the laid.back Buddhist has MOVED...back!

Sunday, September 2

In Throes of Threes

Did you know? When I was younger, I had a fascination for the number 3. So I must thank Jon for tagging me! It was a pleasure to rediscover the beauty of the threes once more.

...well, until I remembered just how challenging it is to choose to name only 3 things I love or only 3 people who make me laugh (when there are many people who do, including myself). With the biggest challenge being when three seemed too much. Like, "3 Things You Should Never Listen To." I mean, never is such an absolute word. It really made me think carefully about what to say.

With trust in our blogging relationship, I present:

3 things that scare me

  1. Dinosaurs (yes, I am aware they are extinct...)
  2. Swimming/snorkeling in the ocean (est. April 2003)
  3. Falling in love
3 people who make me laugh

  1. My mother
  2. Jon Stewart
  3. Dan

3 things I love

  1. Eating slowly
  2. Tom & Jerry cartoons
  3. Randomly sharing a smile with a passerby

3 things I hate

  1. Hypocrisy
  2. Fascism
  3. Limpfish handshakes

3 things I don’t understand

  1. Deliberate ignorance
  2. How to Rhumba (uhm, point-to-toe heel when?!)
  3. Religious bigotry

3 things on my desk

  1. Knitted cupcakes made by Miki
  2. A framed photo of my younger sister
  3. My well-worn copy of Pride & Prejudice that I read in the 7th grade

3 things I’m doing right now

  1. Re-discovering who I am, who I want to be
  2. Successfully stopped biting my fingernails (going on two weeks!!)
  3. Forgiving certain people for their actions, prejudices, and grudges (against me).

3 things I want to do before I die

  1. Sing karaoke in public
  2. Be a grandmother
  3. Use half of my retirement money to build an after-school program for inner-city kids
3 things I can do

  1. Strive to be as strong as my mother
  2. Encourage my curiosity
  3. Salsa dancing (I cheated, this could also go under "3 things I love")
3 things I can’t do

  1. Not wear my heart on my sleeve
  2. Be satisfied with an easy answer
  3. Unclutter my blog layout (due to an affliction of widget lust and list-making frenzies)
3 things I think you should listen to

  1. Intuition
  2. Hopeful aspirations
  3. Classical Chinese and Folk music (and modern interpretations of it as well)

3 things you should never listen to

  1. Anger-driven impulses
  2. Advice before forming your own opinion
  3. Biases
3 shows I watched as a kid
  1. Saved by the Bell
  2. PBS channel
  3. Bill Nye the Science Guy
I hereby throw these threes to:

Kyla
Miki
Rolando
Erina
Brandy

25 Musing(s):

Anonymous said...

I have 3 responses:

1) Dinosaurs. According to one theory, dinosaurs aren't completely extinct. We just call them "birds" now.

2) Wow! I am so honored to make your list. So, what's it going to take to knock Jon Stewart down to #3? I can play the spoons badly, and do simple magic tricks.

3) I used to watch PBS too, but now Doctor Who is on the SciFi Channel.

Anonymous said...

Amen Lady Joanne! In regards to your 3rd thing you are doing right now. Is there any way I can get you to write me a note so that I can show it to the friend that I did wrong? I am sure she reads your blog (who doesn't?) and maybe if she saw that other bloggers were doing it...well...it just might be the example that would soften all hearts.

Anyway Joanne, thanks for sharing here in the land 0 blogs. Meant a lot to me.

Rolando said...

Haha, I got tagged! Thanks Joanne! I guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow.

Only 3 things huh, man that's gonna be hard. Let me know when you sing karaoke. I'll bring my video camera.

By the way, is copying allowed? j/k

Rolando

Anonymous said...

3 Things I like
1. Books
2. Anime
3. Video Games

megabrooke said...

love your 3's!

The Chick said...

This is so cute! I just love your blog. Thanks for checking me out too!

Rolando said...

I'm done, thanks for the tag!

Rolando

mikkers said...

as i said before, your selectivity in picking out only three items is obviously ranked along levels of passion and immediacy, but you probably don't want to include "limpfish handshakes" when a possible employer asks you what three things you hate.

otherwise, this is a great meme! creative, original, and it gets you thinking just what is really important to you. thank you so much for tagging me since i am really going to enjoy this.

oh, and you definitely have to do a blog post on why your April 2004 experience made you hate swimming in the ocean.

jon said...

HMMmmm... this is a fantastic response since it leaves me with more questions than before I read it! :)

Great job, I knew you would leave exciting and compelling answers! :)

Jon

Fruity said...

Nice blog to read. Three things I'm gonna do:
1)Eat more... fruits, what else?
2)Make more friends
3) Write more comments and reviews
Well, at least for the moment..
Cheers from Fruity

Erina Hart said...

