10 years of being MetaGrrrl 2008

Well, how about that, Brad's website's 10th anniversary (happy blogday, my dear!) has reminded me to look back for my own history.

I registered MetaGrrrl.com on May 22, 1998.

The first non-master's-thesis-related post wasn't until September, though, so no party until then. ;)

old snippets 2007

Probably written between 2000-2002:

I am actually partially deaf. I have a condition called otosclerosis wherein the small bones of the ear fuse together. This has so far only affected my right ear. I had a surgery about 6 or 7 years ago and they put a little steel and teflon piston in my ear. Now I'm bionic. :) It did help a lot. I think my hearing is probably only down about 30% in that ear now. There is a possibility that the condition will affect the other ear at some point, but so far so good.

old snippets 2007

Probably written between 2000-2002:

Favorite movies as a kid: Willy Wonka, Music Man, Help, Casino Royale [the humorous one, not the 21st century true-to-the-book one], Star Wars

old snippets 2007

Probably written between 2000-2002:

In October of 1992, B.J. and I moved to Honolulu with 2 carry-ons and 4 checked bags. We found an apartment. He got a job with Ditto's (the Hawaiian version of Kinko's) and I did temp jobs. My work included:
   - answering phones at a company where I had to say "Hello, Ram Paging. May I help you?"

   - answering phones and relaying messages at a service used by doctors and the drivers who pick up bodies and transport them to the morgue. Fortunately, I was not working the day we had a call regarding a pickup of a woman who'd jumped from a high building. Our building.

- data entry clerk for the State Tax Board of Hawaii where I saw some amazing names, the best probably being Mughtar Alihani Greengrass.

We lived in Hawaii 6 months, during which time we became close friends with Pooka Keoni Littlemouse and were visited by our crazy friend Chris Hudak. When we moved back to San Jose, seeking geek/goth/industrial culture and a faster pace of life, Keoni moved back with us. I saw him yesterday at the beach party. He's still living in San Francisco, was dressed all in black, has a fabulous girlfriend and more hair than 10 strong men.

'dak isn't crazy crazy, just wild 'n crazy fun crazy. Keoni's still Keoni, despite changes in the outward trappings.

old snippets 2007

Probably written between 2000-2002:

We had two dogs when I was growing up, Molly and Jenny. They were Keeshonden, fuzzy medium-sized dogs. They were housedogs, so I would take them in the yard and for walks. Oh and torment them in the usual ways, putting clothes on them and what have you. Good dogs. I'll have a dog again someday. I'm thinking perhaps a basenji; they are smooth and they yodel.

After living in the city a few years and watching people carrying around bags of warm poop, I'm much less inclined toward dog ownership.

Permutations of my name: #8, 9 and 10 in a series 2007

These all come from Jamba Juice and presumably date from 2004 or so:

- Diana

- Dinna

- Ddiingh

(To the clerk's defense, I think the latter was a typing problem as much as a spelling problem, though it is one of my favorites).

Four Things 2006

Four jobs I've had:
1. Babe In The Box (ticket taker at a nightclub)
2. Bookstore Owner
3. The Person Who Transcribes Your Tax Form Into The Computer
4. Customer Service Representative

Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. The American Astronaut
2. Kind Hearts & Coronets
3. Seven Samurai
4. Pi
(all black & white, oddly)

The three places I've lived:
1. Northern California
2. Honolulu, Hawaii
3. Lampeter, Wales
and one place I'd like to live, at least for a while, someday:
1. London

Four TV shows I love:
1. The Daily Show (except I rarely see it)
2. Monty Python*
3. Kids in the Hall*
4. Cosmos*
(*This being an indicator of when I actually used to watch much tv. Now I just catch the good stuff on DVD. Thank you, Netflix!)

Four places I've vacationed:
1. Scotland
2. Norway
3. Yugoslavia
4. Kenya

Four of my favorite dishes:
1. Negihama (hamachi (yellowtail) and green onion sushi)
2. Saag Paneer (Indian spinach stew with cheese)
3. A big platter of Ethiopian stews & injera bread
4. something I cooked myself that came out tasting good

Four sites I visit daily:
1. Flickr contacts page
2. LiveJournal friends page
3. Daily Oliver (& Hugo)
4. Achewood

Four places I would rather be right now:
(this is really tough; I'm in my wonderful bed in my delightful apartment in San Francisco)
1. London (2nd favorite city)
2. New Zealand (never been)
3. my parents' place in Mendocino county (always relaxing)
4. laughing over dessert at the end of a great date

And then I'm supposed to tag someone else to write theirs but since no one tagged me, just do it if ya wanna.

