ANVIL LADIES T SHIRT

rachel, ME and carol

actually, I got tagged by my friend tacit requiem...
So here are 16 crazy random things you might hate or like about me:

1. It was really my ambition to become an artist but my mom told me to become a doctor or an engineer instead. And so i got my degree in Industrial Engineering from University of Santo Tomas! Oh yes, i'm your fellow Tomasino *wink*

2. i love to dance. i was the president of Engineering Dance Troupe during SY 2001-2002. Had lots of fun joining contests representing the Faculty of Engineering.. Got invited to perform at SM Manila, it was like a front act at one of the shows. Received free supply of shirts and jeans from DICKIES! hahaha.. My mom even got worried that i'll end up a dancer and not an engineer.. lol..

3. Oh yes, i became a cheerleader too and until now i couldn't really imagine how that had happened coz i'm kinda a boyish-type of girl.. i'm not into skirts and dresses.. i'm more of a blue-jeans lover.

4. i love MATH.. it’s obviously my fave subject.. kind of explains why i ended up taking an Engineering course (only to find out it's not just all about MATH... aaaaargh!) oh, and i hate Engineering Eco. That subject sucks.. big time!

5. I used to drive a Ford Mustang, but I had an accident just after 2 weeks of driving it.. and so i had to sell it.. and now, i leave all the driving to my husband! =)

6. I got married when i was 26 and now i'm 28, we're hoping to have a baby next year.. i'm married to an artist -- a musician actually! But aside from being a musician, I think my husband is more of a comedian! that makes me love him more and more every time he makes me laugh =D

7. I have this fixation to cell phones.. I think (not really sure) have had 15 different types of cell phones already. I’m a compulsive buyer, if I want something, I’ll buy it immediately!

8. I’ve had only two jobs after i graduated. I first worked as an Operations, Planning and Control Analyst only for a year and then decided to work abroad where my family is. I am now a Quality Assurance Evaluator (quite a tough job but i manage to survive)

9. My family migrated to Canada, leaving me here in Bahrain. I’m not alone though coz I’m with my husband. I plan to go there too but probably after 2-3 years.

10. I once became a Chief Lay-out Artist for our school paper in Sacred Heart Academy during high school days. Not really sure why I got that position, I think I am really an artist but it’s not pretty obvious!

11. I love my friends. My mom gets jealous and she feels that I love my friends more than I love her coz I will usually step out of my comfort zone just to make sure that my friends are alright.

12. I can be a very good friend but and I can also be your worst enemy so DON’T MESS UP WITH ME! You’ll be in trouble! Bwahahaha =P

13. The very first laptop I had was an APPLE iBOOK that looks like a clam shell and its color is GREEN. I had it when I was still on college. Now I got an HP Pavilion, dv2800t, Artist Edition.

14. I’ve gained weight after marriage and I find it really hard to trim out my fat coz I’m one big lazy woman. And plus I don’t dance anymore.. I bought a Wii Fit, but I’m not using it everyday..

15. I am one of the couple coordinators of Youth for Christ (YFC) Bahrain.

16. My first digital camera was a Fuji old school model.. really couldn’t remember the model. I’ve had a Nikon D70s, sold it and now I’m using a Nikon D90 and a Canon Powershot DigiCam.

one of my favorite short story authors, louis auchincloss, died this past tuesday.

for what was probably christmas of 2002, or my birthday in 2003, my friend lisa, who lives in the south carolina lowcountry, sent me a gift. there's not a lot of shopping where lisa lives, and she has always given me the best presents ever -- either handmade, or amazing finds for super cheap. (she also did the art for both of the kids' adoption announcments and has just finished the design for the t-shirts for claudia's second birthday party). a package from lisa can include, and has included, a handmade doll, homemade biscotti, and the copy of esquire in which truman capote's "breakfast at tiffany's" first appeared.

so, as she knew i had just discovered louis auchincloss and was loving him, she sent me a very old hardbound copy of his short story collection "powers of attorney". this would have been cool enough... but a picture of the author was taped on the inside of the book, stating in print below that the book in my hand was "to be published by houghton mifflin company august 14, 1963." this book was a pre-release press copy!

pretty neat.

but i couldn't really let go of the idea that... it would be even neater if i could get him to sign it. i knew he was quite elderly... but a quick google search also gave me his exact street address.

i wrote to mr. auchincloss and asked him if i might send him my book to sign. i got a postcard in return:

"yes -- of course i'll sign the book but if it weighs more than 18 oz, it has to go to the P.O., and i won't wait the 1/2 hour in line -- auchincloss"

could i have been more excited? i went to kinko's and they helped me to send a pre-paid return fed ex envelope along with the book. i sent off my book -- a pretty big risk still and all -- but got it back, inscribed, "for amber dorko stopper, with appreciation of her kind words about my work. sincerely, louis auchincloss".

it is one of my most prized possessions. notice that lisa paid all of four dollars for it, i believe at a library sale.

i am sad to hear that he is gone but hope his ninety-two years were all good ones.

find, in his collected stories, the wonderful and sinister "greg's peg". it's one of my all-time favorite stories. i wish i had written it myself.