16 August 2003 | 11:12 a.m.,

the 101 thing

INTRO TO ZARA - 101

well not quite 101 things yet but getting there. Finally copied this over from my old diary. There is a proper entry before this one..

1. I’m an only child

2. I was born on 28th June 1975 in Irvine Scotland. I’ve never lived in any other country

3. The furthest away I have ever lived was Edinburgh on the east coast, 2 hours away. I stayed there for 3 years while in college and still feel more at home there than in the town I have lived in for 20 years

4. I have a BSc in Applied Food Science with Marketing.

5. I didn’t want to go to my college graduation but I did and it was one of the most boring days of my life

6. I’m 5’6” and 9 ½ stone - apparently I have a BMI of 22.5 so can’t grumble. I would like to tone up though

7. I never wear skirts. Last time I wore one was for my last job interview about 5 years ago

8. I haven’t worn a dress since my friends 21st birthday party in 1995 and it was some hideous flowery thing. Yuck. I must have had PMS when I bought that...

9. I passed my driving test on the second attempt, nine years ago. On my first attempt I had 5 big black crosses [getting one is a fail], one of them for running a red light

10. I’ve never had a speeding ticket or parking ticket & only one car accident which was the other persons fault cos they drove into the back of me at a junction.

11. Bad drivers is one of my biggest pet peeves and I swear a LOT more when I am driving. Other peoples driving sometimes scares me but mainly I just hate people who try to skip in front by going in the wrong lane, or don’t signal, or cut me up. Or drive while on their mobile phones.

12. I have a needle phobia and I also hate heights and enclosed lifts. Given the option I will always take the stairs.

13. I don’t have anything pierced. I had my ears done for my 21st but let them close up without ever wearing anything but the original sleepers. The idea of sticking sharp objects through a small hole in my skin grossed me out

14. My name means “of the moors”. And it rhymes with stuff like weather and feather and blether. very annoying

15. I learned German in school for 3 years but the only thing I can say now is “whats the best way to the hospital, my car is broken and I have food poisoning” which so far has never proved useful.

16. I also speak a small amount of French. a very small amount

17. I work in a meat processing factory and I’ve been there for 5 years as of this month (Jan 2003)

18. my job is “quality control assistant”. I check lots of stuff, like temperatures. oxygen levels in the packets, all the label information - price, weights, barcodes, whether they scan properly, - whether metal detectors are functioning properly etc etc. Its quite mundane and boring but I work with a lot of nutters so it can be a good laugh.

19. Some of the metal detectors have it in for me, I swear. They throw packets off just to piss me off.

20. I’ve driven 3 cars (all inherited from my family) - an X reg Datsun Cherry [bright yellow], a C reg Ford Fiesta and now a N reg Citreon AX

21. My first alcoholic drink was a glass of Russian Champagne when I was 14. It was minging..

22. I can be very very giggly. Particularly when I have had too much caffeine or if I am really tired. On a bad day I will start laughing at something and I’ll just have a fit of the giggles that gets worse and worse the more people ask me what I am laughing at. I was recently told by a guy at work that I am one of the most pleasant women he knows there cos I’m always giggling. Which of course made me giggle.

23. I have been told that I have a dry wit. I think that means I’m sarcastic which my friend seems to think is a good thing. I’m not so sure

24. Sports I like to watch: athletics, tennis, Formula 1, Scottish rugby internationals and I love the Olympics, Commonwealth Games etc

25. Sports I don’t like to watch: cricket, horseracing, football, boxing

26. I have only ever been to 1 concert and that was the Wet Wet Wet “All Around and in the Crowd” tour at the SECC in Glasgow in 1995. Marti Pellow was looking good though!

27. I love musicals. So far I’ve been to see Grease, Phantom of the Opera, Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and Starlight Express.

28. I have a small scar on my lip from when I walked into a rose bush when I was a toddler. I didn’t actually notice I had it till I was in my teens though

29. I also have a scar on my right index finger from when I split it open with a razor blade when I was 6. The blade was in one of those boxes that you dispose of them in and aren’t supposed to be able to get them back out. Obviously I did though.. The scar gives me the wiggins

30. I love sunsets

31. My favourite photo that I’ve taken was of the sunset from Oban overlooking the Isle of Mull when I was there a couple of years ago. I used it in my diaryland layout for a long time

32. I love taking photographs

33. I have an unnatural dependency on the postman. Getting mail makes me happy

34. I have about 20+ penpals & been writing letters since I was 9.

35. The longest I have ever written anyone was 9 years

36. I hate tourists who describe Scotland as “quaint” or “cute”. Urgh

37. I collect postcards

38. I love to travel. So far I have been to Paris, Munich, Amsterdam, Ireland, Croatia, Vienna, Canada, Ibiza, Brussels, Prague, Dinard (France) and all over the UK

39. The first time I travelled solo was to London for a few days

40. My first foreign solo trip was to Paris earlier this year. Its my third favourite city. After Edinburgh & London

41. When I was 16 I spent the whole summer in Canada with my mums sister and her family. I loved it :) I’ve been dying to go back ever since

42. Grapefruit juice always makes me want to sneeze although I can eat grapefruits no problem

43. I totally went OFF grapefruits however when I started eating a pink one once and noticed a kind of worm thing on it that was the same colour as the grapefruit so I could have eaten it. Yuck! Haven’t touched one since then

44. I have naturally curly [read: frizzy and uncontrollable] hair

45. I don’t like tattoos. Especially those big ones blokes get on their forearms. Ugly. Plus it just makes me think of the needles it must have taken to get it done.

