Two to the Third

Everyone have a nice Thanksgiving? Get enough turkey? Cranberry sauce? stuffing? Pumpkin pie? Great. As per decades-old tradition, I hereby offer my de riguer post-break palate-cleansing meme post, courtesy of Jaquandor:

8 things I am passionate about:
1. The music of U2
2. The music and lyrics of Stephen Sondheim
3. The fiction of Stephen King
4. The world of Lost
5. The wife.
6. A certain moppety three-year old
7. A very similar-looking moppety three-year old
8. The inanity of obsolete grammar rules still being enforced.

8 things I want to do before I die
1. Perform in the chorus for a performance of Beethoven's 9th symphony (this is one I've already done, but sweet Jesus almighty I really need to do it again)
2. Play Sweeney Todd
3. Direct Assassins
4. Spend a summer driving around the US with the family, seeing all that can be seen in two months
5. Publish something that will be read by more than a few hundred people (if that)
6. Be able to competently accompany myself on piano and guitar for at least a few songs.
7. Read the Harry Potter series to my kids
8. Perform a Shakesperean role


8 things I say often
1. "Itchy's a jerk"
2. "Good stuff"
3. "Rock and/or roll"
4. "Sure"
5. "(NAME OF CHILD)!"
6. "(NAME OF OTHER CHILD!")
7. "F***!"
8. "Jeezum Crow!"


8 books I've read recently
1. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver
2. Runaways - Brian K. Vaughn
3. Blaze - Stephen King
4. Secret War - Brian Michael Bendis
5. Astonishing X-Men - Joss Whedon
6. On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan
7. A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again - David Foster Wallace
8. Consider the Lobster - David Foster Wallace


8 songs I could listen to over and over
1. "Overkill" - Colin Hay
2. "Sugar Baby" - Bob Dylan
3. "No Cars Go" - Arcade Fire
4. "Something Good" - Elaine Stritch
5. "Window in the Sky" - U2
6. "The Impossible Dream" - Many
7. "Philadelphia" - Neil Young
8. "Come Down in Time" - Sting

8 things that attract me to my best friends
1. Sense of humor
2. Shared interests
3. Easy-going natures
4. Understanding of me (I'm a closet narcissist, it appears)
5. Enjoyment of discussing pop culture minutia
6. Loyalty
7. Shared history
8. Trust

8 (or more) things that I am thankful for this year
1. The last Harry Potter
2. The new Stephen Kings
3. Arcade Fire
4. Lost
5. Continued gainful employment
6. Financial security
7. The wife
8. The kid
9. The other kid
10. Family
11. Health - mine and others.

Until Whenever