Tagged

I am not handy with technology so I'm not sure how to create a neat little link. I was tagged by the lovely friend who owns this blog:
http://waitingforatrain-linda.blogspot.com/

What were you doing 10 yrs ago?
Uhhh... let's see. I was in graduate school in Eugene at the University of Oregon, the program where I went on to get my Master's and PhD in English. I had been married to Mark for almost one year. I was so immature that it almost boggles the mind. I'm at a loss to capture said immaturity in a succinct way for this pithy meme entry, so please take my word for it.

Snacks I enjoy
Pickles
Olives
Yogurt
Japanese rice crackers
Green tea frappuccinos (are those a "snack," technically?)

Five things on my to-do list today
Go grocery shopping
Go running at the YMCA
Print out newly taken pictures of my daughter
Grade a few papers
Bore my reader(s) senseless with this particular meme entry. Sorry. I wish my day had been more exciting. Because this was so boring, I will share the possibly scintillating detail that I am a COMPULSIVE list-maker so this question was easy for me. I constantly make lists to stave off anxiety, but then the sheer length of the lists causes me more anxiety, plus the fear that there is some old list floating around that I never finished checking off, so then I end up writing lists that say things like, "Find old list and make sure you finished everything on it."

Things I would do if I became a billionaire
This is hard for me, because I don't really think about it. I have never felt like thinking about it, because it won't happen and all that. So I feel kind of sad and cheesy answering it. Here goes, anyway. I would immediately put away a big chunk for my daughter, into some kind of safe, secure account that would grow and grow and help her go to whatever college she wants to, someday. I would distribute money to my family and friends so that they could lead better lives and have safer futures. I would pay off my debts. I would probably buy a not obscenely big but still comfortably sized house; I might have to argue with Mark about where it would be. He would want it to be in San Francisco, I predict, but I would probably choose to live somewhere in Sonoma County, nearer to my parents, and where I could have a nice yard for my daughter to play in. I would put away some money for travel, because I have never traveled outside of the U.S., except to Canada a few times. (Okay, that sounds like I am disparaging Canada, but I don't mean to; I am just illustrating the extreme limitations of my traveling experience, though I have been in almost every state in the U.S. on road trips my family took since I was two years old.)

I would definitely donate a good portion of it to charitable causes, but I don't want to speak hastily about which ones because I'd have to sit and think very carefully about that first. There would be so many candidates; it wouldn't be an easy decision. I guess if I'm really a billionaire, though, I could have the option of giving a ton of money to a few specific causes, or spreading it out very widely across many causes! What a shame we'll never find out what my philanthropy would have done for the world... since I can't remember the last time an adjunct college writing teacher became a billionaire.

I would buy Mark whatever electronic/musical equipment he's always dreamed of having. I would buy myself some new clothes and shoes, because I desperately need them and it's really pathetic. I would buy myself a bed frame and a new couch, because we still have the one we bought in EUGENE for SIX DOLLARS.

3 bad habits
Procrastinating
Obsessing over things I can't control
Going to bed too late
I have many, many, many other bad habits, but I am limited to three so I'll stop now.

5 places I have lived
Northport, NY (ages 0-18)
Claremont, CA (ages 18-21)
Eugene, OR (ages 21-27)
San Francisco, CA (ages 27 to the present)
There you have it. I have not lived in five places--just four. Unless you count the town I was born in: Syosset, NY. I guess I lived there for a day or two.

Jobs I have had
Babysitter
Candy striper/delivered food and fed people/waitress at hospital coffee shop
Landscapers' assistant (I did very little; I remember posing decoratively on a rich person's lawn with a hose, aiming it at a tree. I think, in retrospect, the boss was trying to sleep with me and that was why he hired me)
Library page
Server of food to big alumni events at college
Computer lab consultant in college
Annoying person who calls you on the phone to raise $ for her college annual fund
Writing Center consultant at 3 colleges
Graduate teaching assistant of various courses at several colleges
Copy editor
College writing teacher


I must have had other jobs but those are the ones I can think of right now.

Things people don’t know about me
My family owned a wolf when I was a child
I always wanted to play the bad guy in childhood games
I am afraid of flying (some people probably know that)
I feel very insecure about my ability to use a lot of technology, even, like, the SLIDE projector at school, so I still write everything on the chalkboard
I got a 5 on the AP Calculus exam in high school (that will shock people!) but I consider myself very weak in math
I was a spelling bee champion
I have to work very hard not to let sad thoughts get me down, because I tend to be sad and sort of negative about things generally (I think that will surprise some people)
As a child I had an obsessive fear of vampires (some people probably know that)
I really like miniature things and, oh, if I come into millions of dollars, as the previous question mentioned, I will buy a beautiful Victorian dollhouse and fill it with wonderful miniature things
I have a terrible anxiety about being made to tag people by memes.

That leads beautifully into my final comment: I think I am supposed to tag people, but I am going to have to let people be self-tagged, if they so desire!