Meme Day

[mamculuna]

A. FOUR JOBS YOU'VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE:
1. Mail sorter for USPS.
2. Waitress
3. Photograph deliverer (returned developed film to drugstores, etc.-what, you thought the picture fairy brought them?)
4. Painter’s helper (painting walls, not pictures)


B. FOUR MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER:
1. Repo Man
2. Princess Bride
3. Kwaidan
4. Bridge on the River Kwai

C. FOUR CITIES YOU'VE LIVED IN:
1. Berkeley, CA
2. Beijing, China
3. Columbia, SC
4. Chicago, IL

D. FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH:

1. Lost
2. Grey’s Anatomy
3. Buffy re-runs
4. Monk


E. FOUR PLACES YOU'VE BEEN ON VACATION:

1. Oaxaca, Mexico
2. Kent, CT
3. Florence, Italy
4. Everything along Interstate 80

F. FOUR WEBSITES YOU VISIT DAILY:
1. LJ
2. Hunger Site
3. Hotmail (I hate it, but we don’t want to change our address for our rental house)
4. Slate (not every day, but often)

G. FOUR OF YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE RESTAURANTS:

1. Frontera Grill in Chicago
2. Everywhere my kids take me in the Bay Area—Goat Hill Pizza in SF!
3. The street of central Asian restaurants in Beijing in 1994—probably gone now.
4. Brown’s BBQ in Kingstree, SC

H. FOUR OF YOUR FAVORITE FOODS:
1. See 4 above
2. Chipotle mayonnaise on anything
3. Crabcakes with big chunks of fresh-caught crab
4. Jiaozi or momos (dumplings with pork or lamb and lots of ginger and garlic)

I. FOUR SCHOOLS YOU'VE ATTENDED:

as a student:
1. Dreher High
2. Erskine College
3. University of South Carolina (not to be confused with the real USC)
4. University of California, Berkeley


J. FOUR PLACES I'D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:
1. on a warm beach—maybe St. Thomas
2. in front of a fire
3. Paris in June
4. somewhere I’ve never been

K. FOUR THINGS YOU FIND YOURSELF SAYING
1. Mreeank! (trying to imitate the cat)
2. Like I said
3. This is a really, really rough draft…
4. This is the last one I’ll eat.




Appearance
[] I am shorter than 5'4.
[ ] I have many scars.
[X ] I tan easily.
[ ] I wish my hair was a different color.
[ ] I have a tattoo.
[] I am self-conscious about my appearance.(Weirdly, I used to be when I was younger, slimmer, better looking. Now I just think I look like myself. But still, that plastic surgery question down there…)
[]I have/I've had braces.
[x]I wear glasses. (Well, bifocal contacts, which doesn’t show unless you’re very close indeed.)
[x ] I would get plastic surgery if it were 100 safe, free of cost, and scar-free.
[x] i've been told I'm attractive by a complete stranger.
[ ] I have more than 2 piercings
[ ] I have piercings in places besides my ears.
[] I have freckles.

Family/Home Life
[ x] I've sworn at my parents.
[ ] I've run away from home.
[ ] I've been kicked out of the house.
[X] My biological parents are together. (In the cemetery, sadly.)
[ ] I have a sibling less than one year old.
[ ] I want to have kids someday.
[x] I've had children.
[] I've lost a child.

School/Work
[ ] I'm in school.
[ ] I have a job.
[ ] I've fallen asleep at work/school.
[ ] I almost always do my homework.
[] I've missed a week or more of school.
[ ] I've been on the Honor Roll within the last 2 years.
[ ] I failed more than 1 class last year.
[ ] I've stolen something from my job.
[x] I've been fired.
[X] I've skipped school.

Embarrassment
[ ] I've slipped out a "lol" in a spoken conversation.
[ ] Disney movies still make me cry.
[ ] I've peed from laughing.
[X] I've snorted while laughing.
[] I've laughed so hard I've cried.
[x ] I've glued my hand to something.
[X] I've laughed till some kind of beverage came out of my nose.
[x ] I've had my pants rip in public. (And unzip—but not at the same time. )

Health
[] I was born with a disease/impairment.
[ ] I've gotten stitches.
[ x] I've broken a bone. (Toe and tailbone.)
[] I've had my tonsils removed.
[x] I've sat in a doctors office with a friend.
[] I've had my wisdom teeth removed.
[] I had a serious surgery.
[X] I've had chicken pox. (And malaria, whooping cough, diphtheria, scarletina, various measles—you name it. People who take my health history want to know if I grew up in a 3rd world country (yes—SC in the forties).

