400

You know I can't resist a list. This is my 400th post. And here are 400 things about me. I was going to make them totally random, but as the list progressed¹, I ended up grouping things and having several lists of "the 10 (or 15 or 25) most recent...", which I freely admit are kind of filler, because 400 is a big number, dammit! But it still gives you some insight into me and publishing the most mundane things about oneself is what the internets was designed for, isn't it?

It's a very long post, so I suggest you sit down with a nice cold diet Pepsi (or possibly an orange mocha frappichino) and settle in for a wild ride in the psyche of Dr. B. To make it easier on you, I've hyperlinked on all the footnotes (and, when you are done reading a given footnote, just click on it and it will bring you back to where you were in the list.). You're welcome.

OK, without further ado (I'm *so* sick of ado already!), here are 400 things. If you actually read them all, you are almost as crazy as I am.

My Childhood

1. When I was little, we had two dogs. Their names were Brandy and Gin. Which is funny, because my parents are both teetotallers. They were both of the same breed, Dandie Dinmont Terriors. I thought they were called "Brandy Didn't Want Ontario." Apparently I really was always meant to live in BC.


2. For a brief period, I truly believed that my name was spelled Beht.


3. My first bed was a brass bed. I wanted one because one of my aunts had one and I thought it was sooo cool.


4. When I was 3 years old, I could count to 101. I believed that 101 was the highest possible number - it did not occur to me that something could come after 101.


5. Also at 3 years of age, I memorized my favourite book, "Donkey Daniel in Bethlehem," because I made my mom read it to me so many times. I would flip the pages and recite the words and I honestly believed that I was reading. Until I tried to read another book - I opened it up and was very upset when I didn't know the words. I remember thinking "Oh no! I've forgotten how to read!"


6. I attended kindergarten three times. OK, that's not as bad as it sounds. My sister was 2 grades above me and my mom volunteered to help out in my sister's kindergarten class, so she just brought me along and I took part in all the kindergarten class activities. The next year, my mom volunteered to help out in the special needs class, so the kindergarten teacher said that I could just go and play in the kindergarten class while my mom was volunteering. The next year was my actual year in kindergarten.


7. Because I attended kindergarten three times, I read my school's entire book collection for kindergarten, grade 1 and grade 2 by the end of own my kindergarten year. I remember reading a grade 2 book with a purple monster on the cover at the end of kindergarten, although I have no idea what the book was called.


8. The nickname my family gave me very early on in childhood was "Messy Bessy." Anyone who knows me will understand how this came to be.


9. When she wanted us to behave, my mom would tell us that we better be good or "I'll rip your face off." My mom had long nails and I was pretty sure that she could actually do this.


10. ChiPs was my favourite show when I was a kid. I *loved* Erik Estrada. Loved!


11. My mother told me and my sister that if we drank directly from the water tap, a snake would come out of the tap and go right down our throats. We believed her.


12. I was sure that I would grow up to be the first women to play major league baseball.

Academic Stuff

13. In my undergrad, I majored in Biochemistry


14. While majoring in Biochemistry, I minored in Drama


15. I can legitimately put all of the following letters after my name: B.Sc(Hons), M.Sc., Ph.D.


16. I have current or past memberships in 11 academic organizations


17. In the 6 years of my PhD, I only had to take 18 credits (3 credits = a one semester class)


18. I had straight As in my graduate work (Masters and PhD)


19. I did not have straight As in my undergrad. In fact, I had a few really dismal marks²
    
20. I have only been to 9 university campuses


21. I attended 3 campuses of those as a student


22. I have taught students from kindergarten all the way through to university professors


23. I have won three teaching awards


24. I have won 17 academic awards


25. I accumulated over $70,000 of student debt


26. I was a postsecondary student for 11 years


27. I am trained in Radionucleotide Safety and Methodology


28. I was required to take Chemical Safety Training at all three universities I attended, as no university seems to recognize each others's training, despite the fact that WHMIS (the core of what was taught in each training session) is a national program.


