Random Things Becomes a Trilogy

Today I realized something: it's been quite awhile since I posted a Random Things blog. Without further adieu, I present the third installment.

1. I am a Skee-Ball fanatic. It's one of my favorite games! The last time I went to Gatti Town, I'm pretty sure I spent the entire time at the Skee-Ball game...and maybe one round of bumper cars. If you want my opinion (and you obviously do; you're reading my blog) Skee-Ball is a severely underrated arcade game. People's readiness to pass by the Skee-Ball machines actually works to my advantage. It never costs a lot of points/tokens to play, and a line never forms behind you. You can imagine my excitement upon discovering the Skee-Ball application for the iPhone. About two weeks ago, I was at work and had absolutely nothing to do; so I started to play Skee-Ball. By the end of my shift, I occupied all 10 high score slots. It took an entire week for anyone to knock me out of those positions. And no, I don't find this fact remotely pathetic.
2. I love musicals. Half the time I'm driving around town, I'm listening to musicals. It's fairly bad ass. As I write this, I'm listening to the Avenue Q soundtrack. I've already listened to Hello Dolly. Every time I drive up to Indiana to visit my Dad or brother, I listen to Rent and Wicked (and perhaps some others, if the mood strikes me).
3. Speaking of driving through Indiana, every time I drive through there I have to listen to Jim Gaffigan. That's where he's from, and he even has a song about people driving through Indiana. So I always feel it's appropriate to give him a shout out.
4. I cry at strange movies. Children's movies (especially Pixar) make me cry on a regular basis. I think that I cried within the first 15 minutes of Wall-E, and continued to cry throughout the film. I also cry during Monsters' Inc. when they send Boo back to her room and she opens the door and says, "Kitty?" but he isn't there! I might cry while I'm typing this. I also cry during The Waterboy just because they are so mean to Adam Sandler.
5. I have been known to alter my behavior on the off-chance that my life is like The Truman Show. It's typically when I'm in the middle of acting a fool, and I say to myself, "Oh no. What if my life is The Truman Show? Everyone is making fun of me right now," and I try to tone down my behavior. Once, I changed my pajamas because I just so happened to grab navy blue scrub pants and a navy blue shirt. I didn't want the "viewers like you" to make snap judgments on my fashion sense based on this isolated instance.
   
6. I'm really anal about knowing the lyrics to songs. I always want to know exactly what they're saying. I think this may also play into the previos fact; when I'm singing along in my car I want to get the words right. I have been known to Google lyrics to find put my mind at ease.
7. Speaking of singing in the car...I have no shame when it comes to this. I sing at the top of my lungs and sometimes I play the drums on the steering wheel and/or dashboard. I have a hard time not singing. When other people are in the car, I focus on not singing as much as I focus on the road.
   
8. I am addicted to karaoke. If karaoke is going on, I have a really hard time not doing it.
   
9. I'm ridiculously paranoid (mostly in regard to staying alone--burglars, rapists, etc.). If you could get hired for your ability to freak yourself out, I'd be making at least six figures.
   
10. And now an example of my paranoia: I cannot sleep in a bed without some form of comforter (a quilt will do in worst case scenarios, but I prefer comforters). It doesn't matter how hot it is, either. When I was really young, I decided that if someone did break into the house I could lay really still and they wouldn't be able to see me if the comforter was thick enough. I actually have a friend who shares this philosophy with me. And yes, we both know that we're insane.
11. If you've ever worked in food service, you know that sometimes you're instructed to greet people with some sort of offer. "Hello, would you like to try our whatever today?" Sometimes I feel bad when I say no. Sometimes I give in and get whatever they're hocking just so I don't disappoint them. I bought a piece of cinnamon swirl coffee cake at Starbucks just two days ago for this very reason. When I worked at Graeter's they always wanted me to offer things to people and I refused to do it. I just don't like putting that pressure on someone.
12. Coincidentally, I have no idea why I worry about disappointing strangers (Starbucks employees, people in other cars on the road, etc.). I have no problem disappointing people I know. I got that coffee cake because I don't want to be that "bitch who didn't get the cinnamon swirl coffee cake," when all I am is someone who actually wanted a muffin. But, the coffee cake was really good so I guess it all worked out.
13. I am an impulse buyer. I try to use U-Scan machines because there are less impulse items there than regular check lanes. I've gotten a lot better at this; I'm sort of proud of my progress in my impulse buying.
14. Sometimes I play a game in my head called, "If Life Was a Musical." Here's how you play: Just think of songs that would fit perfectly with the conversation you're having. Sometimes, people just say things that immediately make me think of a song and I say to myself, "if life was a musical, we'd start singing that right now." I only play this game in my head, because if I did this in real life I would have no friends.
15. My ability to memorize TV shows and movies comes in handy when I'm bored. Sometimes I just play episodes of Simpsons or Friends in my head to help pass the time. The trick is not laughing out loud, because then you look crazy.
16. I love singing, I think this is pretty obvious from several other facts on this list. And I'm not half bad--I'm not going to be dropping an album anytime soon, but I can carry a tune. However, I'm not one of those people who randomly sings when no one else is singing as a means of compliment fishing. I hate when people do that. I purposefully ignore their singing because I know it pisses them off.
17. I really enjoy listening to people's wedding plans (unless they have no taste). The interesting thing about this is that I don't fantasize about weddings.My friend got engaged the other day, so I began imagining creative ways to propose. However, none of these daydreams involved me. I have friends who are not engaged but can tell you exactly what they want their weddings to be like, and I have no idea.
18. Actually, I take that back. Should I ever get married, I want to do so in the fall. Why? Because I don't like it when holidays (by which I mean gift-giving occasions) to run together. I always feel so sorry for people with birthdays near Christmas. I bet they get a lot of "combo" gifts; and that blows. So let's say I'm getting married, here are my holidays: Valentine's Day in February, my birthday in March, Mother's Day in May (should we decide to procreate), and Christmas in December. So you can see how a fall wedding would fit in perfectly.
    
19. One of the greatest feelings is purchasing a CD that you can listen straight through. Usually there's at least one song you don't like. My respect for an artist increases exponentially if I can listen to their entire CD without hitting the skip button. My current obsession is Some Mad Hope by Matt Nathanson. Not only do I listen to it all the way through, but I could also listen to it on repeat. I try not to listen to it on repeat because I don't want to make myself sick of it.
    
20. Sometimes I feel bad for McDonald's because people tend to give them a bad rep. I like McDonald's, I think it's good. Is it the best food ever? No. But it costs like $5, so why the hell is everyone complaining? You don't have to eat there. I should also mention that whenever I feel bad for McDonald's I remember that no matter what people say, they do a lot of business so there's no need to be upset.