This is a list of 100 random things about me. Because I like lists. Enjoy!

1. I’m an INTJ.
2. I’m a hard determinist.
3. I identify very strongly with the belief of hylozoism, but not completely.
4. I have the smallest handwriting of anyone I know.
5. I try to give at least one compliment a day—if not verbally, than in my mind.
6. I like airports for some reason, but am sick of traveling after spending a year moving all around the continent.
7. I’m a borderline Apple whore. I keep that “borderline” modifier in there because I don’t obsess over anything but iPods. Never mind that growing pile of them I’ve got going in the corner. I think they’re breeding.
8. I don’t drink pop. Never have, never will.
9. My first word was “tick-tock.”
10. I can fold my entire outer ear into my ear canal.
11. I can touch the tip of my nose with my tongue.
12. To me, the Galton board (quincunx, bean machine) demonstrates one of the most beautiful phenomena ever.
13. I get super obsessed with things once I decide I like them.
14. I have anosmia. Don’t worry, it’s not catching.
15. I did four years of undergraduate work in 2 ½ years and got my first college degree when I was 20. I don’t recommend this approach if you’re strongly attached to your sanity.
16. I like serif better than sans serif fonts.
17. My favorite word is syzygy.
18. I think the need for the interrobang warrants its restoration in common written English.
19. My hair is naturally black and is apparently impervious to bleaching attempts.
20. Physically, I’m a lot stronger than I look.
21. I have a very good aural memory.
22. I think the sense that “compensated” for my not having a sense of smell was my hearing. I say “was” because I was in band for 13 years and I like my music loud, so…that compensation’s pretty much gone now.
23. I’m not much of a movie person, but I really like disaster movies (the less scientifically accurate, the better) and movies about space. My favorite movie is Sunshine (WAY underrated, go watch it!)
24. I recite a letter of the alphabet per every twist of an apple stem to find the first initial of the person I’m destined to marry, ‘cause I’m just that mature.
25. For years, I only knew the navel by its Czech word, pupík. I got the strangest looks from people in grade school when I called it that before I finally equated the two words in my head.
26. I used to sing the Frosted Flakes “Hey Tony!” song incessantly. There are hours of video of this phenomenon.
27. I admittedly like the sound of auto-tune.
28. I really, really, REALLY don’t like people touching my bangs. I don’t like my hair messed with in general, but it took me years to tame my bangs so that they hang straight. Hands off.
29. I don’t wear jeans. I don’t see how denim could ever be comfortable.
30. I think men’s fashion from the late 18th century is astoundingly gorgeous.
31. My sole talent in this life is being able to re-write song lyrics on the fly. I think it’s because my mom played a lot of Weird Al when I was growing up.
32. I’m surprisingly old fashioned about a number of things, some of which I am none too proud of and thus don’t discuss.
33. I have a large collection of ostentatious socks.
34. I very much love the United States of America, flaws and all. I think it’s an amazing country with a fascinating history. Living outside of it for two years has made me appreciate it even more.
35. When I was younger, I truly thought I exerted some sort of control over the wind. During recess I would stand out on the field and wave my arms around like an idiot trying to make a tornado.
36. I also thought a flying machine made out of cardboard was structurally sound enough for flight and would perform like a 747 if I could only get it to take off.
37. Thanks to my mom, I have recycling and conservation hard-wired into my brain. I hate seeing paper/cans/bottles thrown away and I have a mini stroke every time I see someone coming out of Wal-Mart with 10 plastic bags for 11 items.
38. There are some days when I have this incredible compassion towards the whole of humanity. There are other days where I just want to stab everyone.
39. I’m a fast walker.
40. Within the first few seconds of entering a new room (or in a car/plane/bus), I silently figure out the best place to take cover if a disaster (earthquake, fire, hostage situation, etc.) were to occur.
41. I would love to go to Antarctica. The only thing stopping me is the fact that for an ordinary citizen like myself, I’d pretty much have to get down there via a cruise, and I don’t feel comfortable about wreaking that amount of environmental damage to the delicate ecosystem just so I can satisfy an urge to hug the southernmost continent. That and, you know, cost issues.
42. It really bothers me when people judge others based on their musical tastes. To me, that’s like judging someone because of their favorite color. Cut it out.
43. In fact, it really bothers me when people judge others at all. We’re all just human beings trying to survive. Live and let live if there is no harm being done.
44. I’d rather arrive 30 minutes early for an appointment than be even one minute late. In fact, this is often the case.
45. I’ve had more sexual dreams involving Lady Gaga than I feel comfortable admitting.
46. I need schedules. I will start stabbing people if I don’t have a schedule.
47. I make a lot of stabbing jokes. I’m in reality a very gentle person.
48. I like numbers that are divisible by five and/or ten. Whenever I start a new project or implement a new routine, I have to start it on a day of the month divisible by 5 or 10, like the 5^th or 20^th or whatnot. I’ve had that preference for as long as I can remember.
49. The color red-orange makes me physically ill. Even the sound of it makes me kinda queasy.
50. My body responds to super-high levels of stress by sleeping through whatever is the cause of the stress. So far, I have nearly slept through an important statistics test, my first-round state drama performance, a big geography final, a major English presentation, the GRE, my final presentation for a measurement class, and the GRE (again).
51. Simple things like showering, making dinner, getting ready for work, and combing my hair make me really nervous for some reason.
52. I have the immune system of a god. I may have gotten worthless genetic scratch tickets when it comes to attractiveness and not being psycho, but I won the genetic jackpot when it comes to physical health.