Traveling
[ x] I've driven over 200 miles in one day. (how about 600)?
[X] I've been on a plane. (Way too often, but at the same time, not often enough.)
[x ] I've been to Canada.
[x ] I've been to Mexico.
[ ] I've been to Niagara Falls.
[ x] I've been to Japan.
[ ] I've Celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
[x ] I've been to Europe.
[x ] I've been to Africa.

Experiences
[X] I've gotten lost in my city.
[X] I've seen a shooting star.
[X] I've wished on a shooting star.
[x] I've seen a meteor shower.
[x] I've gone out in public in my pajamas.
[ x] I've pushed all the buttons on an elevator.
[ ] I've kicked a guy where it hurts.
[x ] I've been to a casino.
[ ] I've been skydiving. (Not in this lifetime.)
[ x] I've gone skinny dipping. (As a kid and as an adult.)
[x ] I've played spin the bottle.
[ ] I've drank a whole gallon of milk in one hour.
[x ] I've crashed a car. (but not totaled—fender-benders only).
[x ] I've been Skiing. (Cross country only.)
[ x] I've been in a play.
[X] I've met someone in person from the internet.
[X] I've caught a snowflake on my tongue.
[ ] I've seen the Northern Lights.
[X] I've sat on a roof top at night.
[ ] I've played chicken.
[X] I've played a prank on someone.
[X] I've ridden in a taxi.
[x] I've seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
[X] I've eaten Sushi.
[ ] I've been snowboarding.

Relationships
[ ] I'm single
[] I'm in a relationship.
[ ] I'm engaged.
[x] I'm married.
[x] I've had someone cheat on me.
[x] I've gone on a blind date.
[] I've been the dumpee more than the dumper.
[x] I miss someone right now.
[x] I have a fear of commitment.
[x] I have a fear of abandonment.
[ x] I've cheated in a relationship.
[x] I've gotten divorced.
[X] I've had feelings for someone who didn't have them back.
[x] I've told someone I loved them when I didn't.
[ ] I've told someone I didn't love them when I did.
[X] I've kept something from a past relationship.

Sexuality
[x ] I've had a crush on someone of the same sex.
[x ] I've had a crush on a teacher.
[x ] I am a cuddler.
[ x] I love to flirt.
[x] I've been kissed in the rain. (and the snow, and the ice, and the ocean)
[X] I've hugged a stranger.
[x ] I have kissed a stranger.

Honesty/Crime
[] I am a terrible liar. (I’m in recovery, I swear!)
[X] I've done something I promised someone else I wouldn't
[X] I've done something I promised myself I wouldn't.
[ ] I've snuck out of my house.
[X] I have lied to my parents about where I am.
[ ] I am keeping a secret from the world.
[x ] I've cheated while playing a game.
[ ] I've cheated on a test.
[ x] I've run a red light.
[ ] I've been suspended from school.
[x] I've witnessed a crime. (only non-victim ones).
[ ] I've been in a fist fight
[ ] I've been arrested.
[X] I've shoplifted. (crazy kid dare)

Death and Suicide
[] I'm afraid of dying. (each time my blood tests come back)
[] I hate funerals.
[X] I've seen someone dying.
[] Someone close to me has attempted suicide. (my mom, numerous times, and brother)
[] Someone close to me has committed suicide. (a girl-friend of mine)
[X ] I've planned my own suicide.
[ ] I've written a eulogy for myself.

Materialism
[ ] I own over 5 rap CDs.
[ ] I own an iPod or MP3 player.
[ ] I have an unhealthy obsession with anime/manga.
[ ] I own multiple designer purses, costing over $100 a piece.
[ ] I own something from Hot Topic.
[ ] I own something from Pac Sun.
[] I collect comic books. (I have a few, but those boxes in my closet belong to my son).
[X] I own something from The Gap. (but I got it in a thrift store)
[] I own something I got on e-bay. (a Kim Harrison arc)
[ ] I own something from Abercrombie.

