Tagged

For the first time I can recollect, I've been specifically meme-tagged. The task: 8 answers to the following questions

8 passions:

1. Cooking
2. Clever, evocative writing
3. The welfare of my friends
4. Language: etymology, evolution, indicator of cultural norms
5. The Law
6. Travel
7. Wine
8. History
   

8 Things to do before I die

1. Brush up on the four foreign languages I've learned
2. Acquire 5 more
3. Find the personal salvation the hero archetype that rules my personality is craving
4. Write a will, or perhaps create a trust so that my many commercial creditors are left hanging upon my demise; ensure that my affairs are in order so that no one has to deal with my accumulated crap. (What would people have to contend with if you died next week?)
   
5. Stock up on Xanax
6. See more of the world
7. Get my knee fixed so that I can go back to being a Mountain Girl, skiing, hiking and climbing my little heart out
8. Get an IRA account and actually contribute to it
   

8 Things I often say:

1. ow!
2. That's my story and I'm sticking to it
3. Once I get a job...
   
4. $20 bucks an hour
5. What sounds good for {meal} ?
6. Lemme call you back in 20 minutes
7. Who has fat knees?? YOU have fat knees!! (nephew & goddaughter only, everyone else takes offense)
8. Hmmm. So you say...
   

8 Books, recently read:

1. Burr, Gore Vidal
2. The Miracle of Mindfullness, Thich Nhat Hanh
3. Baby, Mix me a drink, Lisa Brown
   
4. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, JK Rowling
5. Idoru, William Gibson
6. Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that type, Doreen Cronin
7. The Moosewood Cookbook, Mollie Katzen
8. The lies of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch

8 Songs of personal importance:

1. Baby Got Back, Sir Mix-a-lot
   
2. Leaving New York, R.E.M.
3. Don't get me wrong, Pretenders
4. My Funny Valentine, various artists
   
5. Under Pressure, all versions lately My Chemical Romance & The Used
6. Wonderful World/Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
7. Brian Wilson, Barenaked Ladies
8. War on Drugs, Barenaked Ladies
   

8 qualities sought by me in my friends:

1. Awareness of the world outside their ego/box of me
2. Generosity
3. Ability to tolerate my sense of humor
4. Desire to see the world
5. Thoughtfulness
6. Creativity
7. Nerdiness
8. Interesting thinkers