- I’m rarely on time.
- I was tested and admitted to GATE (Gifted and Talended Education) in 5th grade. I think that’s when my life changed. Tracking worked for me.
- I don’t drink coffee.
- I prefer my hair short rather than long
- I was separated from my mother at birth (briefly).
- I rarely drink soda.
- My sister says I overuse my iPod. I don’t think that’s possible.
- I eat Altoids Tangerine Sours like candy
- I did better on the math portion of the SAT and GRE than the verbal portion.
- I’ve been reading Cien Años de Soledad for more than three years off and on.
- My favorite types of apples are Golden Delicious #4120.
- I have a complex about being too pale.
- I have great vision but have wanted to wear glasses since I was a kid.
- I blame 6 years of marching band for my bad hearing.
- I’ve seen Café Tacuba live 10 times.
- I’ve met the band twice.
- I took AP Statistics in high school and loved it. Graduate school killed my love for statistics.
- My favorite type of pens are Gelly Rolls. I was obsessed about owning all of them, but grew out of it.
- I don’t like taking the bus, but I don’t mind saving money (or reading on my commute to campus).
- I finished paying off my car in September. I thought that was cool
- I still sleep in a twin bed (my room is kinda small).
- My favorite book is In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez.
- My dad is my guitar hero.
- My brother thinks I should start playing Guitar Hero songs on the hard level because I’ve mastered medium level.
- I prefer Facebook over MySpace.
- I’ve learned of at least half a dozen pregnancies and a handful of engagements via MySpace.
- I’ve only said “I love you” once in a relationship.
- I frequently ask my mom or dad “mom/dad, do you love me?”
- USC offered me a great finacial aid package (almost a full ride), but I turned them down. I’m glad I can say that they couldn’t pay me to go to school there.
- My main gripe with USC was that I felt out of place as a first-generation Chicana from a working class family. I perceived it as too white and rich for me.
- I think I’m pretty good at managing my money.
- My only debt comes from education loans.
- I rarely buy CD’s these days mainly because I don’t have any storage space.
- My middle name is Marie.
- In high school two of my close friends had the same middle name. I think it’s pretty common.
- I’m an inconsistent Virgo. I hate a cluttered desktop on my computers. I’ve even eliminated all icons on my work computer.
- My actual desk? That’s a different story. It’s usually too cluttered to be a workable space.
- I used to try and “seduce” my girl friends by applying chapstick. They did the same. It never worked.
- I’ve fallen off a stage twice.
- I’ve fallen walking down stairs lots of times, but never hurt myself.
- I’ve fallen walking up stairs.
- I love learning new dances.
- I could have avoided getting in trouble a lot as a kid by simply not following around Danny, my older brother. His nicknames were Dennis the Menace and Evel Knievel.
- My sister, Lori, is my best friend.
- My younger brother, Adrian, is the funniest person I know.
- I always had a book with me as a kid.
- Reading fiction for fun seems like a luxury these days.
- I have three lunares in the shape of an isoceles triangle on my shoulder.
- I have an R-shaped birthmark on my leg.
- I no longer take classes. I don’t miss them at all.
- I failed my driver’s license exam twice. I know the first one had to do with a left-hand turn. I’m not sure about the second.
- I didn’t get my driver’s license until a day or two before my 20th birthday.
- I visited England and Scotland in high school. I didn’t like England all that much.
- I visited Australia in high school. I loved it and after about a week, I started picking up the accent.
- I entertained myself in boring meetings and lectures in college by passing notes to my friends or writing notes in the margins of our notebooks. I still have some of the notes. They’re still entertaining.
- The Sandlot, Clueless, High Fidelity, and Toy Story are among my favorite movies.
- If you’ve never seen The Sandlot or High Fidelity I’ll probably wonder how you ever became my friend.
- I’ve been in three car accidents. One involved a professional cheerleader and a red light. I didn’t cause that accident.
- I tried being a hip hop fan for a while, but I got bored.
- I love my lunares.
- I think I have a cute nose and cute ears.
- Guanajuato is my happy place.
- For a long time I refused to wear white socks. Interpret that any way you’d like.
- I don’t cook.
- My excuse is that I always was a helper in the kitchen. I can’t do much without my mom.
