In 2008 and 2009, I wrote a list of facts about myself…and it’s just weird reading these again because some of these things don’t apply to me anymore. For instance, three years ago I wrote:

….I prefer the single life. I don’t like commitment. I don’t ever want to get married. My opinions might change as I get older, but at this rate, going solo is the way to go. Also, I get ready really fast when I go out. Typically, my daily regime before heading out would be to change my clothes, use the bathroom, and then put on some deodorant. There’s nothing to it.

Today, I have a boyfriend and we’re happy, so I definitely rather be with him than be single (who’d a thunk it!?). I also take a little bit longer to get ready now. It might be due to the fact that I have a boyfriend and I guess I just want to look hot for him. And looking hot takes time.

Anyhoo, to carry on the good ol’ Tiff-blogging tradition, here are a few more facts for this year:

1. Wearing lipstick makes me feel whole again. Did that creep you out a little bit? Let me rephrase that: Without it, I’d feel like a part of my face would be naked–ok–not that you should be wearing clothes on your face or anything. I guess I rather look like a hot clown all the time.

2. I have a couple of sleeping disorders. In my sleep, I grind my teeth, sleep talk, sleep walk (sometimes other random physical activities) AND the complete opposite of sleep walking: sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis is when you’re conscious (more or less) but your body is paralyzed and usually have a hard time breathing. That’s really the gist of it.

It’s one of the scariest things to experience because you can’t call for help! If you live with somebody, they would think you’re probably sleeping beauty when you’re all sleeping but NO–you’re really awake, conscious and aware of your surroundings and you’re slowly suffocating and your body is immobile–just fucking terrified out of your goddamn mind. I use to get it a couple of times a week, but now it’s just a few times a month.

3. Apparently, I look like someone. I always do. Friends, strangers, family members and acquaintances tend to mix me up with someone they know or use to know. I get a lot of, “Wow, you look just like my old best friend from high school!” “You should meet my cousin, you guys are twins,” or “Oh hey Crystal! Crystal? Oh, er, sorry I thought you were somebody else.”

It use to get REAL annoying, like, back in high school, there was a chick who didn’t like me and I later found out it was because some girl gave her a dirty look at church once and she thought the girl was me. Bitch, please.

The Most Average Female Asian Face in Teh World

At present, I’ve come to accept the fact that I have that average face everybody just knows…or that all Asian people look alike. One of those.

4. I feel bad for my boyfriend, because I act like my true, raw self when I’m with him, only him. If you remember what your psychology instructor use to teach you, then you should have an idea of the psychoanalytic theory of personality by Freud–which is composed of three parts: Id, ego and super-ego. My boyfriend, unfortunately, gets to witness the “id” concept of my personality. When he’s around, my actions tend to be a bit more impulsive and sometimes infantile (hey it’s out of love, man!).

Though, I’m guessing (more like hoping) it should be similar for other couples as well. Say, you’re on your first date with a guy who you’re really attracted to. To impress him you’re obviously going to try to sell yourself to him and convince him that you’re a really fun, awesome, far-from-psycho girl who deserves a second date (the ego). And THEN when you guys are finally an item, the longer you stay with him the more you are open and comfortable around him–and the more you’re comfortable are the more you…act out your basic instincts and blurt out whatever’s on your mind (the id!).

To everyone else and on this blog, I’m a fairly normal, stable person. To my boyfriend, well, I’m something else. *Smiles innocently*

5. Writing doesn’t come natural to me. This might sound really sad, but every time I’m typing up a long entry for this blog my brain gets a workout. Heck, I’m pretty positive I’m getting a good noggin’ exercise from typing this entry right now because of the following:

• Every time I try to figure out a difficult puzzle or a hardcore math problem my brain literally hurts. I feel it right now. Owie. See?
• No matter how tired or beat I am, I usually have a very hard time falling asleep after writing an entry because my brain is still running all over the place trying to figure out what the hell I just typed up for the last three hours.
• Speaking of three hours, that’s how long it usually takes me to type a regular entry. I don’t know how long it takes for other people to finish their entries, but I’m guessing it’s much faster than mine. I’m actually a pretty fast typer, I just have a harder time putting the right words together.

It’s been two years since I wrote a short list of guilty pleasures, and now I have NINE more to add to that list. And I’m sure some of you are asking, “But Tiff, why only 9? Why not finish it with a 10th one?”

Because I only have 9 guilty pleasures!

9. Mixing ketchup with ramen noodles

With the exception of my older sister, I seem to be the only one enjoying this genius combination of two great things: ketchup and ramen noodles. At the same time, I feel very guilty about it because nobody seems to get it–and when I bring it up people tend to look at me as if I’m a nutjob who blows other children’s birthday candles out for fun. Is it that bad? You should all try it anyway.

Photo courtesy of my fellow ketchup-ramen eating sister

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After receiving numerous search engine referrals lately on stuttering due to an old entry of mine, I feel like I should have been a lot more informative and professional about this topic, instead of being whiny about it (as I usually am!).

This is going to be a Part Two (or perhaps an upgrade) of the original post. And assuming that most of the regular visitors on here do not have a speech problem, I will write couple of tips on how to react when you’re talking to a stutterer.

How to deal with a person who stutters

1. Please be aware that stuttering does not equate to mental retardation. Stuttering is a neurological weakness which affects the words that come out of  their mouths–not their entire mental capacity, so treat them like normal human beings.

2. Maintain normal eye contact and look normal–try not to look embarrassed or startled.

3. Do not make remarks such as, “Calm down,” “Slow down”, or “Pause, and think about what you’re going to say” (My sister use to do this a lot when I was younger and the only thing it did was make me feel very impatient and frustrated).

4. Be patient.

5. If you have a hard time understanding what they’re trying to say, don’t hesitate to ask, “I’m sorry, can you repeat that for me again?” They should know that their stuttering will make it harder for other people to understand, so don’t be afraid to ask.

6. Unless you know this person very well, refrain from finishing/correcting their sentences. This can imply that you are being impatient.

7. Basically, be yourself and be polite just as if you were to interact with any other person.

(reference)

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