Bryanna and the City

Thursday, January 20, 2005

11 Weird/Crazy/Interesting/OCD Things You Don’t Know About Moi

#1. I only walk home down one side of the street. There’s nothing overtly wrong with the other side of the street and I couldn’t really tell you why I do this, but for the past 4 months since I’ve moved back, it’s been right side only. I’ve tried to make myself try left, but every time I try, I just stand there feeling nervous and confused until the sign says “walk” so I can get to the right side.

#2. I’m a calendar day crosser-offer. Yup, for some reason it gives me great satisfaction and a little bit of pleasure to cross days off my calendars in thick black or pink ink. I do this while humming “Another One Bites the Dust”.

#3. I hate public bathrooms. This has nothing to do with germs, but completely to do with bad mirrors and even worse lighting. I have an image of what I look like in my head and I don’t need no fluorescent lighting to tell me any different. However, I’m no fool and I value my kidneys, so I make sacrifices sometimes.

#4. My morning routine is calculated and executed down to the minute.
6:22 --- Alarm goes off . Hit the snooze.
6:30 --- Alarm goes off again. Turn off alarm and get up. Grab towel and bathrobe.
6:35 --- Shower. Shampoo. Lather. Rinse. Conditioner in. Soap up body using MY shower puff. Rinse body. Rinse conditioner out of hair using blue pick.
6:45 --- Out of Shower. Product in hair. Brush teeth. Contacts in.
6:55 --- Enter bedroom. Turn on radio. Do make-up.
7:10 --- Diffuse hair.
7:25 --- Pick outfit to wear. Iron if needed. Get dressed.
7:40 --- Put lunch and breakfast into pink bag.
7:50 --- Head for the bus stop. Apply lip gloss and lipstick on the way.

#5. My alarm is set to the only radio station that is not fuzzy. All I know is that they are not speaking English, or any other language that I am familiar with, which is actually good because it prevents me from listening and falling back to sleep.

#6. During the first War on Sadam aka the first “Gulf War”, I was about 7 years old. My parents let us watch the footage on the news. I was extremely traumatized. I truly believed that huge war tanks were going to come to my cul-de-sac and blow up my house, take my grandfather and father away to fight and make us wash dirty floors with toothbrushes. I’m not joking, that’s what I thought. I was only terrified at night and I didn’t tell anyone about my fears. My only comfort was Disney’s The Little Mermaid. I would go through the movie in my head and would usually fall asleep. So, if anyone has little children, don’t let them watch war propaganda and if by chance they do, explain to them that the war is far, far away. Or else they’ll end up crazy (albeit bordering on genius) like me.

#7. My parents bought my sisters and I the Beatrix Potter “Peter Rabbit” book collection when we were little. My favourite story was when Peter was caught by some other deviously, wicked furry animals. They tied him up and rolled him into dough. They intended to bake him and then eat him up. Of course he got away, but I loved this story. It was so intriguing and perverse at the same time. It’s really the only story that I remember out of the series in detail. Hmm…I think this one deserves a WWFSat?

#8. Seeing an animal suffering pulls at my “heart strings” more than seeing a fellow human being suffering (this does not include children of course). I can’t watch the PETA commercial about dancing bears without crying and getting extremely angry and frustrated. I intentionally put this one after #7, just to illustrate how bizarre I can be.

#9. I dance. Every. Single. Day. Usually by myself. In my bedroom. And Before I go to sleep. I Let my hair down and “bust a move”. I recommend it. Keeps me sane and tires me out.

#10. I don’t like water. I force myself to drink it because I know it’s good for me. But I always have to stop myself from making the I-just-drank-a-teaspoon-of-Buckley’s face when I do.

#11. I count my steps between cement breaks on sidewalks. If I’m in a hurry, I’ll make a usual 3 step gap a 2 step one. Sometimes, though, I’m forced to make them 2.5ers. A perfectly spaced 2 step gap really makes me happy. And by Buchanan at UBC there’s a 1 stepper. I suggest you try it. It’s actually pretty relaxing because it clears your head.