53. I’m not much of a TV person, but I’m totally obsessed with Metalocalypse. I don’t really know why. It’s so stupid it’s genius.
54. I type like I think in my blogs, which is why there is frequent utilization of caps lock, lots of lists, parentheticals, and references to completely irrelevant stuff.
55. I will go to fantastic lengths to avoid having to talk to someone over the phone.
56. I love to list, sort, alphabetize, categorize, and organize. In my past life I was a Rolodex.
57. I dress like I stood in front of an exploding Crayola factory. I have come to terms that no one will ever take me seriously as an adult because of this.
58. My clothes are organized in ROYGBIV fashion in my closet.
59. I have a really, really hard time with change. The concept, not the coins.
60. I can’t do simple math in my head. I’ve never been able to. Ask me what 7 + 6 is and I’ll sit there for an unnaturally long period of time before I eventually give you an answer.
61. Because of this, I use a calculator to check ridiculously simple calculations. “What’s seven minus two? BREAK OUT THE TI-83!”
62. In second grade I spent half the school year with a refrigerator box around my desk with a little window cut out of it so I could see what was going on during class. I have no idea why they let me get away with that.
63. I’m horrible with money. If you were to meet me outside the store and ask me how much I just spent, I couldn’t tell you. I never pay attention to the total.
64. I spend waaaaaaay too much time on the internet. So much so that I sometimes think in memes (e.g., “Bathroom! Y U no clean yourself?”).
65. It really bugs me when people say they’re “20 something” or “30 something” for their age. Just say your damn age.
66. I’ve moved houses at least once every 12 months since 2006. In my lifetime, I’ve moved nearly 30 times (most of those within one town).
67. Apart from the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, I have “bombed” every standardized test I’ve ever had to take. That’s talent.
68. I use Internet Explorer and I am not ashamed.
69. I had a major crush on Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast when I was a kid. Yes, the crush was for him in candelabra form, not human form. Yes, I was a weird child. What can I say? He was hot. Literally.
70. Dragonflies terrify me.
71. On every New Year’s Eve I find a quiet moment to go sit by myself and cry for a bit. For some reason, I find the passing of a year is extremely sad .
72. I am quite possibly the least photogenic person on this planet. Do you know how many shots it took me to get that semi-decent picture I have up for this blog? Hundreds. Literally.
73. I hate cell phones/talking on the phone/having to listen to other peoples’ obnoxiously loud phone conversations in public places. I’m also not a big fan of texting and Facebook. KIDS THESE DAYS.
74. I always have to have a way to be able to tell what time it is.
75. My favorite period of world history is the European Age of Enlightenment. My favorite period of U.S. History is the American Revolution.
76. My favorite book plot-wise is The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk, my favorite book character-wise is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and my favorite book stylistically is Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov.
77. I’m pretty sure being forced to read To Kill A Mockingbird one more time would cause my brain to implode. I hate that book so much.
78. I wrote a lot of Star Wars fanfic in 1^st grade.
79. When I’m in the mood to sing along with my music, I generally like to sing some sort of harmony rather than the straight-up melody.
80. Calculus is absolutely fantastic. Calculus + Claudia = happiness.
81. Algebra + Claudia = I don’t know, ‘cause I can’t do algebra.
82. Apparently I scowl a lot. It’s like my default face. I don’t do it on purpose, but it takes a lot of conscious effort not to. If that makes any sense.
83. I remember the first time I realized that I was an autonomous being that could make life-changing choices and could essentially do with my life what I wanted. That was simultaneously the greatest and worst feeling in the world.
84. A cat we took in off the street pretty much adopted me when I was little (3 or 4) and used to follow me around wherever I toddled. She died one night on my bed as I sat awake crying. That night affected me more than a lot of the stuff that’s happened in the past couple of years.
85. I’m afraid of failure, solar flares, and Google. All are completely rational fears, I can assure you.
86. If I’m writing a formal paper, I need to create an extensive outline. If I’m writing fiction, I need to stay away from outlines entirely if the story’s going to be any good.
87. Scrabble is my favorite non-computer game.
88. I’m not a vegetarian, mainly because I don’t believe in valuing the lives of more “advanced” beings (pigs, cattle, etc.) over the lives of “simpler” beings (plants). This does not mean, however, that I support the animal cruelty that is so unfortunately synonymous with the U.S. beef/dairy/poultry/etc. industries.
89. I went to a Catholic elementary school. Quite an experience for a non-Catholic.
90. I think I have an abnormally frequent occurrence of double and triple numbers in my life, like 22 and 444 and 77 and such. Heck, I was born on 2/2/88.
91. Politics (generally) bore me.
92. I am rarely without my headphones and iPod.
93. I lived with four guys my last year of undergrad. We took Rock Band more seriously than our school work, bought out the dollar store every Friday night, won the war against the mice that were invading our house, and slacked off more than any college students should while still being able to graduate. It was the best year of my life.
94. I was lucky and got blessed with two parents who are absolutely fantastic.
95. I sleep 4 to 5 hours a night most nights.
96. Gordon Freeman is my favorite video game character, hands down.
97. However, I can’t pick between Quake, Fallout 3, or the original Half-life as my favorite video game.
98. I can identify any song in my music collection within the first five seconds or so.
99. As eloquent as I try to be when I speak and write, my inner dialogue is akin to that of a semi-inebriated frat boy (“Aright, ya gotta remember the derivative for the natural log, mang.” “Bro, you totally gotta go turn the heat down on your boiling water before that shit gets hella narsty!” “Dudemiester, you’re teaching in five minutes, better hustle it up!” etc.)
100. I unabashedly love Gottfried Leibniz. The reasons are many.