Three Things Meme

Got this off Britt at Tickled Pink:

Three Things That Scare Me:
1) Failing out of a Ph.d program/being totally unsuccessful in my career
2) Stairs
3) Dying too young

Three People Who Make Me Laugh:
1) Robin Williams - always with the "Live on B'way" DVD
2) My Dad - when he tells his stories
3) Mel

Three Things I Hate:
1) Stairs
2) Pedestrians in Kyoto who don't pay attention to my bike bell till the last minute
3) Tourists in NYC who walk too slow
(can I also add Japanese electioneering trucks?)

Three Things On My Desk (Ok there is a bunch of stuff on it so I will lump it in 3 slots):
1) MacBook, who is lovingly named "Ringo" (NOT the Beatle, "Ringo" is "Apple" in Japanese and thus a pun), my pink Nintento DS, and a bunch of research materials.
2) (I consider this as one since they are on one corner of my desk): Kyoto Starbucks mug, piggy bank in the shape of an old-school Japanese postbox, netsuke in the shape of a mermaid and a Darumakuji.
3) (and in the other corner of my desk) small ceramic box from Korea that I use as a jewelry box, on top of a plate that I got as a souveneir from the Miyako Odori

Three Things I’m Doing Right Now:
1) Talking with Mel via Skype
2) Blogging
3) Using my webcam and seeing Mel via Skype

Three Things I Want To Do Before I Die:
1) Publish the first book in English on a definitive history of Kyoto after 1868
2) Have a long and fulfilling marriage
3) Have at least 2, max 3 kids and raise them to the best of my abilities

Three Things I Can Do:
1) Play the koto
2) Weave through pedestrian traffic really quickly, whether it be on foot (in NYC) or on bike (in Kyoto - trust me, this is an art form)
3) Hold my umbrella/send a text message via cell in one hand, while managing the handlebars of my bike (whilst riding it) in the other.

Three Things I Think You Should Listen To:
1) Yourself
2) Parents
3) husband/wife - depending on the situation ;-)

Three Things I’d Like To Learn:
1) Knit
2) Drive
3) Drive stick

Three Favorite Foods:
1) Japanese Kimchi (Korean stuff is too spicy)
2) GREEK FOOD
3) Strawberry chocolate

Three Shows I Watched As A Kid:
1) Whatever was on WPIX/Channel 11 in the afternoons (Family Matters, Fresh Prince, 90210, etc.)
2) Saved by the Bell
3) all the classic Nickelodeon (Britt totally got this one right!)

Three Things I Regret:
1) Being too much of a Type-A/OCD person sometimes
2) Not being as proactive/social as I would like to be
3) Not being able to enjoy my year in London as much as I would have liked to