- My favorite candy is the tamarindo flavored Pelón Pelo Rico, but I don’t eat them because Mexican candy doesn’t have a good track record when it comes to safety.
- I re-read my personal statement for graduate school last night. It was weird. I wonder what happened to that girl.
- No one ever guesses my age correctly. Ever.
- I think I was most attractive when I was 22/23 years old.
- That was before I started getting a lot of canas (gray hair).
- I played baseball on a couple of teams full of boys when I was a kid.
- I played right field and usually struck out, unless I was lucky and got walked.
- I realized I could read in Spanish when I joined the children’s choir at church.
- My favorite aspect of going to Mass is singing.
- I had 14 chambelanes and no damas in my quinceañera. A lot of the guys were my cousins.
- I danced in Mexican folkórico groups for a couple of years before high school. I chose band instead of dancing.
- Few people guess trombone when I have them guess which instrument I played in marching band. Most people first guess clarinet.
- I was run over by a Wisconsin football player during pregame in the 1999 Rose Bowl. He broke my trombone.
- It bugs me when people think I’m going to be a teacher when I say I’m studying education in graduate school.
- I agree with Melanism. Lost is a much better show than Heroes.
- I went scuba diving for the first time this summer.
- Remember that guy who called me Flor? He broke up with me. I’m okay with it.
- I made one of these lists a few years ago and posted it on the super-secret blog. A lot of the facts are no longer relevant.
- My first real job (tutoring didn’t count) was as an office assistant at the Graduate Students Association central office. I worked there from my sophomore year in college until I graduated.
- I find it somewhat disconcerting that my entire adult life is directly tied to UCLA.
- The first time I was called Ms. Mosqueda by a student I was extremely disturbed.
- I don’t care too much for the beach. I hate getting sand everywhere.
- I was born two weeks early.
- I’d love to visit all the major league ballparks.
- In 6th grade, our catechism teacher had the class write letters to her cousin, Memo, in prison. I’ve kept in contact off and on since then. At one point I was going to visit him with my parents and brother. Our applications through the Department of Corrections were cleared, but it was tough to schedule an actual visit.
- I haven’t been to a UCLA football game since 1999.
- I don’t have any problems with crying. I think I get that from my mom.
- It’s impossible for me to lie to my roommate, Isa.
- I think it sucks that both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton voted in favor of the border wall.
- I find it difficult to engage in conversation with people who have political views much different than my own.
- I love swimming and being in water.
- I hate the question, “so, what’s new?”
- My ambivalence toward Christmas comes from the fact that I remember Christmas Eve 1996 and Christmas Day 1999 as the last day I saw my Grandpa and Grandma, respectively alive. Both were in the hospital in much different states of health. Grandpa was dying, but Grandma’s death two weeks later was totally unexpected.
- My mom says I’ve never done “real work,” which is why my hands are so soft.
- I generally feel weird when I don’t have a crush.
Holy smokes… I can’t even think of TEN things, not to mention 100. LOL
I think the only thing that I can truly reflect on here is your desktop (on computer and real desk). Normally your real life desk is a reflection of your computer desktop.
That usually means if you’re messy and disorganized in real life, it carries over to your computer.
By the way… WHERE did you take that pic with the scuba gear?
That looks EXACTLY like the place I go to in Jamaica.
Cindy, were you procrastinating when you wrote this?? I was just now reading your 100 facts!
i’ve been told i over use my iPod. i think i agree. i put on the headphones on the way to the car. once in the car, i hook up the iPod to the radio, and then, when i get out i put the headphones back on. a too effective way to shut out the world. ooph
I used to overuse my iPod until I realize how self-alienating it is. Modern life is too alienating as it is to extend alienation even further.
Reminds of how sad I feel when I enter a quiet café only to hear the tapping of laptop keyboards. Disconnection. Isolation.
That Cien Años de Soledad thing is my thing too!!!
Yay! You did it!
Um…I’ve never watched The Sandlot from start to finish. i always started watching it from the middle or towards the end.
that’s a lot of facts. what’s the story on number 5?
julio, i had the same experience. i’ve never had an actual ipod but at some point i realized that the earphones that were glued to my head were really getting in the way of interacting with the world around me.
it’s funny how the music stays with you, though.
