Welcome . . .
It was harder than I thought, but here are one hundred
random things about yours truly.
(Or at least the June 19, 2003 version of yours truly.)

  1. I wanted to be six feet tall and missed it by an inch and a half.
  2. I wish I had a more slender build.
  3. I’ve worn bifocals since my 21st birthday.
  4. I’ve read Gone With the Wind 35 times. (Which may explain #3.)
  5. I love gadgets.
  6. I especially love digital cameras.
  7. I love cats even more.
  8. I live with two alley cats of my own, Riffraff and Dorey and R.’s psychotic Himalayan, Mia.
  9. The most cats I’ve owned at one time -- 25.
  10. I’ve written one book.
  11. I’m working on a second one.
  12. I play honky tonk piano.
  13. I’ve needle pointed miniature Persian rugs.
  14. I collect fountain pens.
  15. Hearing “Taps” makes me cry.
  16. So does “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” and “Faded Love”.
  17. Since Papa died I can’t watch World War II movies without crying.
  18. I love to waltz.
  19. But the jitterbug is more fun than anything.
  20. I’m a Sagittarius.
  21. My favorite philosophers are Marcus Aurelius and Seneca.
  22. My principle intellectual influence was Joseph Campbell.
  23. If I had my education to do all over again I wouldn’t wind up with a PhD in history. I’d study comparative mythology, particularly the Holy Grail legends and the Knights Templar.
  24. I’m a member of the Order of the Eastern Star.
  25. I once belonged to the Barbara Mandrell fan club.
  26. I edited “Xena: Warrior Princess” fan fiction on the Internet at xenafan.com.
  27. I have never written fan fiction but am often tempted.
  28. I’m in mourning for “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
  29. My first vampire fascination was with Barnabas Collins on “Dark Shadows.”
  30. I just recently discovered comic books – oops, “graphic novels.”
  31. I still have the library card I received when I was nine years old.
  32. I’m still looking for a favorite pocketknife I lost about the same time.
  33. I can’t swim.
  34. Jumping insects make me very nervous.
  35. This follows naturally on the heels of #34: death to all cockroaches.
  36. I wish I had a tree house.
  37. If I can’t have a tree house, a covered front porch and a rocking chair will do.
  38. My friend J. calls me a hobbit.
  39. I had to learn to wear red.
  40. Bugs Bunny was my favorite cartoon.
  41. Chocolate chip cookies are the perfect food.
  42. Especially when eaten with a quad, vente, eight-pump vanilla, non-fat, no foam, extra hot latte from Starbucks.
  43. I’ve visited England three times.
  44. I travel reluctantly but usually enjoy myself once I’m off to my destination.
  45. I’ve never met a famous person.
  46. My father met Will Rogers.
  47. My favorite saying is, “Thank God for small favors.”
  48. When I lose my temper it isn’t a pretty sight.
  49. Growing up in West Texas I learned to cuss – really well.
  50. I have no patience for hypocrites.
  51. The rampant epidemic of stupidity in the world scares me.
  52. I have clear memories from the age of one year.
  53. I have a hyper acute hearing syndrome. (When I went with R. to get her hearing aids, we had to wait. “When will the doctor get here,” she fumed. “He’s coming in now,” I said. “I hear his pen scratching on your chart outside the door.” True story.)
  54. My knees are a disaster.
  55. My junior year I had a lead role in the one-act play.
  56. I played trumpet in the marching band.
  57. In college I edited the school yearbook.
  58. I have never bounced a check in my life.
  59. I’ve had a checking account since age 12.
  60. The best description of me I've ever heard – gregarious loner.
  61. The worst description of me I’ve ever heard – just a darling girl.
  62. It bothers me that I rub people the wrong way.
  63. I used self-hypnosis tapes to work on not talking too much.
  64. No matter how hard I try, people seem to misinterpret the things I say.
  65. It’s made me consciously withdraw from much of the world.
  66. I love working from home.
  67. I can spend hours by myself and be perfectly happy.
  68. I don’t like having houseguests or being one.
  69. I take my cheeseburgers with mustard and onions, cut the pickles.
  70. I take my single-malt straight but I haven’t had a drink in two years, since R. was diagnosed with Hepatitis C.
  71. I once ate haggis but wild horses couldn’t drag me near menudo.
  72. Barbecued goat meat is just this side of heaven.
  73. Ice cream hurts my teeth.
  74. My right eyelid droops because I was born with a missing muscle in the lid. It’s a family trait on my mother’s side that can be traced in photos going back to the Civil War.
  75. I love to bet on horse races.
  76. Football and baseball bore me into a coma.
  77. I can’t parallel park.
  78. Sometimes I wish I still had an Etch-a-Sketch.
  79. I talk to myself.
  80. I know how to read tarot cards.
  81. I believe in ghosts but I’ve never seen one.
  82. I’m iffy on UFOs because they always seem to appear over Skeeter’s doublewide after he and Mama have knocked back a six-pack.
  83. That said, I saw the Loch Ness monster on my first trip to Scotland and no one has ever believed me.
  84. My father’s was the first dead body I ever touched.
  85. When R.’s mother died I had to close her eyes and was shaking so badly I almost couldn’t do it.
  86. I was the victim of a drive-by shooting in 1993 which fortunately missed me but put a .45 hole in the door of my Taurus.
  87. I can’t watch really scary movies at night without turning on all the lights.
  88. I covered the Genene Jones murder trial as a student journalist and believe, on the day when she looked me in the eye, that I have seen real evil face to face.
  89. The day the jury found her guilty I was playing poker with the prosecuting attorney and two Texas Rangers. (That’s my best “I was a reporter” story.)
  90. I’ve been arrested once, at the airport, for forgetting there was a gun in my purse when I went through the scanner.
  91. I have a concealed handgun permit.
  92. I used to be a hunter and regret it deeply.
  93. I like the sound of gravel under boot heels. (It’s a West Texas thing.)
  94. When I taught college I wouldn’t let the boys wear their caps in the classrooms. Where I come from, that’s rude and Mama will whop you up the side of the head if you try it.
  95. Storms don’t scare me; I love the thunder, lightning, and wind.
  96. Sometimes I spend too much time thinking about the past.
  97. Most of the time I spend too much time worrying about the future.
  98. I dream of having enough money to never be worried again.
  99. I’m not sure it’s possible to have enough money never to be worried again.
  100. I’m pretty sure I think too much, period.


All Rights Reserved by Rana K. Williamson, 2003. Send email to herself@ranakwilliamson.com