tagged: 3's about me

(shutter sisters: "Show us a photo that's a tease of what you want the most.")

She tagged me. Not just any random she...but She did. Check out her blog. I love reading her and I hope you do, too.

With no further ado...here's my list:

Three names I’ve been called:
1. Wonder (because I am a wonder you know!)

2. Bhagwandananda (my name as a guru...purely in jest, but it stuck)

3. Leolani (given to me by a Hawaiian friend--it means "voice of heaven")

Three jobs I’ve had:
1. Gas station pump jockey (a summer job in college--mostly I read books between customers!)

2. Book store clerk (I've worked in two college bookstores--talk about Heaven...)

3. Volleyball coach--I had never played competitively, but when I got my first teaching job, they needed someone who could/would also coach something. I agreed. I enjoyed it immensely and, fortunately, had a talented head coach who believed in me and taught me as we went along.

Three places I’ve lived...only in Oregon:
1. Tillamook (yes, where they make the cheese)

2. Salem (the state capital where I attended college)

3. Portland...one of the best cities on the planet

Three hobbies:
1. Photography--while I have always been interested in it, only in the last year have I started to work on my skills in earnest. Digital is great--immediate feedback...no film to buy and process so I can shoot with abandon. (All the photos on this blog are mine unless otherwise noted.)

2. Playing guitar--I have moved away from this for a number of years, but the desire is building in me to pick it up again. Maybe I will even take up ukulele.

3. Writing--through much of my life I journaled. None of it was great writing, but the process was important to me. Now I blog. Maybe some day I will be able to collect myself to do more again. I keep looking toward that day and taking advantage of the opportunities that arise.

Three Things Most People Do Not Know About Me:
1. When I was in junior high I set a weight for myself that if I reached it I would have to kill myself. I have long since surpassed that weight and I am still here. What a cruel pressure our culture places on us to look a certain way--not be too...anything.

2. When I do my laundry, I fold my underwear into packets...fold each side in by thirds; then fold top down and bottom up in thirds; tuck the bottom into the top. Voilá!

3. I'm a grammar snob. When I was in sixth grade, I would rather stay in and diagram sentences on the blackboard than go outside for recess. In eighth grade I was the county spelling champion. I taught English at the high school level. And while I am discreet about speaking up, I sometimes cringe internally at mistakes I hear and read. (On another note, I am not nearly as perfectionistic in my own speaking and writing as I used to be--mainly because my memory isn't good enough, but also because life is too short to worry about it that much...so I guess that means my snobbery is being transformed. Oh, hallelujah! Good for me.)

Three TV shows that I watch (on DVD after the season comes out--I hate commercials):
1. Ugly Betty

2. Grey's Anatomy

3. Bones

Three Places I have Been:
1. Belize

2. Hawaii (Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Hawaii)

3. Nassau, Bahamas

Three Places I want to Go:
1. Australia

2. The other Hawaiian islands

3. More tropical islands in the South Pacific and Caribbean

I gotta tell ya--you're getting close to knowing everything there is to know about me.

Now, I tag Rebecca and Kapuananiokalaniakea...and YOU, of course. (Put your list on your own blog and leave me a link OR leave your list in the comments below--your choice.)