And now for some navel-gazing . . .

It's been a slow weekend here (gearing up for the big adventures next week – or just conditioning the two readers of our blog to learn to do without us over the next two weeks).

First, a word cloud of our blog:Second, a meme from RV:

(keeping in mind that my mother and – occasionally – my grandmother read this, and one wants to make them cry neither tears of joy nor shame)

Seven things to do before I die:
Own another dog
Grow a really, really awesome vegetable garden
Run a marathon
Write a book
Visit Alaska
Take some art classes in painting, drawing, and ceramics

Seven things I cannot/will not do:
Sing solo in front of others
Dance
Clap in rhythm
Accept stupidity or arrogance from those in positions of authority
Ride in a hummer
Smoke cigarettes
bungee jump

Seven things I say most often [recently]:
wakarimasen
Goaty!
I meant . . .
I’m so cold
I’ll do the dishes
Tell me a story
Did it snow last night?

Seven books I love [and that I’ve read in the last ten years, so this excludes any classics read in high school and any childhood books]:
The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell
Small Wonder: Essays, Barbara Kingsolver
Spirit Walker, Nancy Wood
Angle of Repose, Wallace Stegner
The Classic Hundred Poems, various
. . . “love” is such a strong word that I might have to stop here – I can think of many books I like, but love . . . I am looking here for something so rich that if one were alone on a desert island, one would never go bored thinking about the multitude of questions raised by said book, which must, of course, also be a pleasure to read. Given those high standards, I might actually take down a few of the above books, but, hey, I just wanted to play along . . . [I am also trying to make an effort to avoid academic (States and Social Revolutions) or pretentious (The Future of an Illusion) books]

Seven movies I watch over and over:
Sadly, there’s only been one - and that was several years ago (since I am generally opposed to re-watching movies or re-reading books): Top Gun. And, yes, I know that the fact that this was the one movie is even sadder.

Seven things I like about blogs and blogging:
Not having to explain what I’ve been up to / what the weather is like / how I like Japan over and over again.
The (quasi) anonymity
The comments people leave
Getting to share my pictures right away with those that are far away
The feeling that I can participate in the lives/experiences/thoughts of those far away and who lead very different lives from mine just by reading (and very rarely commenting on) their blogs
The fact that I could never, ever keep a diary, but somehow keeping a blog is much, much easier
Bitch Ph.D.

Some to join me:
Well, whoever wants to! Any of the people on the blogroll!