Ooh, I’m a copycat!

I got the idea for a blog from Jen, whose (who’s? I never know) blog I read regularly and enjoy so much that I decided to start one of my own when I saw her shiny new one. The idea of having my life out there on the internet is a bit scary, but doing things that scares you can be fun! Sometimes. I thought skydiving would scare the shit out of me, but by the time we got to 10,000 feet I felt so sick I would’ve done anything to get out of that damn plane, and that included jumping out of it. I don’t do small aircraft or the smell of aeroplane fuel well; taking this into account when making the decision to skydive would have been a clever idea. Anyway, I also thought that a neat idea to start off a blog with would be to copy Jen (again!) and do a 100 things list. I’m a bit of a sheep aren’t I? Then people can make up their minds whether or not they think I’m a total tool, or if they’d like to come back. I don’t deal with rejection very well at all, but I am terrible at internet/computer things so I won’t know who visits me anyway. Without further ado…

1) My name is Miranda, I’m from New Zealand, and I’m 21.

2) Next year will be my fifth year of university and I am beginning to feel like I may never graduate. The end is in sight, though! I have nine papers left to go, which sounds like a lot but I’ve always had a crammed schedule so I can take it.

3) I’m studying Law, French and Political Science. I hate telling people this because they always look impressed and don’t realise how easy Politics actually is, so it doesn’t really count as a major.

4) I spent my final year of high school living in Labrador City, Canada. Don’t be fooled by the name. It’s a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere. It was, however, an amazing experience.

5) I didn’t get along with my first host family, but then got switched to the most amazing family ever who were from Brazil. Unfortunately, I speak no Portuguese apart from ‘thank you’. Hey, they spoke English a lot! They now live in Perth (Aus, not Scotland) and I visited them again a couple of years ago for six weeks. It was still just as awesome, except it was at 40 above as opposed to 40 below.

6) The coldest temperature I have ever experienced is -63 celcius windchill. We didn’t have to go to school that day, but because I’m from New Zealand I had to know what it felt like. It’s impossible to adequately describe what it feels like. Suffice it to say I wasn’t outside for long and it was quite a dumb idea.

7) I’m pretty well-travelled but there’s lots more places on my list. So far I can tick off Australia (although about 98% of Kiwis have been to Aus, not sure it counts), Tahiti, Fiji, Canada, United States, England, France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Bali.

8 ) Lately I’ve been watching Ricky Gervais stand-up on youtube and I think he is quite possibly my favourite person. Christ, he is funny. Look up ‘Favourite Leaflet’, or perhaps ‘Sharks and Nazis’ if you are after a one minute video as opposed to five. Favourite Leaflet is worth it, though.

9) I couldn’t give you a single favourite band but if you asked for my top 5 it’d be Architecture in Helsinki, NoFX, John Butler Trio, Me First And The Gimme Gimmes, and Reel Big Fish.

10) I saw Architecture in Helsinki live a couple of weeks ago and I am almost 100% sure nothing will ever top that experience, musically.

11) Before I die I want to go to Gallipoli for Anzac Day. Despite ragging on my country a lot I’m quite proud of it and I think it would be a really intense experience to see the birthplace of our nation. Or I guess, coming of age place. Whatever. Either way I’ll be there singing the national anthem at the top of my lungs.

12) One of my friends who lives in Switzerland is trying to set up an exchange for me so I could go to her university on Swiss domestic fees, which are about 700 NZ. I’m pretty sure I’m going to do it. I want to learn German. When I was in Canada she taught me how to say ‘fuck you, arsehole’ and I think it might be a good idea to expand my German repetoire beyond this. Also, being able to speak French and German would be useful if I wanted to work/travel in the EU.

13) My best friend and I are almost the same person, we’re so close. But if you saw us together you might think we hated each other, because we hit each other a lot. If she wasn’t around, I think I might be seriously depressed.

14) Half of my friends from high school have had children. I am so glad it’s not me that it’s not even funny. I’ve got far too much to do before I even start to think about having children.

15) My dream job would be to work for the NZ Human Rights Commission. From there, I’d want to move on to the European Court of Human Rights. I think it’s ridiculously cool that they have one and I think NZ is seriously lacking in this area. I want to change that.

16) I live with two very cool flatmates. I love living with them and I should probably make more of an effort to be home because they are just so much fun.

17) I’m pretty loyal when it comes to my friends.

