Beyond the Twenty-Five

When I wrote Twenty-Five earlier this week, I remarked to a friend on Facebook that writers don't do well with lists...we tend to find more to add later. She, who is not a reader and yet reads me (bless you, Trish), said, "Write more anyway. It makes for good reading." So here it is, in language my mother would appreciate, an extended list (I'm not even going to number them)...

• I am 36 years old and no man has ever been in love with me.
• I like the Beatles--all over the frickin' songbook.
• I believe the best war stories are those where the folks back home just don't get it.
• If I could be any animal, I would be a cat. Despite the bathing situation.
• I have been in love with four men in my life, ranging from high school to 2005.
• I test spaghetti for done-ness by throwing a strand against the kitchen wall. Used to drive my mother nuts.
• My father was named after a U.S. President. Lucky for him, he found a nickname early.
• My father wanted to name my brother and I Johannes and Heidi, respectively, to make the whole German thing complete. My mother picked Hebrew names instead, and won the argument.
• My hometown is the home of the Etch-A-Sketch.
• Brad Pitt is from my adopted hometown.
• I will only eat oysters if there is no discussion about the oysters while we eat them. If we talk about them, I gag.
• Cream cheese frosting is best.
• There's a bar in Springfield, Missouri that serves a drink that I made up.
• I'm just as much a dog person as a cat person. Lucky for me, my brother's cat is part dog.
• I can wiggle my ears.
• Animals and children love me. So do play-ahs.
• I have tried cigarettes, alcohol, and sex. I'm still addicted to two of these.
• I have been in a cattle round-up. It was probably one of the best experiences of my life.
• I still have a sweater that I crocheted in junior high and CAN STILL FIT IN IT LIKE A DREAM.
• I have skinny-dipped.
• I have smuggled fireworks across state lines before.
• I have been in a moshpit at a Springsteen concert. It's everything I ever dreamed of, and more.
• The woman writing across from me right now is writing a personal essay about her brother in prison.
• At one point in my life, I dated a pilot.
• I have met my favorite living author.
• I was ran over by a four-wheeler in high school and am still around with no internal injuries. That I know of.
• I didn't drive full time until I was 19, and gave up owning a car three years ago.
• I can't drive a stick.

AND...

I am probably the only person on the planet who doesn't follow American Idol.