Category Archives: Random Sonya Fact

I feel that there are things the majority doesn’t know about me. I AM FACINATING.

Finicky McPickalot

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I’ll admit it. There are foods I dislike. We all have foods we dislike. I have an ex boyfriend who hated all melon. Lots of people dislike Cream of Wheat.

I myself refuse, to this day, to eat any type of lentil. Except hummus. Weird, isn’t it? There’s no real reason not to like lentils. They’re incredibly nutritious, they’re abundant, and they’re in lots of stuff. Chili, baked beans, three bean salad …

I’ve always claimed it was the texture. As it turns out, I’m a pansy, and I should buck up.

I just finished reading an article called “The Omnivore: How to Eat Anything”. If you eat something you dislike 8 to 10 times, you’ll get used to it, and you’ll become a better human being. I can handle the idea of eating chili 8 times. It’s not that big of a deal. I think a new summer goal is to stop being picky about random food items, and become a true omnivore.

Single Again Magazine

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My sister googled me, and happened across this article written in Single Again Magazine about the death of her brother, and likens how we treat this generation of children to the ‘stolen generation’ of Aborignal children from Australia.

My brother is alive, but that only begins to explain the creepiness.

Aren’t you the cutest …

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One of the sites I keep my eye on is Drawn.ca. They feature artists with examples of their work. It sounds simple and arty, but it tends to lean on the side of comic books and contemporary PoMo.

And that’s how I learned about Little India, the book written by Pixar Studio animator Sanjay Patel. The book is a children’s guide to Hindu mythology, but ubercute. I mean, uber. It’s cuter than Hello Kitty. Ganesh, from "Little India"

It’s self published, and I immediately wanted it. It’s a under-the-radar, cool, useful children’s book. What’s better than that?

Did I mention that I already have a fairly substantial children’s book collection? Going to grad school for kids lit is the only reason that isn’t a wee bit creepy. I’m a lucky duck.

Sesame Street: 25 Of [Someone’s] Favorite Memories

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Sesame Street: 25 Of My Favorite Memories – Progressive Boink

I found this on BoingBoing, and it made my heart sing with joy. Especially since I had a conversation about the “loaf of bread, container of milk, & stick of butter” skit with a certain friend.

For those who don’t know, my old dream job was working for Sesame Street. Somehow it got derailed after AmeriCorps when my 3/4″ Umatic TV skills were totally useless after missing the tipping point of digital editing. (Not that I wouldn’t rock at it now – I’ve played with an Avid, and I know what’s up.)

The point is that for a long time, working for Sesame Street was my dream job, and even though I have a new dream job‡, I’ll always love that freaking show.

My all-time favorite bit was the Pinball Song. I was nonplussed by Oscar the Grouch. I loved Grover, and therefore resented Elmo. There was a bit called "Teeny Little Super Guy", which was a, well, little guy painted on a glass, and he lived in a kitchen. My brother would put the hoop to our foam basketball pole on his head, and dance around as we sang "teeny little super guy, pops right up before your eye". Oh, what? I shouldn’t hav divulged that? Oh. I’m sorry.

 

‡My new dream job is to work as a librarian for Celebrity Cruises.

Dancing in plastic shake-up snow

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Once upon a time, I was in AmeriCorps*NCCC. I was based out of Washington, D.C. During my stint, I went to a Jimmy Eat World show at the 9:30 club. My whole team had begun listening to their albums, and a bunch of us went together.

There were camera crews everywhere, and as it turns out, they were filming the Jimmy Eat World DVD that night. That was in 2001, and just a few months ago I realized that I could Netflix the DVD.

Last night Jason and I watched it, and I spent a good deal of time four inches away from the screen, peering at the crowd shots for my grille. I noticed myself once, and made Jason laugh by exclaiming “Oh, look! There’s my tiny little head!”

We fast forwarded through most of it, but it reminded me that I used to listen to that music all the time. Especially running. We had physical training five days a week, so I did a lot of running.

I also scanned a lot of photographs, but will have to wait till this weekend to upload them to this here outsidcat because whoever was providing me with free wireless seems to have moved out or smashed their gizmo to bits.

Traitors win. Cheaters don’t.

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Well, last night was a stunning and exciting defeat for the Illini. Why the hell am I blogging about it, since we all know I swore off baskeball after logging many hours as a cheerleader?

I got pressured into filling out a bracket for the First Annual Absolutely-Nothing-To-Do-With- A*****-Public-Affairs NCAA Basketball Pool. Having watched none of the season games, I turned to About.com for my answers. They used a logical method of choosing teams. They didn’t offer up a champion, so I turned to my father. He thought Illinois would choke, so I picked NC.

Turns out, I did better than I thought. All of the basketball-crazies who chose IL because they went there really made the bracket clear for me to climb all the way to third place. I won back my $10, and made $20 to boot. Now, I’ve accepted my invite to go study at UI, but I think that I can say that I’m not technically a student, because I don’t owe them any money yet.

I thought you’d really really need to know. I even took a camerapicture of myself flaunting the bills, but it’s just not transmitting the photo to my email, so you’ll just have to imagine my smug face.

Concept: Butter Tee Shirts

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At some point after my uncle moved out of my grandma’s house, she gave my family a bunch of Uncle Steve’s old tee shirts. They were all from the 1970s, and they all had a particular quality in common (besides being running themed).

They had been made of a type of cotton or cotton/poly blend that ended up becoming very soft and very thin as they aged. My siblings and I became enamored with the soft clingy shirts with “Azuza Pacific Track” and “Raymond’s Run” written on them. (Side note – Loran still has the Raymond’s Run shirt, and I consider it a long-term loan. He flaunted it!)

Anyway, this love of a teeshirt material not found in 1980s or 1990s style shirts led me to begin shopping at thrift stores. Tee shirts were how is started, but soon I was buying all my clothes (and books, and tchochkeys) at Goodwill, Salvation Army, or the DAV.

I have to admit, I never grew out of this. I still buy most of my clothes at thrift stores. My needs have changed – instead of finding sweet butter tees and long sleeved shirts with designs down the sleeve to wear, I’m scoring Banana Republic pants and Express skirts. (As I think about it, I bet I’m wearing some of my co-workers’ old clothes.)

The point is this: vintage butter tee shirts cling well, are soft, are practically see-through, have great kitschy designs on them, and DO NOT COME FROM URBAN OUTFITTERS! I can tell the difference, and so should you.

Pez MP3

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Someone threw together an MP3 player using a Pez dispenser. Now they’ve gotten permission to produce it legally.

Good GOD. I had no idea. I’m kind of upset that I didn’t think of it myself, but I guess this just means I need to create something else out of a Pez dispenser. Hmmm.

You may not know this, but I’m a pez aficionada. I started collecting in high school, with my mom. I have about 150 Pez, last I counted. In college, boys would woo me with a Pez dispenser. I’d laugh in their face and say “I already HAVE that one.”

There are Pez in production now, and there are Pez that are out of production. My attentions became fixated on the out-of-production Pez, like the Wounded Soldier (my favorite), or the Pez gun (candy suicide).

I used to have dreams where I’d be in some antique shop or flea market, and find a rare old Pez. See, this happened once – I found an original in an antique store in Welton, Iowa. I bought it for $7, and it’s worth much more.

Anyway, my Pez interests waned, probably because I have the purchasing power to buy much more expensive hobby items. Then again, this has given me a chance to go back and find all the ones that are on the market now.

I still have this incredible knowledge base of the old variations, and some surprising Pez facts. I think that should be another post on another day.