30 Day Challenge, Day 1: A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

Partly to get my 'okole on the blogging groove again and mostly because one of my friends has hounded me on FB to do one of these things, I've decided to hop on the 30 Day Challenge bandwagon. So here goes...

I attempted to go for the "pensive" look, but ended up with "constipated." Duuuuuuude....

1. As the sidebar of this here blog subtly declares, I'm HAPA, or mixed race. The short version is that my da was Hawaiian-American and my mom's of Spanish, Filipino, AmerIndian and Chinese descent, but was born and raised in the Philippines.

2. I can speak 8 languages fluently and about a dozen if you include the languages that I can speak at an intermediate level.

3. Like dear ole Harry Potter, I look like my dad but have my momma's eyes. 

4. When I was a kid, I was afraid of Santa Claus. I always thought the notion of a stranger keeping tabs on whether you were naughty or nice was stalker-y. Then there's the whole sneaking into the house through the chimney. Yeaaaahhhh....

5. I went to a Catholic school almost all of my life, and I constantly got in trouble for saying that Jesus was a zombie because He rose from the dead after 3 days.

6. I also got in trouble for saying Catholics are cannibals with the whole drinking the blood and eating the body of Christ.

7. It's been about 16 years since I last played the mandolin and bandurria, but when I picked up a mandolin at a music store, it was as though no time has passed. I can still play Church songs from memory. 

8. I cannot whistle or snap my fingers.

9. I'm afraid to light a match or a lighter...totally the opposite of a pyromaniac. 

10. In addition to a shoe and bag addiction, I also collect fountain pens, Filofaxes and angel figurines.

11. My hair used to be almost knee-length, but now I'm addicted to short hair. 

12. My momma is one of my best friends.

13. My other bff and I met in Tibetan Buddhism class.

14. My ultimate goal is to start my own non-profit organization that offers livelihood programs and education for honour crime and conflict survivors. 

15. I really, really, really wanna move to Turkey. Like, right now. But realistically, it'll have to wait until at least next year or so.