Truly, truly, truly outrageous…

I got tagged months and months ago and it's taken me this long to find the time/inspiration to answer. Which is kind of funny, because I kinda love these types of things. So, in the interest of lots of sharing: 8 Random Facts About Myself.

1. I still bite my nails. I have immense guilt about this every time I read a magazine article where someone claims the first thing they look at when meeting a new person is their hands. My manicurist is trying valiantly to rectify this with the help of Ecrinal Bitter Nail Polish, but she's got about 28 years of habitual nibbling working against her.

2. There are few smells I love more than Coppertone suntan lotion and sautéed onions and garlic (but not together. I think.)

3. I really, really love to dance. Most recently, I have been requesting of deejays all across Singapore to play "Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, Nelly Furtado or any combination of the three."

3a. I have also been known to get into arguments with deejays who play subpar dance music. [See Marine Ball 2003, 2004, 2006.] I take this stuff very seriously.

3b. I frequently have personal mini-dance parties in my apartment with the cats. Timbaland amuses them.

4. My favorite book *ever* is The President's Daughter by Ellen Emerson White, a young adult book that I first read in seventh grade. (Its sequels, White House Autumn and Long Live the Queen, are also high on my list.) However, it takes a while to explain why an adult still loves such a book (witty repartee! great character development! just damn cool!), so I usually just tell people it's A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius or A Hope in the Unseen. All have been widely influential on my career aspirations and writing style.

{And *oh my gosh* I just saw that this past October, a whopping 18 years after releasing book three in the series, White has published a fourth installment of Meg Powers' story. I am buying this immediately. [Has small heart attack.]}

5. I finagled my way into partying with the Backstreet Boys {see Jan 25} and am damn proud of it.

5a. Only slightly less awesome: In early 2000, I was in the audience for TRL in New York and got to request the number one video, "Bye Bye Bye," live on the air. I'm pretty sure there's a videotape of that around here somewhere.

6. The fabulous Jem (above) was my favorite cartoon as a kid. God, I loved their funky 80s outfits. Showtime, Synergy! (My second favorite show was You Can't Do That on Television. Ah, the nonstop hilarity of green slime. I'm a simple gal, really.)

7. When entering a thrift store, I beeline for 1) dresses; 2) coats; 3) purses; and 4) housewares immediately, in that order. (Tops, linens, books and skirts are tackled later, with less urgency.) There is nothing I hate more then seeing someone else walking around the thrift store with a perfectly awesome find that could have been mine, particularly if they look like the kind of people who will not appreciate its brilliance.

8. I had cold Chinese food (pork lo mein and General Tso's chicken, if you'd like to know) for breakfast today. And it was gooooood.