29. I have judged in two national science fairs


30. I was mistaken for a student at one of those science fairs (the students are in high school and I was 28 years old at the time)

My Family

31. I have one sister


32. I have one niece


33. I have two living grandparents


34. I have 6 biological uncles


35. I have 6 biological aunts


36. I have 14 first cousins


37. 3 of those first cousins are named Robert


38. I have 9 first cousins once removed


39. The youngest of those first cousins once removed is only 5 days old!


40. I will have 1 first cousin twice removed in August


41. When my first cousin twice removed is born in August, we will have 5 living generations on my dad's side of the family (great-great-grandparents, great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, kid)


42. My parents still live in the same house they were in when I was born



Anthropometrics

43. I'm 5 ft tall


44. I'm 5 ft 4 when I wear my boots, my ebay shoes or my new red platforms!


45. I have blue eyes


46. I am constantly asked if I am wearing coloured contacts. For the record, I am not.


47. I naturally have brown hair, but right now it is a reddish-blondish colour


48. I'm not telling you my weight, but it is within the healthy BMI range


49. I wear size 6 shoes


50. I wear junior boys hockey equipment


51. I'm still wearing glasses that I bought 7 years ago, despite the fact that my prescription has changed several times and my glasses have been stepped on and thus are crooked on my face.


52. My proper prescription is -7.5 in one eye and -9.0 in the other



My Addiction to the Internet

53. I have 8 email addresses


54. I write on 3 blogs


55. I have 4 computers in my house


56. 3 of those computers actually work


57. 2 of those 3 computers I typically have running 24/7.


58. I created a wiki for my family's Christmas wish list


59. My current Technorati rank is 237,134


60. I have 167 Facebook friends (almost all of whom I actually know in real life!)


61. I have 1407 pictures posted on Flickr


62. I am currently using 40% of my 2871 MB of storage in Gmail



Food



63. I'm a lacto-ovo vegetarian


64. I take my coffee black with sweetener


65. I take my tea with sweetener and soymilk


66. My favourite food is, and always has been, French fries


67. I also enjoy French fries's fancy cousin, poutine


68. I love dark chocolate; milk chocolate, not so much


69. I prefer diet Pepsi to diet Coke


70. I know how aspartame is metabolized in the body, and no, it won't give you MS, brain tumours or minor heart explosions.


71. If I had to pick a favourite vegetable (not counting French fries), I think I'd say asparagus


72. If I had to pick a favourite fruit, pineapple (or possibly mango)


73. I dislike pie crust; I prefer to eat the filling from the pie and leave the crust.


74. I believe that cake is merely a vehicle for icing
    

Physical Activity



75. Hockey is hands down my favourite sport to play


76. I was once the highest scorer on my hockey team, despite having the worst shot in the history of the sport. My secret: get in good position in front of the net and wait for one of the good players to pass me the puck.


77. I played softball as a kid from about ages 7-13 (or maybe 14... can't quite remember). Since then, I haven't played until this year


78. The first time I ever surfed was on my 30th birthday trip to Tofino


79. Since grade school, I have run in three races: a 5K, a 10K and a half marathon.


80. As a kid, I took 3 karate lessons. There was a special promo where you could get 3 lessons for $10. I quite enjoyed it, but my parents did not enroll me in any lessons after that.


81. I have learned the following types of dance at some point in my life (and to varying degrees of success): salsa, merengue, square, pole and two-step.


82. I took swimming lessons up to pre-bronze.³ I was too young to move on to bronze at that point, and I never ended up going back to it once I was old enough.


83. I spent a few years on my hometown's swim team as a kid; my favourite race was the butterfly, because so few people entered that race that sometimes you could win a medal simply for being one of the three kids in that competition.


84. I firmly believed that being an alternate on the track & field team in elementary school was the best position on the team. No one ever got hurt on race day, which meant that I got the day off of school, got to sit in the sun eating freezies, and never had to exert any effort by actually running in a race.


85. I've done the Grouse Grind a grand total of three times


86. My hiking goals for this summer is to do the Grind at least 2 more times, Mount Seymour to first peak, the Chief, and Black Tusk.



