Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Random Things I Like

1. Bubble baths. I can stay in a bathtub for hours, reading, eating, talking on the phone, planning my classes. People keep telling me how bubble baths are horribly bad for my health and I will die a painful death as a result. But at least I will die happy, so that makes it worth it. :-)

2. Peaches. My passion for peaches is borderline obsessive. The months when peaches are not sold are sad and painful for me. I especially love doughnut peaches, and if you don't know what it is, see the picture on the right and do yourself a favor, buy some. They are heavenly.

3. Kindle. I know I have most of the regular readers of this blog sick and tired of my peans to Kindle, so I won't say anything more about it. I only want to mention that I sometimes put it to bed next to me on a special pillow. And if that sounds too weird, remember, I have autism, so I get very attached to objects.

4. Airports. I love hanging out in airports. Every airport has a personality of its own. Some are cold and distant, some are friendly and welcoming. I have many special memories attached to many different airports across the globe. Curiously, my feelings toward a particular airport have nothing to do with how I feel about the city where it's located. For example, I adore Montreal and consider it the best city in North America. It's Pierre Trudeau airport, though, is one of the most unwelcoming places and I have a very strained relationship with is. Detroit, on the other hand, I don't like too much. But I'm in love with its airport. It's one of the coolest places in the world.

5. Potatoes. I think I'm suffering from a serious addiction to potatoes. If I don't eat any for a week, I will suffer withdrawal symptoms. Does anybody know what it is in potatoes that can cause addiction? I'm baffled. Of course, I come from a potato-loving culture, so it isn't that surprising.

6. Sand clocks. I have no idea why but I have been mesmerized by sand clocks since early childhood. When I was little, I wanted one so much that I actually stole it from another little girl. I'm still ashamed of that but I honestly couldn't help it, I just felt that I needed to have it at all costs. Of course, I didn't manage to conceal this theft, which was very embarrassing. Thankfully, my mother was very understanding. She went to talk with the people whose clock I stole and I ended up keeping it with no punishment and no questions asked. And don't worry, I haven't stolen anything since then. Probably because I never met another sand clock that I would like as much. :-)

7. Silver rings. I love wearing silver rings on every finger. My students are so used to seeing me in my rings that once when I came to class not wearing any, a student exclaimed: "Oh my God, are you sick? Where are your rings?" Now I always wear them so as not to alarm my students.

8. Very long books. Whenever I see a book that is 1000 pages or longer, I just have to have it no matter what it is about. Last week, for example, I barely managed to resist the urge to buy a medical textbook that I obviously wouldn't have had any use for. I wanted it simply because it was so beautifully huge.

9. Writing reviews at Amazon. People who are seriously into writing Amazon reviews will understand me when I say that it's a complex and demanding hobby. There are tricks and strategies that hardcore reviewers use to advance their ratings. I only picked up this hobby recently but I'm already learning many fascinating things about Amazon reviewing. Not only is it fun but it also allows me to spend as much time as I like at the Amazon website without blowing my entire salary on it.

10. Lafayette, Indiana. I just love Lafayette so much and miss it terribly. So many beautiful memories I have are connected to this town. There is this Canadian bar, called Sgt. Preston's, and this Indian buffet restaurant that is so amazing. The picture on the right is the view from the window of the house where we used to live in Lafayette. There was this great Russian grocery right around the corner where I would go almost every day. I wish there were something like this where I live now, but no such luck. We have to schlep all the way to St. Louis to get our kind of food. If any of my readers hail from Lafayette, say hi to your beautiful and romantic town from me.

8 comments:

geo said...

Your last love - hit me rather strongly, given that I grew up in West Lafayette - and spent much time Bored and Desperately wanting to get out of Indiana!

I enjoyed my 40th high school reunion in 2009 and it's certainly changed a lot. There certainly were a lot of very, very nice people!

At the same time I appreciate many other places because of my experiences in Indiana and West Lafayette in particular.

I remember - circa 1961 being in a Civil Rights march around the County Courthouse Square in Lafayette. I was a kid and we weren't huge in numbers. People stared a lot - not hostile particularly. They'd never seen a demonstration-march before.

Most memorable in WL - January, 1969 - I'm a student at Purdue University and a last semester senior in high school. A male student, seeing my long hair and scraggly beard said to me: "God Bless Napalm!"

I was stunned and didn't reply -no reply would have been useful!

That to me is Indiana, not the Lafayette you experienced many, many years later of course!!

Clarissa said...

I'm glad to know we have Lafayette in common, George. :-) It had its moments of weirdness even when I was there. Once, I was sitting in a sidewalk cafe reading abook. Several people came by and one very big guy stopped next to me, looked at me intently, and hissed: "You are going to die!! And your family is going to die!!! And all your friends are going to die!!!!" I thought he was a crazed mass murderer who was threatening me and was terrified. Then it turned out he was a preacher who was trying to say that if I don't repend and accept Jesus, I will die and go to hell. That was very scary.

Still, when I was in Lafayette, I was in love and everything looked beautiful and romantic. :-) :-)

Catherine X said...

Clarrisa, I love this post - in fact, your love for Lafayette kindles loving memories of Edwardsville in me - I miss it and its people so so much. Please say hi to my serene and peaceful city.

Great post - pleasantly informative, I must say. Please write many more like these before I visit India - nice to know the intricate tastes of my good friends you see...:)

Anonymous said...

Asperger and loving airports: it makes sense, doesn't?

I can talk about my love for airports for hours!

Ol

Pagan Topologist said...

I used to love potatoes, but I have found that they give me heart palpitations. Severe atrial fibrillation, according to one physician.

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Melissa said...

I love airports too! Unless I'm in a huge hurry to get somewhere, I actually hope for and look forward to long layovers!

Anonymous said...

@Anonymous 10/15/09 10:16 PM
"Asperger and loving airports: it makes sense, doesn't?"

Indeed it does.
But the ring thing too *seems* real prone to issue yourself an Asperger visiting card?! Since I've learned about a Dutch editor wrote an Asperger book (I MUST read this finally, gladly I understand quite a bit of Dutch) and who literally didn't wear less than 3 rings on any finger! :) (usually even more)

You may call me uber-cautious, but I've reduced the times when I wear all my ~29 rings (max 40 in very rare cases even ;)) just not to expose myself too much to possible "adepts." :)
Because, when I had my extreme phase (wearing over 30 average) a middle-aged woman rushed into me a little bit too fast at a dark sharp corner, causing the contents of her purse to fall down.
When I helped her recollect all that stuff so she could put it back in, my rings popped into her eye...so she asked me about them and where did I get that Celtic one etc ... However, hers popped in MY eye as well!!! Because she wore EVEN MORE than me...must have had up to 7 on one finger...it looked awesome on her, but totally crazy nonetheless.

Well, forthrightness sometimes DOES pay off, so I just told her I got Asperger and I am about to take at least 10-15 of MY rings off to not always "stand out" TOO much. Or at least, not too often.
Well, and to my surprise, she revealed that she had Asperger too. ;)
From that day on, I know that you just have to find someone wearing a jewelry box full of rings at a time, and there's a CHANCE you've found a fellow Asperger person.

STOOOP.
This is an assumption. Mind you. NOT to be meant a fully-working recipe to build up some stereotypes in a haste.
What I'm saying is: "chances are that...". Nothing more, nothing less.

-M.