I like all of your answers. I can tell you thought about your choices for a while.

I’m “It” again. Both you and Rolando catch me while I’m not looking. For example, here I was, carelessly eating a snow cone, and then you just walked up and tagged me. See, that is what I get for enjoying a treat :)

I’m pleased to be tagged. I’ll play as soon as possible.

Oh, and by the way, my boyfriend is terrified of the ocean. It makes me curious about your story. I think you need to let the catfish out of the bag.

Anonymous said...

enjoyed reading your questions and the answers!

eating slowly, ah yes I remember doing that in Paris (2-3hours)and doing it late at night...eat early and the waiters rush here in the states! look forward to visiting again.

Unknown said...

No kidding? I was also very fond of the number three when I was a kid. It was my ultimate lucky number, until it became my bad-luck number and I decided to boycott the whole idea...

But now I'm slowly beginning to put trust in the three again and this has to be a sign! I think I'm going to do a three-things post on my Apple blog tomorrow and see if it brings any good with it. :)

Beaman said...

Two weeks without fingernail munching. That's impressive. Are you on a diet or something?

Rolando said...

@Erina, surprised your Navigation system didn't pick us up on your radar :)

thethinker said...

I'm jealous. I wish I could salsa dance! Actually, I wish I could do any type of dance.

Erina Hart said...

@Rolando, you two are like ninjas. I can't turn my back on either of you.

I'll have my revenge. You two just wait. One day. You will both be "It."

[insert insane laughter and the sound of thunder]

Franco said...

Hi Karen..I love your blog. Good interesting stuff to read. Amazing thoughts too. And thanks for dropping by at www.francoyong.com.

Warmest regards,

Franco

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the tag missy! I'm hunkering down with it as we speak.

Joanne said...

Dan: Didn’t you get the memo? #3 is so the new #2, especially if you can do simple magic tricks. Jon Stewart’s got nothing compared to you.

DRS: I believe the most effective writing comes from your own heart, besides also being the most sincere.

Rolando: I loved your 3’s. It must this being on vacation thing you’ve got going…you knocked out those 3’s so swiftly!

David: I’m such a bookworm as well. But the only video games I play consist of MarioKart, Guitar Hero, and tetris, haha.

Brookem: Aww, thanks! It was a lot harder than I thought to do.

The Chick: OMG, your avatar is so freakin’ cute!!!!

Miki: Hahaha, but knowing what a dork I can be sometimes, I just might say it. And then explain that it goes along with making a good first impression. Just like a smile can give someone else a good feeling.

Jon: I know…I was sorely tempted to add a mini-paragraph at the end of each set of 3’s to elaborate and explain. But I figured I had better play it fair and only ended up stretching them a bit ;)

Fruit Species: I definitely agree with your #1. Everyone should eat more fruits. They are one of my favorite simple pleasures of life. But then again, so are most foods…

Erina: You really thought I was just tagging you? What I really meant to do was get a bite of your snow cone =P Haha, oh dear…you’re the second one to ask about my ocean snorkeling adventure. It looks like it’s a story I have to tell now!

Danny: I agree, 2 and 3 hour meals are to be treasured, for sure. And, in Paris…how exciting! I love the cafĂ© atmosphere, it’s the perfect setting for stimulating conversation.

Daniel N: Yeah, I don’t really remember how I became so fixated on the number 3. But it’s always been my favorite number to ponder…and in elementary school, I didn’t understand where all the fuss about 7 and 13 came from, haha.

Beaman: LOLs! I’m impressed with myself, too. The feeling of having fingernails to scratch with is…oddly euphoric.

TheThinker: Salsa is actually quite easy to learn. Most of it is improv and variations of a simple basic step. And as a fellow female with long legs as well, I can tell you…it’s all about letting loose those hips. Plus, salsa is more difficult for the guy since he’s leading.

Franco: …my name is Joanne.

Kyla: Yay! I can’t wait to read your response! =)

brandy said...

All right lady, I'm working on it. I suspect it will take me a while, I have a hard time narrowing anything down, but I will try my best. Oh, and Jon Stewart makes me laugh too. The guy is a genius!

myonlyphoto said...

And I had fascination for 11, but I will stop here lol, anna :)

Joanne said...

Brandy: CAN'T WAIT! It took some time for me, too...don't worry, I can be patient =)

Anna: 11? You must explain...! If you don't, I'll pester you on your page (while looking at all your cute photos), until ya do =P

Erina Hart said...

You would dare try to bite at my snow cone? How could you? I thought we were friends! You can't just bite another person's snow cone!

...unless you ask first. Besides, you know I would have just bought you one. What flavor do you like?

Joanne said...

Erina: Strawberry!!!! =P


IF YOU'RE GOING THROUGH HELL, KEEP GOING.
Winston Churchill