Things I Like (in no particular order)

87. lists


88. footnotes


89. juxtaposition


90. my niece


91. cheesecake


92. cats that act like dogs


93. dogs that act like dogs


94. Vancouver


95. Jager Bombs


96. platform heels


97. risotto


98. Stephen Colbert


99. my Treo


100. sunshine


101. Taylor Pyatt


102. my job


103. my other job


104. my third job


105. Indian food


106. my mitochondria



Things I Don't Like




107. Calgary
     
108. spiders
     
109. Nicholas Cage⁴
     
110. meat
     
111. the word "incentivize"
     
112. David Emerson


113. selfishness


114. the fact that I can only renew books from the Vancouver Public Library two times, even if no one else has requested the book


115. American cars


116. American beer


117. pain


118. jerks



Things on My Desk At Work Right Now




119. photo of my niece


120. photo of me with a bunch of friends


121. another photo of me with a bunch of friends


122. a computer


123. hand cream


124. file folder rack thingy


125. travel mug


126. water bottle


127. pen holder (with pens!)


128. box of business cards


129. pile of other people's business cards


130. stapler


131. staple remover


132. stamp that says "COPY"


133. yellow highlighter


134. pen


135. another pen


136. pencil


137. binder with notes from meetings


138. contact lists which I was too lazy to put back up on my corkboard


139. unopened packet of soy sauce


140. mess⁵




Provinces To Which I've Been



141. British Columbia


142. Alberta


143. Saskatchewan


144. Manitoba


145. Ontario


146. Quebec


147. Prince Edward Island




Fifteen of My Favourite Quotations



148. "If religions was based on scientific evidence it would be called "science"... and no one would believe it." -Stephen Colbert


149. "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." -Douglas Adams


150. "Death is the only thing that ever terrifies me... one can survive everything nowadays except that." -Lord Henry Wotton in The Picture of Dorian Gray


151. "It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied."-John Stuart Mill


152. "In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move." -Douglas Adams


153. "Creationists make it sound as though a 'theory' is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night."-Isaac Asimov


154. "Women need not always keep their mouths shut and their wombs open."-Emma Goldman


155. "A physicist is just an atom's way of looking at itself."-Niels Bohr


156. "As an adolescent I aspired to lasting fame, I craved factual certainty, and I thirsted for a meaningful vision of human life - so I became a scientist. This is like becoming an archbishop so you can meet girls". -M. Cartmill


157. "The advantage of a classical education is that it enables you to despise the wealth that it prevents you from achieving." -Russell Green


158. "The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." -George Bernard Shaw


159. "Sleep is wasted on the sleeping." -Nick Parlante


160. "Physics is not a religion. If it were, we'd have a much easier time raising money." -Leon Lederman


161. "I feel bad for the man that can't spell a word more than one way." -Mark Twain


162. "I don't want to achieve immortality through my work... I want to achieve it through not dying."-Woody Allen



Places I've Published



163. Bone


164. Alcohol


165. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research


166. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews


167. Bioteach


168. the internets




Every Pair of Footwear That I Own



169. black shiny heels


170. black matte heels


171. black shiny wedge heels with a strap around the ankle


172. my CFM boots


173. ebay shoes


174. red platform heels


175. brown, two thick straps, chunky heels that I bought in Seattle


176. Asics running shoes


177. Circa skater shoes


178. winter boots


179. hockey skates


180. rollerblades


181. strappy black wedge heels that I bought for my graduation


182. black Stoneridge sandals


183. brown strappy sandals with cork wedge heel


184. black flip flops


185. red flip flops


186. light blue Crocs


187. silver ballerina flats


188. black slip ons


189. black ankle high boots that are so worn I should really throw them away


190. silver shoes with the clear plastic heels that have lights inside that light up when you walk that Danielle would not leave the house with me if I was wearing them



Icons on My Laptop's Desktop



191. Recycle Bin


192. QuickTime Player


193. Internet Explorer


194. Adobe Reader 8


195. AVG Free (anti-virus software)


196. InterVideo Win DVD


197. Firefox


198. Recovery Disc Creator


199. TOSHIBA Assist (I don't even know what this does)


200. Window Live Messenger


201. Window Media Play


202. Microsoft Outlook (which I *never* use at home)


203. Palm Desktop


204. Palm Quick Install


205. Documents To Go (also for Palm)


206. Eat Right Analysis (a diet analysis program)


207. Telus eCare (again, something I never use)


208. Flickr Uploadr


209. iTunes


210. blog.txt (a draft of this blog posting, which I was working on in Notepad, saved to desktop)


