1. I was passionate for many years about horses. I lived and breathed them. They're the only things that can make me miss the South.
2. In high school, I firmly, 100% believed I was moving to a phat-ass loft in Soho and was just generally going to be pretty fucking fabulous. Never got the loft in Soho (but had a few in BK), but there are days when I think I'm pretty damn awesome.
3. When I first came to NY, the subways still had graffiti, Tribeca was no-man's land, Columbia was in a "dangerous" neighborhood and 42nd street was awesomely gross.
4. I don't know if I'll ever get over losing my book collection when we sold our brownstone. I was friends with the buyer and figured I could get my books a week after the closing. Big mistake. She had contractors start working on the house right away and I lost twenty years of pure love and devotion.
5. I have a sick obsession with "Friday Night Lights". Maybe it's the whole high-school-down-South thing, I have no idea. What I do know is that I'm damn near positive I'm the only one who feels this way cuz you should see the looks I get when I try and recommend it to someone.
6. When I was five I believed I was born white and the sunshine in Seattle gave me a permanent tan. I engaged in endless battles with my best friend, Doug, about this very "fact". Despite his stubborn refusal to believe my Seattle sunshine theory, he firmly believed that since I was so brown, there was simply no way my blood was "red like his".
7. This led to a great short story I wrote for a Creative Writing class in college and got an A.
8. When I first met my friend, Danica, I thought she was so gorgeous I simply couldn't speak. I sat at dinner in silence while she and her boyfriend and my boyfriend chattered away. Interestingly enough, later she told me she had the same feeling upon meeting me.
9. I LOVE ice cream. I mean I really LOVE it. Like I could live on it. Like I want to marry it kind of love.
10. I wish I appreciated my body when I was in my twenties and early thirties...and even just a few years ago.
11. My parents did not teach any of us their native language, Malayalam. I have no idea why. What I do know is that it's highly likely my brother, sister and I are the only three first-generation Indians that can only speak English.
12. People often ask me "how's motherhood?" and initially I didn't know how to answer, mostly because I felt like they wanted to hear all these flowery, maternal cliches spew forth and that's just not me. However, the other day while chatting with a friend, I figured it out: motherhood is calming. I feel an inner peace I had no idea possible.
13. My friend Jessica and I found a Playgirl when we were little and hid it in the woods to sneak peaks at all the "ding-a-lings". Jessica and I also wrote a song together called "Flea Bites on My Balls". It seems Jessica and I were rather penis-obsessed little girls.
14. There's nothing cooler or more awesome than my son.
15. In second grade I almost died after suffering complications from my tonsil surgery recovery. Word to the wise: do NOT run around upon coming home from such a surgery unless you want to shoot rivers of blood from your throat every time you open your mouth. (DO run around if you're trying to lose weight--after finally recovering, I lost so much weight I was relegated to wearing my younger brother's clothing).
16. Growing up, we had a children's book called "Where Did I Come From?", a frank, thorough and brilliant explanation of sex. Every child should be so lucky.
17. My husband and I met in the post office by my law school while we were both buying stamps. I remember thinking, damn that guy has a nice ass.
18. Despite all my claims to the contrary, I adored my senior year AP English class. We were such an awesome crew.
19. I ruined Alex's idea of our prom, but he ruined my idea of our friendship. Boys--if you like a girl, you should tell her cuz beating around the bush just messes shit up. And telling everyone in school that she's a lesbian is definitely not the way to win her heart.
20. Watering the plants and flowers in our backyard with my son is one of my favorite things to do. I love the fact that he's SO into taking care of all the plants, making sure the birdfeeders are full of food and exploring as much nature as possible in our little, urban oasis. Seriously people, he's insanely cool.
21. I worked on the Mumia Abu-Jamal death penalty case for two years. It's probably the main reason I'm not doing that kind of work right now--I just couldn't imagine being so depressed and distraught for the remainder of my career.
22. My husband and his friends have some of the funniest stories I've ever heard. Coney Island's finest, baby.
23. Credit cards and I are NOT friends. We stay very, very, very far away from each other. Unfortunately, it took me quite a while to realize the unhealthy and abusive nature of our relationship.
24. When I got to NY, all my college friends say my accent was so thick they couldn't understand a single word coming out of my mouth. Which is funny because I used to pride myself on the fact that I did NOT have one lick of a southern accent. ha, ha...I so did not know shit back then.
25. Porky was my childhood dog. Everyone should have a Porky in their lives. We rescued her and she in turn, loved us like only a dog can love a bunch of kids. For some reason, my mom never let her outside, nor did she take her for walks, but rather let her out onto our enormous back deck. That was the extent of Porky's outdoors. And as much as she loved us, I also think she loved being outside (and by outside, I mean the real outdoors, not the one of my mom's creation) because whenever she got the chance and caught one of us kids holding the front door open a little too long, she was out of there like a bat out of hell. All you'd see was a white streak headed for the woods, being chased by a whole gang of neighborhood kids. We could never catch her and would always fear she was gone for good, but she always, without fail, came back home, muddy, scratched up and happy to see her kids.
26. I also have a sick obsession with Angelina Jolie.
27. I owe some people in my life an explanation.
28. Weddings are insanely overrated. You can't tell me otherwise. If your wedding was the greatest day of your life, I'm happy for you and it's all good. But that's not going to change my opinion. My wedding was great and I love the fact that our friends were there and we had a great party and Jay-Z blared from the speakers all day, but I still think they're overrated.
29. I've ridden an elephant more than once and not in one of those lame boxes they place on their backs, i rode a moped throughout the south of France and camped on random beaches, I've run through the streets of Istanbul in the middle of the night, I've been to the Taj Mahal (and damn near fainted), I've explored Venice when most everyone is sleeping, I have a piece of the Berlin Wall that I picked myself, I sung songs on the steps of the Sacre Couer, I've roamed around Florence in search of a particular shop that sells the most amazing perfumes...I've had loads of fun and look forward to much more.
30. If I ever win the lottery, I'm going to quit practicing law right away and join one of those animal police forces they spotlight on Animal Planet. Ok, maybe not right away, but definitely after I've taken a year-long vacation.