Political/Social Attitudes
[ ] In general, I don't like people.
[X] I'm a feminist.
[x] I'm very outgoing. (a disclaimer, I'm offish at first)
[ ] I listen to political music.
[ ] I'm Democratic. (More of a Green)
[ ] I'm Republican.
[X] I'm liberal.
[x ] I don't like Bush because he is dumb.
[X] I don't like Bush with my own reasons to back it up.
[ ] I am for Bush.
[x] I'm religious. (if you consider Buddhism and yoga religions)
[X] I dress fairly modestly. (now)
[x] My attitude is, "If you've got it, flaunt it." (when I had it)

Random
[] I can sing well.
[ ] I've stolen a tray from a fast food restaurant.
[x ] I open up to others easily.
[X] I watch the news.
[ x] I don't kill bugs.
[x ] I hate hearing songs that sacrifice meaning for the sake of being able to rhyme. (depends. Sometimes just playing with sound is OK, if it’s clever)
[x ] I curse regularly.
[ ] I sing in the shower.
[x ] I am a morning person. (A conversion that happened when I had small children)
[ ] I paid for my cell phone ring tone.
[ ] I'm a snob about grammar.
[ ] I am a sports fanatic.
[x] I twirl my hair.
[ ] I have "x"s in my screen name.
[] I love being neat.
[X] I've had Spam. (but never again if I know what I’m eating)
[ ] I've copied more than 30 CD's in a day.
[X] I bake well.
[] My favorite color is either white, yellow, pink, red or blue.
[ ] I would wear pajamas to school.
[ ] I like Martha Stewart.
[x] I know how to shoot a gun.
[ ] I am in love with love.
[ ] I am guilty of tYpInG lIkE tHiS.
[X] I laugh at my own jokes.
[] I eat fast food weekly.
[ ] I am online 24/7, even as an away message.
[ ] I've not turned anything in and still got an A in a certain class.
[] I can't sleep if there is a spider in the room.
[X ] I am really ticklish.
[ ] I love white chocolate.
[ ] I bite my nails.
[ ] I play video games.
[ x] I'm good at remembering faces.
[ x] I'm good at remembering names
[ ] I'm good at remembering dates.
[X] I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life.
[ ] My answers are totally honest. (Like I said, in recovery).



ETA:
FIFTEEN THINGS ABOUT BOOKS AND ME:

1. One of my earliest memories is of a library in an old house, where I could sit in a window seat and look out while I read. The coziness of the little nook and the openness of the windows is still part of the way I feel about reading.

2. I’m addicted. I will read anything rather than nothing. And as with many addictions, I’ve often used it to shield me from the real world. Now my children do the same thing.

3. Even after working as a shelf-slave during college, I still am always happy in a library. The excitement of finding new things by old authors, new authors I don’t know, old things I know and love. It doesn’t matter. I usually have 20 books checked out, with varying due dates—thank god for computers. Right now, among other things: Hiding in the mirror : the mysterious allure of extra dimensions, from Plato to string theory and beyond (Krauss); Ordinary Heroes (Turow); both Seidensicker and Tyler translations of Tale of Genji; Freddy and Fredericka (Helprin). Won’t get them all read, of course, but will dabble in some, read all of others.I don’t mind at all not completing a book or not starting at the beginning.

4. Books have completely shaped my life. Because I loved to read, and read well, I slid through school without working. I slid into being an English major for the same reason. That meant I had to go to grad school and had to teach—again, same reason. Course of least resistance for addicted, consumed reader. Only now am I able to teach only lit courses, sadly. But along the way I did get in a few.

5. Repeated from my comment in [Bad username or site: ”the_red_shoes” @ livejournal.com]’s pomegranate post: When I was twelve, I spent a week staying home from school (with a "sore throat", hah!)reading the entire works of O. Henry and eating pomegranates. Great week, but wouldn't repeat it.

6. As a child, my reading was eclectic: the complete Little Colonel series, Madame Bovary at nine, The Crypt comic books, Daphne DuMaurier, anything about horses (Flicka, Stallion, etc.)

7.I didn’t read Tolkien or Lewis until I was in my twenties. I used to reread them regularly, but think the movies have ended that.

8. I always give at least three books as Christmas presents, sometimes more.

9. I have a system for organizing books in my shelves. I think Bill has one too, but I don’t have a key to it--and for both of us, there is no system for organizing the books off the shelves and sitting around in piles. Consequently I may never find my favorite translation of Rilke poems, though I know it’s in the house somewhere.

10. Throwing a book away is not possible. They must be donated somewhere, somehow. I can’t even visualize a book in the trash.
11. I buy two kinds of books: ones that I’ve read and want to keep, and ones I can’t find in the library. My shelves are a distorted version of my actual reading.

12. People must get tired of me recommending books, but I can’t help it. I’m compulsive. I want everyone to read everything I’ve read.

13. It has happened that I didn’t realize until the end that I had read the book before.

14. I love books that call attention to themselves as books and communicate information by what you see and how it’s on the page: Tristram Shandy, Far Tortuga, ee cummings poems, House of Leaves…. I’m sure there are others I’m not recalling just now. Are they called concrete books? That’s not a good term, if so.

15. One of the Buddhist refuge precepts is to honor sacred books. For me, that’s all of them.