Kathy has tagged me.  So did Beth, via Facebook.  I normally don’t go for these, but Kathy did mention me particularly - plus, it’s not like I’m rolling in blog topics these days (as you may have noticed), so here goes.

25 random things about me that you may or may not know:

1. I was born here in Los Angeles, but my family moved to South Carolina when I was eight.  Jeff thinks that makes me “from” South Carolina, but I vigorously dispute this.
2. I got kicked out of a summer program in 1991 for using the internet.  When I got home, my parents bought me my own computer.  Thus was born a computer geek.
3. Ironically, the only classes I have ever failed were computer science courses.
4. During high school, I attended several dozen science fiction conventions.  Way more fun than school, and I think I learned more there too.
5. I was also the Communications Officer for my local chapter of Starfleet.
6. After college, I tried to be a sound editor. Or a video editor.  Or pretty much any sort of post production person.  Which meant that mostly I was a secretary, or unpaid editing labor.
7. Which is how I met Jeff. So, it wasn’t a total waste.
8. The job I have now was actually supposed to be temporary, to fill in a little time while I applied to grad schools.
9. But, I liked it enough to forget about grad school, and they liked me enough to make it permanent.
10. Jeff and I were both already SCUBA certified when we met. I learned my senior year in college, and almost didn’t finish the class - I was completely freaked out dealing with all the gear.  And the cold, cold water.
11. I didn’t go diving again until Jeff bought me a refresher course for my 23rd birthday.
12. And… now I have more dives (and more certifications) than he does.  Well done.
13. I hate to cook.  If Jeff is out of town, I will subsist on Subway, Lean Cuisine, and McDonald’s.
14. Although my full name is Anastasia, I went by “Anna” for the first 22 years of life.  (My parents could have saved some confusion by spelling it “Ana,” but they thought that looked liked it should be pronounced “AY-nuh”.)
15. My middle name used to be Louise, but I replaced it with my maiden name (Clower) when I got married.
16. When we first moved to South Carolina, I unfortunately attempted to go by “Anna Louise” for a year.
17. I also went by “Staci” (yes, that’s how I spelled it) for several summers at camp.  I really can’t say why.
18. Shortly after I started using my full name, they hired another Anastasia at my office and we became close friends.  So for 6 years, we’ve been going by “A1″ and “A2″.  (I got to be A1.)
19. Jeff took me on my first real date when I was 22.
20. Despite his being both my first boyfriend and my first date, you shouldn’t assume he was also the first dude I had sex with.
21. Because I actually lost my virginity (I think that’s a stupid phrase, by the way - after all, I do know where it went) on a boat in Ireland.  At the time, the boat was docked in Dingle Harbor.  By the town of Dingle.  On Dingle Peninsula.  I kid you not.
22. I tell way too many people that story.  Because HOW CAN I NOT; it trumps all my friend’s stories.  Now I’ve told the entire internet.  I’ll probably wish I hadn’t done that one day, but it will be too late.
23. Speaking of personal stories I shouldn’t share with the entire internet, I once peed in our laundry hamper.  I had been drinking, but that’s still no excuse for what I did to our clothes that night.
24. Speaking of things that annoy Jeff, I tend to leave pieces of toenail and peeled skin from my feet in little piles around the apartment.
25. One of my boobs is actually an implant.  (You probably all knew that already.  I tell that story more often than the Dingle one.)

Good thing it’s not “100 things” or I might have to start getting way too personal.   Oh wait…