18) I’m hypercritical and judgemental. But I try to keep it to myself.

19) I have an annoying habit of always pointing out the other side of anyone’s complaints/arguments/theories/ideas. Most of the time I don’t even realise I’m doing it until someone says ‘you’re such a lawyer.’ It makes decision making very tough because I also point out the other side to myself.

20) Despite studying law, I don’t want to be a lawyer. Unless it’s a human rights lawyer. Truth be told, I only took law because I knew I was capable of more than an Arts degree and it would open a lot of doors for me.

21) I am morally opposed to the United States of America and I don’t think I will ever go there again. I have no problem with the American people, I just don’t want to visit a country that thinks depriving people of their legal personality so they can detain them indefinitely, illegally invading other countries under false pretences, not having universal health care and still employing the death penalty (only in some states, I know) is acceptable behaviour in the 21st century, especially for a country which considers itself to be a world leader. Leaders should set good examples.

22) On the American theme, I would like to have coffee with Marilyn Manson. I’m not a fan of his music, but I saw him in Bowling For Columbine and I was struck by how articulate and intelligent he is. I think his views on life would be interesting.

23) I am almost convinced that Freddie Mercury is God. Or at least a minor deity.

24) I don’t follow any particular religion but my views would probably be closer to Buddhism than anything else. Except I like meat.

25) Internet/text language shits the hell out of me and I never, ever use it. This year high school students were allowed to use it in their exams; this was when I lost all faith in our secondary education system. Luckily I went through the last year of the old qualification, which actually means something.

26) Speaking of grammar, it annoys me when people use apostrophes incorrectly. The French language doesn’t have apostrophes for possessives and this bothered me for almost two years before I just sucked it up and got over it.

27) I irrationally dislike people I don’t even know. Sharelle McMahon and Andrew Symonds are high up there on the list, but I can’t stand the singer from Opshop (a NZ band) because I saw him on TV once and he was just such a tryhard that it makes me mad to even look at him.

28) We used to live on a lifestyle block when I was little, and I had a pet lamb who followed me everywhere for six weeks. His name was Caesar. One time he had violent diarrhoea all over the back porch and I got in so much trouble.

29) I have a big sister who is married with a little girl. I adore my niece and Christmas this year was so much fun. I got her a Barbie and a My Little Pony and I won aunty of the year award with that.

30) In March one of my oldest friends is getting married and I’m the Maid of Honour. I can’t wait. Then in Feb 09 I’ll be a bridesmaid to one of my closest friends. I can’t wait to get married so these people can be my bridesmaids.

31) If I ever get married – and I am doubtful I will – it will be in a bright yellow dress.

32) My longest relationship ever was 2 months and everyone I have ever been out with was certifiably crazy. All I want is a nice normal guy who gets along with my friends.

33) I secretly wish I could go to one of the Spice Girls reunion concerts.

34) When my sister converted to Christianity when I was sixteen I once I told her I’d rather go to hell than listen to her yap on about it. I now feel bad about this as she was only trying to be nice.

35) I can’t believe in a God that would even create a hell.

36) When I was younger I caused my sister to break her arm in three places. I locked her out and made faces at her through the glass. When she whirled around to march down the porch steps she missed the stairs and fell about a metre to the ground. Whoops.

37) My parents split when I was seven. It didn’t really affect me; it was very amicable. The only time I ever got sad was when, at first, we would stay at Dad’s house and he would pack us massive lunches to take to school. He’d never done them before. It still makes me sad. Eventually we told Mum and she told him how to do it properly.

38) I can’t comprehend how my parents actually ever got married because they are just so different. Although my mum used to smoke a lot of weed and so she was probably a lot more mellow.

39) I’ve never tried drugs.

40) I didn’t get drunk until I was 18. Not because alcohol wasn’t around, I just never really liked it when I was younger. I have only ever been stupidly drunk twice, once was at my best friend’s 21st and I drank so much wine I’m surprised I could still stand up. When we went clubbing afterward I stopped everyone we passed and made them wish her a happy birthday, and got really mad if they wouldn’t.

41) I had really bad skin when I was younger.

42) My lucky number is three.

43) I have two tattoos and they both feature stars. I don’t know why. I just like them.

44) I used to be really pierced up when I was younger, three in each ear, one at the top of my left ear, tongue and bellybutton. I took them all out when I was 15 except my bellybutton and one hole in each ear.