211. Skype
     

The Last 10 Books I've Read (or Am In The Process of Reading)



212. The Math Gene: How Mathematical Thinking Evolved and Why Numbers Are Like Gossip by Keith J. Devlin.


213. The Heathen's Guide to World Religions by William Hopper


214. Race Against Time by Stephen Lewis


215. Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder


216. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde


217. The Minority Report by Philip K. Dick


218. The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster by Bobby Henderson


219. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins


220. What to Eat by Marion Nestle


221. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace



The Last 5 Movies I Have Watched


222. Zoolander
     
223. Spider-Man 3


224. Day Watch


225. Die Hard with a Vengeance


226. Live Free or Die Hard



Last 25 Google Searches That Lead People to My Blog



227. gay bar pony seattle


228. longest gun name


229. telus bundle phone cell internet


230. funniest spam


231. funny names for IT geeks


232. what does not destroy me


233. crazy latest names


234. Canada eagle cam


235. dunk tank siren


236. Danielle needs


237. mon blog sexy


238. Vancouver women's ice hockey


239. 23 reasons why I am awesome [um, did they really think they'd find this on the web??]


240. sex playlist


241. stripper named Courtney


242. Canucks trade Jason King


243. sexy Beth


244. OSAP pays students every month [you wish!]


245. wear the fox hat


246. table of contents shows pages in Roman numerals


247. you have to excuse me I'm not at my best


248. clinic sex free


249. cut off salan calgary


250. Beth Kaede


251. icicle aphrodisiac⁶



The Last 25 Cities from Which My Blog Readers Have Come



252. Mountain View, California


253. Burnaby, BC


254. Toronto, Ontario


255. Farmingon, Connecticut


256. New York, New York


257. Livonia, Michigan


258. Seoul, Kyonggi-do,Korea


259. Linköping, Ostergotland, Sweden


260. Bangalore, Karnataka, India


261. Dearborn, Michigan


262. Berlin, Germany


263. Seattle, Washington


264. Delta, BC


265. Calgary, Alberta


266. Tyler, Texas


267. Asheboro, North Carolina


268. Greenville, South Carolina


269. Atlanta, Georgia


270. Ottawa, Ontario


271. Vancouver, BC


272. Herndon, Virgina


273. Naples, Floria


274. Allen, Texas


275. Thousand Oaks, California


276. Torino, Piemonte, Italy




The Last Ten People Who Have Written on My Facebook Wall




277. Kalev


278. Kelly


279. Ian


280. Lianna


281. Danielle


282. Dan


283. me


284. Kim


285. Clayton


286. Tenny



The Last 25 Songs I Listened to on my iPod



287. Fuck Her Gently by Tenacious D


288. From Blown Speakers by the New Pornographers


289. Material Girl by Madonna


290. In the Ghetto by Elvis Presley


291. Mr. Jones by the Counting Crows


292. Lips of an Angel by Hinder


293. Tainted Love by the Cure


294. Build Me Up Buttercup by NOFX


295. Ball and Chain by Social Distortion


296. Holy Virgin by Groove Coverage


297. Get Together by Madonna


298. Animals by Nickelback


299. Lucky Love by Ace of Base


300. You Oughta Know by Alanis Morisette


301. Sex Changes by the Dresden Dolls


302. Poison by Groove Coverage


303. Better Together by Jack Johnson


304. Little Bones by the Tragically Hip


305. Church of Hot Addiction by Cobra Starship


306. The Other Man by Sloan


307. The Anti-Racist Sing-a-Long by Closet Monster


308. Kiss Kiss by Groove Coverage


309. Promiscuous Girl by Nelly Furtado


310. In A Sweet Dream by Strata

The Last 25 People Who Emailed Me

311. Lori


312. Dave


313. Meenu


314. Nancy


315. Erika


316. Christel


317. Alison


318. The Georgia Straight


319. Jen


320. Lovey


321. Phillip


322. Lori


323. The Vancouver Public Library


324. Kalev


325. Carrie


326. Ziba


327. Jody


328. Theresa


329. Jason


330. John


331. Lincoln


332. JB


333. Pay Pal


334. Tanis


335. Balie


336. Shalu


337. Mike


338. Agatha
     

The Last 10 Pieces of Snail Mail That I've Received



339. bank statement


340. mail for my former roommate


341. mail for my former roommate's ex


342. bank statement from the other bank


343. free sample of shampoo


344. Visa bill


345. dentist visit reimbursement cheque from my health plan


346. optometrist visit reimbursement cheque from my health plan



347. junk mail about my Visa

348. AmEx bill

349. pension plan papers




The Last 9 Pieces of Snail Mail That I've Sent



350. signed contract for my new job teaching science to kids, sent to the employer


