A meme stolen from Neil. Counts down 10 firsts, 9 lasts, 8 “have you evers,” 7 things you are wearing, 6 things you’ve done today, 5 favorite things in no order, 4 people you can tell almost anything to, 3 choices, 2 things to do before you die, and 1 thing you regret.

ten firsts

• First best friend: Emily R. in elementary school. We were outsiders, and always had lunch together.
• First screen name: BFXT07B. More at Becoming Etoile.
• First pet: Dawn was a gray tabby my mother had for eight years before I was born, and who lived until I was eight years old.
• First piercing: My mother had my earlobes pierced with a mall gun - for some reason I think it was at Spencer’s? - when I was three years old.
• First crush: It’s hard to remember - I had several in high school, mostly on teachers.
• First record: I bought the White Album on vinyl in a record shop on Rue St Denis in Montréal when I was 13 years old. I think it was $8 CDN.
• First car: My much-bestickered 1983 Chrysler New Yorker.
• First love: A - and I’m pleased to say that we are still together and still madly in love!
• First stuffed animal: I think it was probably Monkey, who today has no ears and only one hand.
• First MP3 player: A Polaroid PDP-602 Juke Jam. Don’t buy one, it’s junk and no longer supported!

nine lasts

• Last alcoholic beverage: Two really good chocolate martinis at the Melting Pot earlier this week.
• Last car ride: I drove myself home from work.
• Last movie seen: Wallace & Gromit and the Curse of the Were-Rabbit
• Last phone call made: My daily “I’m leaving work now, when are you coming home and what’s for dinner” call to my wife.
• Last CD played: Beastie Boys, To The Five Boroughs
• Last bubble bath: I think I joined A in a bubble bath a month or two ago.
• Last time you cried: Two nights ago, thanks.

eight “have you evers”

• Have you ever dated one of your best friends: I think it’s important that one’s partner should also be one’s best friend.
• Have you ever been arrested: No, but I’ve been handcuffed and put in the back of a police car. (They apparently do that if you’re considered a suicide risk while they drive you to the funny farm.)
• Have you ever skinny dipped: I actually don’t remember. I think I have, but it might have been in a dream.
• Have you ever been on tv: I was on the Conan O’Brien show in 1993 because I happened across a “man on the street”-type segment in New York City. They made us walk back and forth as they tried various takes. I also appeared on four episodes of the Baltimore-area high school quiz bowl show It’s Academic.
• Have you ever kissed someone, and then regretted it: Yes, and let’s leave it at that.
• Have you ever had a sex dream about someone: Yes, including people I work with! Damn, that one was weird.
• Have you ever had sex: Who, me? Well, yeah!

seven things you are wearing

1. Hello Kitty pajama top
2. cartoon kitty pajama pants (not matching the top)
3. big fuzzy pink socks specifically bought to keep feet warm in winter
4. my “wedding” ring
5. two pairs of tiny diamond earrings
6. one pair of cheap silver hoop earrings because I dropped one of the other diamonds (I have three pairs) down the sink and wasn’t able to retrieve it
7. a really crummy hair elastic that pulls my hair

six things you’ve done today

1. deliberately given up on trying to interpret verbatim for a guy who kept repeating himself and going on tangents, and just summarized the content for my deaf client
2. put out the trash and recycling
3. moved some things from my old workspace to my new big cube, and taken the key from the cabinets and put it on my keychain
4. charged my cell phone at work and then left the charger there (fortunately it’s not Friday)
5. goofed around on the web at work
6. stopped by a Freecycler’s house for the second day in a row because my cell phone case (not the phone) fell out of my car onto his driveway last night when I was picking something up

five favorite things in no order

• Watching the soap rinse off my body in the shower
• Squirrels playing in the dirt
• Making an easy merge at a difficult point in the road
• Remembering things that I wanted to do at a point where I am actually able to do them
• Sleeping with my wife and I wedged in around a bunch of cats on our bed

four people you can tell almost anything to

1. My wife A
2. eyes_of_cyrene
3. My friend C
4. wow…can’t think of a fourth. huh.

three choices

• Black or white? Black because it contrasts with my skin tone, white because you can bleach it.
• Hot or cold? Hot showers, cold sodas.
• Chocolate or vanilla? Neither…how about cookie dough? Or butter pecan? Okay, fine, chocolate.

two things you want to do before you die

1. live outside the DC area
2. uh…do stuff on my 43 things list?

one thing you regret

• spending so much time on this damn meme, now I remember why I don’t do these things all the time like I used to!