This post is about one of my closest friends, Luisa, who also recently made an appearance in My Life In A Nutshell.. I suspect she’ll want to contradict a bunch of this (e.g. “I am NOT a good cook!”) but she can go ahead because it’s MY list, so there. 🙂 And thanks to Reid for providing some of the photos on this page.
You can find out more about Luisa by reading her blog.
20 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MY FRIEND, LUISA PERRELLA
– Her energy. Holy cow, she has more energy than almost anyone else I know.
– She’s adventurous, seeking out new experiences. Like applying to be zoo keeper for a day. (!)
– She installs dryers.
– Her courage in the workplace.
– She climbs trees.
– She’s sexy AND smart.
– She introduced me to anchovies on pizza, anchovies on celery. I’m hooked.
– Her unflagging curiosity about everything around her.
– The way she fixes things. Women have a reputation for leaving the mechanical fixingstuff to men but Luisa will take on pretty much any project. If she doesn’t know how to fix it, she’ll learn new skills. Like chairs, engine siphoning, painting and redecorating, roofs, just to name a few.
– She’s a great cook. And Luisa bakes, too! She once yelled at me for eating some muffins she declared didn’t turn out. They were really good, made with almond flour; I asked for seconds. Yum. She made me “proper” muffins later on, and they were even better.
– Her organizational skills, whether it’s organizing a LAN party, corporate event, watergun/pool extravaganza, community meetings, kids’ school events, family vacations.
– Her sense of humour.
– She’s not afraid of speaking out even if it means going against the majority.
– How she questions things most people take for granted.
– She lines up on opening day for Lord of the Rings.
– Her gardening skills and appreciation of things outdoors.
– Her swearing. She doesn’t swear a lot, but more than most of my other friends. I know it sounds weird, but it’s one of things I really like about her, difficult to explain. Maybe it’s the way she does it, the effective and judicious use of that aspect of the language…and hey, and she taught me how to swear in Italian!
– She’s not afraid of goofy fun.
– She and Jeff like each other a lot; since both she and Reid are good friends with both Jeff and me, doing couple stuff is lots of fun.
– Her technonerdgirl soul. (Hey, we met in computer science class at the University of Toronto :-))
– When we were back in university, she started TAFC, short for a silly and fun informal group called The Ardent Female Committee. Hard to explain (maybe Luisa will explain in her blog or in Blatherchat), but from what I can recall, it was a very tongue-in-cheek sort of thing partly having to do with being female in a male-dominated field back then, and partly to do with getting back at some of our male classmates :-).
– Her writing is from the heart. She may claim she’s not a writer, but her blog entries have made me laugh out loud and also teary-eyed.
– Her positive attitude and humour through experiences many other people would be constantly whining about and using as a crutch. Instead, these experiences seem just to make her stronger.
– The way she helps friends find cool opportunities. She’s the one who got John Swain onto the Discovery Channel, for instance, and it turned into a regular gig.
Above: Pottery that Luisa and I made.
– She doesn’t mince words, especially when she’s pissed off about something. You always know where you stand with her. No mindgames, no emotional manipulation.
– She’s a great mom.
– She doesn’t coast. If she’s unhappy about something, she takes action.
– Her relationship with Reid. It’s clear they adore each other.
– She’s a great listening ear, sympathetic but also objective. Doesn’t let me get away with self-indulgent crap.
– She’s intellectually and emotionally honest.
– She’s gorgeous. She’s going to kill me saying so, but I want to anyway.
– She’s a loyal friend and an amazing woman. I’ve known Luisa for about 23 years now, and my admiration for her continues to increase with time. I feel incredibly lucky to be her friend.
