Well... Everybody's doing the brand new dance now, eh?
1. Family stuff: My dad sent me a family tree with both sides of my family on it last week. Of the 350 ancestors we know of who were alive at the time of the Revolutionary War, 349 were already living in America. This means that I am inevitably related to some fairly famous figures from American history, such as being a direct descendant of Gen. Stonewall Jackson. I consider myself ethnically Appalachian, and if someone wants to get in a fight with me, saying something ignorant about West Virginia is a pretty good way to go about it.
2. I have no recollection of not being able to read music. Until the age of nine, I attended a music academy 4 days a week and spent much of each year preparing for and attending piano competitions. They gave out trophies for 1st-9th place, and my goal was to get one of each because they were different colors.
3. I was raised Methodist, and my family is pretty religious. But I couldn't stick it. Becoming an atheist was really difficult, since all of my family functions are church-oriented. It's something I keep secret from almost my entire family because I don't want them being fearful for me and praying for me. I replaced God with Ted Leo (see avatar), and it's been working out pretty well.
4. I can't go into big stores with fluorescent lighting. Several years ago, I actually had 2 severe breakdowns in a Wal-Mart, and then there was the Great IKEA Incident of 2008, in which I got so freaked out by the prospect of owning a piece of furniture that wouldn't fit in my car, I sat down and started crying in the middle of the floor, and my friends had to talk me down.
5. I'm thinking about moving to Toronto for love. I'll keep you posted.