25 Random Things About Me
This is from Facebook, of course, but I thought I'd post it here with a few edits just for...
Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose at least 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.
(To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)
1. My family has been through our ups and downs, but we still hold together.
2. I love to follow most professional sports, and don’t give a damn about the steroids controversy.
3. I’m a strong proponent of drug policy reform.
4. I’m quite sensitive about racist, sexist, and homophobic terms, but am trying to learn if I am just too old-school in this area.
5. I love rock music, loud. It must have guitars. It’s my drug of choice. I wandered away from it for a while, but it’s drawn me back.
6. I knew I was getting old when my heroes started dying: Joe Strummer, Richard Pryor, people I think of my peers.
7. Public health is more than just a professional to me, it’s a life philosophy. The good of the many over the good of the few; prevention; social justice-what’s not to love?
8. A job applicant once asked me what part of my work day do I like the least. My answer? “The only hard part is waking up and having to get out of bed. The rest of it I love.” This still holds true after 25+ years.
9. I work-and have worked-with some of the most amazing individuals. Stellar people, with strong ethics, beautiful dedication, deep humanism, and fantastic humor. I try not to take them for granted, though I know I do sometimes. (I can’t list you all here but I think of you every day-even those I don’t see every day.)
10. The people I've met through my love for the TV show Reaper (watch it! It’s coming back on March 3!) are some of my best friends in the world right now. Thanks for showing me the fun of fandom: pace, blue, pending, mark, dave, amber, cris, and so many more. Sorry I'm too lazy to put in the livejournaluser links.
11. I think I knew as a child that I didn’t want to be married and have kids-or anyway that I wasn’t going to have (what was then) a traditional lifestyle. I’ve only regretted my choices a few times, fleetingly.
12. One of my earliest memories is going to visit my kindergarten class a few weeks after school had started. The teacher asked me if I wanted to stay that day or come back tomorrow. My mom said, “We can start tomorrow?” I clearly remember thinking, “Well, I’m going to have to start sometime, might as well get it over with” and saying that I would stay that day. I think of this as particularly characteristic of my approach to life.
13. I’ve been to 27 of the 50 US states (http://douweosinga.com/projects/visited?region=usa).
14. I’ve been to 14 of 225 countries, which sure doesn’t sound like much.
15. My favorite trip is the drive from California through the Southwest, turn through Oklahoma, up through the Rockies, and back down home again. My second favorite trip is the same loop in reverse. Thanks for that, JT.
16. I’ll fight anyone who says online friends aren’t “real” friends, and introduce them to the TWOP Buffy Meet Market crew, many of whom are here on Facebook. You lot are amazing with your daily updates, magical vibes, and supernatural support. And good fighters, too.
17. I cherish my history with the most wonderful of wild women.
18. My favorite band is The Clash. My favorite performer is Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. My favorite song is the Talking Heads’ Naïve Melody (This Must Be the Place).
19. I started one of the first HIV/AIDS campus education programs in the country, got quoted in Rolling Stone (pull quote!) and met a lot of lifetime friends in the process.
20. I think a lot in dialogue and have a good memory for past conversations.
21. I don’t cry much, but tend to get teary over beautifully moving things, like an amazing quotation or a scene in a movie. Not sad stuff, so much.
22. I believe in being open-minded, because it makes life easier.
23. Except there are things I can’t tolerate, like intolerance and extreme religiosity.
24. I’m thinking that I am agnostic about “being in love.” What is it besides liking, commonalities, and chemistry? Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
25. I want to be able to look back and say I lived by these words from Jerry Lee Lewis, but I’m not sure I can, yet. “I don’t have any great regrets. Everything I did, I meant when I did it, and I stand by it.”
Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose at least 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.
(To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)
1. My family has been through our ups and downs, but we still hold together.
2. I love to follow most professional sports, and don’t give a damn about the steroids controversy.
3. I’m a strong proponent of drug policy reform.
4. I’m quite sensitive about racist, sexist, and homophobic terms, but am trying to learn if I am just too old-school in this area.
5. I love rock music, loud. It must have guitars. It’s my drug of choice. I wandered away from it for a while, but it’s drawn me back.
6. I knew I was getting old when my heroes started dying: Joe Strummer, Richard Pryor, people I think of my peers.
7. Public health is more than just a professional to me, it’s a life philosophy. The good of the many over the good of the few; prevention; social justice-what’s not to love?
8. A job applicant once asked me what part of my work day do I like the least. My answer? “The only hard part is waking up and having to get out of bed. The rest of it I love.” This still holds true after 25+ years.
9. I work-and have worked-with some of the most amazing individuals. Stellar people, with strong ethics, beautiful dedication, deep humanism, and fantastic humor. I try not to take them for granted, though I know I do sometimes. (I can’t list you all here but I think of you every day-even those I don’t see every day.)
10. The people I've met through my love for the TV show Reaper (watch it! It’s coming back on March 3!) are some of my best friends in the world right now. Thanks for showing me the fun of fandom: pace, blue, pending, mark, dave, amber, cris, and so many more. Sorry I'm too lazy to put in the livejournaluser links.
11. I think I knew as a child that I didn’t want to be married and have kids-or anyway that I wasn’t going to have (what was then) a traditional lifestyle. I’ve only regretted my choices a few times, fleetingly.
12. One of my earliest memories is going to visit my kindergarten class a few weeks after school had started. The teacher asked me if I wanted to stay that day or come back tomorrow. My mom said, “We can start tomorrow?” I clearly remember thinking, “Well, I’m going to have to start sometime, might as well get it over with” and saying that I would stay that day. I think of this as particularly characteristic of my approach to life.
13. I’ve been to 27 of the 50 US states (http://douweosinga.com/projects/visited?region=usa).
14. I’ve been to 14 of 225 countries, which sure doesn’t sound like much.
15. My favorite trip is the drive from California through the Southwest, turn through Oklahoma, up through the Rockies, and back down home again. My second favorite trip is the same loop in reverse. Thanks for that, JT.
16. I’ll fight anyone who says online friends aren’t “real” friends, and introduce them to the TWOP Buffy Meet Market crew, many of whom are here on Facebook. You lot are amazing with your daily updates, magical vibes, and supernatural support. And good fighters, too.
17. I cherish my history with the most wonderful of wild women.
18. My favorite band is The Clash. My favorite performer is Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. My favorite song is the Talking Heads’ Naïve Melody (This Must Be the Place).
19. I started one of the first HIV/AIDS campus education programs in the country, got quoted in Rolling Stone (pull quote!) and met a lot of lifetime friends in the process.
20. I think a lot in dialogue and have a good memory for past conversations.
21. I don’t cry much, but tend to get teary over beautifully moving things, like an amazing quotation or a scene in a movie. Not sad stuff, so much.
22. I believe in being open-minded, because it makes life easier.
23. Except there are things I can’t tolerate, like intolerance and extreme religiosity.
24. I’m thinking that I am agnostic about “being in love.” What is it besides liking, commonalities, and chemistry? Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
25. I want to be able to look back and say I lived by these words from Jerry Lee Lewis, but I’m not sure I can, yet. “I don’t have any great regrets. Everything I did, I meant when I did it, and I stand by it.”