45) I think Fergie – the singer, not the former Duchess – is really trashy.

46) Frangipanis are my favourite flower.

47) My nana died in October this year. It was the first death of someone close to me that I’d experienced and it really threw me. My nana was incredibly, wonderfully amazing and I know that wherever she is now, she’s in a good place.

48) My best friend and I have matching necklaces, little gold hearts on gold chains. They are so cute.

49) Before I die, I am determined to own a string of black pearls.

50) My favourite TV show is Bones. I own season one on DVD and have watched every episode probably at least seven times. I converted both my flatmates.

51) I don’t have a favourite movie.

52) When I was ten I read The Power Of One and wrote a letter to Bryce Courtenay. He wrote back to me three years later and I have the letter framed. If it hadn’t taken him three years to respond, I would have thought it was a standard reply. If you haven’t read this book, I strongly suggest that you do so. I have re-read it again and again and still cry, even when I know the sad part is coming up.

53) The Power of One and April Fools Day both made me cry. Brother Fish didn’t make me cry but is an incredible story.

54) I have a dog called Louis. He lives with my dad, but he’s my baby. He’s a miniature schnauzer poodle cross; he’s mostly schnauzer but he’s thin like a poodle. He is so ridiculously gorgeous that it almost makes me cry. I would kill anyone who touched a hair on his beautiful little head.

55) I’m not a cat person at all. My best friend has a cat called Muddy and it’s a horrible, malevolent creature.

56) I almost cried when KFC stopped doing mashies.

57) I love Mountain Dew but I hardly ever drink it because it’s just so damned bad for you.

58) I adore poutine too. This is a French Canadian dish consisting of hot chips, gravy and cheese curds. It sounds foul, but it’s so good. So good. I would live in Canada just for the poutine.

59) My favourite city in the world, so far, is Montreal.

60) When I was in Europe, I thought the Swiss boys were the hottest. This is not a deciding factor in me possibly going to Switzerland for an exchange.

61) If I ever get engaged, I want an emerald and diamond engagement ring with a gold band. My aunty has one and it’s beautiful. I would get bored with a plain diamond.

62) I have a lot of jewellery, but I generally only wear earrings because necklaces and bracelets can annoy me. I hardly ever wear a watch, either.

63) About a month ago in Christchurch a deaf girl named Emma Agnew was murdered. All of the news stories on her featured subtitles, which annoyed the hell out me. I think news other than the murder of a deaf girl would also be interesting to deaf people.

64) I’m terrified of snakes.

65) I’m claustrophobic and if I ever feel trapped, I start breathing really deep just to prove to myself I still can. Elevators are fine, because I know I’ll be getting out soon. If one ever got stuck, though, I would panic. I couldn’t watch the stories on the miners in Tasmania who got trapped. I feel panicky just thinking about that.

66) I like to believe that we are inherently good, but I once felt true evil. I won’t go into the story now but if you want to know, just ask. I really, really would like to believe that evil doesn’t exist, so I am sort of mad that I experienced it.

67) I hate personalised plates.

68) I have a bit of a phobia about apple cores, I think they’re gross. I’ll eat an apple but I have to be able to immediately throw the core away where I can’t see it. I also despise alarm clock beeps and the idea of having cotton wool in my mouth freaks me the hell out.

69) I want to learn to kneeboard.

70) One nice summer day at the beach makes every rainy winter day worth it, in my opinion.

71) I think everybody should read Jasper Fforde’s books. They are so beautifully whimsical and imaginative.

72) I generally don’t listen to the radio, because I dislike almost every song on it.

73) I love Sophie Koh. Her music is just so beautiful and pretty. My ex-flatmate once walked into the room when I was listening to her and commented that ‘this sounds like it belongs in a vampire movie’ (I was listening to Easily Broken). Things were never really the same between us again.

74) I think Drew from Home and Away is so damn cute. I’m the only person I know who thinks this. I’m also hot for Andy Lee and Ryan Sheldon, the guy from Real Stories and Rove.

75) Ben Folds and I were totally going to get married until I discovered he already was. I was gutted.

76) The guy who wrote the Rocky Horror Picture Show is from my hometown, Hamilton. We have a statute of Riff Raff on our main street in his honour, which pisses me off. The guy left when he was like, 16 and never came back. That isn’t really a claim to fame. It’s a major diss, actually, and I don’t understand why you would willingly advertise that.

