Seven Things About Me

In the spirit of Writer Dad, Screenwriting Manifesto and UNK, a few of my favorite writer blogs at present, I'm doing the whole, "Six/Seven Things About Me" Exercise, so here it goes:

1. I am a compulsive walker. After a long day of writing, I like nothing more than taking a long, long walk. Sometimes, on a Saturday morning, I’ll put on my tennis shoes and walk for three to four hours. I can walk anywhere—in the city, in the country, by the beach, by the desert. I love city hikes and just getting lost in a neighborhood I’ve never been to, or I love stumbling upon a beautiful beach cove I didn’t know about. I find walking to be more meditative than yoga, more relaxing than a massage and more adventurous than sky diving (okay, maybe not).

2. I look really young. I am in my early 30’s, but people often mistake me for being 20. I even got carded for buying a red bull once!! The lady at the check out stand was like, you’re way too young to be buying that, I need to see some ID! Geez. It used to bother me a lot, because people would ask me with such contempt, like, “how old are you, anyway?” I mean, this happens in professional settings at times, especially as a professor. Sometimes, students will look at me and ask, “you’re the professor?” But then, once I start talking, they know the answer to that one!

3. My friends call me 90 pounds of fury. When I have an opinion about something, I sort of let it out. I never realized this about myself, until a friend of mine was like, “you’re such an intense person.” I think it’s not only that I’m pretty expressive, it’s also that I tend to be pretty hard core about the things I take on. Like when I say I’m making Raspberry Magic, I really mean it!! It’s hard for me to in between, like do something and not care about it. I’ve also been known to get pretty rowdy and wild after a drink or two, and have gotten kicked out of my share of bars!

4. I hated Indian food when I was growing up. Seriously, my mother made Indian food everyday when I was growing up—roti, daal, a different vegetable. I don’t think I ever ate daal once when I was growing up, but now I could eat it everyday. I especially love any kind of beans like black lentils, etc. I’m not the best and most proficient cook on the planet, but this summer has been all about experimenting with the pressure cooker and learning how to make all those great beans I love so much. The whole Indian woman being able to cook well is such a cliché, and I feel totally insecure that I can’t rock it. But, I’ll get there...

5. I never dated in high school and I didn’t go to the prom. I was socially awkward in high school, for sure, and dating only seemed like something all the blond cheerleader girls did. My senior year, I made out a little, and I went to one dance, but that was it. But of course, I met my husband my freshman year of college, and we dated for almost ten years before we got married!

6. For all of my fury, I can be pretty introverted. Socializing feels overwhelming to me. My husband used to be a total social butterfly when we lived in SF, and I always found myself freaking out. He finds it really odd that I can work alone in our house for hours and hours, without talking to anyone, but I like it. It would be hard for me to work any other way.

7. I won a writing contest at the age of sixteen that changed my life. Growing up, I was compulsive reader, to the point where I often didn’t do my work or even listen to my teachers in school. Instead, I would read. Not War and Peace all the time either, but a lot of trashy romance novels and my share of VC Andrews novels. Anyway, I was a good student, but never a stellar one like my sister (now a doctor) and all of the other Indian kids I knew. Anyway, I believe all of that reading eventually helped me, because a high school teacher of mine asked to be on the newspaper staff my sophomore year. Until then, I was all about drama club, but writing, hell yeah! I had been writing all my life, like journals, poems, short stories and more, but being the on the newspaper staff helped me see my work in print. This same teacher encouraged me to enter an essay contest sponsored by Parade Magazine, which I ended up winning. The topic was something patriotic about the real America and JFK's dream. For the first time in my life, I realized that I could be good at something. Until this point, my sister was the super star of the family with her straight A's and gymnastics. It took me many years after this to dedicate and really decide that I wanted to go down the path of a pro writer, but this contest opened up the door for me to write for my college papers, then later freelance for news publications and much more. Writing was something I always did and will do, but I believe this contest helped push me forward in a new way. It was a defining moment!

I tag--anyone who reads this and hasn't done it already. It's kinda fun!!