August 15, 2005

100 Things about The Beaver

I wrote 100 things about myself three years ago - and most of them are still true. I thought this would be a perfect introduction.

I have updated the list on July 1st, 2007.

  1. The Beaver is the official Canadian mascot. I got my nickname the Beaver Hare when I got baptized by the Senegal Sunday Hash House Harriers.
  2. My true name will never be published on this blog, but you can call me Marie.
  3. Before the movie came out, I was a huge Tolkien fan. I read The Lords of the Rings in a week.
  4. My Hobbit name is Tigerlily Sandydowns.
  5. I'm 6 feet tall, so I don't look like a hobbit, though my feet are hairy.
  6. My Elven name is Tári Eärfalas.
  7. I weigh more than I should, so I'm definitely not an elf.
  8. I play Dungeons and Dragons. And no, I do not take myself for Tári Eärfalas, the 16th level elven mage/warrior.
  9. I started going out to clubs at 16, stopped at 23 and started again at 27.
  10. I hate drinking beer.
  11. I love wine.
  12. I do not use drugs.
  13. I'm addicted to Ice Cream.
  14. I stole an ashtray at a hotel when I was 16.
  15. I was born one hour too late to be born on the first day of spring.
  16. I've been 25 years old for the last 4 years.
  17. I'm older then I look.
  18. I was born in Montreal. The doctor who supervised my birth was Congolese (RDC).
  19. My eyes are blue when I cry, grey when I'm bored, and green when I'm in love.
  20. My hair used to be platine blond as a baby. Now it's venitian blond.
  21. I have no tatoos or piercings. I'd love to develop the nerve to get a tatoo though.
  22. I own 5 pairs of shoes and always wear the same pair.
  23. I died my hair red once. Nobody noticed.
  24. I would never shave my head.
  25. I own 2 pairs of jeans and 1 cargo. I never wear anything else, except for work.
  26. My worst fear is to loose everything.
  27. When I'm home alone and it's dark outside, I get paranoid that a stalker will come and stare through my windows.
  28. If I could, I'd go into space. And be afraid.
  29. I wouldn't bungee jump even if you paid me to.
  30. I'm very loyal to my friends.
  31. If I could choose my own death, I'd die for love.
  32. Last time I thought of committing suicide, the thought of causing pain to my loved ones was enough to stop me.
  33. I'm jealous of those who manage to lead fulfilling lives. I try to let them inspire me.
  34. I'm a very carnal person. I love to touch and be touched. But not by just anyone !
  35. When new people come in my life, I get all happy and excited.
  36. I studied the piano for 10 years and professional singing for 3 years. I've done a few shows but was never in a band.
  37. I never had a favorite band because I got introduced to pop culture only at the age of 18. Really like Pink Floyd though.
  38. I kill plants. Don't give me something in a pot, because despite my best efforts, in a few weeks it'll be dead.
  39. I'm obsessive compulsive about ice cream, sci-fi series, and blogging. My short attention span usually saves me from being truly addicted, though.
  40. I like to read thrillers that are well built and correspond a a political reality. Like Robert Ludlum's for example.
  41. Horror movies freak me out.
  42. I've never hurt somebody with intent.
  43. If evil means Every Violet Instantly Lives, then I'm evil. If it means Every Villain Is a Loser, I want to join the club too.
  44. I have a tendency to go skinny-dipping when ever possible.
  45. I only go to McDonald's to use the toilets.
  46. I've been doing my laundry by hand by choice for 2 years. It doesn't bother me.
  47. If I were to belong to a subculture, I'd say I'm a hippie, man.
  48. I want the war in Iraq to stop.
  49. I beleive in reincarnation. I'm sure that every person that's meaningful in my life today, I met in a previous life.
  50. I want war not to exist altogether, but at the same time I know it can't happen.
  51. am not fundamentally a violent person.
  52. My favorite movie of all times is La Belle Histoire. It tells the great adventure and examines with a magnifying glass the love at first sight that happened between two individuals who met and loved two thousand years ago. Now in comtemporary times, their love remained intact. Two thousand years of hardship for one second of eternity. The director is a frenchman called Claude Lelouch. He's a genius.
  53. I understood I truely loved Dave while watching this particular movie with him 10 years ago.
  54. I beleive in soul mates. I found mine and live with him.
  55. I beleive in love at first sight. However, I don't beleive it lasts forever.
  56. The longest relationship I've been in lasted 4 years. I'd know him since I was 17.
  57. My favorite song is "Come what may" from the movie Moulin Rouge. I like it because it speaks of unconditionnal love.
  58. I secretly watch reality shows. And actually shed a tear. And actually feel shame for the whole thing.
  59. My favorite food is Chicken French Guyana - style. It involved bamboo sprouts, onion, and a molasses-based sauce which my mother buys in France. The only 2 people that I know who can make it are my mum and my cousin. I haven't had it in 5 years and now i'm a vegetarian so....
