1. As an expat living in a country I love, I know that I will never feel 100% at home in either place and will always feel that I’m being tugged back and forth between them in so many ways.
  2. I was very shy and socially awkward as a kid, and had a difficult time making friends. It got better as I got older, but I’m still shy, and quite often, I’m still the quietest person in the room/group – something many people who only know me online have a hard time believing.
  3. I have three different versions of the aria “Nessun Dorma” on my regular playlist, and no matter which version I listen to, it never fails to completely take over my senses and inspire me.
  4. On my recent return flight to Israel, I listened to Andrea Bocelli‘s “Sogno” four times in succession as the plane came in for a landing. It affects me in much the same way that “Nessun Dorma” does (and Bocelli’s version of “Nessun Dorma” is my favorite).
  5. When Bocelli sings certain songs in Italian, I can lose myself completely in the beauty. It overcomes me almost to the point of tears.
  6. I hate roller coasters, but rode the Air Grover kiddie roller coaster at Busch Gardens – Tampa six times in a row because my son wanted to. By the third time, I was able to open my eyes during the drops and turns.

    The Air Grover I rode was a roller coaster. Get your minds out of the gutter!

  7. The thought of losing my ability to write scares the hell out of me, and when I feel too much time goes by without being able to produce something (like now), I can’t think of anything else until I finally manage to succeed.
  8. I don’t believe in God and have serious reservations about organized religion, but am impressed by those who find comfort in their religious beliefs – especially in times of terrible tragedy.
  9. I have a weakness for long hot showers – the greater the water pressure, the better.
  10. I love to eat, and keeping my weight down is a constant struggle.
  11. When it comes to culture – books, films, television, etc., I prefer British to American.
  12. When I was in Barcelona last year, I wanted to show the taxi driver who drove me from the airport to my meeting point that I knew some Spanish, but quickly shut up when I realized that he wasn’t likely to be too impressed by my ability to point out the big boat in the water. Of course, he was also clearly lying when he told me that he could speak a bit of English, so I suppose I should just call it even and move on…
  13. I have a scar on my right knee from tripping on an escalator in Milan’s Malpensa airport. We were on a layover (en route from Madrid to Tel Aviv), and I had to sign a waiver absolving Alitalia of all responsibility in order to fly without having it looked at in a hospital in Milan. There wasn’t a lot of blood, so we flew back to Israel and took a taxi straight from the airport to the ER closest to home, where they put in three stitches (and I earned my potty mouth stripes for swearing through the pain of getting them).
  14. I was forced to vicariously join a disturbing version of the mile-high club during another flight from Madrid to Tel Aviv when a dead-ringer for Donna’s father from “That 70s Show” was on the receiving end of a hand-job given by his partner. They used one of those thin airplane blankets to cover up and had their eyes closed the entire time, trying to look as though they were asleep. I managed to catch the eye of one of the flight attendants and direct it towards “the incident”, which resulted in every single flight attendant walking up the aisle and back, just to get a look at what was transpiring next to me. Donna’s father, as you may remember, was not terribly attractive…
  15. One of my favorite stand-up comedy lines ever is from an old Steve Martin routine – “Boy, those French. They have a different word for everything…”
  16. I’ve hated whipped cream since I was a little girl.
  17. My dream job is to be a regular columnist for The New York Times (or any other prestigious publication).
  18. Given the opportunity, I could eat sushi everyday and never get tired of it.
  19. I read most – if not all – of John Steinbeck‘s books by choice when I was a teenager.
  20. It scares me that writing comes so easily to me.
  21. I was lactose intolerant for about ten years. Sometime prior to becoming pregnant with The Kid, I read an article stating that when some lactose intolerant women become pregnant, the intolerance gets better and may even disappear completely for the duration of the pregnancy. It went on to say that after giving birth, in some cases, the lactose intolerance returned but wasn’t as bad, in some cases it was worse, and in some cases it never returned. Six-and-a-half years after giving birth, I can still eat/drink dairy products.
  22. I nursed my son until a month before his second birthday. I returned to work when he was four months old, and pumped milk twice a day for him until he was 11 months old.
  23. According to my parents, my very first sentence was, “I vant (sic) some cheese.”
  24. I hate being the center of attention, and am more than happy to fade silently into the background.
  25. I love a good water fight.
  26. I was so inspired to write while visiting Barcelona that I bought a small notebook while visiting the Picasso Museum (after very careful deliberation over the art on the cover). This notebook is always with me (just in case I suddenly feel the need to write), and the memories of where I bought it continue to inspire me. It also has me wondering what special place the next one will come from.
  27. It turns out that I really enjoy watching soccer – I just don’t like watching Israeli soccer.
  28. I make excellent snowballs.
  29. One of my favorite pizza toppings is pineapple.
  30. I have a hard time being superficial, and am often far too intense for my own good.

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