[The JD]

1. I can smell ants.

2. I get migraines at the drop of a hat. Really, I think you could drop a hat and I’d get a migraine.

3. I brew my own beer.

4. I rarely drink. Even half a beer can give me a migraine.

5. I was born in Atlanta, and have never lived anywhere else….though I considered it, after the Olympics came through and changed the feel of the city.

6. I like to iron. And before you offer, that doesn’t mean I’d like to iron your clothes.

7. The first concert I ever saw was Elvis Presley. I was ten. I could feel the electricity and the crazed excitement in the air, and knew even then it was one of those “I was there” life events.

8. The first time I made out with a girl was in the parking lot of the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

9. I have a fear of sunflowers. They creep me the hell out. I’ve been known to cross the street so I don’t walk next to them, or ask for different seating in a restaurant that has sunflower art too close to my table.

10. I spent my twenties playing bass guitar in rock bands and playing to crowds anywhere between 6 people and 12,000 (more frequently closer to 6 than 12,000).

11. I have severe hearing loss. I’ve always had it, but sometimes I tell overly-inquisitive people it’s from my ‘rock star’ past so I don’t have to explain it further.

12. I wrote a weekly astrology column for a queer Atlanta-based magazine for seven years. My pen name was Ava Voorhis.

13. I used to call myself a jack of all trades, a master of none…but now I’ve got two master’s degrees. Fuck it, I’m still a jack of all trades.

14. I want to learn to cut a perfect dovetail joint.

15. I detested Chihuahuas until my parents gave me one. His name is Killer. He lets me subject him to the latest Internet memes, and I adore him for it.

16. Romantic comedies and chick flicks are my favorite movie genres. I cried the first time I saw Ghost (okay, and the second time too).

17. I can’t fall asleep if my fingernails are touching any cloth.

18. I’m a cheerful scientist. It's better than being mad.

19. Iceland is my favorite place on earth. Seriously. I went there two years ago and still dream about it.

20. I started getting insomnia about three years ago. I had no idea how bad it sucks, and hereby apologize to all the insomniacs I’ve ever dismissed as whiners.

21. My first car was an AMC Pacer. Wayne’s world! Wayne’s world!

22. I buy groceries from Costco. I currently have six pounds of pre-cooked bacon, 24 cans of tomato bisque soup and a case of dried hashbrowns.

23. I would like to get a fish pedicure before they are outlawed in all 50 states.

24. I read three or four books at the same time. It makes me an even slower reader than I already am.

25. I hate the smell of baked cinnamon. And ants.