25 Things About Cheeks, Part 1 (1-10)

Thought about it a bit, and how my last post sort of went off topic and thought that a better way to start introducing myself might be through the "25 Things" list that has been popular.  Since it is 2 a.m., I am only going to post a list of 10 things about me and I will continue to add to it.

1. When I get into something, I really get into it.  For this reason, I often avoid getting too involved in stuff, even things that might benefit me.  For example, despite my great procrastination skills, when I dedicated time to my schoolwork, whether it was a particular assignment or class, I put all of my energy and focus into it.  It would be all I could think about, and I would keep working on the assignment until it was as perfect as I could make it.  I've always been this way, very "all or nothing," where I either put in a little bit of effort and sort of gloss over things or get way too involved.  It sounds a little nuts, but sometimes I avoid getting involved in things because I know that I will put too much effort into it.  This has helped me get through things though.  As you know, my college experience was miserable and lonely and the only way I was able to get through it was through occupying my mind playing World of Warcraft.  My boyfriend introduced me to the game during the summer before my junior year, and this escape really helped me deal with the distance and depression and get through it.  I either put a lot of energy in and play hours every day or I don't play at all.  I'm weird like that I guess.

2. I am mixed race.  I have to mention this, because as much as I hate the emphasis placed on race in our society, this is a prominent part of my life and provides the framework for my experiences and interactions with others.  I simply like to say that I am "mixed."  My mom's family is from Jamaica, but their specific heritage includes black, Chinese and Scottish.  In fact, several generations back on my mother's side part of my family was Jewish!  I think this is so cool, as I personally admire and respect the Jewish faith.  Somewhere along the way though, they converted to Christianity (I think missionaries).  Sigh.  More on that in a future post.  Anyway, my dad's side is Irish, English, and Dutch.  So my mom's family immigrated from Jamaica about 30 years ago.  My maternal grandfather - his family is Chinese but he was born and raised in Jamaica.  So he looks Chinese, understands some of the language, but is completely Jamaican.  My mom then, I guess is technically mixed, but in Jamaica, you just are Jamaican regardless of what color you are.

3. Continuing on the race issue - only a couple of people have ever been able to identify that I am mixed, but no one has been able to guess the mix.  I have been mistaken for Puerto Rican, Mexican, Indian, Hawaiian, Pakistani, Greek, white with a really good tan, and a couple others that I am blanking on at the moment.  It's pretty great.  I love being racially ambiguous, though it can get tiring explaining my whole background to every single person I meet.  Can't blame them though, they're just curious :)

4. I absolutely love studying astronomy.  Unfortunately I was not able to study this in college, but that's an entirely different story.  I am absolutely fascinated by the sheer size of our universe and love learning about the different things in it.

5.  I get migraines.  A lot.  They are triggered very easily, and by several known factors, as well as other unknown/random things.  I am most sensitive to smells and light.  Either one of these will trigger a bad one for me, particularly perfumes, colognes, scented candles, air fresheners, lotions, soaps, anything like this.  This sucks, mostly because it seems that nearly everyone likes to use heavily perfumed products so that things "smell good."  These things to me smell absolutely terrible, and can trigger a migraine within 5 minutes.  I do have medicine that helps a great deal though.  My migraines have gotten progessively worse over the last few years, but now I carry Maxalt-MLT with me, which makes a huge difference.  It tastes absolutely awful, and I gag everytime I take it (it melts in your mouth), but I try to suck on a piece of candy or take it with juice so that I can get the taste out of my mouth.  With this medicine as back-up, I have been able to go from completely non-functioning during a migraine attack to being able to continue with activities (though sometimes in moderation).  Unless it knocks me out, because sometimes it makes me sleepy.  Anyway, bottom line of that is that I deal with frequent migraines and I would like to explore what causes them, determine specific triggers, and then avoid those things when possible.

6. I am in a wonderful fun relationship with a great man, who I call Poopadoo.  Poopadoo and I have been dating for over 6 years now, and we have really been through a lot in our relationship.  We really treasure our relationship though, because we built it together without outside influence, and we truly love one another.  I am very happy that we are now beginning to plan our future together.  Poopadoo and I are proud of what we have, and we know what works for us.  <3

7.  This next one will sounds really crazy, but I hear music in my head 24/7.  Sometimes its annyoing, sometimes it doesn't bug me, and sometimes I'm not totally aware of it, but this is a result of me being a violinist.  Not much more to say, except that I'm not crazy, and I am aware that one composer eventually went crazy from hearing nothing but the constant tone A in his head for several years.  I think it was Bizet, but I'm not 100% sure on this.

8.  My favorite character from WoW is Arthas.  Arthas is like my role model.  That sounds bad, but I totally relate to him.  Some are sick of him, but I feel that he was really just misunderstood, and got swept up by his passions.  I totally understand him, where he came from, why he did most of the things he did, and honestly can't get enough of his story.  I am also, very aware of how tragic his story is, and how he was manipulated by Ner'zhul.  I have the book, Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, and I've watched all videos related to him.  I know all of his in-game appearances, and know most of them by heart.  I also absolutely love his voice in WoTLK.  The voice that Michael McConnohie does is perfect.  And sexy.  That's my dorky confession.  It's actually perfect though, because my boyfriend's favorite character is Jaina.  He always plays a caster - mage/priest/warlock and I always play a plate-wearing damage dealer - warrior, paladin, death knight.  Funny.

9. I don't know what I would do without my laptop.  I have had a laptop since college began, but got a huge upgrade last Christmas to a really nice entertainment/gaming laptop that I seriously carry with me everywhere.  This leads into my last item...

10.  I love the internet.  I love the access to information that it provides, and I love reading articles, blogs, and comments to learn about other people's opinions.

Okay, now its nearly 3 a.m. and I need to get some sleep.  Tomorrow I am going with my boyfriend to look at cars.  He is in the market for a new one.  Hopefully this post wasn't too long or too boring!  Part 2 to come.