That 25-Random-Things-About-Me Thing Everyone Did on Facebook

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Yep, if you're wasting time on Facebook like I am, you'll know doing the 25-random-things-about-me list is all the rage. Or, it was. I'm one of the last ones to jump on the bandwagon. Regardless, here's mine. (P.S. If we're not already Facebook BFFs, we ought to be.)

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1. I was born in Vietnam. Our family came to the US in 1989. Why, yes, my English is pretty good for an immigrant.

2. I love watching movies much more than reading books. And yet I majored in English in college. Go figure. Maybe I should have majored in film instead?

3. I went to community college for the first two years of my undergraduate studies (De Anza College) and then transferred to Berkeley to get my BA in English. I ended up with about $5,000 in student loans, mostly to fund a study abroad trip to China (totally worth it in terms of the friendships I made!). This was paid off in total in 2006 or so. It didn't seem like a lot of money at the time, but it really, really is and I sympathize with people who are still paying off their school loans.

4. Once upon a time, I thought I would grow up, get married, and have children. None of this has happened (including the growing up part) and I'm turning 28 this year. I've thought a lot about the whole "settling down" thing. The problem is, the awesome cuteness of babies doesn't outweigh the responsibility component of it for me. I can't bear the responsibility of keeping another human alive on a regular basis and, sheesh, make sure it grows up to be a wonderful member of humanity!?! That's a lot of work! My mom said I was very selfish for not wanting to have kids. I couldn't agree more. And what about marriage? Well, that's a loaded question.... (:

5. Generally, my memory is terrible, but if I listen to a song enough, I can sing along perfectly and recall every word, every inflection. I heart karaoke.

6. I've lived in 9 different places all around the Bay Area in the past 8 years. Moving so much has taught me not to get too attached to things. Especially heavy things, like books.

7. I can't wake up early in the morning. I really, really, REALLY want to. Physically, I cannot. I'd rather stay up all night if I needed to get up before sunrise.

8. Celebrities and "artists" I don't like, mostly due to their public persona, but also secondarily because I don't care for most of their bodies of work: Madonna, U2, Pink, Jennifer Lopez, Hilary Duff, anything and anyone related to the High School Musical franchise and the Disney channel at-large (e.g. Jonas Brothers).

9. I love to eat. I travel to eat. I live to eat. I will gauge whether I'm OK - emotionally, physically, mentally - based on my appetite. If I'm not yearning for food, something's awfully wrong.

10. I'm a bit of a tomboy. I'm very comfy in my jeans, t-shirt, and tennis shoes. I don't care to spend a lot of money on clothes, accessories, and make-up. I like gadgets and video games and watching action movies. And yet, I think boys are mostly idiots for a variety of reasons. (Sorry boys, it's true.)

11. If I'm not drinking water, I'm drinking coffee (specifically Vietnamese iced coffee), green tea, or some tapioca / boba drink. I do drink alcohol sporadically with friends, but it's occurred to me recently that (1) I'm indifferent to its potency if I don't drink much and I feel icky the day after if I drink too much and (2) it's quite an expensive habit. So, yeah, I drink very limitedly. Plus, I've never really gotten into wine or beer. My favorite cocktail is probably the mojito.

12. The only place I've traveled to and thought, "I could really live here," was Portland, Oregon. I haven't visited yet, but I think I might just feel the same about Montreal, Canada. They'll probably hate me for my atrocious French skills, but so be it.

13. I don't believe in superstition, I don't believe in fate. I think random things happen for randomness sake and sometimes they're really good things and sometimes they're really, really awful things. Such is life. I'm generally optimistic about how things turn out, but I'm very well aware that my optimism is for my own sanity and has very little - if any - effect on the eventual (random) outcome.

14. I don't think I have any great disabling fears, like public speaking. I have temporary moments of panic while the adrenaline is pumping, but after that, it's all good. Regardless, I still don't like sewer grates and try to walk around them. Ick.

15. "The Wedding Date" (with the ever-so-ridiculously-hot Dermot Mulroney) makes the following assumption: "Every woman has the love life she wants." I'm tempted to agree with this, but only as it pertains to financially independent, smart, beautiful, talented women who have a plethora of choices in life. We definitely have the love life that we want. If we don't want it anymore, we'll make the necessary changes.

16. I try to reuse things whenever possible and also try to limit my resource consumption. I don't understand parents who aren't more proactive about protecting the environment. Your kids and grand-kids are the ones who'll have to inherit all the garbage that you and I create.

17. I didn't used to, but now I have an appetite for bacon. It is deliciously fatty and I love it. On the other hand, I'm also totally in love with spinach and broccoli.

18. If you ever have any bad news to give to me, please come with a really delicious cupcake in tow. Note: I'm not a fan of the two really popular cupcake places here - Kara's Cupcakes and Sprinkles. I love the carrot cake cupcake from Sugar Butter Flour and pretty much anything from La Patisserie.

19. After learning about how poorly Wal-Mart pays and treats its employees, I haven't shopped there for years and don't plan on coming back.

20. I was walking around Milan by myself when a local stopped me. His name was Mohammed and I believe he was originally from Egypt, or that general vicinity. We spent a good 30 minutes chatting (in English) about different topics (how he got to Italy, life in America, etc.) in the park. It was getting quite dark so I told him that I had to go and he insisted on walking me home. I passed on the offer and bade him goodbye when he tried to kiss me, which I avoided completely and then ran off. After walking about half a block, I looked back and saw him walking about 40 feet behind me with the creepiest smile ever. I crossed the street and now we're walking parallel to each other on opposite sides of the road. I thought maybe he was just coincidentally walking in the same direction. I looked over at him, he saw me, and waved with a huge smile. As I was walking, there was a restaurant with seating on the street and a lot of people, so I took that opportunity to make a U-turn and ran - as fast as my little legs could - down the alley toward my hotel room. I made it home in one piece. The next day, I saw about 10 huge mosquito bites on my legs from sitting in the park at night talking to Mohammed. Two things to note: (1) I really didn't think I was in any grave danger, it just was very unnerving; (2) Milan is a very beautiful place with a lot of chic, non-scary, stalkery people, so I'd still recommend a visit there!

21. It's both very easy and very difficult for me to strike up conversations with people. Very easy because I'm articulate and friendly and can converse on a very diverse number of topics. Very difficult because it doesn't come natural to me to be talking to strangers with whom I haven't established a relationship.

22. I have both parents, 5 siblings and between all of them, 9 nieces and nephews. For now. In a few months, it'll be 10.

23. I've always loved to photograph people and things and places - I love photographs. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that people would pay me to photograph them. Never. And yet, I wake up on days when I have photo shoots with a ridiculous amount of energy and enthusiasm. I'm just as excited when I get home to download the pictures and see them large for the first time. It's hard to put into words how amazing the feeling is sometimes.

24. My dream is to travel more. My dream is to live a life that enables me to see the world without being trapped in any one place for too long. Staying still for too long deadens my senses a little. Complacency and mindless repetition does that to a person.

25. My life goal is to be loving and fair to those around me. Remember the debts I owe, but forget the loans I give out. Take care of those who depend on me (in this case, doggie Fi and kitty Chip). Stay easy to please. And never lose sight of the beauty all around me.

Me, listening to Japanese music in a music store. In Japan.