All my friends on Facebook were making lists about themselves... I enjoyed reading them so much I finally agreed to make a list of my own. So, here it is.
1. I once got stuck in a moat at a castle in England by jumping off a wall that I couldn't re-scale. It was early in the morning when it would be hours before anyone would find me.
2. I never dreamed of being a professional pianist. When I was very little I wanted to be a meter maid so I could ride around in the cute little truck. In high school I thought I might study Latin and Greek. I studied engineering in college. Took a while, but I'm very very happy to have found something I am truly passionate about--performing and teaching music.
3. At pre-school I used to read stories aloud to all the other kids.
4. As my high school friends would tell you, I used to wear huge plastic flowers and knitting needles in my hair.
5. My hips are super flexible. As a kid I would always put my feet behind my head and in yoga and dance classes those hip opening stretches never feel like they're doing anything for me.
6. I am typing this as I walk on my treadmill. I figured out how to set up my laptop on the control panel and multi-task that way.
7. I come from a long line of gardeners; our cousins have pics of our grandma and great-grandma sitting amongst their flowers. My grandma and sisters all had specific flowers they specialized in growing. I've come to really love gardening the past couple of years and built an herb spiral in my back yard out of 2.5 tons of local quarry stone.
8. One of my favorite performances ever was dancing tango in Evita on the stage at Longwood Gardens. I wish I had had dance lessons as a kid, because I often think I love dance as much or more than playing piano--but not starting until the 20's made it more difficult to go the pro route.
9. I'm a direct descendant of Henry Hudson (or so I've been told).
10. I took my application to Cornell University to the post office at 10 pm on the day the postmark was due. I got my application to Glamour Magazine's Top Ten College Women to the post office 10 minutes before closing on the day the postmark was due, and hyperventilated for about 20 minutes afterward because I ran through the bitter cold across campus to get it to the last post office that was still open before it closed. Both were successful applications.
11. Speaking of procrastinating, I was the only person in my high school AP English class that had to take the final exam because of missing the grade cut-off (I had a D every other marking period for turning papers in late, and Aís every other marking period). I really hate writing, but I got a 99 out of 100 on my final exam essay.
12. I still procrastinate but I've gotten it mostly under control.
13. My husband and I are mostly vegetarian (I say mostly, because we are known to eat fish at restaurants). I absolutely love to cook, and one of my favorite activities is browsing cookbooks looking for (vegan) recipes that use ingredients I have that need to be used up. I really love the energy I've had since cutting back on my dairy tremendously, and my inherited high cholesterol is no more.
14. My students' piano recital in May is my favorite day of the year.
15. My husband and I got married aboard the "Catherine Marie" dinner yacht. The band played the theme from the "Love Boat" while the guests were boarding.
16. I've always struggled with a out-of-whack menstrual cycle. If I'm not actively managing my diet, exercise, etc, my mood swings take control and I'm usually only productive for 2 weeks out of the month. I'm so sincerely sorry to everyone in my life who has been on the receiving end of this. I love you all. Good news is now I know how to manage through diet, exercise, and discipline.
17. I was mis-diagnosed with epilepsy in college because I was having continual seizures and arm thrashing throughout lectures. My first year out of college I used to kick the underside of conference room tables and had to use a walker because my legs would collapse underneath of me at unexpected times. After tons of doctors and a couple years of mind-numbing meds, I was finally diagnosed with a psychosomatic "conversion disorder" and was cured through hypnotherapy and a career move from banking to music. I've been healthy for well over 10 years now, but my legs still occasionally give out when I am stressed. I don't mind talking about it.
18. I come from a family of scientists. I'm pretty sure I was the only kid on the block with a lens grinding machine, a chemical separator, tons of oscilloscopes and 50 years of Scientific American in the basement. Before I met my husband I dated a long string of scientists. Although I think scientifically about most everything, I'm glad to have "broken free".
19. I used to give names for 6 sides of my personality: Catherine Cassandra Kooten Kalesa Creusa and Tarin. I actually don't remember what they were now.
20. I am embarrassed to admit that I like watching The People's Court. Marilyn Milian rocks.
21. I used to have such a messy room that I had to refer to the "strategically placed footholes" when my mom said I had to have a path from the door to the bed. Now I'm on a super-organizing bent and my house is most of the time very neat. (helps to have a husband who hates messes!)
22. I just started making a t-shirt quilt. I'm still in the color/design planning stages, but I have confidence I will complete this project.
23. I've studied Iyengar Yoga for over 12 years now, more intently in some years than others. I'm returning to it now after a a couple of years of not practicing much, and I'm very excited. I've been studying with an Alexander Technique teacher for a little over a year now. Both disciplines help tremendously with mood swings.
24. I haven't released a recording since 2004. However, in the meantime I've moved 3 times in 2 years, got married, had a death in the close family, had a part-time job as a reference librarian, been establishing a home and garden, and started studying classical piano again. My creativity has been blossoming the past few months, and I can feel the music flowing again.
25. To be written...