Permutations of my name 2004

(#7 in a series):
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, December 29, 2004 - Dinaa

There can be only one! 2004

Just for clarification, the "metagrrrl" posting on Bust's Lounge is not me.

Come up with yer own handle, honey.

100 things about me 2004

[In migrating my content to TypePad I found this draft of a post begun on January 27, 2003]
As often happens, I'm inspired by Lance, so here's some interesting, probably useless facts about me, partially prompted by his list, but mostly not (unless I got stuck).

1. My favorite pets as a child were rats.
2. I like purple pens and will use them preferentially, but am not thrown off balance by the lack of purple pens.
3. I have three grandmas.
4. I tend to crave salty snacks more than sweet snacks, though occasionally an overwhelming urge for really dark chocolate comes over me. For this later weakness I blame my mother since she clearly suffers the same ailment.
5. I'd like to have better fashion sense, but like Gilda Radner, I make many of my choices on what doesn't itch.
6. I have never habitually worn makeup. It's been purely a costume thing.
7. I wish someone made a waterproof phone so I could relax in the bath while catching up with my communication obligations.
8. Flannel sheets over plain cotton, except in the hottest part of summer.
[Here ends the draft dated 6:19pm, January 27, 2003]
9. I like lists.
10. Mono-tasking is too boring.
11. Certain colors of green just seem to hit my pleasure center directly.
12. I eat meat rarely enough now that it is starting to be less appetizing. Gristle can put me off the whole meal and my body just doesn't know what to do with beef anymore - "You want me to digest this? Jeez, lady, you might as well eat a piece of the phone book."
13. The tendency to start projects and keep them around for years without finishing them is a fine family tradition.
14. I still have a huge collection of dice from my gaming days. Some of these dice are now about 25 years old.
15. I'm probably more of a top, truth be known.
16. I spend more on computing than clothes.
17. My desk is by the window and overlooks the top of several trees and a great view beyond. This is as it should be.
18. I am an atheist.
19. I'm generally very extroverted, but I do love alone-time, working on my own projects, listening to my favorite music.
20. I've had long hair for most of my life.
21. Most of my spelling errors wouldn't be caught by a spell-checker since they're homonyms.
22. My favorite book as a very small child was the Cat In The Hat Dictionary which I would read straight through.
23. I once got to buy two and a half shopping carts full of books. It forever took care of the "must buy something" urge when browsing bookstores. Having had that glorious experience, I know nothing else could come close.
24. I swear.
25. My mum and I both love dark chocolate.
26. For someone with allergies, I'm pretty damn lax about dusting.
27. Unless a house has some funkiness to it - like the sloping floor in my present home - I don't want to live there.
28. I went to Scotland and Norway when I was 9 years old. It was a great trip.
29. I think my next major purchase might be a video camera.
30. I prefer things which convey a sense of the hands and mind that crafted them.
31. Peppermint is one of my favorite tastes and smells.
32. My life is happy.
33. I used to spend hours on end reading during summer vacations from school.
34. I hated the color pink until the last few years. Now I love it. (Though just the pale shades, not the alarming hot pinks).
35. I was a bad font pirate a decade or more ago. Now I don't pirate software or music or film. I make enough to compensate people for their efforts, even though
36. I don't make enough money to own a home in my city.
37. When I was a kid my favorite flavor of ice cream was Jamocha Almond Fudge.
38. I sometimes toy with the idea of learning to play the accordian.
39. I like dogs, but then every time I see someone walking along with a plastic bag full of warm dog poop in their hand I think, "nah, maybe not".
40. One of my favorite plants is bamboo.
41. My tummy is a little bit plumper than I would like.
42. I dislike gyms.
43. I love walking.
44. I tend to follow my instincts and please myself.
45. I have no intention of being a parent.
46. I donated a lot of money to Howard Dean's presidential campaign and now get begging letters from all sorts of liberal causes.
47. Spontaneously volunteering to help out same-sex couples getting married at San Francisco City Hall in February of 2004 was one of the best experiences of my life.
