25 Random Things

There's this list going around Facebook and I've been tagged a couple of times to do it. It's been awhile since I've done a list so I thought I'd comply. Many may already know the contents of the list below, but I will try to include new facts without being too gross.

"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 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 25 people, then click publish.)"

1. I love dark chocolate and rarely eat milk chocolate. This is not a result of being lactose intolerant, which I am, but there is something about the bitterness of chocolate that I crave.
   
2. I love dark leafy vegetables. This may be related to dark chocolate in that dark leafy vegetables have a tendency to be bitter as well: spinach, mustard greens, collard greens, shungiku (chrysanthemum leaves), etc.
   
3. I feel really old these days. While some of this is physiological, a lot of it is situational. I just don't understand what my students are talking about sometimes, and it really makes me feel out of it.
   
4. I need to write and submit at least one article during my sabbatical, if not two or three.
5. If I wasn't a teacher, I'd be a cook--successful or not.
   
6. When I retire, I plan to move to Japan.
7. But I don't plan to retire for a long time so plans can change.
8. I got a D+ in Modern Japanese History when I was an undergrad.
9. It took me five years to graduate from a two-year community college--I was working full time most of that time, and had a lot of Ws.
10. I wanted to be a professional musician but realized that the chances of an Asian American becoming a rock star were pretty slim back in the 70s. The reality, of course, is that I was never very good.
11. I tell my students to stop cracking their knuckles, but I crack my own when they are not around.
    
12. I can do an imitation of Golum. The voice, not the face.
13. I am ambidextrous. I can drink beer with either my left hand or my right.
14. I never cut my fingernails at night because this will bring misfortune to parents--(sub)urban myth in Japan. My parents have been gone for a few years now, but Musubichan's mother is still around.
    
15. I can burp and fart at the same time--Just kidding. I've actually never done this, but I bet I can if I tried... Anyway, I always feel like these kinds of lists require something stupid and gross, so I feel obliged to put in at least one gross item, true or not.
    
16. I used to be a Republican and I actually voted for Ronald Reagan. As a teenager too young to vote, I even worked briefly at the Asian Americans for Nixon campaign office in LA. I'm now an Independent. My argument, however, is that I have changed very little over the years. The country around me has shifted to the right, leaving me in the middle--fiscally conservative (basically), socially liberal (mostly).
    
17. The scar on my right cornea is getting worse, and I think allergies exacerbate the condition. It tears up constantly and it looks like I am crying. Indeed, my right eye often looks puffy.
18. I dream of having a 31 inch waist again.
    
19. I'm not a liar, I'm a storyteller. I will embellish stories to the point that after telling the same story a hundred times, it sorta becomes the truth and I don't remember exactly what actually happened. Some might call this lying, and so be it. But I prefer storyteller. I once caught a fish THIS BIG....
20. I used to be a congenital flirt. I love the opposite sex so much--much to the chagrin of Musubichan--that I couldn't help myself. I have absolutely no ulterior motive--certainly not now at my advanced age (what could I possibly do?)--but I used to love the give and take, the innuendo, and double entendre. The urge is now mostly gone, but sometimes creeps to the surface when I go drinking--it takes a bit of will power to keep my mouth zipped, my hands in my pockets and my eyes looking only at my wife or the beer in front of me. (FYI: Never at work and never with students. Duh!)
    
21. I want a large flatscreen TV and HD satellite service.
    
22. Everyone already knows this but I am a J-drama addict.
    
23. I want to see my daughter in Japan.
    
24. I love carbs but its a one-sided affair because carbs seem to hate me. Every time I eat carbs, I gain weight exponentially. If there were carb free potato chips, bread, chewy spree, or even cereal, I'd be in heaven.
25. I wish I had a salary commensurate with my background, level of education and dedication to my work. I had my taxes done by H&R Block a couple of years back and the person doing my taxes expressed surprise, referring to my W2 as a "workman's salary". Indeed, I found out I make less than my plumber--granted he owns his own business...

I'm tagging the following: Dawn-109, Jerjonji, Kenshiro, Kyzer, La Mangust, Onigiri, SunJun, Takunishi, Whonose, The Greatest Pip. That's 10. The other 15 I will tag on Facebook.