77) When I was about four, my best friend was called James. Once my sister and I made him say the f-word (do not ask me why I knew that word when I was four, I blame my mum) and then we went and told his dad, who washed his mouth out with soap.

78) Continuing with the profanities, my Nana Margaret used to tell my sister and I off when we would say ’shut up’ instead of ‘be quiet’. So once when she was staying with us, we ran into her room at about 6:30 in the morning, shouted ’shut up, Nana Margaret!’ and ran out again.

79) On my 21st birthday my friend Greg bought me a shot of absinthe and I had a sore throat for the next three days.

80) I’m very attached to my cellphone. I have the Scrubs theme as my ringtone.

81) I got quite into Monet thanks to a French Civilisation paper and it makes me feel like a pretentious twat. This hasn’t stopped me seeking out a book on his works, except I can’t find any in French. I’m now waiting until I next go to France to buy one.

82) Notre Dame is the most beautiful church. I went just after New Years 2004 when it was still decorated for Christmas and fell absolutely in love.

83) I spent that same New Years Eve in Trafalgar Square in London with my Dad. We both hated it; we’re both a bit claustrophobic about crowds.

84) On that trip to London we intended to do the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey in one day. We arrived at the Tower at 9am and they ended up kicking us out at 5pm. If you are ever in London, go.

85) That reminds me that I really like London Still by The Waifs. Nothing New is my favourite song of theirs, although I’m also partial to Since I’ve Been Around.

86) I love penguins. They’re so cute!

87) I almost never go anywhere without my ipod.

88) My dad has this really nice green BMW that I’m allowed to drive quite often and man, is it a sexy car.

89) If I could spend a day any way I wanted, I’d start off by driving a six-speed manual BMW on an Autobahn in Germany with two of my best girlfriends. Then we’d pop across to France to go wine tasting for the afternoon before being helicoptered to London to see Architecture in Helsinki live that night.

90) I have terrible eyesight and wear contacts a lot. I have a really cool pair of blue and purple glasses that I love, but hardly ever wear out of the house because I almost always wear my sunglasses when I’m driving.

91) I can’t watch the scene in Kill Bill: Vol 2 when Uma Thurman gets buried alive because I can’t breathe when it’s on.

92) I have never seen Amelie. The same flatmate who made inappropriate comments about Sophie Koh loves it. She thought this made her really alternative and indie, which annoyed me, so I watched part of it with her and then told her so much of it was lost in translation. I feel bad about being a bitch, but she was the type of girl who would have watched the movie just because she thought it made her different to everybody else. Amelie was a cult hit, a LOT of people like it! No offence meant to anybody who likes this movie. I’ve never seen the whole thing, after all.

93) People who try really hard to be different (like my ex-flatmate) annoy me. Just being yourself is enough to distinguish you from everyone else. I really appreciate people who are unashamedly themselves, I think it’s a beautiful thing.

94) I quote The Castle a lot. I love that movie and it makes me laugh every time. Supertroopers is also stupidly funny.

95) I love The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I was always a bit on the fence about him, and then he had this guy who’d made a documentary about suicide bombers on and his first question was, ‘So, how exactly do you interview a suicide bomber?’ I’ve been loyal ever since. In the same vein, I used to hate Pete from Rove, then he made this comment once (I can’t even remember what it was) and I laughed so hard that I was sold on him for good.

96) I love the Harry Potter books and I’m so pissed off about the seventh book. I thought it was such a cop out. Harry spent most of the book moping around being miserable and cold and depressed. On the other hand, I was all pro-Neville. I’m stoked he ended up so cool. Also – killing one of the Weasley twins? Bitch. That’s all I’ve got to say.

97) I really, really want a Nintendo Wii just so I can play 2D/3D Mario. I suck at all video games, except Mario ones. And Alex the Kidd – you know, the one that was on Sega? I rocked at that.

98) I was so spoilt as a child that my parents built a second floor in our garage just for all our (mine and my sister’s) stuff. We also had a third floor in our house for more of our toys (and also to give our parents peace, I suspect). I didn’t realise this wasn’t normal until I was about thirteen.

99) I’ve been very lucky in life to be surrounded by lots of incredible people.

100) I have a girl crush on Zooey Deschanel. She’s so damned cute and stylish.

That took me so long. So long! I hope some of you appreciate it and come back. If you don’t, well, thanks for giving me a shot!