Friday Five

Since it's Friday, and since I'm feeling particularly blaggy, I am going to perform an experiment. Here's the deal: every Friday from here until eternity*, I will list five things about myself that pertain to a certain topic. Here's the catch: it's interactive. I'm counting on y'all to holla atcha girl with five things about yourself that pertain to the same topic, in whatever manner pleases you. Send an email, leave a comment, write a letter, keep a diary to bequeath to me on your deathbed, use the Force, start a blog, the possibilities are endless. Here are the rules: be honest and don't call this a "linky party", because that name is entirely too silly. But if you do choose to respond on your own blog, give me a shoutout so that your parents massive readership will know that I have insane topic making up abilities.
*or until I forget or something.

Why all of this? Because as I'm reading War and Peace, I'm wistfully longing for the days where people would go to each others houses to talk as evening entertainment, instead of liking each others' pictures and calling it interaction. In lieu of an awesome house in St. Petersburg where we could all feast and converse, I have this blag. I do what I can. So to kick things off, here are 5 Things I Vowed I Would Never Like But Ended Up Really Liking Anyway (I warned you about my topic making up abilities).

5. Coffee. It used to be so gross. The only hot drink I used to touch was hot chocolate. Then I went through a phase when I believed that drinking tea, breakfasting on jam and English muffins, and reading Jane Austen would make me British. It didn't, but it made me the second best thing - a tea snob, and I only drank black tea. Then someone introduced me to a magical land called Starbucks, where coffee tastes like chocolate milkshakes. Milkshakes turned to mochas, mochas turned to lattes, lattes turned to milk and sugar, milk and sugar turned to black. And there you have it. Now it's hard to go a day not drinking a cup. or two or three.

4. Wuthering Heights. I read this book as a ninth grader, then made paper dolls of the characters for an English project. I thought it was the biggest waste of my young life. I could have been reading something about dragons or Pride and Prejudice for the sixth time, but I was stuck with mopey Cathy and Heathcliff instead. Then I had to read it again senior year, and it was kind of beautiful.

3. Pinterest. I hate to be that girl, but I did have a Pinterest account before it was cool. No one else had one, though, and I kept looking up pictures of Anastasia instead of studying for my AP tests, so I deleted it. Then EVERYONE had a Pinterest. So I requested another invitation, but Pinterest was not about to let me back into their elite society (which kind of hurt my feelings, Pinterest). So I decided to dislike them out of spite for two or three years. But I caved in a couple of hours ago and it's pretty awesome......

2. Black Licorice. There are always bowls of black jellybeans sitting around our house at Eastertime. Mainly because I eat all the red ones out first, then go for the pink ones when the red have run out, then maybe a white or a green if those have both gone and I'm desperate for a sugar fix. But never the black because they were gross. Then a few weeks ago, I could not resist these candies I saw in Strasbourg. The profile of a Cherokee chief caught my eye. The bin was labelled Melting Pot Ancient Cultures. There was also a stereotypical Chinaman. But they were black licorice. Turns out, my racial insensitivities beat out my tastebuds and I bought a scoopful. And it was delicious. I am now a black licorice addict.

1. Skiing. My parents and grandparents, as well as a few million ski instructors, can attest to the fact that I stubbornly disliked snow skiing for about 3/4 of my life. I hated the cold toes, being dropped off with a stranger from Australia for the whole day, having to ski in the back of the line and yell "wipe-out" when someone fell but not being loud enough to be heard, sharing communal chapstick, etc. Then one year I realized that my parents were going to continue to take me skiing whether I enjoyed or not, so I decided to enjoy it. Best. Decision. Ever.

And you?