351. grad photo sent to my uncle and aunt⁷


352. postcard with a photo of me & Kelly running on it, sent to Kelly


353. postcard with a photo of me & Kelly running on it, sent to my sister & neice


354. postcard with a photo of me & Kelly running on it, sent to my mom & dad


355. postcard with a photo of me & Kelly running on it, sent to Danielle


356. birthday present sent to my sister


357. newspaper article sent to Danielle




The Last 15 Things I Ate⁸




358. authentic Dutch apple pie, made by my Dutch friend Christel


359. Cobb's Country Harvest Bread with cream cheese on it


360. spinach/chickepea/tofu/zucchini/carrots/green pepper curry with brown rice


361. refried beans, tomatoes, mushrooms and green onions in a whole wheat wrap


362. egg McMaster and a cup of coffee


363. veggie maki rolls, tempura, and teriaki tofu


364. Cobb's Country Harvest Bread, toasted with cream cheese and tea


365. an apple


366. a banana


367. veggie pakora, naan, pulao rice, Bombay Aloo and a mixed veggie dish that name of which I can't recall and which doesn't seem to be in their online version of their menu
     
368. ice cream bar and a diet Pepsi
     
369. toast with peanut butter & honey and tea


370. veggie burrito


371. salt & vinegar chips, chocolate & a diet pepsi (which I smuggled into the movie theatre)


372. egg McMaster and a cup of tea




The Last 25 Websites I Accessed




373. IMDB


374. wikipedia


375. dictionary.com


376. Image West hair


377. flickr


378. telusmobility


379. Global News


380. my work's website


381. Translink


382. Canucks.com


383. CFOX.com


384. Molson.com


385. CTV News website


386. Google Reader


387. Work Email


388. Hotmail


389. Young & the Restless spolier site


390. Environment Canada's weather forecast


391. Google Analytics


392. The Colbert Report on the Comedy Central website


393. Facebook


394. Stats Counter


395. My Blog


396. Blogger


397. Gmail




Random Stuff



398. There are 17 letters in my name.


399. My porn name is Brandy Mountainview


400. I am never, ever, ever doing something like this again. Why, oh why, do I get such stupid ideas into my head. I thought this would be easier than finding 200 sites to link to. I stand corrected.

¹ya, I've been working on this for a little while now, when I noticed that I was approaching my 400th blog posting. Yes, I do have a life, why do you ask?)

²I hate your analytical chemistry and first year physics!!


³ I don't know if they still use the colour categories like they did when I was a kid. Bronze was the first step of the lifeguarding qualifications, after you went through all the basic levels of swimming lessons - blue, orange, green, red, maroon, plaid, or whatever.


⁴I have an irrational hatred of Nicholas Cage. I don't know why I don't like him. I just don't


⁵So messy, in fact, that I nearly had to resort to calling my cell phone from my office phone to find it on my desk the other day


⁶ones that didn't make my most recent 25, but which I couldn't resist telling you about:

• get paid watch porn films
  
• middle aged women porn
  
• naked Aggies
  
• list of things and people that have pissed me off
  
• pre porn
  
• hands spontaneously started bleeding
  
• danielle rocks
  
• how to make danielle happy
  
• danielle needs needs [is it just me, or does someone have a Danielle obsession??]
  
• sperm all over moms boots
  
• [and my favourite] injured doing keg stand

⁷ I had sent grad photos to all my aunts andes, but this particular one was "returned to sender" because I'd forgotten to add the apartment # with the address. And apparently the post office couldn't figure out that they should just deliver it to the house where all the other mail at that address with the same name was going. So I had to re-send it. Way to go, Canada Post!


⁸Wow, compiling that list made me realize how crappy I've been eating lately. Yikes! They are going to want to take back my doctorate in Nutrition if I keep this up!