48. I prefer to sleep with someone else.
49. My natural hours of sleep would be between 1/2/3ish a.m. until 10/11ish a.m. if I could set my own schedule.
50. I tend to wear flats rather than heels and pants rather than skirts.
51. I like single-malt scotch.
52. I know where to touch guys to make them make that nice noise.
53. I often need to write down a word to know if it's spelled right. Since so much of my spelling sense comes from being a hardcore reader, the shape of the word is strongly related to my sense of its rightness.
54. I plan to never own a gas-powered car again.
55. I'm easily distracted, but also able to keep track of many things simultaneously.
56. I like my work.
57. My great-grandfather lived to be 102.
58. I am glad I was mostly* an only child as a kid (*step-siblings rarely around)
59. I tend to be a good judge of people.
60. If I didn't have a blister on my foot, I'd be out for a walk today. The sky is blue and it's a beautiful world.
61. Even for a self-aware person like myself, 100 is a very long list.
62. I like baths and like having some old paperback books which can be read in the tub.
63. Sometimes I get terribly lonely.
64. I have very ambivalent feelings about zoos. I have so much fun there, but I am not 100% convinced they're really good for animal species as a whole.
65. I don't like the smell of daisies.
66. I hate being tickled.
67. I love kissing.
68. I wish I'd had a better science and math education as a child. Even so, I frequently find I have a much tighter grip on basic troubleshooting techniques than those who presumably had more exposure to the scientific method.
69. I find this position to be less rewarding in fact than in fantasy. Given the choice, I'd rather focus on giving or receiving when mouths are involved.
70. I frequently have to backspace out of odd Elizabethan spellings like "mouthes".
71. My handwriting is pretty damn bad.
72. My signature is completely impossible to read. Even my doctor gives me a hard time over it.
73. I'm rarely approached by men when I'm out in clubs. This puzzles me since I'm told I'm not unattractive and I think I come across as friendly. While it's nice not to have to ward off unwanted attention, it is a pity to miss out on any of the wanted variety (plus it's a bit unsettling to the ego).
74. I enjoy cooking.
75. Though I know it would only make the self-portrait more revealing, I am mildly concerned that I might be repeating myself in this list.
76. I have a good housemate, but I am looking forward to having the place all to myself when he moves out, even if it does mean my rent will go way up. I've even started thinking about how I'll rearrange the furniture.
77. I like planning.
78. That piece of dusty fluff on the floor which I've been noticing for the last hour or so has finally gotten too irritating and I have to throw it away.
79. I like strong flavors.
80. If I wasn't allergic to them, I'd have a cat.
81. I am terribly romantic and affectionate. (And apparently this strikes terror into the hearts of some guys).
82. I don't know how anyone sleeps in nightgowns. I roll over so many times in the night that it would be a big twisted spiral around my waist by morning.
83. If I didn't have projects that need finishing, I'd take tomorrow off from work.
84. I think I might go to Alaska this summer.
85. I'm the last Sanders in my family line.
86. I like cities.
87. I love libraries.
88. Once I touched a guy I like on the shoulder and I was so aware of the feel of him under the cloth, the curve of the muscle at the top of his arm. Just the other night I saw him again, and again put my hand there on his shoulder. His shirt was soft as silk and I could again feel the shape of him under the softness. I could have touched him all night, but wasn't invited.
89. I spend too much time longing,
90. but in general, I live the life I love and I love the life I live.
91. I expect my next ten years to be even better than the last.
92. I have good, creative, kind, wonderful friends.
93. I include my parents among them.
94. Good music gets me all excited and energized. It makes me want to do creative things.
95. I wish I'd learned to play an instrument as a kid.
96. I can be easily deterred from sticking it out through the part of learning where it's really hard and I'm really bad at it.
97. I used to go mud-sliding as a kid. In fact, I did a lot of things where I got really muddy. I'm glad I have the sort of parents who think that's perfectly acceptable for a kid, regardless of gender.
98. I want to have a party again soon.
99. I have big ideas.
100. I enjoy little pleasures. (woo! 100!)