46. I have a kind of obsession with Sanrio stationery, particularly Hello Kitty and Chococat. But I can’t buy it anywhere up here so always stock up when I go to London

47. I have shopaholic tendancies but I like a bargain so I don’t tend to spend that much.

48. My favourite shop is Boots. I have gotten so many free things with my loyalty card points I could open a Boots store myself but still currently have £27 worth of points

49. I love buying CDs and books

50. I’m a huge fan of Buffy and Angel. I have all the Angel videos and 4 ½ series of Buffy

51. My favourite childrens book was “White boots” by Noel Streatfield.

52. The first grown up book [ie: not Enid Blyton or Nancy Drew] I read was “Nine Coaches Waiting” by Mary Stewart and its still a favourite of mine

53. My favourite books now are the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella and Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

54. I seriously love chick-lit especially Marian Keyes, Sophie Kinsella, Wendy Holden, Victoria Routledge and a whole bunch of others

55. I also love Dean Koontz, Agatha Christie & Dick Franis

56. I have never in my life read or studied anything by Shakespeare

57. I love the pizza hut buffet lunches

58. My fave pizza topping is pepperoni

57. I’m a bit of a TV/movie sountrack junkie

58. I have an inexplicable morbid fascination for the JFK assasination and have read three books on the subject [one of them twice]

59. Given my love of shopping, the one thing I hate shopping for is shoes

60. My all time favourite films are Before Sunrise & The Truth About Cats & Dogs

61. The first film I saw in the cinema was Snow white and the seven dwarfs when I was 4 years old. my mum took me and my friend Ian and apparently we tried out nearly every seat in the cinema before finally settling down.

62. The first film I remember going to the cinema to see was ET when I was about 7

63. I hate anything with mayonnaise or vinegar or pickles on it. It always exasperates me when I can never find a pre-packed sandwich that is on white bread and doesn’t have mayonnaise or a salad that doesn’t have some gross vinegar/mayo based dressing.

64. I once met Sean Connery & Kevin Keegan playing golf at Turnberry Golf Course. Kevin [first name terms now you know!} was super nice but I’ve never had time for Sean Connery since then. He seemed rude. I have both their autographs on the back of a dental appointment card which was all my mum had at the time.

65. The first CD I ever owned was Five Star - Silk & Steel. I’d like to think my taste has improved since then.

66. I broke my mums nose with my head. I was 5 and it was an accident and its now a running joke at my work - mess with me and I'll headbutt you like I did my mum!!

67. I’ve never had an imaginary friend

68. I always read my stars even though I tell everyone I don’t believe in them and only read them to find out what’s NOT going to happen to me

69. that said, the personality traits and so on for cancer are usually pretty accurate for me. I’m overly hypersensitive and moody and take the slightest negative comment as complete rejection while getting overly happy at any good news, however unimportant.

70. I’m obsessed with getting text messages on my mobile phone. I love when it bleeps.

71. my favourite colour is purple. hence my phone has a pink & purple stripy cover.

72. all the foods I love are totally unhealthy - ice cream, pizza, macaroni cheese, sausage rolls, pies, cheese, chocolate cake. And I hate things like cottage cheese and celery and anything wholemeal

73. My middle name is Moira, after my mums twin sister

74. I don’t like tea, coffee, beer or wine

75. I’d love a VW Beetle altho I used to want a purple MGf convertible

76. I don’t often wear perfume

77. the only makeup I ever wear is lipstick or lipgloss. I have no idea how to put on foundation or eye makeup..

78. I’ve never had a pet

79. The nearest I have gotten to having a pet is my too plastic goldfish [battery operated, present from best mate] called Chandler & Monica

80. I don’t have an artistic bone in my body

81. I also don’t have a maternal bone in my body

82. I grew up listening to the Carpenters. My dad played his Carpenters tape in car pretty much everytime we went anywhere.

83. I had my first email address at college - ac3gall@itc.qmced.ac.uk

84. Top of my “must visit before I die” places is San Francisco. I’m just too gutless to go it alone

85. I also would love to go to Italy

86. I have an irrational fear of large airports. I always think I’m going to get totally lost and end up missing my plane.

87. This is in part due to me once missing a bus home from Amsterdam by 3 hours because I was convinced it was at 10am when it had left at 7am. Not my crowning moment. If it hadn’t been for my friends cool reaction I’d probably STILL be sitting on the pavement outside the Rijksmuseum having a nervous breakdown at my stupidity.

88. I’m good with maps though. And my sense of direction is pretty good.

89. my favourite non-diaryland website is http://www.virtualtourist.com

90. my favourite female singer for the last fwe years has been Beverly Knight. I just think she has an amazing voice