Ode to Anneth

Sometime around 2005, I became roommates with a delightful woman named Annie. We stayed roommates until 2010, when I got married and she graduated and went to grad school. Here we are over the years:

Today is her birthday, and I love her more than words can say. So today's blog entry is an ode to one of the dearest and closest friends I've ever had the privilege of knowing.

27 Things I Love About Annie:

1. She loves Star Trek. (She introduced me to the film Trekkies, which I love.)
2. She's a talented artist. Her notes at school were always covered with doodles and sketches. Now and then in Church, we would do this tandem art thing...I would draw a few things, then she would take my drawing and add or change things, then hand it back to me and I'd do the same. The results were these fun, doodly surrealist drawings.
3. Ny-quil makes her CRAZY.  I have never met anyone else as heavily affected by over-the-counter medication as she is.
4. She always ends up losing one sock in her sleep, and just stays that way for hours. Just one sock.
5. She is quick to notice and counter fallacies and flaws in thinking.
6. She has a powerful testimony of the Gospel. She goes to the temple faithfully when she has the opportunity, and I've always admired her for it.
7. It was hilarious for me to wrestle with her. It was like...a mosquito trying to wrestle a...robin. Or other type of bird. Or something.
8. She loves England and European sensibilities in general.
9. She loves food and cooking, and she's got an aptitude for it. She's the best sort of foodie.
10. She has patience and kindness as a listener. I realize now how much more I should have listened...Annie was privy to many unburdenings of my heart over the years, and I love her for it.
11. She knows a lot of great films, and shares them with those she loves. (Cabaret, Lion in Winter, and Arthur come to mind.)
12. She has an impressive vocabulary.
13. Her side of the room was always messy when we were roomies. =) I say that with a heart full of love...it was always organized to herself, and it somehow endeared her to me.
14. She loves of the Beatles.
15. Because there were times when we were hopelessly silly together. (Remember that time we laid on your bed for like an hour, and had a contest to rhyme as many things as possible with the word "allocated" or something like that? If I recall, I won with the word "Acme-crated." Which I totally made up.)
16. She always looks gorgeous without any makeup on.
17. She was always easy-going as a roommate. Even if she had a hard time with something that was going on in the apartment, she never caused or perpetuated drama. She's far too mature for that.
18. She is brave. She takes big leaps of faith now and then that take more bravery than most people realize.
19. She's Oregonian through and through. Her heart belongs in Portland,
20. She's super-smart. She's got a Master's Degree. Did you know that? That she received from the University of Kent in Canterbury, England.
21. She knows the art of listening to music. There were a few times when we turned off all the lights and just laid in the middle of the floor and listened to the Beatles. It was awesome.
22. She shares my sense of humor in a lot of ways. If something bizarre or funny happened to me, I knew I could come home and tell Annie about it, and she would laugh and appreciate it.
23. She has a delightful propensity for creating band names. We worked at Wal-mart together for one summer, in the warehouse, and between laundry detergent scents and toilet paper brands, we came up with some pretty awesome band names. (Abrasive Angel being the most memorable.)
24. She has an endearing need to rely on "instant replay" in her brain to correctly hear things. It was something I only knew about her later in our friendship, but she has an ear problem that sometimes affects her hearing. And it's endearing.
25. She is a very talented poet. She's only shared a few of her poems with me, but all of them are lovely.
26. She has a great sense of style. We shared a closet for years, and by the time our paths diverged, I couldn't remember which clothes were hers and which were mine. I loved sharing a closet with Annie.
27. She is open-minded. She seeks truth and beauty and embraces it wherever she finds it. She still sticks to her standards and principles, but truth or beauty don't have to look a certain way for her to love it.

27 Favorite Things Annie Has Said:

1. Annie: Mmm...brisket.
Kathleen: Jews.
Annie: Right now?
(a misunderstanding, probably due to that ear problem I mentioned...)

2. On toddler rebellion during potty-training:
"Screw this! I feel like...going in my pants. I'm going to burn my inner thighs with urine!"

3. "It ruffled her. Like a feather-duster. Only larger. And made of skin."

4. "What?! Someone doesn't want to be spoon-fed to me?! My universe is crumbling!"

5. "You're all made of cheese."

6. "I have such confidence in Captain Pickard. Really. If I was in a crisis, and Patrick Stewart walked in, I would feel better."

7. Annie: That was weird, because I could only hear out of one ear.
Liz: What happened to your other ear?
Annie: It went on vacation.
Liz: The GREENLAND!
Annie: Where they cut off your ears if they don't like your face.
Liz: Or if you're a whore.
Annie: It's barbaric.
Liz: But, hey, it's home.

8. "All right! So you found a pocket! You're not Magellan!"

9. "Night night, Lizwhit! Iron your...WAFFLE FACE! I am high. Ny-high. Love, Annie." --Note left for me (with illustrations) while Annie had a cold

10. "What kind of conceited person names their butt-cheeks?"

11. Question: If you could sleep with two people simultaneously, who would you choose?
Roommate: I don't think Alex Kapranos and Hugh Laurie would go together very well. That would be disastrous.
Annie: That would be like having a sandwich on sourdough AND cinnamon bread.

12. "Peacocks also sound like this. (pause) Well, I'm not gonna scream, but that's what they sound like."

13. "The poor Jews! They can't even get universal credit for being persecuted."

14. "I was just wiping off the table, because the water and the wood, they make ugly babies."

15. "Relocation without notification is like taxation without representation!"

16. "You are adorable! Are you on drugs? Why are you so cute?"

17. "Jesse, your face looks like wrapping paper after Christmas morning."

18. "That is such a cute outfit! You look like a cute...pregnant...sailor...summer!"

19. "I could never live in a place where the buildings are PINK."

20. "Wow, Sarah. You're awesome. I'm going to make out with you later. But not for real."

21. "Where is my freaking DeNiro, you harlots!?"
(as misunderstood by Liz)

22. "That dinner was exactly what I needed! Salad and MEAT! I feel like I just ate a crowbar!"

23. "I'm so black that my black is a noun."

24. (While watching Hugh Laurie in an episode of House)
Annie: Aw, put your glasses back on.
Liz: And grow your hair out.
Annie: And take your shirt off.

25. "You should climb a tree! For...wicked monkey school!"
(an attempt to say about 4 things at once)

26. "Oh, you and your breasts."

27. "Why would anyone be a Congressman if they could FLY?"

Dear Annie,

On your birthday, I have this to say:

Let the pedestrians run clumsily along the puddles

and the water runs along the street like a river.

And it's not clear to the passersby on this bad weather-ish day,

why I am so happy.

I play on the accordion in front of the passersby in sight.

Unfortunately, birthday is only once a year.

A wizard will fly in suddenly in a light blue helicopter

and for free will show movies.

He will congratulate with the day of birth and probably will give me

as a present, five hundred eskimo pies.

(That's a Russian birthday song. Beckah shared it with me once. Thought you'd appreciate it. 

I miss you every single day, and love you dearly.)

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Ode to Anneth