I started sweeping up around here, and noticed I petered out pretty early in the 100 things process, so here’s some more.
First 17

18-35 . . .

36. As do most forms of discrimination.
37. I studied debate techniques when I was in school, and grew into an award-winning speaker.
38. On more than one occasion, I made an opponent cry at a podium.
39. I never did it on purpose.
40. I did make a boyfriend or two cry on purpose, back when I was waiting on a block of ice for my husband.
41. My husband’s pals, most of whom I’ve known since I was in high school, call me Meangirl, and I think it’s charming and funny when they do, especially when they say it en masse in this manic cartoon-y voice they use.
42. On the few occasions my Mom called me Meangirl, I was both chastened and startled by how funny it was.
43. When a particular person I know calls me Meangirl, it is an act of violence against me, and I want to punch her in the sanctimonious mush.  I guess that makes me mean, but not as mean as I would be if I actually did it.
44. Another group of friends often refers to me as nice-lady, as a foil to the Meangirl thing.  The truth is somewhere in between.
45. I study pacifism, and have since I was about 11, when I decided to never hit my big brother or anyone else in anger again.
46. I may have made that decision because I was never ever going to win a fight against a male a foot taller than I am.
47. I think it was a brilliant decision.
48. When I was in college, I started playing a violent contact sport.  I was never particularly good at it, and quit playing a few years ago when an unrelated shoulder injury made it too painful.
49. I waver between missing stick fighting and wondering why I ever did it.  I think the answer to both is “uppity.”
50. I placate myself by loaning out any gear I’m not using anymore, making stuff for my friends who still stick-fight so they look fiiiiiine, tending their wounds when necessary, and taking pictures and film.
51. Oh, and making bridies.  Bridies are like soma, but with meat.  And brown sauce.
52. My bridie recipe has won me a few marriage proposals.  My husband, however, proposed for more traditional reasons.
53. I almost went to cooking school, but a pro-baker friend sat me down and asked how I would feel about giving up all of my weekends for a decade.
54. I stuck with writing and editing.
55. If I ever strike it rich, I’ll go to cooking school in Italy.
56. My great-grandmother Antonia was an amazing cook and owned a restaurant.
57. When the girls threw me a bridal shower, my Mom and my sister-friend Heather made bets on how quickly I would cry if they gave me Great-Grandmother Antonia’s cookbook.
58. I got weepy just picking up the bag it was in because I recognized the spine of the book, so no one won the bet.  Or they both won.
59. I’m a sap.
60. I’ve been toying with writing a family history for years, but I worry that the crazy(er) side of my family would burn me at the stake.
61. I have a rare last name, and I didn’t change it when I got married.
62. A co-worker and fellow fan of Edward Gorey suggests I use the pen name Mary Pinto when I finish and publish the book.
63. My Mom considered changing her name and ours when she divorced my father, but his family insisted she do it, so she refused.
64. Uppity runs in the family.
65. I still have that last name because my father’s family tried to take it from me.
66. If I ever publish a book I’m really ashamed of, I may change my name.
67. I have many legitimate family names to choose from.  I think my Grandpap’s is currently in the lead.
68. Everyone misspells my husband’s last name, and his father abandoned their family, so I’m not drawn to it.
69. My big brother and my husband are not like their fathers, and that makes me incredibly proud and thankful.
70. Sometimes I fear that I have too much in common with my father.  Just writing that made me teary.
71. Thankfully, I know I am much more like my mother.
72. Fear and pride both make me well up: see number 59.
73. If I were someone else’s child and I met my Mom, I think I would really want to befriend her.
74. My mother accidentally draws floods.
75. She will try to deny this, and then she will visit you and your water-heater will burst.
76. When we bought our house, we picked one without a basement.
77. My folks just bought a new house, and they bought a lot of flood insurance.

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