  60. My favorite cocktail is the hard-on, a shooter that the barman at Ozio could make : it involved bailey's, kalua and tia maria.
  61. My favorite smell is the smell of humid moss in the North of France. Shorltly behind is the smell of bakery cooking.
  62. My favorite color is blue. I think it's because I love blue skies and water. Or maybe I love them because they're blue.
  63. My favorite moment in the day is sunset.
  64. My least favorite moments in the day are going to bed and waking up.
  65. I'm hyperactive.
  66. The most broke I've ever been was when I had lemons and water for dinner. I never asked anyone for money though.
  67. I used to own a 1991 Corolla. She's had everything redone, so I expected her to last at least another 5 years. My plan was to drive her until she fell apart on the road - but now that i travel 100% I managed to sell it.
  68. I've never been to jail and don't plan to, being an attorney and all...
  69. The shortest period of employment was a receptionist gig when I was 16. The standard was receiving 500 calls a day. I quit after the first 2 hours.
  70. My dream job would be to be a private detective and wear a trenchcoat a la Dick Tracy. My other dream jobs would be to represent Canada at the UN general assembly, to be a chocolate-taster at Godiva, or an Ice-Cream-taster at Haagen Dasz.
  71. The worst job I could ever get would be President of the United States. (ohhh the responsibility...) It would be worst then picking up garbage.
  72. I hate selling stuff. I once begged someone not to buy something I was selling. It really was a crappy product.
  73. (yes, that's me, chewing on a pipe!) When I was a little girl in Burkina faso, I had a pet chimp called Cheetah, how original! She was kinda sweet and very bent on trying to remove stuff from our hair. Anyway, it's cool to say I had a monkey as a kid, but my mum would tell you it was a whole lot of work keeping the garden clean. Eventually she became nuts and was taken away (not my mum, the monkey).
  74. When I was 7, I used to play-pretend star wars (as in episodes 4-5-6) and I always was Leia and Nick and Nico (my neighbors in DKR) would be like Han Solo and Luke Skywalker and double casted as the Emperor and Darth Vador.
  75. I used to dream that Peter Pan came to take me with him. I still do sometimes.
  76. I never had any brothers and sisters. So I'm very close to my parents.
  77. When my dad died 3 years ago, most of my friends didn't know what to do with it, so they just didn't react. I don't blame them, but would have loved to have someone who would just come by and hang out with me, even in silence... This taught me that when we lose someone we love, it takes a lot of time to grieve and accept the loss. And that no matter how horrible it is at first, it turns out fine in the end...
  78. I still miss my dad.
  79. I consider myself lucky to have had the parents I had. They taught me about honor, justice and loyalty.
  80. I talk to my mum every two weeks. I see her twice a year. It's not enough.
  81. When I was 10, I witnessed a coup and political instability. My reaction was to keep busy and do stuff at home.
  82. My mother tongue is French. I learned English at age 10 through immersion at an american high school in Burkina Faso that lasted 3 years.
  83. Racism and sterotypes make me angry.
  84. My temper got me in trouble more then once.
  85. My temper got me out of trouble more then once.
  86. My father was adopted. He was beleived to be of Irish descent. My mother is French of France. Her family is beleived to be of Viking descent.
  87. I love learning new languages. I wish I could learn Gallic, or Breton, or Ancient Egyptian, and not have to tell people why I'm studying a language deemed dead or useless.
  88. That makes me 50% Celt and 50% Viking. Which means in pre-medieval times I would have fought naked and covered in ritual tatoos, but weilding a huge battle-axe. It explains a lot about my temper.
  89. I cuss when I'm angry.
  90. Though I may feel the urge once in a while, I could never bring myself to bring an end to one's life of my own initiative. If I killed someone accidently, I don't know how I'd deal with the guilt. I might kill to protect my loved ones though. It might kill me, too, in the process.
  91. I don't respond well to threats. I deal well with constructive criticism.
  92. My weapon of choice when fighting is biting.
  93. I'm a hot-head ascendant travel freak.
  94. The list of places I'd like to visit is very long, but amongst others : Thailand, Australia, New-Zealand, Guadeloupe, Scotland, the Czech Republic, Russia, Singapour, California, Barcelona, Mexico, the Grand Canyon...
  95. I went to Paris over 10 times and never went to the third floor of the Eiffel Tower.
  96. I've lived in Canada 12 years and the furthest East I went is Miscou Island (New-Brunswick) - Furthest east is Toronto.
  97. I went to London twice and never saw Buckingham Palace.
  98. Now I live nowhere - I am a NOMAD - and I am desperate to settle down - but WHERE? The world is SO great !
  99. If I had to pick a place and a time to live, I'd be a 19th-century poet. (This one's Nelligan, a French Canadian poet of the golden era of poetry.)
  100. Every word I put down here is meant to be read by the world.