You’ve inspired me to compile my own list! One of the 100 will be “I will always wonder why did Cindy not jump on stage when Cafe Tacuba asked her to at The Gibson”?
Concerning #30… I was on a similar boat as you. I was there for a quarter and definitely fell out of place.
I just walked around the campus grinning at my out of place workingclassbackgroundchubbywarthychicanaqueerself.
Fortunately I connected well with the nerdy male population.
as far back as i can remember i think you’ve always had a crush, no?
Jeff,
I’m sure you could think of 100 things. It’s not that difficult. Naw, my computer desktop is a lot cleaner than my actual desk. I took the photo in Cozumel. Maybe dive shops just look the same?
Brenda,
Nope. Well, I’m sure there was something I could’ve been doing (like cleaning the bathrooms).
Patricia,
I don’t use my iPod in my car too much. I’m not sure why.
Julio,
I don’t really talk to many people while walking around campus, and if I see someone I know I’ll turn off the iPod and talk to them. I don’t really see it as alienating.
Chidolitis,
It’s tough remembering what happened and keeping all the Aurelianos and Jose Arcadios in order when you put the book down for months at a time.
Sean,
If there was any part of Sandlot I’d recommend watching it would be the beginning, all the way up until they really start trying to get the ball back from the beast.
K,
I’m not sure if all of them were facts. Some were just opinions.
I was separated from my mom because the doctors thought she had hepatitis due to her yellowish eyes and skin tone. I think they wanted to prevent me from getting jaundice and thus kept me away from her. My mom didn’t have hepatitis so I think my dad signed a form limiting the hospital’s liability so that they could take me home. I’m blurry on the details ’cause I don’t remember anything from the first few days of my life.
Oscar,
I didn’t go on stage ’cause I’ve already met the guys. Did you see the little girl in yellow on the stage? I thought that was cute.
Urban Memo,
I didn’t know people connect well to nerdy males. Just kidding.
Chispa,
Not always. There are times (much more recent) when there’s really nobody I find crushworthy. It’s hard meeting single guys when you’re in the school of education and work with a bunch of undergraduates.
i love male nerds. most of my friends are male nerds.
I was a “GATE” student by the time I entered 1st grade.
That’s when I found out tortillas came from a plastic bag and beans came from a can. I have to admit it was the best thing to happen to me too.
how’d you fall off the stage, girl? that reminds me of a high school friend who fell off with his cello. it was hilarious! i crack up now just thinking about it!
“79. It bugs me when people think I’m going to be a teacher when I say I’m studying education in graduate school.”
I feel the same way too…when I tell people that I work at a school, they assume that I’m a teacher, which I was, and I’m proud of that. But now, when I tell people I’m “in education”, they never assume that I could be an administrator. I wonder if it’s because I’m Chicana or if it’s because I’m 26 years old…hmm?
Well Cindy-lu, nine years later, and there’s still so much to learn about you. You never cease to amaze me!
*High five* on #2. I was tested in kindergarten and started GATE in 1st grade. I loved it, but I also realize it’s probably the reason I’m socially retarded now.
I don’t think it’s possible to overuse your ipod…my life requires a soundtrack.
Yay GATE! I tested in first, didn’t pass. Re-tested in second, passed. It was also a life-changing moment for me. I’d have otherwise been a very lazy student. I ended up at three different elementary schools as a result, and I’m fully convinced that the constant moving around led me to get that “itch” whenever I’m in one place for more than three years. And, not unlike AJ above, I’m pretty sure it contributed to me being socially stunted as well.
High Fidelity is one of my fave films, too!! I looooove John Cusack AND Nick Hornby. I also own Clueless and Sandlot and can quote them FOR-EV-ER.
Marie is also my middle name. I’m pretty sure half the baby girls born in the early 80s have the same name.
I’d have done the same with USC. It was bad enough going to a tiny women’s liberal arts college for undergrad, but to extend that exhausting gauntlet to grad school? No way. Besides, I love my Bruins too much. They just can’t make a Bears fan outta me up here.
And Cien años de soledad has been siting on my shelf for years, too. You’re not alone.
You are awesome!