of somebody else....

10. Sometimes I get really muttery and nobody can understand me. Often I don't care because I wasn't saying anything important in mutter-mode.

11. Sometimes after I've walked away from a lengthy thinking-out-loud conversation my thoughts get sorted out and I want to go back for a do-over.

12. I wonder sometimes how many people have formed lasting opinions of me (or of my opinions of them) based on a half-formed thought that I've uttered out loud.

13. I try to remember #12 when I hear somebody say something I think is ridiculous or offensive or whatever, and not to take what they're saying at face value. 

14. I love follow-up questions.

15. For someone who spends so much time writing about observations and working to make characters seem real, I am astonishingly clueless in real life. I would estimate that I score about 15% on women's intuition, but then I'm not stellar at math, and estimating involves math.

16. I love quotes. I have quotes for every situation. 

17. I have a "did you ever see that episode of..." for just about every situation, too.

18. I used to agonize as a young girl over how on earth I would manage to change my name when I got married when I loved my last name so much. This has not yet become an issue.

19. I am no longer opposed to the possibility of remaining Winter forever, no matter what happens (don't flip, family members).

20. If I had to choose right now between two potential futures--supporting myself on my writing or getting married and having children--I would choose writing. This is hard to explain to such people as my mom.

21. Nobody worth marrying would actually make me choose between him and writing.

22. I want to write two full-length plays this year, publish one or both of my children's books, maybe get some poetry out there....

23. Part of this is because I will be turning 30 this year and it's like a race to feel like I've accomplished something.

24. I used to think I was spontaneous and flexible and easy to understand. Apparently, based on accumulated life experience and the comments of others...not so much. I have since found that most other people (especially guys) think that they are the ones who are easy to understand, but often this is not universally true, either.

25. I don't even have me figured out and some of the parts I do have figured out are pretty rough around the edges. It is good to know that God knows me and loves me, and it's somehow even more humbling to me that so many people care about me, too.