The Beaver

9 comments:

Beaver said...

Actually, Marie's my name in the "real world". It's just that my "legal" official name is not Marie. Actually, you'd have to meet my mum to find out. She's the only one to use it still.

Tina said...

What an awesome post!! Did you use a template or did you just come up with 100 facts about yourself?

I would never shave my head either, but I've threaten more than once.

"Last time I thought of committing suicide, the thought of causing pain to my loved ones was enough to stop me." Picturing my mom crying over my casket because I was too selfish to deal with my problems always kept me alive.

Sometimes it's nice to see that someone else has some of the same ideas as you. Thanks.

007 in Africa said...

I have soooo many comments but will spare you and choose selected few:

"I believe in reincarnation. I'm sure that every person that's meaningful in my life today, I met in a previous life."--you know, so do I. It's kind of dorky but I feel that if people instantly get along (you know that feeling), then they must have been great friends in another life.

"I was born in Montreal. The doctor who supervised my birth was Congolese (RDC)"--no way! How odd and what a coincidence! Did we met already in another life? :)

"Last time I thought of committing suicide, the thought of causing pain to my loved ones was enough to stop me"--very well put. Same thing happened to me. I figured it was a werid thought but now I guess it isn't.

"The shortest period of employment was a receptionnist gig when I was 16. The standard was receiving 500 calls a day. I quit after the first 2 hours"--so funny! I was a receptionist for 5 months before I quit. Wish I had the guts to do quit much sooner!

"My temper got me out of trouble more then once"--I can attest to that, you saved our asses from dicey situations in Senegal.

Linda Jones Malonson said...

Beaver this is awesome! Ha ha ha ... I bite in a fight too! Suffice it to say .. you are a very nice person, one that I am happy to get to know. Oh ... I too would like to know if you use a template?

Beaver said...

Tina : Thanks ! (Glad you came out of lurk mode, by the way !) Yeah, I'm sure my cranium had a beautiful round shape, but somehow, I really don't want to share it with the world.

007 : Of course we met in another life! I never doubted it ! Hmmm I miss being hassled in Senegal... it was a great outlet !

Amias : thanks, you too :)

By the way, I'm honored that you guys took the time to read such a long, egotistic post. It took a long time to write, and it was an interesting exercise to do. I didn't use a template, but I did inspire myself from an online-are-you-bored survey. Many points just flowed from a previous one. Others I got from previous comments I made on 007 and RHJ's blogs. The hobbit and Elven names were RHJ's idea.

Can you tell that this girl really inspires me ? :)

Xolo said...

I enjoyed your list.

You live a fascinating life...

cityangelz said...

Hey.. Great post!! Loved it.. Especially since it helps me get to know you better.. I'm kinda in the middle of writing my own list too after seeing a few of these lists in blogs but so far haven't had the time to finish.. Maybe soon??

cheers,
siti

Anjamon said...

Wow! Your life is really cool! And you've been in Parise over 10 times? I would love to go to Parise! Can you take me with you next time when you go? :)

Blesssed be,
Anya!

Anonymous said...

Marie,

stumbled upon your blog while trying to finish an assignment for school - preety interesting. Im from rwanda and been in montreal for eight years. I love this city with all my heart buy i yearn for the african sun, the dusty roads and the noisy markets. bonne chance dans tout.