I don't exactly know what prompted this, but there are some things you may or may not have known about me, that I feel like the me inside would like you to.

* I love art history. I love Europe and all it's beautiful art and architecture and stories. My favorite teacher in the entire world was my tenth grade history teacher, Mr. Minugh. We spent every class period with a list of terms in front of us, simply listening to his stories. He would talk about his numerous trips to such-and-such and weave in the history of the place, the culture, the art, the people. They'd be funny and so vivid; it completely sparked my desire to travel and experience all this wonder firsthand. Filling out that term sheet was a fun puzzle- trying to write as fast as I could to make sure I got it all without missing what he was saying. I miss that class and subject matter like crazy. I thought, near the end of high school, that I wanted to major in Art History and become a curator at the Smithsonian. I have a cousin who did this, and it sounded like a dream career. I almost went to the University of Oregon in fact, because they have a great program there.

*I love reading. I will read a book straight through- just drop everything and disregard eating, sleeping, and life in general until I know how it ends. I could read for days, and used to, back when I had no other obligations. I cried when I found out Harry Potter wasn't real. I read The Kite Runner and Twilight straight through on the plane back into the country.

*If I did not care about how I thought people would respond, or how it would affect the situations I'm in, I would be more introverted. I think I'm quieter by nature, and sometimes I find myself just wishing I could turn off my cell phone and retreat into myself. Bake, sleep, read, whatever I felt like doing. That would be amazing.

*I really enjoy getting good grades. I take it for granted though, because I'm used to getting good grades without much effort. I've learned how to skip class when it'll be least destructive, and how to procrastinate without hugely stressing out. This doesn't mean I'm never stressed or behind at all- I haven't completely mastered the system. Sometimes I feel guilty or lazy because I don't spend hours studying and yet manage to do well, but sometimes too I just get frustrated at how bored I am with classes and homework. And when someone assumes that I don't get good grades because I don't always fret about my assignments, it irritates me and makes me want to tell them my GPA. That's not so humble though, so I don't.

*I love to bake, but I'm usually pretty self-conscious about the results. It's more of the science of it that I love; the simple and straightforward following of instructions, the smells and the excitement of waiting to see how it turns out. I don't think I'd taste 99% of the stuff if I baked more often...just enough to taste test and see if it's edible. I'd love to have time and the equipment to experiment with recipes and come up with my own. Whenever I give people stuff I've made, I don't really believe them when they say it's good. It's ok though, because I have confidence that it's good enough, so I don't fret over it too extensively.

Well I feel better for now :] And since I'm in my stress management class, maybe I should stop blogging! I guess I'll just play minesweeper instead. Oh yeah, I'm addicted... I confess (happy Krystal? :P).