AUTHOR: M. DATE: 8:40:00 AM ----- BODY:

I've been tagged for a meme! Not that we haven't all gotten a million of these over email, but getting tagged in the blogosphere (where I'm fairly new) and by such cool bloggers as Afrindie Mum and Avonlea makes me feel like the Popular Girl. By the way - what the hell is "meme" short for anyway? Seven things to do before I die (not necessarily in order): 1. Kayak in Alaska with I. 2. Cook professionally (though I don't necessarily want to get paid for it, it would probably ruin the pleasure I get out of it) 3. Create a community where my friends are committed to each other as family 4. Live without a car 5. Be a good parent and eventually a friend to my children 6. Open up a tiny bookstore/cafe/kayak rental shop on a lake 7. Work my ass off to keep my marriage as gorgeous as it is now, or even better Seven things I cannot/will not do: 1. Work for a for-profit company 2. Run - no matter what kind of good shape I am in, it still makes me miserable 3. Balance my checkbook without Quicken 4. Carry a tune (though this does not stop me from singing) 5. Spend a dime at a chain bookstore 6. Forgive people who make left-hand turns from right-hand lanes, sans turn signals (hello, Boston drivers) 7. Diet Seven things that attract me to my spouse: 1. The Beet Dance/The Chili Dance/The you-just-cooked-something-so-good-I-can't-sit-still-dance 2. She makes up songs about everything - brushing the cats, vacuuming, being stuck in traffic 3. Her love of and respect for kids 4. Her silliness 5. She makes me take myself less seriously 6. Her bluntness and ability to shoot from the hip 7. Her complete devotion to the people she loves Seven things I say most often: 1. Breathe! (Usually to I. when she's stressed) 2. Too much sheeps eating me! (forgive the grammar - that one dates back to around 1977) 3. Where the hell did I put my ______________? (Fill in the blank with a hundred random items per day) 4. Back up, turkey (usually when I'm in the car) 5. It's all good 6. Luna, I love you, but please get out of my face (to the cat) 7. Loathing! Un-adult-erated loathing! (Keep singing, it's from the "Wicked" Soundtrack) Seven books I love: 1. Animal Dreams (Barbara Kingsolver) 2. Wicked (Gregory Maguire) 3. Fugitive Pieces (Anne Michaels) 4. Me Talk Pretty One Day (David Sedaris) 5. Stones from the River (Ursula Hegi) 6. What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day (Pearl Cleage) 7. The House at Pooh Corner Seven movies/series I watch over and over again (or would if I had more time) 1. Whale Rider 2. Billy Elliott 3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer 4. But I'm a Cheerleader 5. Pieces of April 6. Bend it Like Beckham 7. My So-Called Life Seven people I'm curious about that I'd like to join in: 1. Femiknit Mafia 2. Someone out there in New Jersey who's been reading this blog for a while but hasn't (I don't think) made herself known 3. Wendy 4. Clueless Carolina Girl (though I don't think she even reads this, but worth a try) 5. Deanna 6. Julie 7. Anyone else who wants to play (I admit I don't know that many bloggers who haven't already been tagged)

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Anonymous COMMENT-DATE:2:07 AM COMMENT-BODY:Meme is a shortened derivative of the Greek word mnemos or mnemmes, signifying memory, or the process of forming memory. In modern usage it generally signifies something that jogs a memory or helps one to recall complex sets of information. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: FemiKnitMafia COMMENT-DATE:10:09 AM COMMENT-BODY:Okay, I'll play along. But you'll have to wait until after Christmas. Right now I'm knitting and knitting and sewing and shopping for good sales and and and... --------