David Wu in Portland: Congressman talks about drugs, e-mails and staff exodus

19: things i do on rainy thursday afternoons




Image by jamelah

So, I've been doing this 27 self portrait thing since, I dunno, February? And I realized that I'm not going to get them all done before I turn 28, since that'll be happening on Tuesday, and... yeah. But far be it from me to deprive you of the remaining nine fascinating facts about yours truly, so here we go. Nine things:

1. I am a germophobe. Funny, since one of the longest-running nicknames I have ever had in my entire life was Germ. Everybody called me Germ. Friends, people I didn't particularly know that well, everybody. Even my RA during my freshman year of college. Yeah. Everybody. (If you call me that now, however, I will cut you.) But anyway, I wash my hands a lot. A lot. Except in extremely rare cases, I refuse to eat and drink after people (even people I'm related to), and the thought of sharing a toothbrush is probably the grossest thing my mind can possibly conjure. (There are all kinds of things in the world that don't gross me out and I'm not particularly squeamish, but other people's spit? Ew. I just can't deal. I make an exception for kissing, of course, though in some cases, I wish I didn't. Oh, I have known some bad kissers in my time. Lord, have I ever. But I digress.) I don't know how much there is to say about this, but yes, I do put bleach in my dishwater. I'm that kind of person.

2. Following that first part, you might also think I'm a neat freak, but you would be wrong. I like things when they're neat, but I am never able to keep them that way. My mother once described me as a cyclone of clutter. Pretty apt, but then, she would know.

3. I identify as a feminist and all. I do. Proudly, even. But there's this one thing I'm going to write which might seem horrible, and it is this: large gatherings of women freak me out. Well, not all of them, just two specific types: baby showers and bridal showers. I like babies. A lot, actually, and I'm pretty good at entertaining them, too. I'm not such a big fan of weddings, but I am capable of making exceptions in very special cases. But the showers? I HATE THEM SO MUCH. Now, maybe they would bother me less if I didn't have to spend so much time at them fending off questions about when it's going to be my turn. Though I think I'd still find them pretty awful. Games involving toilet paper are not fun.

4. I used to be fluent in Spanish. I studied it for about five years, and I made some extra cash as a Spanish tutor and I wrote papers in Spanish and stuff like that, which is all very well and good, but my crowning multi-lingual achievement was having a fluent Spanish conversation with five dudes from Uruguay outside a bar in Venice, Italy, where I was studying Italian. I'm pretty sure I've already told that story. Somewhere.

5. I think Southern accents are kind of hot.

6. I like all varieties of squash. Butternut squash is my favorite.

7. I (usually) do not like it when people touch my hair, but it happens a lot, like my hair has a sign on it that says "TOUCH ME!" and I assure you that it doesn't. I also don't like being called sweetheart or sugar. I am filled with loathing for novels by Dan Brown. I have mixed feelings about butterscotch. But scotch? Bring it.

8. I like to steal things. I don't do it very often, and I don't shoplift from stores. Mostly I like taking things from restaurants and bars. Silverware, dishes, stuff like that. There's no good reason for this, though bad service will inspire me. I mainly just do it because I can. I once stole a beer glass from the airport in Krakow Poland for a friend (I was already taking one for myself) because he wanted one but he felt guilty about taking it. I did not feel guilty because I'd been stranded in the airport for six hours and I was going to continue being stranded there for another four hours before I finally got to fly to Chicago. I got it all the way from Poland to my house in good shape, then I set my backpack down on the floor and it shattered. There's probably a lesson in there, something about how it's really important to be careful with glass.

9. I still wish I were taller.

David Wu in Portland: Congressman talks about drugs, e-mails and staff exodus

Asked if he plans to resign, Wu said, "No I will not. The people of Oregon selected me to do this job and I intend to perform it and perform it well."

Read more on The Oregonian







Why do funny ladies like the ladies? The over-representation of lesbians in comedy

Recently I noticed a queer pattern--something that appears, for whatever reason, to have eluded serious academic consideration. Jerry Seinfeld might have opened up this can of worms by saying, "Have you ever noticed how female comedy is dominated by lesbians? Not that there’s anything wrong with that." Not all comediennes, of course, find men as arousing as sidewalk pavement. Sarah Silverman ...

Read more on Scientific American