Post Number 1,000! A Tiz List Before Moving On

It's been a while since I've posted a "Tiz List," and before we launch into the next thousand posts (after all, we start with 1, not 0, when counting), I thought I should clarify a few things.

For those of you unfamiliar with my Tiz Lists (or if you've simply forgotten over time where the name comes from), I've named these "lists of random things you may not know about me - or random things which at least I don't believe I've explicitly said about myself in the past" after the friend of mine who writes the "Tiz and Ass" blog. Why? Because each December she has written incredibly personal lists of things people don't know about her, and since that spirit is what prompted me to write my own lists, I decided to give credit where credit is due.

So, with an eye on wrapping up the past 999 posts in a bow so that we can move forward with 1,001 with a relatively clean slate, here we go: 

1. I haven't ever named "the pup" in the blog. And I don't plan to. Not sure why. I guess it's sort of for the same reason that I don't name people without their consent. She can't give her consent, so I'm not naming her. I also don't plan to name where I work, but that's totally different.

2. I know that I kind of have stopped blog-sighing over John Barrowman since meeting him. Don't get me wrong -  I would still invite him and his partner over for dinner if given the opportunity, and I'm sure he'll show up from time to time in the next 1,000 posts, but I wanted to let you know that I know that I've been talking about him less. 

3. Yes, I'm a Gemini. Although I think I have it "tamed" much more than I did in my 20s.

4. I am on various social media, but I don't connect with most people on them unless I actually know them. I kind of feel like if I wouldn't invite them over for dinner, I don't need them knowing what I'm doing all the time. 

5. There are people I've "met" through my blog, their blogs, or a combination of the two, who are now friends of mine on social media - even though they've never been to my home for dinner. And there are people who have been over to dinner who, even so, are not connected to me on social media.

6. I'm a huge proponent of having people over for dinner. My first date with Christopher was a dinner in my apartment almost 8 years ago. 

7. We ordered pizza, but the "in my home" was, I think, the important part.

8. I firmly believe that you can be great friends with people you have only met for a moment. Even if you don't see them again for a very long time. Or ever. And sometimes those same people leave bigger imprints on you than anyone else.

9. I think that some people - no matter how much time you spend together, or how much of an impact you make on each other - will always just be acquaintances. 

10. Some of my best friends are people who live in other parts of the world and I only hear from a few times a year. 

11. I think that's okay.

12. Since I started my current job, I find it harder and harder to read for fun, and to wrap my mind around writing anything longer than blog posts or emails. Even so, I think that some day I might publish a book or twelve of my own. 

13. There are days when I really miss being around the performing arts. 

14. And the artsy arts, too. 

15. No. Christopher and I are not planning to get married on August 1st when it becomes legal in Minnesota. (I had another person ask me that, earlier today. Totally out of the blue.)

16. I really would like to win the lottery and try to prove the "money can't buy happiness" people wrong. 

17. When I see movie stars with greying beards, it makes me happy, because I don't feel so bad about the grey in mine. 

18. I cannot imagine ever using any kind of color in my beard. That would be weird.

19. I have problems realizing that the grey is in my beard because I'm in my late 40s. I always kind of feel like I'm in my late 20s or early 30s - old enough to not have the pressure to go out and run around constantly, and content enough to not feel bad about that. 

20. I have come to prefer aggressive-aggressive over passive-aggressive. And I fully admit that when people are being passive-aggressive I'm happy to exploit the holes in that to my advantage. (Look, I said the Gemini in me was more tame than in my 20s. I didn't say it was gone.)

21. When I started this blog, I didn't think anyone would read it. I also figured it would probably last about 3 months - or until I got a job, whichever came first. 

22. I'm still under the impression that - most days - no more than 3 or 4 people read this blog. Two of whom are my parents. (Hi, Mom and Dad!)

23. When I write, I tend to imagine it as a conversation - which makes it a pleasant surprise when people respond in conversational fashion. 

24. I have already started looking at new layouts for this blog, and am planning to launch them with my next post. The writing style will probably stay mostly the same.

25. I suspect you really have no idea how much I appreciate those of you who read this blog. Writing in a vacuum is a little weird. So just being able to see that at least someone has seen my blog on any given day is nice. 

And, there we have it: my one thousandth blog post - a mere 4 years, 9 months, and a handful of days after the first one.

Hmm... I had kind of expected fanfare. Maybe trumpets or confetti. Or at least cake. In lieu of that, I offer you the following three minutes of video which - to me - are pretty much pure joy: