interests: likes & dislikes

Loves

I love my faith and the multitude of blessings received in my life. I love my family. I love the friendships I have made in elementary, high school, college, graduate school and my professional career. I love dogs of any kind. I love individuals with integrity, rigor, and good ol’ fashion work ethic. I love spending time with my girlfriends, including some I have had since youth, and I love my annual girls’ weekend get-away . I love sports and exercise, e.g. running, swimming, and biking. I love a healthy lifestyle. I love Lake Wesauking and the people who live there.

I love popcorn, mixed nuts, Pez®, Jelly Bellys®, Black Jack® chewing gum, Tabasco® sauce, wasabi, atomic-fire jawbreakers, circus peanuts & candy-corn in the month of October only, cheese, spinach, apples-all types, veggies and salads, sushi, Thai & spicy foods, energy drinks, strong cup of black-black coffee or latte hot, warm or cold. I love when people make birthdays special without asking your age. I love holidays. I love Wegmans® and gluten-free foods. I love a “perfect day”. I love single malt scotch (Oban®) or good glass of wine on special occasions, and the smell of a good cigar. I love to cook, bake and experiment with new recipes. I love to entertain, and participate in my gourmet (at least this is what we call it) dinner club.

I love playing cards, e.g. euchre, poker, and my childhood game Crazy Eights. I love flowers and English gardens. I love the four seasons, in particular the smell of fall, the snow (no ice) in the winter, seeing and reporting the first sign of Spring (the Robin), and the annual Corn Roast at Lake Wesauking. I love my experiences of living in large cities, Boston and NYC. I love living in a small town with all its charm. I love walking into a restaurant and knowing individuals in the room. I love family traditions like watching my Aunt Esperia make homemade pasta, crescia Italian bread, castagna-cece (chestnut-chickpea) soup, and my mother’s homemade bread, fruitcake, and peanut-butter gluten-free rice treat, political discussions, stories of the good old days, family-friendly poker, and the annual statement “this was the best turkey we have ever had.”

I love to dabble in the arts. I love new challenges. I love classic, well-engineered cars. I love youth and listening to their ideas. I love sharing my ideas with my students and listening and learning from them. I love good music (e.g. John Hiatt) when I go for a run or swim. I love the inventor of the waterproof MP3 player. I love my IPhone™. I love movies. I love when I can say, “that was the best book,” and mean it. I love Google®. I love a clean and organized environment; home, office, and planet. I love getting an email or connecting with an ol’ friend, student or colleague. I love fashion. I love the art of watching an angler fly-fish or athlete in his/her element.

I love people with good manners. I love when people say “Thank you”. I love quotes and wise sayings. I love clean jokes. I love being a night-owl and still getting up early the next day – feeling blessed and refreshed. I love seeing a sunrise, a sunset, full Moon, North Star, Big Dipper, and a shooting star. I love that I was able to see a double rainbow in my lifetime. I love the concept of peace. I love the goal of seeing the Seven Wonders of the World. I love to learn about different cultures and traditions. I love emerging myself and studying different cultures. I love traveling domestically or internationally. I love trying new international foods. I love our country and world peace. I love to try to do an act of kindness every day. I love people who truly believe age is an attitude. I love our American flag and what it represents. I love Nova Scotia. I love to say “peace be with you”. I love to laugh and I love it when someone can make me laugh. I love individuals that like closure, e.g. took the time to read my silly comments.

Dislikes

I dislike laziness, sleeping in, taking the first steps, for example plunging into a cold pool or lake, dishonesty, takers vs. givers, crude and rude individuals, sarcasm, cattiness and drama, back-stabbers, complainers for the sake of complaining, and cigarette smoking of any form. I dislike chocolate, rich foods, and mushrooms. I can’t enjoy gluten-filled products anymore (e.g. pasta and bread).

I also dislike very scary and/or very sad movies, icy roads in the winter months, over-compulsive texters, not facing an issue head-on, sending an email or text to say you’re sorry, individuals who can not say “I am sorry” at all, individuals who drink and drive, individuals who retire young and fill their time with extracurricular/R&R activities vs. volunteering and giving back to the community; the use of profanity as an adjective, adverb, and noun in every sentence, our obsession for fame, not respecting privacy, individuals who do not realize their blessings, and individuals (particularly young adults) who feel a sense of entitlement.

Respects

I respect my family for what they have done for me in my life. I respect different faiths. I respect a life-long learner. I respect children and dogs for their unconditional love. I respect individuals who decide to pursue education, intellectual property law, medical, military, public service, and/or nonprofit professions. I respect and honor individuals who have been my mentors and teachers in my life. I respect risk-takers and entrepreneurs. I respect people who do believe that “today is a gift.” I respect survivors. I respect women leaders. I respect student-athletes. I respect people who can whistle for a cab. I respect medical researchers for their time and knowledge to find cures for juvenile diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer, cancer, and other diseases.

I respect individuals who use their public library. I respect individuals who can read books on how to ride horses or rebuild Land Rover® engines, and then be able to do it. I respect individuals who keep in touch and return phone calls and email messages. I respect individuals who understand the quote, “to whom much is given, much is expected.” I respect individuals who speak two or more languages. I respect individuals who do not believe in retirement. I respect volunteers for taking time out of their busy day to give back.

I respect truth. I respect change agents and leaders of our past, present and future. I respect the concept of “pay-it-forward”. I respect individuals with talents in the arts, music, writing, and athletics. I respect individuals who follow the motto “if you have a body you are an athlete (Nike)”. I respect individuals who adopt. I respect individuals who believe in second and third chances. I respect individuals who remember your preferred first and last names, remember them and don’t try to change them. I respect diversity.